sandragon's 2011 Reading Journal

I ended 2010 still reading:
The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson
The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes
Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary, which I'm reading with my 6yo, J
Winnie the Pooh, which I'm reading occasionally with my 10yo, T
Hans Anderson's Fairy Tales, very occasionally with T
Listening to Runemarks by Joanne Harris, read by Sile Birmingham

The Secret Life of Lobsters was quick, fun and interesting. My only complaint is that the language was almost too casual.

Three great/fun things I learned:
- The lobstermen and the lobster scientists of Maine are both equally passionate about lobster conservation.
- Lobsters will have molted about 35 times before they even hatch.
- Scientists have dubbed the tiny lobster, at the baby stage just before it settles to the ocean floor to spend the rest of its life, Superlobster, because it swims through the ocean with its claws stretched out, just like Superman flies.

I'm in the mood for more natural history, so I've started The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography of Desire by Richard Carey

I wondered if you were going to do this. I'm starring you.

Welcome back!

You are a star in my list!

*waves to DragonFreak, drnewt and maggie*

You guys make a girl feel good! Thanks :o)

Faster than a sea slug, able to crawl over large rocks in a valiant push, more powerful than a jumbo shrimp. It's SUPERLOBSTER!! Hee hee. (okay, it's slow in the store today...I'm very bored!).

Sounds like a good read, I love books where I come out thinking "Hey, I didn't know that. Cool!"

I couldn't find a picture of one swimming, but here's a wee superlobster.



"Recently settled postlarval lobster on Diane's fingertip. Photo by Kohl Kanwit."

They're rather cute and very interesting, though I must admit I came away from the book craving one of its older and bigger relations with butter, lots and lots of butter.

A friend of mine has a small blue lobster in her fish tank. I asked when he's going to be big enough to eat. She wasn't impressed :) Actually he's very cute in his way, and a lovely colour.

Oh my goodness they're so small starting out!! At the museum in Halifax we saw one of the oldest (and hence largest) lobsters ever caught, so I knew how big they could get, but I never realized they started out that tiny!

I agree, older and bigger with lots of yummy butter is very desirable.

katylit - I was going to suggest you write that comic up, but seeing your proclivity, I'm afraid it would end tragically and be a very dark tale indeed.

#12 Yes, but it might end up with the most fantastic recipe for Lobser Thermidor! Which would definitely be worthwhile.

ROFL! Think of the possibilities!!! ;-)

Little J and I finished up Runaway Ralph over the weekend, and immediately started on Ralph S. Mouse. I'm really enjoying reading these to J. He gets right into the story and pretends he's Ralph riding his motorcycle and tells me his thoughts on the characters (he was not very impressed with Catso!) and asks questions. Of course, now he wants a mouse for a pet. And he's willing to share ownership with his big brother as long as T takes responsibility for cleaning the cage. J is willing to to be responsible for feeding the mouse though. Such a generous 6yo!

I picked up an Early Reviewer book that I've been neglecting, and I really tried for 5 days to get into it, but finally I had to put it down after 1/4 way through. The Sword by Bryan Litfin is a post-apocalyptic novel that speculates what if Christianity had been forgotten and someone found a copy of the Bible. It sounded like it could be great, but the writing was clunky and the characters were more caricatures than real people.

I mentioned Laurie King's Califia's Daughters in MrsLee's thread. King did the post-apocalyptic what-if much better. It's been compared to The Children of Men by PD James, but I found King's story more readable, not so bleak throughout. I can't think of anything specific at this time, because it's been so long since I've read Califia, but thinking about it is making me want to reread it so I just got a copy for my ereader. Talk about instant gratification, buying ebooks may almost be too easy.

Hee Hee Hee, yes buying ebooks is way easy, and fun too. Now I have two TBR piles, digital and dead tree!

'Course it doesn't help when people suggest good books to read! Sounds like Caliphia's Daughters is another one for the wish list.

I'll echo GeorgiaDawn's sigh from another thread...*sigh*

I decided to try out the Sony ereader on an actual novel and have started rereading Ysabel. I love having a dictionary right at my fingertips! Just a quick double tap on the word in question and Voila! And if I'm wondering about some detail I read (foreshadowing!), I don't have to flip back through the pages trying to remember where I read it. I just search for the word or phrase in question and the ereader brings me there.

Ysabel is better than I remember it. Looking back, I see I gave it 4 stars, which surprises me. In my mind I remember being disