LauraBrook's 75 in 2011

Hello to all of my dear LT friends! I'm very much looking forward to starting the year with you and can hardly wait to have my TBR piles toppling onto themselves over and over again, courtesy of all of you!

Laura! Well, here you are. Good. Let the good times roll!

Hi Laura. :)

Laura- Hope you have a terrific reading year!

Welcome back!

Thanks everyone! Really looking forward to 2011, I have to say. And now, off to try and finish up a book that's due tomorrow. (Only 175 pgs to go and it's 10:18 pm.... gee, thatseems doable. NOT!)

I hope you got the book done, Laura :)

Joining you for 2011 Laura! Good luck with the book...

You are starred, Laura. I hope you got your book finished. If I had to read 175 pages late at night, I would fall asleep instantly. I don't read well under any kind of pressure!

Hi Laura, your ticker is always so festive!

I starred you too. Not sure how I'll keep up with everybody, but the intention is there for sure! Maybe Stasia can give me a few tips... :-)

Hi Laura, I've joined the 75 Challenge for 2011, looking forward to following your reading here!

#11: Do not sleep. Best tip ever.

:-(

#13/14: I know it is not for everyone though!

Found you

*******STARRED******** you

This is going to be one......hell of a year

Read Well & Prosper
J

Hello and Happy 2011 everyone! Being the party animal that I am, I was asleep on the couch by 10, woke up at 12:10 am, said a little "happy new year" to the cats and toddled off to bed. Woo hoo! Look out Lindsay Lohan, Laura from Wisconsin is in the house!

*sigh*

My big treat to myself last night (well, aside from 2 glasses of some truly horrible pink champagne) was to pick any one book off of my shelves and start reading it. So, I'm currently about 40 pages into 2070635::A Load of Old Ball Crunchers by the hilarious brandjo::Jo Brand. Yes, I realize that I should probably finish up at least one of the 7 books I'm already reading, but where's the fun in that?

In some random news, I was reading my October issue of "Real Simple" (yeah, I'm right on top of all of my magazine subscriptions) this morning and found out that only 1 species of spider in the US are "jumpers", and that they tend to live away from people in quiet forests. Maybe that will help me to be less freaked-out whenever I see one in the corner of a room? Probably not, but good information to have, at least.

I should get back to my uber-productive day of Doctor Who-watching in my pj's. Hope you all had an equally exciting NYE as I did!

#17: I think my NYE was just slightly more exciting than yours, Laura, but only barely :)

You stayed up until 10!? Wowee, I was in bed at 9:30. D'oh! Strange coincidence though, I woke up about 12:05-ish and sheepishly (and sleepily) giggled to myself for being so lame when I looked at the clock. :P

Stasia, weren't you at work on NYE? I'll have to check your thread to see what you got up to.

Stephen, that cracks me up that we both were asleep so early! Us Mid-Westerners really know how to rock a party, hey?!?

I've had a pretty productive day today, got rid of a lot of old paperwork, finished up a few magazines, all of my dishes are washed and put away, I'm just putting in the last of my "catch-up" laundry (sheets and towels), and Girls Night is cancelled so I've got the rest of the night free to read and watch the last of Doctor Who! It doesn't take much to make me happy, that's for sure.

Now, for the big problem - what am I going to read for Ellie's readathon tomorrow? I've got 13 library books that should be read, and I'm in the middle of 2 of my own, so really I should try and finish up the books that I started late last week. Oh, and what am I going to eat? Geez, looks like I'd better make a grocery list too. Busy busy busy...

#20: Yes, I was working NYE.

I am waiting until the Readathon tomorrow to decide what I am actually going to read. No telling what kind of mood I will be in!

Laura - the only problem with watching Doctor Who? - it takes away time from reading, lol... maybe that's the real answer to why I read less last year - I fell for Doctor Who last year! (or maybe the end of 2009 but close enough) =D addictive stuff it is =D

I went to a friends house for dinner and was yawning from 9 o'clock on. I did stay until 1:30 and then got a shredded tire on the way home. Good thing I only had one glass of wine all night. Finally made it home around 2:30am (had to wait for AAA since I have NO idea how to change a tire). I was so wired up I started my first book of the New Year and read until 4am. Finished that book by 2pm New Years day. Yay!

Happy New Year! Here's to hoping that I'll see my Santa Thing books soon!

Kate :)

Stasia, that sounds like a good plan. I decided on what I was going to do when I woke up this morning, but I'm already changing my mind.... best to wait until 2:00, I think.

YGL, it does seriously take away reading time. And it sounds like you've got a few series of DW to catch up on! I think it's a good thing to do instead of reading, but maybe that's because I keep trying to get more people to watch it. :) Maybe the ticket here would be to read Doctor Who books? Hmmm, I think I have one around here somewhere...

Hi Kate! Ugh, that sucks that your tire got shredded! Good for you for staying up until midnight though, you are in a small group of people I know who where awake to see the new year start (that weren't working, that is). I haven't seen a hint of a Santa Thing either this year - maybe today? *fingers crossed* Looks like I'll have to find your thread so I can get you starred. (I think I found you earlier, but I just discovered that I'd been hitting the "X" to ignore a thread instead of the "star" - oops!) Happy New Year to you too!

Well, like I said up there to Stasia, I had a plan all worked out for the readathon, and now it doesn't sound as appealing as it did earlier this morning. Hm. The only thing I know I'll be doing for sure is finishing 2 library books since they're both due tomorrow. I've got 3 1/2 hours to decide (and grocery shop and cook). Yikes - looks like I should hop in the shower and get rolling for the day!

Happy New Year Laura!

Montrealers are known to be party animals, but I've retired from that scene quite a long time ago. I wasn't feeling well on Friday so was napping most of the day and then in bed by 11 or so. Reading, mind you (woo-hoo!) Then partying neighbours were cheering at midnight, which was how I knew we were in the new year. Nothing wrong with quiet times, I say.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Laura!

Hi Laura! *waves*

Hope your fingers haven't been crossed all this time, those SantaThing books STILL haven't arrived yet. :(

Hi Stephen!

Nope, fingers weren't crossed this whole time, and I'm glad to see that someone else didn't receive their SantaThing books yet either. (Well, you know what I mean.)

Sorry I've been mostly MIA lately. Work has been busy (a good thing, mostly), and I've been fighting off a weird strain of the flu for the last few days. On Friday I woke up feeling awful, and ended up spending the day sleeping and throwing up. Saturday I felt fantastic, so I went to work, worked 11 hours, went to a party, came home and felt awful again. Yesterday I was okay for most of the day, but then last night, more dizziness. Now ... *sigh* I feel weird again, a little nauseated, dizzy, really cold.

Of course I have a client today, and a CPR class tonight, but should I try and push through it? I feel guilty about cancelling since I'm not horribly sick, only weak, cold, and dizzy, but I just want to stay home and try to let this thing finish up, whatever it is. Have any of you heard of a strain of flu like this? I wish I was either fine or really sick so there wouldn't be any waffling, but so far that's looking unlikely. I have four hours to cancel either or both of them in good conscience... here's hoping that something happens either way.

In the meantime I'm going to try and get some mini-reviews going for the books I've read so far this year. Or maybe I'll go turn on my cell phone and hope to goodness that my client has miraculously cancelled his appointment. Or maybe I'll just lay down on the couch for a nap...

Unfortunately, almost no one in the U.S. has received their SantaThing books yet. There was lots of hubbub about it on the many SantaThing threads for awhile. Tim assures us they are in the mail and on the way...as they have been for quite some time now... *shrug*

Whatever it is, I hope you start feeling better soon, Laura.

Laura, I was hoping you had gone MIA because you had started the Buffy-a-thon. It sounds like you have the flu. Flu A is packing the beds/cribs in the Peds unit where I work. It is mostly GI symptoms and either fever or chills. Things are bad this year here in NYC.
Does your CPR cert expire soon? Can you put it off for a while? Even though they clean the Recusi Annies between users and use barrier strips so your flu germs won't get onto Annie you'd still be in real close contact with other people. Esp during two person CPR.
Hope you're feeling better soon.

ETA: I just realized you might be teaching the CPR class. In that case - can you wear a mask?

Hope you start feeling better soon Laura! Probably better not to spread the flu too much if you can help it. We've got swine flu going around again here and that includes throwing up at the start, maybe you've got that? Well, whatever it is I hope you beat it fast... :-)

Thanks for the well wishes Stephen, Kelly & Ellie! I cancelled my appointment for this afternoon, and called my CPR class to let them know I was sick. They said "thank you for not coming" about 15 times, so I'll postpone that until I can safely walk around without having to use the walls as a support system. Here's hoping that's some time soon!

Kelly, my CPR cert expired yesterday so I'm not supposed to be massaging anyone until I have the class. It's not like I've suddenly forgotten what to do or anything, but I need to get it sooner than later. It looks like I can take a class a week from today, so I'm going to plan on that, unless I make a miraculous recovery and can take a class this Thursday morning. (Thinking that's unlikely.)

I wish I was having a Buffy-a-thon! Season 2 and disc 3 of the first season just came in at the library, so I'm going to wait until everything shows up before picking it up. (Well, bribing my parents into picking it up.) This morning between naps I finished season 1 of True Blood, and am currently watching Fantasia, my sick movie when I was a kid. Actually, I should probably sleep some more considering this has taken me over 15 minutes to type. :)

More later...

Found you! I look forward to following your thread in 2011.

Laura- Sorry to hear you are feeling under the weather! Get well quick!

I hope you feel better soon! It looks like you are cranking along with the books though. :)

Kate

I agree with Ellie - sounds like swine flu, lots of people in England have it at the moment and that's how they are describing it. Bad luck. Hope it is gone or goes quickly.

Thanks for stopping by and wishing me well, everyone - I think it might be working! Today is much better than yesterday, though if I could somehow turn off this faucet of a nose, I'd be even better. (How can a runny nose just appear overnight?)

Yesterday I realized that I hadn't posted reviews of my books so far this year, so since I was up early making the Kleenex family even richer than they are I thought I'd get this out of the way. And thanks to Ellie, these were all read/finished during her Read-a-thon!

*******

Book 1: Wisconsin’s Own by M. Caren Connolly

First off, I want to say a big Thank You to Tammy/tjblue, who brought this book to my attention.

Maybe it’s the architectural/home geek in me, but this was right up my alley! Oversized (and heavy – I needed a cushion on my lap to help hold this baby up) and full of gorgeous photographs of twenty of Wisconsin’s most famous homes, this beautiful book covers every historical aspect, biographical information about the architects and the original families, and a basic blueprint. *squeels with delight!*

I’ve visited a few of the houses before, and now every single one of them is on my “to see” list. There is something about grand houses that is such a turn-on for me (get your mind out of the gutter please), and I can’t quite figure out what it is. The scope of creative possibilities is certainly one of them, but aside from that I draw a blank. Whatever the reason is, I absolutely ADORED this book, and it’s very high up on my wishlist. It’s probably not everyone’s cup of tea, but it certainly is mine – 5 stars!

Book 2: Stitches by David Small

All of the rave reviews are true, this is a beautifully haunting bio-graphic novel about his childhood, his too-“human”-for-my-taste parents, his health problems and how he grew up and out of them and into himself. It’s a book I think most everyone would enjoy (and would probably mentally upgrade their own childhood experiences afterwards). 4.25 stars

Book 3: A Load of Old Ball Crunchers by Jo Brand

This book about famous women in history is the counterpart for A Load of Old Balls, which I read last year. It's a funny account (some jokes were dated, being written in the 90's) of women I'd heard of and a few I hadn't, and an entertaining way to spend a few hours. Easy to pick up and put down as each chapter/lady was no more than 6 pages. Cute, but it can go to a new home. 3 stars

Book 4: Doctor Dolittle’s Journey by N. H. Kleinbaum

This is a very old-fashioned kind of story in the best possible way. A young boy bored with life meets Doctor Dolittle, becomes his apprentice, and they adventure together to a floating monkey island looking for a respected colleague who has gone missing. It was a nice change of pace to be treated to this book, to drift along on their journey, instead of having to analyze every single nuance and action that took place. Winner of the Newbery Award in 1923. (Well, the closest thing to it since I couldn’t find The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle in print anywhere.) 4 stars

Book 5: The Sunday Philosopher’s Club by Alexander McCall Smith

When Isabel Dalhousie witnesses someone fall to their death at a classical music concert, she knows that it wasn’t a suicide like the police think it is. She takes it upon herself to investigate, in the most morally and ethically way possible, to find the culprit and motive behind this crime. Along with a wonderful cast of characters (including her nieces’ ex-boyfriend, on whom she has a massive crush), Isabel travels around Edinburgh quietly sleuthing around to find out whodunit.

I really enjoyed this little mystery (can this be considered a cozy?), nothing too outrageous or unbelievable happens. (Without giving anything away, the ending is one I truly appreciate, a breath of fresh air from "the norm".) I suppose you could say it was a brain-vacation kind of a book in the best possible sense. It was a great audiobook (the narrator, Davina Porter, does an excellent job, I love all the Scotch accents) to listen to while commuting, very pleasant to jump into and out of the story without feeling like you've missed anything. This is book 1 of the series, and book 2 is waiting for me at the library as I type this! 4 stars

*******

Whew! I hope those all made sense, but you never know. I've go season 2 and all of season 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (except for one disc) waiting for me at the library. I've got a few more pages to go in Spying in High Heels before I decide to give it up or not. So far it's okay, but it's not really grabbing me. What I should be reading are the two books for group reads here on LT, and I should finish up Still Life! Working and the holidays got in the way, but I am really diggin' Three Pines!

Off for some coffee and a nap I think - this flu is taking it out of me, even on the tail end.

You know, (as our kids say) I don't always care for AlexMcSmith's books, but the Isabel Dalhousie series is growing on me. Like you, I truly appreciate Davina Porter's ability to use her marvelous range of accents to bring these to life. I've given up trying to read them...they're too gentle (boring?) and quickly put me to sleep in the print version. And yes, I'm with you, I'd definitely consider them a "cozy"

Laura- So glad you liked Stitches. It's an excellent book and it is the graphic that kicked it all off for me. I will never look back.
Hope you feel better!

39: This is the first of his books that I've read (I have the first two in the 44 Scotland Street series and the first No. 1 Ladies book from my Mom) and I wasn't sure what to expect. That's exactly it - they're gentle books, and I can see how it would make you sleepy to read them. I'm going to stick with audio, at least for this series, and will try to read one of the others in book form some time this year.

40: *smooch*

41: Yay! I can see how Stitches would get you started on the GN format. It's a genre I've really come to love. And I am feeling better, thank you! Still some strange dizziness, but that's not unusual for me. (Had motion sickness issues all of my life.)

I have a question for you guys - how do you know when it's time for glasses? Within the last few weeks I've notice that it takes me a little time to adjust my focus between looking up and down, and that sometimes I feel like I have to try to focus. It's never when I'm driving (thankfully), it happens more when I'm on the computer / reading / watching TV / looking out the window. And it's not all the time, just sometimes. Do you think I should invest in some cheapy Cheaters? Or is this just a weird kind of a fluke?

You know it's time to get glasses when you get tired of not being able to see anymore.

Me? I'm not tired of it yet...

Really though, you can always just have an eye exam to see how good/bad your eyes are. I think it's easy to not realize how bad your eyes are getting. I realized I couldn't see numbers on digital clocks a while back and, on further inspection, that many of the things I look at are blurrier than they ought to be. I was just used to things looking that way, so I didn't realize my vision wasn't great.

So yeah, can't hurt to have yourself checked out, right?

I suppose you're right Stephen. I'll have to look into eye tests tomorrow when I have the brain again. For now...

Book 6: Spying in High Heels by Gemma Halliday

A fluff book, brain candy, vacation read - call it what you will, I had a good time reading this book today, courtesy of Ellie's impromptu (to me) Read-a-thon. Like a blonder, California-er version of Stephanie Plum, Maddie Springer could be your typical girly-girl shoe designer with the handsome lawyer boyfriend and wacky best friend. Only her boyfriend disappers, she finds a couple of dead bodies and a hunky LAPD cop comes in asking questions and makes her re-think how wonderful her relationship with Lawyer Boy really was.

Typical antics, fairly easy to spot who the killer was, cute one-liners. A good start to a fun little series. I'm certainly in a place in my life where some mindless reading is in order and this fit the bill perfectly in my feeling-better-but-still-crappy pajama day today. I've got the second book in the series on hold at the library, and I look forward to checking out of my life and into Maddie's in a few days. 3 stars.

Let us know how the test goes, Laura.

I've wondered how that Gemma Halliday series is! Sounds like I should check the library for it, so I can read it on one of those days when my brain takes a day off.

To the surprise of no one, I have yet to have an eye exam. I've noticed that my eyes get progressively worse the longer I'm in front of this screen (even with the brightness turned practically all the way down), so the trick for now is to not sit here for more than 2 hours a day. Since that doesn't happen unless I don't go on LT (i.e. never) I just deal with it.

Faith, it's a great library read for sure. Book #2 is currently on my coffee table waiting to be started. I hope you like the series!

Since life is a little much for me lately, I've been doing some comfort reading. Originally I wasn't going to count them since they're picture books, but I re-read each of them at least 3 times so I figured they should count. Well, count once. :)

Book 7: The Dove by Dianne Stewart

When a great flood comes to South Africa, Lindi and her grandmother had to delay their spring planting. When the sun finally comes out, a dove lands near their house, and grandmother remarks that it was like the dove Noah sent to see if the floods had receded. Lindi and grandmother spend their days making beaded necklaces to sell in town – however, there are too many necklaces for sale and they come home without selling anything. Grandmother makes Lindi a dove out of scraps and beads to remind her of the dove that landed in their yard. Little did Grandmother know that that dove, made with love for her granddaughter, would help lift them out of the the poor situation they are in.

A lovely story, with wonderful illustrations by Jude Daly, I picked this up simply because it was next to all of Sarah Stewart’s picture books. However, this book is a wonderfully touching story, and great for kid of all ages. 3.5 stars

Book 8: The Gardener by Sarah Stewart

Set during the depression, Lydia Grace Finch is sent to live with her non-smiling Uncle Joe, a crabby baker, in the big city. Armed with a suitcase full of stationery and seeds, will young gardener Lydia make the big city burst full of life? And, more importantly, can she get Uncle Joe to smile?

A cute story about perseverance and the love of gardening, this slight, heart-warming story will infect you with joy and the power of possibilities. A great story, I look forward to buying this (and all of Ms. Stewart’s books) as presents for the children in my life. 4 stars

Book 9: The Money Tree by Sarah Stewart

Told over one year, when a strange tree starts growing in Miss McGillicuddy’s yard, she doesn’t pay much attention to it – until strangers show up en masse, gathering its strange leaves. Miss MicGillicuddy continues on her business, fascinated by everyone else’s fascination with her odd tree. But what will happen once winter comes?

Not your typical story, and I appreciate it all the more for that reason. I’d like to be Miss McGillicuddy one day, but right now I’m afraid to say that I’d be one of the swarming masses stuffing every available pocket and crevice with money – hey, I’ve got bills to pay! A lovely story. 3.75 stars

Book 10: The Friend by Sarah Stewart

Belle’s parents are far too busy to spend time with their young daughter. Belle thinks she can do everything by herself, but her friend and housekeeper, Bea, knows better. While doing chores, Bea and Belle go everywhere together, and every day they go to the beach. One afternoon while Bea was busy, Belle goes to the beach by herself and something happens that will change the course of her life.

I’ll admit it right now – I cried at the end of the book. A heart-wrenchingly beautiful story, it seems like it’s based on Sarah’s real life. I wish I knew the story behind this one, but perhaps its better to leave a little mystery. The most personal of her books, this is a real treasure. 4.25 stars

Book 11: The Library by Sarah Stewart

Elizabeth Brown only likes one thing – reading books! Ever since she could read she devoured every book she could lay her hands on. While lost one day she decides to buy a house and start tutoring to make ends meet. As the years go on, her house slowly fills with books … so now what?

This should be required reading for every single member of LT. I gave it to my Mom to read earlier this week and at every page she said “My god, this is you!”. This story certainly applies to all of the LTers that I know. A wishlist book for sure, and one of my favorites of all time. 5 stars.

I have one more book to review, but since I'm getting veeerrry sleeeepy it's best if I wait until I'm more, you know, awake.

Also, I decided to join in on a year-long group read of War & Peace. There are, apparently, 365 chapters, so for all of you Math majors out there that means 1 chapter a day. Seems do-able. I marked off each month of reading so I will have a better measuring stick to see my progress, so to speak. Okay, really need to go, so I'm going to crawl off to bed. G'night!

Yay! I'm so glad you found and loved The Library. What did you think of David Small's illustrations? They're my favorite part of the book.

Oh, I will have to check out The Library! Thanks for the recommendation, Laura.

Hope you feel better! Loved the recommendation for The Library. Onto the wishlist it goes.

OMG! I'm even a tutor. Ha! Ha! I'll have to read that book for sure! :-)

VB, they're an essential part of the book, and they are outstanding. Just looking at the "intro" drawings make me inordinately happy. David is such a fantastic illustrator - one day I want to own a copy of every books he's ever written and illustrated. I can't thank you enough for recommending Sarah Stewart to me!

Everyone, yes, please, go and read The Library! I can guarantee that you will not be sorry.

Hi Laura!! Looks like you're on a roll, 11 books already!! I've finally finished Middlemarch, which I started back in November, and am now reading Under The Dome. I'm glad you liked Wisconsin's Own!! It was one of my favorites last year!!!
Hope you are having a good week!! Happy reading!!!

*copied from my 1111 page*

I've been avoiding posting much here this week because I didn't have any book reviews ready to go. But screw that! I'll do this my usual way - by the seat of my pants.

Book 12: Doctor Who The Visual Dictionary by Andrew Darling
An interesting book for any Doctor Who fan, but it seems geared towards younger fans. Or maybe that should be more-hardcore-fans-than-me. Oversized and filled with lots of great pictures *shock* it was by turns boring, interesting, and unbelievably detailed in unexpected (to me) places. For fans only. 3 stars

Book 13: The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way
I saw this somewhere around these parts mentioned in a list of great graphic novels. Either this was the wrong book for me or that list and I have different definitions of the word "great". Telling the story of 7 children born mysteriously to women who were not pregnant, and raised by The Monocle, each has their own "power", super or not. They start out as young kids (7 or 10 years old?) and then jump forward in time to Monocle's funeral and their rejoining as a superpower group. The art was typical for comic books (overly gruesome, out-of-proportioned people, lots of thick black lines to implicate fast action or great importance) and while the artist was certainly talented, it wasn't my cup of tea. The storyline was okay, but it could have been better if it had been edited differently.

I found out after I finished the book that the author is the frontman for the group My Chemical Romance. I like the group and their music, and the book makes more sense because of that info. If you're way into comics and/or My Chemical Romance and their whole shtick, pick this up. If not, I hate to be harsh, but don't waste your time. 2 stars.

Book 14: Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
This is one of those books that I wanted to read when I was in grade school and for some reason never did. I would have appreciated the message a lot more then than I do now. A primarily epistolary YA book about young Leigh Botts. He writes to his favorite author for a school project, and while we never see the authors responses, we do read all of Leigh's letters back to him. Some are written directly to the author, and some are diary entries that Leigh makes. It's a tough time in his life, with his parents divorce, missing his father, moving, and starting a new school. His writing to his favorite author helps him grow up and realize that life isn't always what he thought it would be, and that that's okay. 3 stars.

Book 15: Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith
The second in the Sunday Philosophy Club/Isabel Dalhousie series, it's another gentle and ethical mystery. Confession time: I don't really know what happened in this book. I mean, I listened to the whole thing, and enjoyed the listening experience, but other than someone trying to locate the family of a man's heart donor, and something about a hit-and-run, and the development in no particular direction of the relationship between Isabel and Jaime... that's all I've got. I plan on giving the third book in the series a try, and if it doesn't work for me I'll give up on the series and start the other two series of his that I currently have on my shelf. 3 stars, I guess.

Book 16: Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
A good book - easy to read, an enjoyable trip down memory lane (I'm guilty of making more than my fair share of mix tapes back in the day), a happy and heartbreaking story of love and loss - and a nice way to spend a few hours. Read primarily during a read-a-thon it was a great book to turn to for a break from another, more mentally taxing read. The story of Rob and Renee's relationship, from courting to marriage to her unexpected death (no spoiler needed, it's right on the cover, and it's truly unexpected to read it - I have to say that I gasped out loud and re-read the paragraph a few times to make sure I comprehended exactly what happened), it's a great pop cultural book and the romance and tragedy of Rob and Renee's story is one not to be missed. If you were alive and into music in the 80's and 90's there are lots of great songs mentioned. Do yourself a favor and tune in to this great little memoir for a bit of something different. 4 stars.

Whew - I made it through them! Looking back on my reading year so far, I'm not at all surprised that the majority of my reading has been from the library so far. Disappointed, sure, but not surprised. Once this round of books gets returned I don't plan on making the library a 3-times-a-week stop for awhile. (I'd say never or something, but that just about guarantees that I'll be back for another binge in 2 weeks.) I participated in the read-a-thon that ended a few hours ago, and while I had to work (and hence, sleep) I got decent-sized chunks completed in 2 books, and I just finished up the third one an hour ago.

Now if I can just focus on the books I'm already reading and get some of them knocked off of my almost-toppling Currently Reading pile that would be some real progress. But oh look! I got a Netflix movie today! Looks like the stack will have to wait a little while.

By the way, if anyone has read/is reading the Isabel Dalhousie series and you think I should keep going, please let me know. I'd hate to miss out on something. Plus, I do enjoy the main characters and I'd be disappointed to not get to know them any better. However, if the books continue to be as gentle as they have been so far I'd be in better stead reading something else that's already in my possession.

The Sarah Stewart books look like great fun reading! I'm also adding Stitches to the tbr pile.

You've just given me a brilliant birthday present idea, Laura ... Dr Who The Visual Dictionary is going to be right up the alley for a friend of mine who's a major Dr Who fan.
Thanks for the review.

I have had Love is a Mix Tape in the BlackHole for a while now. I really need to get to it!

edited for spelling (which I cannot seem to do these days *sigh*)

Hi Laura. I'll skip Doctor Who The Visual Dictionary. I think I've flipped through the pages a time or two while in B&N. It looked extremely detailed. Have you read Chicks Dig Time Lords? It got mixed reviews but I keep it on my wish list anyway. I must get around to reading Love is a Mix Tape soon. It's been on the wish list since 2008.
Re the Isabel Dalhousie books: I haven't read them, but I have read his 44 Scotland Street books and they are also gentle. I think that is Smith's style.

Hey Laura! *waves* You've been quiet all-around lately. Miss your regular posts! :(

Laura- Wow, it's looks like you've been book busy! Luckily, I have Love is a Mix Tape in book form and on audio. I hope to get to it soon.

#54 re: the doctor who thing - I have some fairly strong obsessive fan tendencies (I just pre-ordered the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert DVD, and ordered with it (to get free shipping), the restored edition of Pride and Prejudice (the 1995 miniseries) which will make the 3rd version of that same P&P I own on dvd, and I also own the making of book)

but I find that a lot of those kinds of books (the making of P&P excluded) are aimed at a different kind of obsessive fan than me =D now a book with few pictures telling about how the ideas for plots were developed or really obscure details? I could go for that. But most of those kinds of books are pictures and info you could find on the internet easy enough, and that just doesn't cut it for me... It's the reason I still haven't bought the Firefly fan companions - if it was all good info and less pictures and scripts, I'd go for it...

Linda - I think you'll really enjoy the Sarah Stewart books, they're quite charming. And Stitches is a great read. Slightly depressing, sure, but still great.

Hi Caro! The Doctor Who book will be perfect for your friend. I had no idea what exactly was in his sonic screwdriver, but now I know! Hope s/he likes it!

Stasia, what with having a family, working, visiting virtually every person in the 75 group, and having thousands of books in your TBR pile, you are certainly exempt from not having read one specific book! I hope you enjoy it whenever you get around to it. (And it's a quick read too!)

Kelly - Thanks for letting me know about the Chicks book. I'll check it out for sure. The Doctor Who book is very detailed - sometimes it points out obvious details like that Donna wore flat shoes because the Doctor likes to run a lot - and if you've watched the show and are a "normal" fan you can safely miss this. And thanks for letting me know about Alexander McCall Smith - I was wondering if that was just how he wrote, or what. I think I'll try physically reading one next time to see if that's a better format for me.

Stephen - Aw, thanks! Nice to know I was missed! *smooch* I'll try to get back to my old self again if possible.

Mark - I'm curious to know what you'll think about listening to Love is a Mix Tape. Like maybe are some of the songs included in the reading? I'll keep tabs on your thread!

Life, alas, has mostly kept me from LT over the last couple of months. It could certainly be worse, but this particular round of life is kicking my butt on many levels. I know I'll come out of it stronger, blah blah blah, but until then it's not going to be easy. However, I've really missed being on here and am trying to get back into the swing of things. And books are always a great escape! :)

YGL, you make a good point. I certainly can have some, let's say "strong", fan tendencies as well, and from what you said I'm much more on your level than what this Doctor Who book was really aiming for. (BTW, that's a great book on the making of P&P - of course I own it!) I agree, if it was about plot development or set construction or obscure details I'd be all over it. But this DW book was a lot of stuff that you could find online - and certainly there's an audience for this book - and while it's beautiful to look at it's not something I'd spend hours drooling over (like my "Manor House" PBS book for example). Also, I'd been wondering about the Firefly books but didn't want to buy them for fear that they'd be, apparently, what they are. Looks like I'll check out the one my public library has and be content with that. Thanks for stopping by!

54: Wow, lots of reading going on! The only one I've read is the one by Rob Sheffield. He's fantastic. I also recommend his Talking to Girls About Duran Duran.

#63 I've read a bit in the bookstores on the firefly ones... and they really do have SOME good content (certainly better than a lot of similar kinds of books) - but given that the scripts are all online, I just find myself having a hard time justifying their price. (The fact that my former bookstore I looked at them at had let their only copies get really torn up because they're paperback also meant I'd have had to order them, lol, so they weren't an immediate temptation :D lol)

if only I could learn to read comic books/graphic novels - I've tried and tried because I want to read the continuation comics, especially now that we've got the one with Shepherd Book's backstory - but I just can't do comics apparently. Someone needs to come out with a regular novelization of the comics in my opinion (as opposed to the normal making a graphic novel version of a regular novel, lol)

Hi Marie! I'll add his Duran Duran book to my library list for the next big read-a-thon. Thanks for the rec!

YGL, only having one beat-up paperback would certainly deter ME from buying it! Thank the lord for small favors. I've avoided the Serenity/Firefly comics too because I'm not a big fan of the more traditional artwork. They should do novelizations, I'd be all over those! Hmmm, perhaps we could poke a stick at the beast that is the browncoat/Whedon fan club?!?

Surely we can't be the only browncoats who don't read comics?

You're not! But my browncoat friend was recently seduced into attending D*C and has been hanging around with people who love comics, so it might not last very long...

Personally, I read the first Firefly comic and was a bit underwhelmed. It just didn't have the right feel - perhaps because it was so short?

Anyway, if you want novelizations, there's always epic-length fanfiction. ;)

62: Of course you were missed! Old self or new self or whichever self, it's always nice to see you around.

I know how it is when life kicks onesbutt, it sucks, so just remember you have friends here. I can't give you a sympathetic hug or pat on the back, but I can give you this!

#68 DragonCon, Serenity/Firefly, the Big Bang Theory, a real-life guy friend, and my LOVE of Neil Gaiman have not managed to turn me into a comic person...

I LOVE the IDEA of comics, but every time I've sat down in a store and attempted to read a Firefly/Serenity comic, or a Neil Gaiman comic, all I'm left with is a desire for a regular novelization version... before I even get past two pages...

So the normal predictive factors don't always work that way...

(re:fanfiction - do not tempt me... fanfiction is way way way too addictive... I got hooked in undergrad (Oh Derbyshire Writers Guild how I love thee) and am trying to keep my fanfiction reading to a minimum these days partially by participating in this group! LOL!)

besides - I want to know Shepherd Book's backstory!!! I guess I should check and see if anyone has posted spoilers from the comic on wikipedia or something!

Just stopping to say hi and check up on you! How's the weather down there? We aren't getting it as bad as the weatherman predicted, most of the storm is to the east along Lake Michigan. but the day isn't over yet. Hope your staying safe and warm!!

Oh man everything is *covered* in ice here, and there's no sign of it stopping anytime soon. How are you doing down south?

69: (tee hee!) Thanks for your kind words, Stephen. But would you really give me a hug IRL? You do remember that I am a girl with girl cooties, right? :)

Keri & YGL - I've never read any fan fiction for any subject, mostly because it's like reading War & Peace - impressive, but holy cow, could it be any longer? I know there are some really nice things out there in fanficland, some of my friends tell me about them, but I don't want to get myself started on yet another thing that will suck hours out of my day. (I know myself, and I wouldn't be able to limit the time I spent. That's why I can't just pop on LT here for a quick check!)

I think I'm going to have to force myself to read a Firefly/Serenity comic (especially the one with Shepherd Book's backstory! Hello, interesting!) and then decide for sure. If there were actual novelizations of things, in print, I'd totally read those.

Hi Ladies! Things here are very very very windy. I'm about 15 min west of Milwaukee/the lake, and have been getting lake effect snow since Monday afternoon, off and on. Right now I can't see much more than a block away, the winds are crazy out of control - it's blowing the icicles off of my gutters - and the temp is really going down. The heavy snow hasn't started yet, but even if it did, it would just heap into drifts. I'm home for the rest of the week (yay!) and don't really have to leave until Saturday with the exception of snowblowing and shoveling. I'm really looking forward to some good reading time and some time to catch up on some organization here at the house. Plus, I'm cooking a roast in the slow cooker tomorrow and I'm very excited!!!

How are you guys doing? I hope you're staying warm too and have an ample supply of books handy. And, I hope you don't have to shovel any snow, either! ;) Ahhh, delusions - ain't they grand?

I think I'm going to take a little nap before starting Stasia's readathon - it starts at 10 CST tonight if you want to join!

Laura: Hmmm, you have a point there. And girl cooties are especially contagious for shy guys like myself, naturally. Maybe I'll put on a hazmat suit beforehand?

#73 Laura - you are right to stay far away from Fanfic ;)

Hi There

I'm compiling a list of birthdays of our group members. If you haven't done so already, would you mind stopping by this thread and posting yours.

Thanks.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105833

74: A hazmat suit is probably a good idea. Either that or you could just swim in a pool of bleach for awhile - really, it's your choice. :)

75: Thanks for the confirmation, YGL!

76: Thanks for letting me know about this list, Linda. Geez, is there anything you don't think of?!? I'm amazed at you, young lady.

Now that the blizzard is officially over, I wanted to share a couple of pics with you guys (assuming I still remember how).


The above was taken at 3 am from my front window.


The front of my house - you should be able to see a sidewalk and a driveway. (Also, I think both of my cats are lurking in the bay window.)

Officially West Allis received 18 inches of snow, but it was pretty much hip-height when I was out shoveling it. After the plows came through, the enormous piles at the end of my driveway and my front walk were above my head and I'm 5'6". It took myself shoveling and 2 simultaneous snowblowers 2 1/2 hours to get me cleared out. I was so wiped out after that I felt practically narcoleptic. Plus, with the winds (I think they were close to 50 mph, but am not sure), it blew almost all of my icicles off of my gutters, and some fool wiped out jogging in the unplowed street early this morning. (What, clearing a path out of your house wasn't enough exercise for you? This guy is obviously certifiable. Besides, he wasn't really jogging - more like he was doing hurdles that were crotch-high.)

It was sort of fun and I'm-skipping-school exciting while I was inside my house curled up with cats and blankets, but outside it was basically the reverse of that. It's nice to have heaps of the white stuff though, I have to say. Just don't ask me to move any more of it and no one will get hurt. I hope you guys survived the storm yourself! What was it like where you live?

In other news, I finished a book today courtesy of the Stasia-hosted read-a-thon! I've had this one in progress for just over a month, so I'm very glad to have to done and over with!

Book 17: The Spice Necklace by Ann Vanderhoof

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

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

I forgot to add that I got my SantaThing books on Tuesday! I am the lucky recipient of:

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels by Deirdre Le Faye

They both look fantastic and I can hardly wait to start reading them! Many many thanks to Katherine/katylit for being a great Santa!

#79: Cool beans! Glad you finally got the books.

I noticed you read some things by Alexander McCall Smith. I always encounter his novels in bookstores, and am never sure whether to take one or not, because the 'mystery' fact kind of turned me against them... but I think I'll have to try one now, due to your reviews! Especially the fact that you'd be willing to describe one as 'cozy' made me curious... Cozy is good!

Hurray for SantaThing books, I'm still waiting for mine. And hurray for snow, it looks beautiful! :)

>77 LauraBrook:: What was it like where you live?

Loved the pictures. We ended up with an official 10 inches here in Springfield, MO, but more than twice that amount was recorded less than 30 miles north of us. I'm feeling very lucky! I posted a pic on my thread yesterday; it's also on my profile.

>78 LauraBrook:: How nice to be reading about the Caribbean while looking out at a snowy landscape.

>79 LauraBrook:: Christmas in February. Good timing with you being housebound for a few days. Enjoy the rest of your snow vacation. ;-)

Are those bird feeders and a bird bath under the window? Fun for the kitties to watch? Too bad there's no action for them now.

Yep, or as I call it Cat TV. There are 2 feeders and the bath - plus, the birds hop around the branches in the back of that bush right next to the window. The kids love it. Often I walk into the front room and they're both sitting in the windows, heads down, ears flattened, chattering away. Cracks me up every time. Actually, there is a lot of activity for this time of year. At least once a day a herd (yes, a herd) of English/House Sparrows comes around, bathing, fighting, eating, yapping - it's a hoot to watch. Actually I've got 4 yellow finches and a chickadee on the sunflower feeder right now! Hey, Cat TV is on!

#79 that's my favorite JA related book - I did my pathfinder for my reference class in library school on Regency Period culture as seen in the works of Jane Austen, and that one, despite having been one I'd bought myself, actually beat out all the books I looked at from the university library for being the best resource...

Laura- Loved the photos! Thanks for sharing! Yes, we got hammered here in the Midwest. This mess will be around for awhile. Sad face. Hope all is well!

Nice pictures, Laura. Thanks for posting them!

Hi Laura: Did you go to Cook Library for the mystery event yesterday?

YGL - Oooooh, now I really can't wait to read it. Just from flipping through it, it looks excellent. *casually moves it up the TBR pile*

Hi Mark! Things are alright here. I need to catch up on your thread, you popular young man - I'm woefully behind. Hope you're doing well!

Thanks Stasia! Do you still wish you had snow?

Hi Linda! No, I didn't end up going. From what you said about the non-tollways being less-than cleared up and still icy and sometimes drifted over, I decided not to venture down there. Bummed me out (still does) but I expect they had a few cancellations due to the weather. Did you end up going? (Don't think you did, but maybe.)

Eeep! My bookclub meets in 6 minutes - I'll be back later!

#90: I do not have to wish for snow any longer. We got more today! I love the stuff :)

*copied from my 1111 thread*

Courtesy of Monica/crazy4reading's read-a-thon that ended this morning I got some books cleared off of my coffee table!

Book 18: Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen

Beautifully colorful illustrations with a deep mythology, the story of the Mouse Guard and their journey to uncover a traitor is wonderful. On the cover of the book is a quote from Variety Magazine - "...reads like a mix of Lord of the Rings and Stuart Little" and that sounds about right. I wish my library system had the rest of the series, but they don't, so it looks like I'll have to wait until I can afford the rest of them to see what happens next. Kudos to David Petersen for such a great story. 4 stars

Book 19: Amelia Bedelia, Bookworm by Herman Parrish

I used to love the Amelia Bedelia books when I was young, and when I saw this "new" addition I knew I had to have it! Amelia goes to the library to return some books and decides to "help" her friend the librarian. By the end of the book, everything is hunky-dory, but Amelia and her misadventures certainly do cause some mix-ups. 3 stars, and I'll pass this one on.

Book 20: Dresden by Lord Gerald Hugh Tyrwitt-Wilson Berners

An ARC I received when my favorite bookstore was closing (RIP, Harry W Schwartz), it just looked like a slim little book about Dresden. However, this is a wonderful memoir of Dresden written by a famous composer/painter/novelist (of whom I'd never heard before) about his formative years spent in Germany, ostensibly learning the language, but it's also about society in general and the people he stays with. It's really excellent, very readable, interesting - I'll be looking for the rest of his memoirs for sure. 4 stars

Book 21: Still Life by Louise Penny

There's not much else to say about this series that hasn't already been said. I will say, though, please do yourself a favor and plan on taking a lovely trip to Three Pines with the inimitable Inspector Gamache. I LOVED this book and am very much looking forward to the second book in the series. 4.5 stars.

Book 22: The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

Can Jasper Fforde do no wrong? Lordy, I love this man and his wonderfully weird and clever brain! What starts out as a straightforward investigation by Jack Spratt and Mary Mary into Humpty Dumpty's death is soon revealed to be much much more than that. Did Humpty kill himself? Was it murder? If so, who? What could have been a regular old whodunit turns into a complex, character-filled, tour de force of cleverness and twists and turns. I listened to this one, and Simon Prebble is an outstanding narrator - I'd listen to anything this man wanted to read. I found myself laughing out loud a lot and grinning like an idiot more often than I care to admit. I'm sure other drivers thought I was a bit touched, but oh well! It's a great, fun book. 4.25 stars

I must get to The Big Over Easy soon! I have not read a single book in that series.

Stasia, I think you'd enjoy it - plus, only two books in the series, so you're not locked in to some massive book contract!

Hi Laura. I'm catching up on threads tonight. Nice snow pics. We got only ice from that storm. Snow is so much prettier and less dangerous.
I hope your library gets Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 - the illustrations in that volume are really beautiful. I enjoy Fforde's Thursday Next series but have avoided his fairy tale detective series. The Big Over Easy has almost the same plot as The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. I really want to read Shades of Grey though.


ETA it's Thursday, not Tuesday Next. Duh. It's obviously been awhile since I've read the books.

#94: Only 2 books? I was under the impression (I have no idea from where) that there were more books in the series than that.

#95: I have The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocolypse here to read as another LTer loaned it to me. I need to get to it before the Fforde book, I guess.

I'd heard of Hollow Chocolate Bunnies before, but didn't know anything about it. Maybe after Big Over Easy fades from memory a little I'll pick it up. Is Hollow part of a series?

#97: Yes, it is, Laura.

There's a sequel - The Toyminator - with the same main characters.

Omg! I think I lost your thread- I'm here now though! Drive by hugs!!!

I've never read anything by Jasper Fforde. Maybe I'll use The Big Over Easy as my Mystery March book.

Hi Laura

I'm far behind on the threads and I'm checking yours this evening.

What lovely photos of the snow! While it has been a grey, icy, snowy, cold winter, the flip side is that the snow looks ever so lovely.

Thanks for stopping by everyone! Haven't posted here in a little while (oops!), due to life and things. Since I'm at home with a cold/flu and the headache has almost disappeared I figured I should get back here to do some updating! It's amazing how much I miss this place if I don't check it every day. :)

Book 23: Killer in High Heels by Gemma Halliday

The second in the High Heels series, this book wasn't as much fun as the first. Maddie, our worringly-dumb heroine, doesn't remember much about her father, but when she gets a call from her Dad asking for help and hears a gunshot, she knows she's got to follow up. Through some of her own sleuthing she finds out he lives in Las Vegas, so she, her best friend Dana, and her "faux Dad's" assistant road-trip it to Vegas to find out what is going on.

Drag Queens, mobsters, shopping, nightclubs, cross-dressers, gambling, her style-challenged Mom & Maddie's hot cop boyfriend are all over the place in this book. What could have been a fun addition to the series, turned out to be just another look-how-hard-I'm-trying-to-make-this-classic-Vegas-and-funny, and Maddie does some seriously stupid things (like "forgetting" to tell her cop boyfriend that while she was trying to break into her Dad's house that she lost half of her credit card in the door jam, never asking for help or telling anyone where she was going or what she had just seen). After dumb thing #2 I stopped trying to suspend disbelief and skimmed for awhile. I'll give this 2.5 stars, and that's just because I so enjoyed the first book. I'll give the next in the series a shot, but if it's like this last one, then I'm done with it.

Book 24: The Twelve-Spoked Wheel Flashing by Marge Piercy

Recommended by Andrea/andreablythe as one of her favorite poets, this was the only volume my local library had on the shelf. Published in 1978, this feels like the late 70's somehow, though I can't say why it feels that way to me. Grouped into each of the four seasons, it made for good stopping points throughout the book. While this might not be her best representation of poetry, I did enjoy it. (I'd very much like to read more of her work to get a better idea of what she's all about.) Like any book of poetry, I liked some better than others, and some of them I didn't like at all. Overall I'd rate this 3 stars and I'll be reading more of her work in the future! Thanks for the rec, Andrea!

Here is my favorite stanza, from probably my favorite poem, "Expecting"

It is knowing I do / not know you but I will

I'm hoping that this will be a new start into reading more poetry. I used to really enjoy it, but after college stopped I organically drifted away from it. Like most of us, I tend to read in the same genres and I'd like to make a concerted effort to break some of those "groove" tendencies. I have a few more books that were recommended by Andrea sitting on my coffee table, and I plan on getting to them soon.

Do you have any favorite poets or poems? I'd love some more recs!

Hi Laura: Is it as unseasonably warm up there in Milwaukee as it is down here in Chicago? I wish the sun would come out though.

Hi Linda! Yes, it's currently 53 degrees, waaaay too early to me. It's so weird - 2 weeks ago both of us were shoveling our brains out, and now - well, I just saw my neighbor walking her dog in shorts! How's it down there?

I hope you feel better soon, Laura!

It was warm here today. Got up to 58, I think, which just missed breaking a 131-year old record. It was cloudy, windy, and kind of damp so, despite the warmth, not the greatest day.

Last Sunday, when it was sunny and 50, it felt nicer. The same should be true of Friday as well.

I'm heading off to St Louis on a long weekend/vacation. It was 75 there today though somewhat cooler temps expected while I'm there.

Hi Laura! :)

Yes, it's blissfully warm here too, 60's yesterday and 50's today. But there is snow in the forecast next week...

*Banishes cold/flu*

Thanks, Stasia! I'm still feeling pretty blech, but better than yesterday! I'll take what I can get. :)

Wow, almost 60? Linda, that's crazy! I hope you have a great weekend away. Any plans on stopping at bookstores? :)

Hiya Stephen! Let's hope we're all done with snow in general. (Yeah, right!) You and Shyanne must be having a great time on your morning walks - all of those new smells to sniff! And for Shyanne too! ;) Don't worry, germs don't travel over the interwebs - otherwise, you'd be in serious trouble! (I hope I'm spelling your puppy's name right!) Good luck with the stereo problems!

Oh, Shyanne is loving it. She now refuses to come inside. She flops down on the porch and basks in the sun, and won't budge for anything. I'm not so sure about those germs. I've heard from other-people-and-not-me that even on the internet you can get infected with bugs while partaking in questionable activities. Hmph, nowhere is safe!

I just checked the Borders list, and all of the stores in my area are closing. :( Now if I want to go to a Borders I need to drive a little over an hour to Sheboygan or a little over an hour to Gurnee, IL. Needless to say, I probably won't be going to a Borders much once they close our stores.

Good luck with Shyanne, Stephen! Maybe once it snows again she'll consent to come back inside?!? What're you reading these days? Wait - I'll head over to the "reading now" thread.... never mind!

Book 25: QiGong Illustrated by Christina Barea (touchstone is wrong)

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

I'm still waiting for my newest ER win, Henrietta Sees It Through, but I'm reading an ARC won from goodreads, Madame Tussaud, in the meantime. I picked it up last night before bed to see what it's like, and I read the first 40 pages! So far, it's very good. :) As it's such a freakishly nice day for February in Wisconsin (54 degress, sunny, a little breeze) I think I'll crack open some porch windows to let in some much-needed fresh air and get moving on some reorganizing of my old office/dining room.

TGIF everyone!

Laura: I always post what I'm reading on my profile! *Tries to make a stalker out of Laura* I just finished a book, and will be starting Perdido Street Station tomorrow.

#111 Gurnee is just a hop, skip, and a jump from here so, if you ever come down, give me a holler.

Stephen, message received loud and clear. Consider yourself stalked! :)

Oooh, even more incentive to head down Gurnee way. Thanks Linda, will do!

In some semi-sad news, I'm giving up on a book. Well, an audiobook to be more specific. In my love for audiobooks (and the emptiness of my pocketbook) I've been getting them from the library as much as possible. In the mood to try a new-to-me author, I decided to pick up The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters. I used to be a big fan of Barbara Michaels (one of her nom de plumes), I've always been slightly obsessed with Egypt, and most of my friends from my IRL bookclub are fans of this series of hers. I figured I'd figure out who-was-whom relatively easily and that even though I knew this wasn't the start of the series (it is, in fact, book 17) it would give me a good idea of what it was like. I don't know if it's because it's a later book in a well-established series, or if it's the narrator, or if it is in fact, me, but it's just not doing it for me. I'm not sure what's really going on, there are quite a few accents to keep straight, and frankly - I can't be bothered to try and care about this any more.

Back to the library it goes! I certainly plan on actually reading this series at some point, and starting at the very beginning (a very good place to start - er, sorry for the Sound of Music lapse), to get an idea if this is for me or not. It almost certainly has to be but I guess I'll find out in the future. *sigh* At least I can get one more object out of my house - that's always a good thing!

*waves* I hope you had a good Valentine's! The weather is lovely over here too! If it hadn't been for the fact that I was still recovering today I might have taken the puppies for a walk!

Hooray! I always wanted a stalker!

#112: Suz just read Madame Tussaud and recommended it as a 'thumping good read.' I hope you enjoy it just as much, Laura!

118: So far, so good! I'm glad I'm participating in the read-a-thong today so I can sink into it for awhile.

OK, I've got a dilemma. It's a book buying dilemma. I was planning on heading over to Borders at some point in the near future to check out their deals (all stores in my area are closing), and this morning I received an email from them saying that everything at the store closest to me is on sale for 20 to 40% off. Ack! Since I'm up so early today I figured I'd stop at work, run to the bank to deposit my check and head over to the store to see what's what. But I'm feeling guilty about spending money on books! I certainly don't need anything, and I have a small order I'll be placing at bookdepository later today using their SantaThing coupon code, plus I'll be going over to Half Price Books in the next week or so to use a coupon ... so what should I do? Maybe I should "pre-buy" things for my Thingaversary? It's my 4 year one this year (in April) so it's not too far away. *sigh* Not that anyone is necessarily up and about this early today, but any advice is much appreciated. :)

I'm afraid that asking a bunch of book addicts if you should buy more books will only give you one answer: do it!! :) Actually I was thinking about heading down to our closing store too...Hope you get some good deals!

*Giggles* You typed read-a-thong again! :P

No comment on the book buying dilemma... *innocently wonders if the stores closest to him are having closeout sales*

Refusing to comment on the book buying dilemma on the grounds that I might incriminate myself :)

Dang! Well, of course I caved - it just took me awhile to convince myself that it was a good idea, so while I was taking a shower and getting dressed I talked myself into it. But, there are rules I'm giving myself. Instead of just wandering in, wide-eyed and open-walleted, I'm not going to shop in my "usual" sections (fiction, mystery, YA) and instead try and focus on cooking, children's, history, bio, travel and their multi-media stuff. I'm also setting a limit of $50 so I can hopefully get a few books I've had my eye on and am not just randomly grabbing things off of the shelf because I'm saving myself so much money since they're on sale.

Justification sure is grand, ain't it?!? Okay, I'm heading out to Borders now and will report back here in a little while.

Stephen, of course you pointed out that I typed "thong" again. I don't know what I always add a "g" after that, it's so automatic. *sigh* At least I'm cheap entertainment. :)

#123: Justification sure is grand, ain't it?!?

Yes, it is! lol

I was going to say, "You're asking us whether or not to BUY BOOKS at a discount?!" We all say, "Go for it." However, we see that you've already decided to do so!

Hope you're having fun book shopping Laura. I wouldn't have been able to give you any advice, because I also plan on making the most of the Borders closing sales. I'm going to stock up on travel guides, poetry and Buddhist texts. I could just cry over the closing of the Park Ave store. Their fiction, poetry and religion sections are among the best in the city. The two remaining Borders stores are no where near as good. But, one is in a mall and the other in a transportation hub-- so they get to stay. And I realize that complaining about having only two Borders stores left is bratty. I feel so bad for people losing their only local book store.

Ugh ... I hate myself right now.

I ran a couple of errands and got to Borders just before they opened at 10. There was a big ol' line to get in. People were grabbing carts & baskets like it was to stock up for a food shortage. Craziness! I picked up and put down a lot of books and ended up getting 3 books for presents and 2 magazines and 4 books for myself. My total was $90. I feel so much guilt for spending so much money! Thing is, I'm pretty sure I'll really like everything I did buy, so I'm trying not to sweat it too much.

For myself I bought:
The Big House by George Howe Colt
Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
World War Z by Max Brooks
Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

The one good thing is that I didn't buy anything in any of my usual categories - that's something, right? Right? *le sigh* Now I'll keep on justifying the purchase for the rest of the day. Sometimes I drive myself crazy.

Almost time for the read-a-thong - hope to see you guys there!

Read-a-what? *Giggles* ... ...you did it on purpose that time, right? *Giggles more*

*Composes self* Hey, you just came home with a load of books, you have nothing that needs justification! :)

Have fun during the read-a-thong! :)

Yep, I did it on purpose just for you! You'll have to keep your eyes peeled for when it will happen again.

Haven't been over to the thon yet. Instead, I ran to the grocery store for milk & sandwich fixins, grabbed a starbucks, then my neighbor came over for a visit (only for an hour and a half - and a glass and a half of wine), am talking to my Dad on the phone, and then I have to call a friend back who called while the neighbor was here ... whew! Maybe I'll be ready to start at 6. *crosses fingers*

We'll see what happens. Stephen, are you Thonging today? (See what I did there?)

Now how in the world am I supposed to answer that? "Oh yes, I'm totally Thonging it out today." *ahem* Nope, definitely not!

The readathons are fun and all, but I don't know if they are 100 percent 'for me.' My attention starts to flag a few hours in and reading starts feeling like a chore. :(

Hey, I read both your thread and Sara's - saying you were "Thonging it out" (or up, for that matter) wouldn't be out of bounds! ;)

I hear you about reading for that long, though. I seem to have a hard time keeping at it during daylight hours, but once it's dark I'm happy to sit and fall into a storyline. Hope you're still enjoying the Mieville!

Even if I were 'thonging it up,' you can't possibly expect me to admit it in public! :P

And I'm just the opposite. As soon as the sun goes down I become incapable of reading...

#127: I have read and enjoyed both The Big House and World War Z, so I hope you like both of those, Laura. I look forward to your thoughts on the other two books as well. I know Nothing to Envy is already in the BlackHole, but I have not heard of the fourth book before, I don't think.

Morning Laura- Hope you got over your guilt! Hey, it's books! I also loved World War Z and The Big House really does sound good!

133: Stasia, your reading amazes me, both at how much you remember (you're much better than I am) and at the sheer volume of your intake. I'm surprised that you've read Big House, though - I'd never heard of it prior to finding it on the shelf at the store yesterday, though I see that it's a National Book Award Finalist. What really got me to buy it, ultimately, is that it's about American Summer Homes. My grandparents (whose house I now live in) built a lake house about 45 minutes from where I live. We'd spend a lot of time there throughout the year, and when we had to sell 20-some years ago it was heartbreaking. Not a week goes by without my parents and I talking about it. I'm glad to see it the book has a fan (or a rec?) in you.

134: Hey Mark! Yeah, it's almost gone. I've left the little stack sitting right next to my computer so I could keep looking at them and talking myself out of the guilt. (If I hid them or shelved them right away I think I'd be more apt to continue the guilt for some reason.) Prior to LT I never would've thought about reading World War Z, but with so many enthusiastic raves, reviews, & recs (yours included) I knew I couldn't pass it up! I'd like to get to it this year. Hope you're traveling safely today! When I went out it was really slushy/ice-y/slippery and I slid a few times while trying to slow down or turn. Needless to say, I'm very happy to be at home - hope you can say the same very shortly!

Laura

Stasia and I committed to only buying ten books this year. Thus far I've purchased four....

I delight in learning of the book purchases of others. It vicariously brings joy!

All good wishes!

Hi Laura! Books are good!! There are worse things you could spend your money on. We're getting lots of snow today. Are you?

Linda, I give you and Stasia major props for only buying 10 books this year. It sounds like a reasonable number in your head (and based on the lack of available shelf space, if your house is anything like mine), but it's extremely difficult.

In my own goal to purchase as few books as possible this year I've realized that I sort of impulse-buy normally. To "make sure" I don't forget to read a book I have to buy it right away. I have books that I "had to have" in high school ... I graduated in 1996. I've given away a fair few I've had for that long, but it's really rather sad. If I haven't read a book in 15 years, isn't it safe to give it away? And if it's not, what's the cut-off point?

As I was shopping yesterday, I saw hundreds of books that the Old Me would have tossed in her cart and it suddenly hit me how much money I spend (and therefore emotional investment, physical space, etc...) that having all of these books that I "need" is really costing me in the long run. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for having a house filled with books, but because I've always been single and a Reader there hasn't ever been any kind of limitations placed on me for the books I do own. It's both a wonderful thing that I can't imagine not having, and a sort of pleasant burden at the same time. Every time I look up at my main wall of books, reading every spine ignites such a desire to read that book right this second that it's a little overwhelming. One of my goals this year is to read mostly from my shelves for that very reason. (I set up my 11 in 11 challenge to reflect that and it's been helping for sure.)

I admire both of your goals and restraint shown this far into the year. How do you feel about your pact? Stasia, what about you? Have either of you had any insights on your reading life? How about anyone else out there? I think it's an interesting topic to think about and discuss.

Tammy, nice to see you! Thanks for stopping by and helping alleviate the guilt I place on myself for buying books. You're right, there are millions of worse things I could spend money on, and books are such wonderful company. As for snow, we're supposed to get 6 to 10 inches between today and tomorrow with ice to cap it all off. Right before I left the house this morning it started to hail, and over the next 3 hours it slowly transitioned to sleet, then to giant clumps of snow (what would that be called?: clumping?), and now it's a fine and wet snow. Whatever the outcome is, it's certainly not fun to drive in and I hate to think about tomorrow. What's it like up by you? I hope you just have snow and no ice along with it.

#135: I actually learned of Colt's book through his wife - Anne Fadiman. I enjoyed The Big House: A Century in the Life and hope you do too.

It's great that you can realize all that, Laura...now if only you could apply that logic to your shopping habits, huh? Glad I don't have to worry about it myself! :P

Hi Laura!! In the end we got 13 inches, but I have a really nice neighbor with a huge snow blower and I made it to work Monday morning, so all is well!! And the sun is shining today!! :-} Hope you are having a good week!!

139: I had no idea they were married! I love writer couples. Thanks for the info, Stasia!

140: Yeah right, you don't have to worry about it! I need to head over to your thread and see what you've been up to....

141: Hi Tammy! Hey, are you planning on going to the Chicago meetup in a couple of weeks? It'd be great to meet you in person!

Well kids, I'm in full Book Funk. Have hardly read in over a week. The good news out of that is that I've now almost completely cleaned out / organized / tossed all of the excess crap in my guest room. It's a great feeling, was loooong overdue, and now I can't stop standing in the doorway and staring. The cleaning out and organizing also included two bookshelves, one of which was so overstuffed I was a little afraid to start moving things in case it fell on top of me! I put a whole giant bin of childhood/teen books in the basement and gave away 10 others to friends. I also found a box of books I pulled from my shelves to send to the troops overseas - I think it's been sitting in that room since the fall. Bad. So now I have to get rid of those as well.

At any rate, I'm hopeful that I can snap out of the Funk and get back to reading some time very soon. (I can feel reading start to creep in around the edges, but who knows when it will fully appear again.) *sigh* Off to eat some very late lunch before starting a laundry marathon!

I'm in the same situation in regards to the funkification. :(

Hey there fellow Funkee! What's up with us? Plus there's Stasia and a few others out here. It's been low-lying for me for the whole winter, but the last week or so has been really outrageous. Here's hoping we can both get out of this - and soon!

Congratulations on the guest room cleanout! That's definitely worth a pat on the back.

Laura: Yep, exactly. A very rough winter and this past week has just been blech. :(

I ordered books in an attempt to make myself feel better. *Shrug* We'll see how it goes when they arrive.

Laura- Sorry to hear about the dreaded "Book funk". It seems to be sweeping through LT like the plague. I must be armed with silver crosses, garlic and holy water, because I've managed to avoid it so far.
Hope you shake it off soon!

Hi Laura! I'm hoping to come to the meetup! Not sure yet if I can. The book funk will pass. I went through that in December. I think I passed over 2 or 3 books before I found one worth reading. Now I'm finishing The Girl That Kicked The Hornet's Nest, and sadly waiting for it to be over. Hope your having a good week!

I've been stuck in a dreaded Book Funk (and Life Funk) for the past almost month. It's finally breaking up, and I'm starting to read again! Yahoo!

Too tired to do any kind of a proper review on the few books I've read, so small sentences will have to suffice.

Maze of Bones, 39 Clues #1 and One False Note, 39 Clues #2- audio CD, the narrator does a great job. It's a fun series so far, and while I realize that I'm not the target demographic, the kids seem overly dippy sometimes. 3 stars each.

Longitude, Dava Sobel - audio CD as well. This time the narrator is a little hard to concentrate on, it's not a voice I can easily listen to. Interesting book though, about the discovery of longitude, clocks, and all sorts of those things. 3 stars.

Book 31: The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells - for bookclub. I didn't know anything about this other than Martians invade and take over the Earth. I'm surprised at how well I do like this book. For the first 60-ish pages I was rapt with fear, but then it started to be a little long-winded for my liking. Very glad I read this one. Would give it a higher rating, but it was too drawn out overall. 3 stars

That's sadly it. I'm sorely overdue for a review on goodreads (I know! I'm a cheater!) and need to do a review for last months ER win, not to mention participating in any of the group reads that I've joined this year (so far I've missed 3) and that I have to get into the habit of reading more off of my own shelves. I know it's early in the year still, and that I have plenty of time to catch up, but I feel like I'm setting a bad precedent.

Hi Laura. My book/life-funk is breaking as well. I read 90 pages yesterday to finish the book I was reading. I hope it continues, for the both of us. :)

Too bad the Wells book became long-winded. You know, I've never read a single one of this books? I keep meaning to change that but just haven't managed to pick one of his books up yet.

Whoa?? Is it just me or is everyone in the book and life funk? I've been MIA for almost a month too- I missed you!

Count me in for funks...but only for sticking to anything long enough to finish it. I have started 7 books in the last week, they're all really good, but I don't seem to be able to settle down to finish any one of them. Maybe my kids are right....I may be the one with the ADD...

>149 LauraBrook:: Glad the book funk is over for you, Laura. I escaped it this time, although I did have a little life funk with the dreary weather we had most of the winter. Yesterday was bright, sunny, and warm here. My grandkids are visitng and we went to their favorite park...with caves and big rocks to climb on. Of course, there were about a thousand kids there screaming and running around with us.

I'm envious of those going to the Chicago meet-up. I'll be in Texas with my baby granddaughter or I might be tempted to make the trip. Ya'll have fun! Take pictures.

semi-book funk / semi-library-thing funk / actually came down with a sinus infection this past weekend funk here =D

feeling bad though cause I kind of predicted I couldn't stay active on LT for very long...

but glad to know others get book funks too =D

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by!

Stephen: Haven't been to your thread in a few days, but I am SO GLAD to hear your funkification is over! If you read 90 pages in a day, my dear, you should be good to go. Any chance you want to drive over to Chicago for the meetup on Saturday? ;)

Tam: Howdy there friend! Mark said it right when he said The Funk was sweeping LT like the plague. Seems like it's lifting for some people though, which is a relief! Hope you are doing well - and I am so excited to meet you on Saturday!!!!

Tina: Sorry to hear about the Funks you've got. What is going on around here?!? Hopefully some sunshine-y weather will help out. And if starting 7 books in a week means you have ADD, then I have it too. I'm reading more, but finishing a book (mostly novels/fiction)? Nope! That being said, I do have a couple to review in just a sec, but they're not fiction. Sigh ... there was talk of a de-funk-ing dance over on Stephen's thread a little while ago. Perhaps I could learn it and perform it for you? If I do dance you are guaranteed a laugh. What say you to that?

Donna: DONNA! Hi there, dear! I haven't been stalking your thread with any kind of regularity, I will fix that toot-sweet! This winter has been funky for sure, and not in the good way. Glad to hear you had a good time with the grandkids romping around outside, though. It's a very balmy 52 degrees today, lots of sun, very nice. It looks weird though, since there is a blanket of snow over most of the lawns, so it's blindingly bright, and it's strange to be comfortably walking around in a T-shirt with snow under your feet. That's part of the wonderfully weird weather here in the Mid-West!
I wish you were coming to the meet-up on Saturday, it would be great to meet you in person. Lots of pictures will be taken for sure, just please don't judge me by my size. *defeated sigh* Medical issues are no fun, that's for sure. :( Here's hoping that between the 5 of us (6?) we'll be able to upload pics the next day.

My funk-be-gone spray seems to have worked! (Well, it was really sunshine and the longer daylight hours that really seem to have kicked it to the curb.) It's still a little strange to be eating dinner while it's light out, and I can't seem to get myself awake and feeling human before 8 am, but it's still early days. While I've been working on my taxes (boo!) I've been listening to an audio book and it has certainly helped.

Book 32: The Sword Thief 39 clues book #3 by Peter Lerangis
Not much to say about this one in particular. Amy and Dad are still slightly annoying, but their adventures with Saladin the cat, their au-pair Nelly, and the whole host of their crazy relatives can't be called boring. In this entry in the series, Amy and Dan are searching for the next clue in Tokyo and South Korea. I think this would be a great series for middle-grade kids to get in to, it talks (albeit briefly) about all sorts of things (samurais, wars in Japan) while still moving the story forward. I've got the next in the series going as I type this. I look forward to what's going to happen, and where they're going to travel. 3 stars.

Book 33: Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander
I first saw this book a couple of years ago and it seemed hilarious. It is a funny book, but after a dozen entries the funny kind of wore off. Looking at all aspects of white culture, it gives hints and tips on what to do to befriend a white person. Being a book nerd (books are one of the things), this made me laugh out loud because it's sadly partially true for me. "Just as hunters will mount the heads of their kills, white people need to let people know that they have made their way through hundreds, if not thousands of books. After all, what's the point of reading a book if people don't know you've read it? It's like a tree falling in the forest." I plan on giving this book to a friend of mine who says she likes to read but never does - if nothing else, she should be able to get a few laughs out of it. 3.5 stars.

Book 34: Milwaukee At Mid-Century: The Photographs of Lyle Oberwise pub'd by the Milwaukee County Historical Society
A spontaneous choice at the library, this was a very interesting book. I drive all over downtown on a fairly regular basis and wanted to see what the city looked like in the 40's to 60's. It seems like a lot of the great buildings in this book were demolished to make way for the freeway, which is pretty sad. However, it was fun to instantly recognize a building that I pass and read its "bio". Before returning this I plan on showing it to my parents (they're both 67) as they have fond memories of heading downtown to the big city on the weekends (Mom grew up in the house I'm in now, and Dad moved in across the street from here when he was 9). A nostalgic trip of sorts, and one I really enjoyed taking. 4.5 stars. By the way, the Milwaukee County Historical Society seems to print excellent books - I think I'll have to make a point of seeking more of them out in the future.

That's all for now! I still have to do 2 reviews, and try to crank out a 500+ page book for my bookclub in a couple of weeks, and finish a couple of library books that can no longer be renewed. Looks like I should stop cleaning up and out around here and sit down to read for a few nights! Oh, the humanity! ;)

I wish I could make it to Chicago. Unfortunately not, though. :(

Funk appears to be over....now back to the age old wonderful dilemma of what to read next...I've got 3 going now--a new mystery, a YA fantasy, and a pulitzer ...so I'm happy happy. I've also got to take some time to read up on diabetes, because the big guy who calls himself Mr. Tutu just got the diagnosis from the doctor, and since I do the cooking/shopping, I have to learn to be a food policeman very quickly. We had a great session with the nutritionist last week, but wow....lots of changes to meal plans---it will be good for us, but I'm finding a lot of reading time is going into recipes. SIGH........

I know, Stephen, but it would be great to have you at an LT meet-up. Perhaps you could host an Ohio one? ;)

Tina, I'm sorry to hear about the diabetic diagnosis for your husband. One of my best friends has been diabetic for 30 years, and it's a big difference in how/what you eat. Best of luck to both of you making the big change in how you eat. I don't envy you guys at all, and I'm hoping that I won't become diabetic myself (aren't medical issues great?!? *groan*), so I've been trying to eat like my friend does as much as possible.

Well, instead of doing what I am supposed to be doing, I read a book!

Book 35: West Wind by Mary Oliver

This slim book of poems and prose poems was just the right thing for a lazy day off of work. None of them jumped out at me as being spectacular or awful, it's just an overall great selection of work. I don't have much else to say about this book, but that I'm giving it a hearty 4 star rating and will be scouring poetry shelves at used bookstores until I have my very own copy.

Many thanks to Andrea (blythe025/andreablythe) for recommending Mary Oliver's work!

Perhaps you could host

*Panics uncontrollably* Nope, not happening. 0.0

Hi Laura!! Hope you have a great time at the meet up today!!

Thanks Tammy! Wish you could be there with us - we'll have to meet at the next one, whenever the heck that turns out to be. Hope you're having a good Saturday!

Alright, I'm almost ready to head out the door for the Chicago Meet-up! I can't wait to meet Tam, Linda, Joe, Mark, and anyone else who decides to show up. Wish me luck driving, and I'll see you guys back here later!

Don't worry, my camera is in my purse!

Laura, it was great to meet you today. Hope you're getting home safely. Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Book 36: The Black Circle book 5 in The 39 Clues by Patrick Carmen

My last 39 Clues book for awhile, 5 in a row is too saturating for me. This time around, Dan and Amy are on their own (no Nelly or Saladin for company) as they chopper, drive (!), and run for their lives around Russia. I'm impressed as always with the narrative skills of David Pittu - how he does all of those accents, and the multiple voices for each accent, and keeps them all so identifiably different is a true talent and a marvel. I'll be back for more Clues after a break of a few weeks. 3 stars.

Forgot about this one ... oops!

Book 37: Beyond the Grave book 4 of 39 Clues by Jude Watson

Book 4 finds Amy & Dan in Egypt, and after just finishing the fifth book in Russia, not much from Egypt sticks out in my memory aside from them narrowly dodging a crocodile chasing after them in the Nile. 3 stars.

Hi Laura, I'm glad you had your camera. Thanks for posting that great pic on the Chicago thread. Looked like a good time in the ol' town! I wish I could have been there. I'd love a trip to Chicagoland...maybe next year?

No problem, Donna! It would be great to see you at the next Chicago meet-up, whenever that may be. Glad you liked the picture too!

Hey, you know what's a good distraction from Real Life? Reading!!!!!

Book 38: Alfons Mucha by Renate Ulmer

I've always really liked Mucha's artwork, and learning a little about his life was really interesting. The book is short, and composed mostly of his artwork, but what I liked about this the most was seeing some of his drawings and model photos with the finished work on the facing page. 4 stars

Book 39: Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson

I felt like having some Bryson in my life, but I was a little disappointed that this book isn't in the vein of his other, more popular, books. It's a fairly straightforward biography of Shakespeare and his life and times. It was interesting, certainly full of facts, but it fell flat for me. This is probably mostly me, I had a difficult time keeping my head focused on what was going on. I listened to this one, and also read it, depending on where I was. In the end, I'm giving it 3 stars. I'll keep the book (since I have all of his books), but I've already sent out the audiobook via PaperbackSwap. Scored an extra inch of shelf space! :)

Book 40: Evans to Betsy by Rhys Bowen

Another good, entertaining, charming entry in the Evan Evans series. Reading her books is very comforting to me, and I got a good chunk of it read this morning while waiting to get my taxes done. In this book, the 6th in the series, Betsy, the flirty barmaid, gets swept along to a New Age Spiritual Center by a visiting American. She's told she has very strong psychic powers, and when she starts working at Sacred Grove, a famous American psychic gets killed, and Betsy finds his body in a dream. Constable Evans doesn't want to get to far involved in this whole thing, and while Betsy is "developing her powers", she sets her ever-gleaming-eye on Evan. Mysteriously, Bronwen falls ill - a little too ill for Evan's liking - and once the competing congregations of Llanfair get wind of what is happening down at the Center, Evan certainly has his hands full.

What starts out as Evan investigating a disappearance of a missing American college student on the heels of arrival of the American schmoozing Betsy, turns into a multiple-bodied pile-up, and all of the usual residents of the town have something to say about it. While no surprises were found in this mystery, I was very glad to have something comforting and pleasant to distract me today. 4 stars.

(I just realized that there are a lot of Americans in this one, and not many of them are very nice people. Yikes. Since the author lives in California, I'm assuming she holds no ill will towards us, but I fear that other countries view us as this book seems to. *gulp*)

Since my headache seems to be finally covered-up with ibuprofen, I think I'll have a short glass of wine and curl up on the couch with a blanket, a cat, a book, and a little Poirot on TV.

Oh yay, I'm glad you have been getting plenty of reading done. Sorry to hear you still aren't feeling great, but reading is one positive thing, right? I'm in the same boat, still not great but if I can get a few pages in here and there throughout the day, it's a little bit comforting.

Hiya Stephen - glad to have some company in this boat! Reading is totally my salvation / comfort, and some days that's the only positive thing I get out of the 24 hours. The conflict I'm having now is trying to find some kind of a balance between what I want to do (reading) and what I have to do (finish office paperwork, working, cleaning the house, etc). As long as I can reward myself with some reading maybe once or twice during the day, I'm good.

And on that note, I need to get my behind moving - need to get over to the tax guy to drop off a form I forgot yesterday before they close in a half hour, need to pick up the living room for Girls Night tonight, do the dishes, etc - and then before company comes over I can sit and read a little bit of Henrietta Sees It Through as my "reward" for busting my butt for the next couple of hours. Hope you're having a nice Sunday with Shyanne, Stephen!

A bit disappointed to hear about the Bill Byrson. I was thinking of trying this as an audio next month. Humm, think I'll hold off a bit. I'm still reading In a Sunburned Country anyway.

Hi Luara. Shyanne is doing well. She's behaving like a total brat, so...yep, back to her old self! :)

I've been reading well lately, but I've got a sort-of head cold thingy right now and I can't concentrate, so I haven't read much today! Hope you are faring better.

Knock knock! Hey Laura, how are you feeling/reading lately?

A little late, but still timely... copied from my 1111 thread

First Quarter Wrap-Up

My goal for the 1111 challenge is to read 121 books, but other than the slim requirement of reading at least 5 in each category I decided to be kind to myself this year and not sweat anything else. I think I need to start "sweating" about the lack of reading in a few of these categories!

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

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

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

If I can keep this pace up for the next 9 months, it should be my most prolific reading year ever!

Who's there?

Hey Stephen, thanks for checking on me. Been away from LT this week - real life issues always ruin things - but will be here tonight and probably for most of the next 48 hours or so. I'm participating in Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon, and will be updating my very sad blog every other hour-ish. I've only stayed up the whole time for 1 of them (this will be my fourth time participating), but I'm hopeful that I'll be able to do it again tomorrow.

I was supposed to be spending today cleaning up the house (only partially done) and getting food ready (done!), but now that it's evening and I have yet to eat dinner I'm starting to get excited about reading for so long! Usually I spend a long time at the library getting heaps of books, and then go over and over my shelves doing the same thing, then taking pictures, making lists, etc. This time, I'm just going to try and "wing it" and read whatever catches my eye, with a focus on finishing some of the books I'm already reading. Last time I read 5 books, and I think the other 2 times I read something like 8. I'm going to low-ball it this time and say 3 books will be my goal.

What's up with you, Stephen? How are you feeling? Still de-funkified?

Laura, I am very behind on threads, so I am not going to play catch up. I just hope to be able to keep up with you the rest of the year :)

It seems I'm either feeling great and not reading or reading and feeling terrible. Lately, I've been reading. Been finishing books relatively quickly and I'm headed off to the library later today, which I haven't done in...awhile!

Have fun with the readathong, Laura. I hope you get lots of reading done. :)

Thanks Stephen! I've had to delete that extra "g" several times. Maybe I'll leave a few in so you can search for them! Have fun at the library today - and feel free to come back here and laugh at my increasing amounts of Crazy as I get more and more sleep-deprived!

Right! Will start reading in 2 minutes....

Well, the read-a-thon has officially started, and I've got one book finished so far - yahoo! It helps to see that I've made some little progress this early in the day so I won't feel like such a slacker when I need to take a nap later on. And at this rate, I WILL need to take a nap! If it was sunny out, it would help, but it's so darn grey and chilly - very conducive for sleeping and not so conducive to staying awake and reading! Oh well. Off to run an errand.

Oh! I almost forgot - I'll be updating my threads after all is said and done. Otherwise, I'll spend too much time screwing around, trying to remember passwords and things, instead of reading. Later!

ed. to add: I'll be updating my ticker at the top, and any reviews and things - not not talking. Oy, it's only hour 2 and already my sleepiness is causing clarity problems. Should be an entertaining read for you guys!

Yep, two hours in and you're already suffering from the crazies a little. Definitely entertaining. :)

Hi Laura: Our weather guy is talking about upper 80s on Sunday. Hope you can enjoy the nice weather. They keep talking about 70 today but that seems doubtful.

Enjoy the readathon. I should check that out.

>165 LauraBrook:: I know what you mean about Shakespeare and Bryson, Laura. I started this one in January, and the bookmark hasn't moved in months!

I'm glad that somebody is getting some reading done this week-end. My husband is going to do the first mowing today and I offered to pick up the sticks and limbs that are sprinkled around our lot - which looks like a good way to get a backache now that I think about it. I plan to get some reading done as part of my "recovery"!

178: Hi Linda! Yeah, same thing here, only upper 70's/lower 80's for tomorrow. Which would be nice of the threat of tornadoes weren't also in the picture!

179: Hi Donna! Glad to have some back-up on the Bryson/Shakespeare issue. I know it's not meant to be a tradition books of his (it's part of a larger series on historical figures), but I still thought it would be more fun than it is. For a smaller book, it sure does take awhile to get through!

If you're picking up sticks, my parents and I (sadly or not) use those grabbers to pick them up so our backs get saved. None of us are in fantastic shape, and you look a little odd doing it, but it beats walking around bent-over for the rest of the day. However, recovering by reading does sound quite nice. :) Hope you can recover for the rest of the afternoon and evening!

The readathon is going pretty well so far. Only 1 book finished, but got a little over an hour of an audiobook going, and am another 50ish pages into another one. I just went downstairs to change a load of laundry and noticed that there is water backed up over my floor drain *sigh* so I've just called my parents to come over and check things out. I'm horrible with this kind of stuff and my Dad is really good at it. Plus, that way they can see the "grandkids", AKA my cats, for awhile. In the meantime, I think I'll run next door to my neighbors house and use her bathroom before I wet my pants make some lunch and keep on reading!

Well, it's official - my sewer is backed up. The house smells, I've got doors and as many windows with screens open as possible. Parents are over, plumber is on the way - no wait, he's here now - and it's a serious pain in the butt. Guess I won't be reading for at least another hour. *sigh*

*Grumble* What horrible timing! :(

I know! It can't be on a regular day when I'm home, noooooo, it has to be on a day set aside specifically for reading. *grrrr* Well, the problem is solved (for now), I can happily use my own bathroom without worry (always a nice thing), and more importantly, I can GET BACK TO READING!!!

Next time I pop in, I promise it will be book related. :)

Happy reading! ^_^

I hope you are still readathoning, Laura!

Yes I am! I just finished book #2 - it was excellent, so that really helped out - and I'm going to make a little snack before I start reading again. I don't know if I should read more in one of my 3 audiobooks, or if I should keep reading physical books until my arms are really too tired. Decisions, decisions.

How's work tonight, Stasia? I hope no one is causing a ruckus for you and you can get some reading done.

Right now, work is slow so I am catching up on threads and reading The Hallowed Hunt. It is early yet - my night tends to pick up around 2am.

Does that correspond to "bar time" in Texas? 2 a.m. is bar time here in Wisconsin.

How's The Hallowed Hunt going so far? It sounds a little spooky. Did you get a chance to reorganize your library during your LT sabbatical?

Yes, it does correspond to 'bar time' around here.

I am still working on organizing my library. It is going to be a long, ongoing project but at least I have made a start.

I am finding The Hallowed Hunt to be very different from the first two books of the trilogy. It is not spooky though.

Good for you for getting started on your library. I know you have a lot of books (to prepare for the WWBF, obviously) and I'm sure it can get overwhelming at times, but just think of how nice it will be to get everything sorted. Even a little progress in this area seems to do the trick for me.

I've never read books quite like those in that trilogy. Do you recommend them?

I think I'm going to start reading the first Mrs. Jeffries book, The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries, as my Mom has been bugging me to read the series for a couple of years now and I promised that I'd at least start it during this readathong. Otherwise, let's see - I have a cookbook/memoir in my TBR-tonight stack, along with an anthology of Gorey and the second in the Womens Murder Club series. Since Mrs Jeffries is under 200 pages I'd at least get a good crack at her before quitting in case I don't like it. I know the Patterson will suck me in and read very quickly, but I want to try and make time for everything if I can. I'd better get started reading then, instead of just talking about it (like usual).

I'll be back in a little while - only 5 1/2 hours to go now!

Yes, I definitely do recommend the trilogy - at least the first two books. I am not sure about The Hallowed Hunt yet, but The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls are both excellent.

Alright, I'll add them to my wishlist! You know, I don't know if I've been over to your new thread yet - I'll make it a priority to head over there and do some damage to my TBR list during the day tomorrow after I've gotten some sleep.

Still doing alright, but I'm getting that cold-achey-tingley-can't-we-just-lay-down-already feeling. Only 4 more hours left! Think I can make it? Cuz right now I'm not so sure...

You can do it, Laura!!

Aw, thanks Stasia! My favorite cheerleaders!!!

I have to say that after I left here I went over to both Ellie and Stephen's threads and clearly I had lost my mind a little. Then I grabbed some coleslaw for a snack and I lost my mind A LOT for about 10 minutes. I was reading my book with one hand, and while reading I was eating coleslaw, rocking myself, and singing "Soft Kitty" out loud. And I didn't even notice that what I was doing was even slightly abnormal. Yeah. For reals. Crazytime arrived.

It's hopefully passed (at least for now) and it let me finish 2 more books. I think it's time I read some Books With Pictures so I can give my poor brain a break. I'm still keeping at it, though! And, unless I'm hallucinating (a strong possibility), it looks like the sky is just barely starting to get brighter. Could it be true?

It is just barely starting to get brighter here too, Laura, so I suspect it is true :)

Hi Laura! I'm awake now and here to cheer you on for the final hours. WOOHOO!

Thanks, guys! Just one more hour to go, I think I can finish the one I'm reading and one more in that time. *crosses fingers* Here I go!

*crossing fingers* for Laura!

Wow, you're doing a great job. Keep it up!

You should be just about wrapping up now, right? Go get some sleep, crazy lady! ;)

I think when you guys were posting I was half trying-to-focus-my-eyes-on-a-book and half trying to figure out what time it was and how much longer I had to stay awake. Thank the lord I saved the Edward Gorey anthology til the end - the darkly pretty pictures gave me something to try and focus on. It would've seemed normal without the psychotic giggling though, so let's leave that part out of it, shall we? :)

My final numbers:

Pages read: 432 (yay for pictures!)
Total: 1,664
Time reading: 1 hr 38 min
Total: 14 hrs 8 min (3 hr 40 min audiobooks)
Books completed: 7
Blogs visited: 4
Mini-challenges completed: 2 (“Collaborative Fiction” and “In Other Words”)

Not too bad overall, considering I lost a good chunk of time to the plumber. If I hadn't, I'm pretty sure I could've finished at least 2 more books. Oh well - looks like I'll just have to try harder next time. That, or rent a precautionary port-a-potty! Yeah, that's not happening. Maybe I'll have to invest in a pack of adult diapers, and ignore the yucky smell coming out of the basement of my house. Nope, not happening either. Well, there's no way to avoid plumbing issues, especially since the amount of water I had used at that point in no way came close to equalling the amount of stuff I had in my basement. It wasn't a flood or anything, thank goodness, but it was more than what you'd want hanging around your floor drain like a mass of delinquent and angry teenagers.

Enough about that - I suppose you'd like to know what I read, right? Of course! I'll add my little reviews too, and that's all these books are going to get. Even if I waited to do a more "proper" review I'd just end up forgetting about it. So, in the order I read them...

Book 41: Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster
Rec'd to me by Joe (jnwelch) at the Chicago Meet-up, this is an old-fashioned, sweet, and appropriate for its time book about an orphan who gets sent to college by a mysterious Trustee of her orphanage. Her only requirement is to write him letters (she calls him Daddy L-L as a nickname) once a month, but she writes more often, and includes every part of her life. It's an epistolary novel, one of my favorite kinds, and was a quick read. 4 stars, and now I have an excuse to watch the Fred Astaire movie version again! :)

I read an hour of the audio version of Eat, Pray, Love while running errands both outside and inside the house. I really love this book (I read it waaay before any kind of backlash, so it still holds all of its' original new-car-smell) and am glad that I have a happy kind of audio book for times like this.

I also read 130 pages in The Royals by Kitty Kelley. I bought this big sucker when it was published just before Diana's death and figured it was about friggin time I made some progress in it. I had hoped to originally finish it last night, but it's quite gossipy and that loses a little charm after an hour or so. I'll keep at it over the next week though, as I've been "currently reading" it since November. Only 350 pages to go!

Then, I started listening to just over an hour of Matched by Ally Condie. I wasn't sure I'd be that into it at first, but by the second track I was hooked. I wanted to listen to more of it while I was sleepy, but somehow the physical books didn't make me too tired this time around so I ignored this darkly wonderful tale. I'll be surprised if it takes me til the end of the week to finish this one.

Book 42: Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
So so excellent! Book #2 in the "Hex Hall" series, the wait for this one was terrible, and now I've got to wait AGAIN for months until book 3 comes out - I equal parts love and hate this problem. What Sophie and her odd bunch of family and friends get up to is too much to get into - however, if you like supernatural YA fiction, I think you'd love this series. 5 stars - really!

Book 43: Henrietta Sees It Through by Joyce Dennys
Yet another epistolary book, this one won through the ER program. I wrote a review of it when I was only halfway through it (oops!) and finally finished the second half tonight. Very enjoyable, and I'm glad I have the first book on hand to read sooner than later. 4 stars.

Book 44: Feng Sh*t by crosbieanna::Anna Crosbie
One of my very good friends gave this to me as a sort-of joke gift after I moved into the house. Subtitled "The art of domestic disorder", I found some of it was funny, and some of it hit a little too close to home (but not consciously so). 3.5 stars and will happily bid adieu to it.

Book 45: 836615::The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries by Emily Brightwell
My Mom, who loves cozies and this series, has been not-so-quietly urging me to read them for a few years now. This is (I think) the first in the series. It was cute, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't some big mystery to figure out who-dun-it. I'll probably read another one at some point, they're fast to read and most are around 200 pages, but I'm not necessarily rushing to them. 3.5 stars.

Book 46: 8334625::Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights by dahlsophie::Sophie Dahl
I've always like her, and this book that's half-memoir and half-cookbook was visually appealing so I bought it. I read everything in here (took longer to read than Mrs. Jeffries!) with the exception of the seafood recipes, and many of them look delicious and simple to do. I had thought I'd get rid of it after reading, but I enjoyed it so much I'll keep it around for awhile still. 3.75 stars

Book 47: 20182::Amphigorey Also by Edward Gorey
A book I've had on the shelf for years and years finally had its number called. I really like Gorey, and this anthology of 17 stories was just what I needed to finish up this readathon during the height of my crazy. Will keep this one for sure - anyone know why he keeps doing "alphabet" books? - and am glad to not see its tall spine sticking up among the sea of trade paperbacks and hardcovers any more. 4.25 stars

Phew! I think that covers everything! Just had a flashback of the entire 24-hours and it's making me veeeery sleeepy again. But, I still feel like reading, so at least I know I didn't burn myself out on it! Usually after these things I read quite a lot more than usual for a couple of weeks and then hit a dry patch. Here's hoping I can knock out a few more books very soon!

And now, to spare this poor poor message any more length, I'm going to copy and paste it into my 1111 thread and step away from the computer for a bit. Hmmm, I think a grilled cheese sounds like a great breakfast!

Laura, you are the Queen of the Readathons. That was an amazing number of pages and books that you read. What was in that coleslaw? I need some of that stuff. ;-)

I'm glad your plumbing woes are over. I got my yard cleaned up without a backache so we both had a successful week-end, although you read a heckuva lot more than I did! Rest well.

Wow, what a successful readathon! Psychotic giggling aside, you did great!

Sorry that you are experiencing plumbing woes Laura! A few years ago I owned a small cottage like, older home. I spent $17,000 in one year -- not for remodeling -- but, for repairs. How I wish that it was in the shape I sold it when I bought it.

Congratulations on reading so many pages during the readathon!

Donna, it was just regular coleslaw from a local deli (my fave) and I think the only unusual ingredient I can pick out is celery seed. No "funny" coleslaw for this household - I save that for brownies exclusively. Kidding! ;) Now we all know what a hallucinogenic veggie that celery is - all the kids are trying to eat enough to get high! (Oh, I love sarcasm.) I'm very glad to hear that you managed the yard clean-up without any injury and that you got to read a little too.

General, thanks for stopping by! And a little psychotic laughter never really hurt anyone, did it? (Sheesh, I hope not.)

Hi Linda! Thanks for the sympathy - isn't it amazing what can go wrong? It seems like one thing starts and then it snowballs into a few other things in just a few months. I think the next thing on the list may be my fridge. It's been making louder and stranger noises than normal for the last month or so, so it may be next on the chopping-block - though I hope not, because this plumbing stuff isn't quite finished!

Thanks for the congrats everyone. I hadn't been reading very much the last week to "save it up" for yesterday, and I only wish I could've had those extra 5 hours I lost to read some more. I'm just eating some dinner (leftover pizza, a salad and some wine - fancy!) now at 8:30pm, and watching a little "Fawlty Towers" before I pick up a book. Some scary weather (tornadoes, etc) to the North and West of me, and strong storms headed my way, so will have to keep on my toes tonight when I hit the hay.

It is thunderstorming here now, Laura. I am hoping it makes for a quiet night at the office so maybe I can sneak some reading in :)

Hi Laura- I'm a bit behind over here! It looks like you did great on the Read-a-thon! Congrats! I'd be exhausted.
I loved Eat Pray Love on audio. Gilbert did a fantastic job. Hope you can get back to Hellhound now.

I'm very relieved that the tornadoes didn't visit my neck of the woods. Spring is always a scary time in WI - you never know what's coming! At the very least, it's a great reason to have to stay home with a book!

Stasia, I hope you can get a little reading in while the girls are visiting.

Mark, I've been listening to about a half hour of Hellhound every day, so it's a bit slow-going. No fault of the book though, it's just me. The last week or so I've had a difficult time listening to it simply because hearing about all of these horrible things that people think, so much hatred and anger, is really upsetting me. I'm absolutely going to finish it, no doubt, and it's really a great book, I'm just having a bit of a hard time with it.

I haven't been reading much of anything at all the last week. Too much time at work, and when I've been home I've been picking things up, doing laundry, fielding phone calls ... doesn't everyone understand that I've got books that need to be read?!? :) Thankfully, this week seems to be a little calmer, so I'm hoping to finish up a few that have been in progress for longer than I'd like.

Plus, I have some planning to do for the Royal Wedding!

Laura- It's nice having you check in. Yes, Hellhound, can be disturbing at times, with the blatant racism, but it was just an unsettling fact during those turbulent times. BTW- Spring needs to kick in, once and for all!

Drive-by Hug, Laura! :)

Hey Mark! The weather here has sure been poopy the last week. Grey and chilly and rainy every day. I've (very badly) been a little jealous of everyone who got on my table for a massage this week, it's great weather to relax and take a nap and read. Not great to start taking walks or feel motivated to do much aside from laying around. Was it the same by you this week?

*Waves* Hi Stephen! How's it going for you this week? How were the storms last week - I saw that you lost power, but were there tornadoes in your area? Seems like half of the country had them, I couldn't keep up with what was happening where.

Even though it was a calmer week (yay!) I got very little reading done (boo!). I haven't felt like watching TV much for the past month or so, so consequently my DVR is almost always 90-something% full. Most of my free time has been catching up on shows so the new episodes could be recorded. It's a weird cycle, I know, but I don't want to miss anything. I know that tomorrow there's a Do Nothing But Read Day hosted by 2 different groups, but I'm going to be snobbish and just do the one that Cait started for the 75ers this afternoon. I'm still working on 3 ARCs that are overdue (one is veeeeery overdue), and I'd like to get a start on my next bookclub book even though it's 2 weeks away. We're reading Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis, and I don't know what to expect. I don't think I've ever read anything by him before, but I'm a little apprehensive for no real reason. Anyone want to jump in here and tell me what they think about Lewis and/or Babbitt?

Onto a totally random topic, I'm listening to "Norwegian Dance #1" by Edward Grieg right now, and it sounds really different to me. Almost like someone added a new minor theme or something. Of course, maybe I'm just mentally confusing it with #2. Or maybe it's the start of some slow-onset mental disease, who can tell?

I'm doin' okay! I've started a big, thick nonfiction today and only got 20 pages read. Bah!

Yeah, there were some little F0 tornadoes here that uprooted some trees and caused a little damage, but it could've been a lot worse...

Laura- Yes, it was a cool unpleasant week! Next week looks warmer, but rain still in the picture. Have a nice Easter weekend.

Just a quick "Hiya!" and "Love your reads!" :) I have tons of kids asking for the 39 Clues books at work, so they've somehow gotten stuck in my head with a great big "Buy Me!" sticker on 'em. (Yeah, like I really need more kids books!) Stuff White People Like I've flipped through a couple times for a good chuckle. I'll have to re-flip through it, though; it's been so long; I've almost forgotten what I'm supposed to like.

(googles SWPL real quick) Aha! Here we go: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/ . :) Organic food--check. Asian girls--check. Oh, er . . . that didn't quite sound right, me being a girl and all. 0_o I'll return to my book now!

Organic food--check. Asian girls--check

Crap, I'm 50-50... :D

Hi. Delurking to put in a good word for Sinclair Lewis. Some years ago (well, many years ago) I read pretty much all his big books and liked them all. Babbitt may be a little outdated to read now, probably, but all are still well observed views of a certain section of society at that time. I hope you enjoy it (have you finished it yet?)

Happy Belated Easter to everyone! I hope you all had some nice weather, and lots of goodies in your basket! I had a late lunch with my parents, and then it was Girls Night! In preparation for the Royal Wedding on Friday (I don't know if I could be any more excited!!!) we watched the truly cheesily awful Lifetime movie "William & Kate". Now, I've seen some bad movies *coughFromJustinToKellycough* but this was bad. To be fair, the main actors weren't bad, but the dialouge was not great, and the minor actors were obviously Acting - you could almost see them trying - so it's safe to say that I won't be watching it again any time soon. Oh well, I've got over half of my DVR chock-full of programs about Royals and weddings, and all things related. Yay!!!

Sara, thanks for stopping by! Yeah, the 39 Clues books are good, but I don't know if I'd want to own them necessarily. And judging by the Stuff list, I'm firmly in White People territory. *sigh*

Stephen, I know how much you like Organic Food!

Janet! Thanks for stopping by and letting me know about Sinclair Lewis. I haven't even started it yet (bad Laura), but I know that I need to. It's not a huge book, Babbitt, and I'm not as intimidated thanks to your advice! I'll keep you posted on my progress. :)

On Friday night and into Saturday, Cait86 hosted a readathon that I participated in but haven't been back to update my final totals yet. (Ooops!) I finished 2 books and read from a couple more, and in the last week I finished 2 others as well!

Book 48: 2nd Chance by James Patterson
Another great entry in the Women's Murder Club series, this book finds a serial killer once again loose on the streets in and around San Francisco. What seems like race-based killings to most, doesn't sit right with Lt. Lindsay Boxer and her group of high-powered, intelligent friends. Fast-paced, twisty, escapist fiction, I can't help but enjoy myself reading this series. I'd normally make a comment about needing "easy" reading in my life, but so far this year is turning out to be an "easy" year, so I'm going to stop justifying my choices and just have fun. It's a great book, a real page-turner, and book #3 is sitting on my coffee table waiting to be read. 3.5 stars.

Book 49: If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff
A cute addition to the "If You Give..." series, but it didn't seem to have as much heart as some of the others did. Oh well - it was a fun 5 minutes with entertaining illustrations and it's now off of my shelf and in the mail courtesy of PaperbackSwap! 3.75 stars

Book 50: Masters of Sex by Thomas Maier
A biography of Virginia Johnson and William Masters, their lives pre-, during-, and post- studies, and the invaluable volumes of information they gave the world regarding human sexual response. It's clear from the start that it's a very well researched book, and for a topic that could be presented as salacious or sleazy, it never veers towards that territory. I was born in 1978, so most of their work was done before and/or away from my awareness, but I'd always heard their names and wondered what, exactly, they did. Thanks to Thomas Maier and his well-written book, I now know. If you're looking for a book about Masters and Johnson and how they conducted their work, I can't imagine a better choice. 4 stars.

Book 51: Matched by Ally Condie
When I first started this book (audio, btw), I was in L-O-V-E love with it. That changed to indifference towards the middle and ended up somewhere between the two in the end. This start to a series tells all about Cassia, her match for marriage, and what happens when a different boys face flickers on the screen after her official matching ceremony. The choices she makes about whom she's going to pursue, the dystopian society that America has become, and the sheep-like world that most people exist in are all interesting. In some ways, it seems like the universe that Matched lives in is entirely too possible. Ally Condie's writing is very accurately teenage, and I was going to rush right out to get book #2 when it's published later this fall. Instead, I'll walk, not run, to my local library for a copy. 3.75 stars

In the meantime, I'm still slogging away (in a good way) on two other audiobooks, still reading 2 ARCs for review, and still in the middle of a few others. Looks like I should step away from the computer for a bit and pick up a book instead!

I've seen Matched mentioned a few times here on LT lately. I am guardedly adding it to my wishlist.

Hey Judy! If/when you read it, I don't think you'd regret it at all, but it's nothing very ZOMG Must Read.

Hi Laura: Hope all is well. They keep telling us it's going to warm up and, though we've had our moments, no serious warmup yet.

Laura: Oh yes, I just LOVE orientalI MEAN organic asianI MEAN...ummm...what were we talking about? *scratches head*

#217: 2nd Chance -- Oh, that reminds me, I really need to finish that series up. I can't even remember where I left off. Book 4? 5?

I love the If You Give series. Strangely, I haven't read the cat one yet. Will have to hunt that one down tomorrow and sneak a read in when no one's looking.

Masters of Sex -- Hmm, not what I had in mind. I think maybe I'll pass on that one. (LOL! I love that the book touchstones a totally different title, one I'd probably read: Alien Sex by Ellen Datlow.)

#221: (reaches for her cattle prod to poke Stephen with, then realizes it's his birthday) Le sigh. Wait til manana, naughty boy. You'll get double the zaps then.

Hey Linda! Just replied to you on your 1111 thread. Thanks for visiting!

Oh Stephen.......Stephen, Stephen, Stephen. I don't really remember what we were talking about either, but perhaps it's time for you to join all of your "friends" that are locked in your basement?

Sara - Darn it! I could have sworn I corrected the touchstone! Isn't it strange when you type in the title of a book and touchstone auto picks a title that only partly matches? Don't get it.

Shouldn't we all be giving Stephen his Birthday Spankings right about now? *Mwahahahahaaaaaa*

Anyone else out there excited for the wedding on Friday? *squeeeeee*

#223: Oh, not your touchstone (yours goes to the right book). Mine's the one that's all messed up.

Well, I promised I'd be nice to Stephen for one day, so I can't. :(

Laura: I can't go in the basement. They make muffled noises when I go down there, so I have to wait until I don't have any company. *Laughs extremely nevously/creepily* ...o.O

Laura: Birthday is over, too late for spanking!
Sara: Birthday is over... *Sighs and prepares for spanking*

LOL! And guess what? I'm passing my turn on to Laura. (evil grin)

Hey, really? Thanks Sara! *cracks knuckles* Now where's that Stephen?

*Walks in with fake moustache* Ummmm, he went that way. *Points towards a christian literature book group* Yep, he's definitely in there somewhere. *Tries to remain calm as he walks away*

Hi, Laura! Took me a while to get over here!

I had a similar reaction re Matched. Interesting world, and she does a good job of showing some advantages of a system that we instinctively dislike. The end seemed to set up a sequel.

Ah, Stephen! Of course you would be in the Christian literature section. That's the only logical lace for you! Wait - are you buying Christian romances? You must be, your birthday was this week! Aw, a whole load of your faves. I'm so happy for you!

Hi Joe! Glad to see you here! I haven't gotten to Dear Enemy yet (I've been too excited about the Royal Wedding the last week or so - yes, I'm one of those people), but I'm sure it will be good. I'm also glad to hear that you had the same reaction to Matched that I did. It's part of a trilogy from what I hear, and book #2 gets published in November. I'm sure I'll read it, but I don't think I'll get on a waiting list at the library for it or anything. Hope you're doing well!

Well people, one of my girlfriends is over, the other is on her way. The guest room is made up and ready, we've got food ready to go for the morning, and we'll be heading to bed in about an hour. The alarms will go off around 1:30 a.m., the first thing done will probably be the coffee (caffeine will be a requirement), and then we're going to start watching BBC America's live coverage at 2 a.m.!!!! We are all ridiculously excited, I hope we can get some sleep! Okay, the last girl just pulled up, so I'm going to go!

You guys should probably expect some sort of a sleep-deprived ramble from me around lunchtime tomorrow. :)

#230: we'll be heading to bed in about an hour -- Oh dear. That didn't quite sound straight, Laura. :D

Clean thoughts, Stephen, clean thoughts! She means separately (I hope).

I actually haven't paid attention to the royal wedding--(yes, I live under a rock)--but I do hope it goes well. I still remember when Prince What's-His-Face was an itty-bitty kid. Aawww, now I'm feeling old. Fill us in on how it goes. I'll be long asleep when it happens.

Clean thoughts clean thoughts clean thoughts clean thoughts clean thoughts...

For some reason I forgot to account for the time difference, so I missed most of the royal wedding. I'm watching it now though...well, sort of. It's on on my tv while I browse LT...does that count?

Hi Laura- Hope you enjoyed the wedding and have a nice weekend!

You'll have to meet my wife some time, Laura. She got up early for the wedding (although not nearly as early as you!), and when I left was still transfixed by the procession. I have to say, the bride (is she a duchess now?) looked terrific, and William quite distinguished. Hope you had a great time!

I had such a great time!!!! The girls are already at home, and I'm here on my own, watching clips and cleaning up. We did get up at 1:30, and kept on eating and drinking the whole way through. I must've cried at least 10 times. I love them as a couple, and thought she looked absolutely gorgeous, he was very dapper. We took lots of horrific pictures of us wearing our giant fake rings and flashing tiaras. It was such fun!!!!!!!

The bad part is that it's all over with - what are we supposed to look forward to now? As soon as they announced they were engaged we started planning this party.

Sara, yes, we did sleep in separate beds - naughty! We were all feeling old, remembering Diana's funeral, etc. I'm horrified to think of how we're going to be acting the same way in 10 years time, cracking immature jokes, making inappropriate comments, crying at sappy stuff. Our future husbands and kids will be embarrassed, but I'm sure we won't care. :)

Yes please, Stephen, lets keep that mind out of the gutter temporarily, shall we? :) I'm sure you can catch the whole thing on an endless loop for the rest of the next full day or so. And yes, watching it while hanging on LT totally counts. That's how I watch most of my TV, actually.

Thanks Mark! I had a great time, and I hope you have a nice weekend as well! Here's hoping you won't have to trudge through rain at all!

It would be great to meet your wife, Joe, we can talk about all things Royal Wedding and you can roll your eyes and laugh at us all you like. :) I agree, they both looked outstanding, and very happy to be together. Love them!

I was just about to say that I was feeling quite awake, but I think my less-than-2-hours-sleeping is catching up to me quickly. Wish it wasn't so sunny and gorgeous, it makes me feel guilty for having to sleep through it!

Laura, I happened to wake up and see the wedding live. I thought Kate's dress was absolutely beautiful (never liked Diana's dress and it looks even more ridiculous now). Two things stood out for me. One, Prince William looked like he truly loved and liked his bride. Two, why did he not turn around and face her as she was coming up the aisle?!? That so bothered me. I found myself yelling at him and thought when Harry turned around, it was to say: "OK, she's almost here, you can turn around now." Sigh...did that bother you and your friends as well?

Yes please, Stephen, lets keep that mind out of the gutter temporarily, shall we? :)

Hey, no fair! Those were Sara's thoughts, she just projected them onto me...blame her! :)

I'm glad you had such a great time. I missed most of it, which is okay because I probably wouldn't have payed too much attention to it anyway, but I was enchanted by the parade. The carriage was beautiful!

Stopping by simply to say hi. The end of the academic semester is stressful and I'm way behind on threads. By the time I stumble home in the evening, I'm too weary to go on the computer.

I didn't watch any of the royal wedding so it is good to learn about it from your perspective.

#237: Me? I don't know what you're talking about. (smiles innocently)

I didn't see the wedding either. I don't have cable, and I'm too lazy to google it. Besides, my coworkers talk about it enough, I figure I've watched it vicariously through them.

Hi Bonnie - yeah, we talked about it, but I think there might maybe be some kind of a rule that the groom needs to face the front? It's highly possible that I'm wrong (and please, someone correct me if I am), but there are so many rules that seem ridiculous to modern people re: the monarchy that I assumed there was probably something written somewhere that you can't face away from the priest or something like that. Anyone out there know about this?

Stephen, I do apologize, clearly you are void from all pervy sin! It must be that bad influence Sara, I'm sure you would never have lowered yourself to think an impure thought pre-LT.

Hi Linda! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you're enjoying for first full day of "freedom" and fondling all of your new books! I'm more than happy to yap about the wedding to anyone who'll listen. If you're ever feeling a need to talk about it, stop on by!

Can you believe that Stephen tried to blame everything on you, Sara? These whippersnappers nowadays, always trying to get their way out of any responsibility. I think it was on your thread, talking about age - or maybe it was Stephen's? - but we're only a month apart in age! I'll be 33 in 2 weeks, and your birthday is in June, right? What up, fellow 30-something?!? And hey, I was thinking of you this afternoon. I got hooked on watching the Travel Channel, and it was alternately Anthony Bourdain shows (love him!) or shows about food destinations. Anyways, on two different shows, Top Pot Doughnuts was featured. I am a MASSIVE doughnut fan and fully plan on eating there whenever I get to visit that part of the US. Have you ever been there? What did you think?

Yesterday afternoon, I did a strange thing and finished a book! I know!

Book 52: Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides

I've been stuck on what to say about this book for quite some time now. In the end, I'll just ramble a bit.

I'd heard about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, and James Earl Ray, for quite some time now, but no real details stuck out for me except for the fact that MLK was shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. (This despite having self-proclaimed "hippies" and all-around groovy and cool dudes that taught all 4 years of high school history. They lived to talk about the 60's and 70's and would bring something from those decades into almost any topic in time.) All I knew about James Earl Ray was that he was arrested overseas and that he died in the late 90's. That's it.

No longer do I have a lack of knowledge about either subject, the period of time, police procedural policy or anything else relating to this horrific event. Spanning the ~10 years before the shot, and up until present day, this book has got everything covered from all different ends. Read by the author, this audiobook was mostly impossible to stop listening to. (The first bit was riveting, then until the halfway point it dragged with all of the background/world-building, and then I couldn't listen fast enough.) Hampton Sides has gotten praise all around the 75-verse for his books, but the more-recent praise from both Linda P and Mark finally convinced me to give this non-fiction book a shot. He's an excellent writer, a damn fine narrator, and he must be a heck of a great man to know. The fact that he didn't reveal James Earl Ray's name until the last quarter of the book, taking us through the case as the investigators did, was incredibly impressive and astounding. Mr. Sides certainly has a new fan in me.

If you're looking for a book about this event in time, or have any curiosities about James Earl Ray, you can call off the search - this is the book you're looking for. 4.5 stars

Laura- Excellent review of Hellhound! Great job! I hope your enthusiasm can get a few more people over here to pick it up.

I was so excited about the royal wedding that I got up a half hour early so I wouldn't miss the start of the BBC coverage. After it ended, I took a nap, then started watching it again. (I missed a lot of little things, here and there.)

At some point, I thought "enough" and started doing some other things.

Glad you enjoyed Hellhound. I really liked it too.

Oh! I never watched Anthony Bourdain until recently, and now I wish I hadn't waited so long. The show is so informative, and Bourdain is a terrific host. A very charming guy, so yeah, I'm a fan now.

I'm sure you would never have lowered yourself to think an impure thought pre-LT.

Hey, now I never said that. I just said the impure thought above wasn't mine, that's all. :P

Laura

Thumbs up from me for your excellent review of Hellbound. This one is already on the TBR list and noted that Stasia recommended in August of 2010. Looks like it is time to read it!

All good wishes,

I watched Tony's program of Haiti last night. It was very very moving, less snarky than his usual shows. If you see a listing for his 2006 show in Beirut, watch it.

Linda, I'm glad to see another crazy American who was psyched about the wedding! I've already splurged and downloaded the wedding soundtrack on iTunes, and was thinking about rewatching the whole shebang on my day off on Thursday. Re: Hampton Sides, you've read other books by him, right? I'd like to eventually read everything he's ever written, but I seriously seriously need to read my outstanding ARCs and finish the other 8 books I'm currently reading before I pick up anything else by him. Any recs?

Stephen, I'm almost finished with my 3rd-straight No Reservations show tonight. I've owned Kitchen Confidential for years now and I'm so afraid that once I read it I'll be FORCED to go out and buy and read every other books he's written. Really, I'm just postponing the inevitable. Did you watch or have you seen the TV show based on the book? It was cancelled like 5 episodes in (thanks a lot, jerks at Fox!), but it's really worth a rental if you can find it. It's hilarious, and I rewatch the whole series (13 episodes) at least twice a year. And I's just teasin' you! I know you have plenty of your own impure thoughts - not that I can read your mind or anything - no really, I swear I can't. :)

Thanks for the thumb, Linda! And I haven't forgotten my promise to send Madame Tussaud: a Novel of the French Revolution to you - I'm still not finished with it yet! That is my most-shamefully-outstanding ARC. It's excellent, but keeps getting put on the bottom of the pile for no real reason. Bad, bad Laura!

Mamzel, I just watched the Haiti program a little while ago - I agree, it was very moving, heartfelt (really - not just snarky heartfelt), and it made me tear up a couple of times. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the Beirut show - lately I've just been DVRing every episode that's on. Have you seen the Vienna show from this year? OMG, I rewatched that one quite a few times. It just cracks me up, and it makes me want to get back to Vienna sooner than later.

You guys, I just realized - I completely forgot my Thingaversary! It was almost exactly one month ago. It's only my third Thingaversary (could have sworn it was my fourth) and I never celebrated it! Plus, my birthday is coming up soon, and I always buy myself a book (or ten). I think this year I'll roll them into one and go to my favorite used bookstore in downtown Milwaukee, Downtown Books. Since I'm not exactly rolling in the dough this year, I should probably work on a list of books to look for. For sure, anything by Collette, and if I can get my hands on any of the old, pale yellow covered Little House books, they're automatically going in my basket. I'll have to check my threads and many many lists both virtual and scribbled on paper to compost a giant "master" shopping list. The good thing is, it can be pretty long since their stock rotates frequently and I need to have a lot of options. *sigh* Oh well - looks like I'd better start cracking on that book list! (YAY!!!!!)

Yeah for "Thingaversaries" and birthdays (and Mothers' Day and the start of summer...) and all those times when it's necessary to buy a book or two in commemoration of the important event. Have fun!

Happy belated Thingaversary!!! :D

I'm not sure if I can find that show. Literally all the video rental stores (that I know of) have run out of business in my town, I guess because of things like netflix and whatnot, and my library doesn't carry it.

Don't worry, I know you can't read my mind. Anyone who claimed they could would be sent to the loony bin pronto. Not because they were crazy before they read my mind either. I just don't think anyone is capable of making it through such a horrible experience with their pysche intact. :P

>246 LauraBrook:: Happy book shopping, Laura. Don't forget the "extra" book for your Thingaversary. Maybe you should get two extra ones because it's a belated reward.

Used bookstores are the best! I could kick myself for not buying the entire series of Little House books at our KC meet-up. I bought the first two and my granddaughters are loving them!

Happy belated Thingaversary! I need to go check mine now...& I was another crazy Royal wedding watcher. I got up at 3:00 and got teary eyed over the whole thing. I did not know there was an official soundtrack! Hmmm.

Happy belated Thingaversary, Laura! Mine's in August...I'll be 5.

Thanks, everybody, for the Thingaversary wishes!

Donna, I like the way you think. Marie, the soundtrack is the hour-long ceremony, vows and all. I really like Parry's music, and John Rutter's music holds a special place in my heart, so aside from it being "church music", which I adore, and attached to the royal family, it made it a Must Buy. In fact, I'm listening to Rutter's composition right now! Ah, dorkiness. :)

And now, it's time for my second thread! This is the first time I've ever had to make another thread in a year and I'm stupid excited about it.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/115679#2678882

Hope to see you all at my new home!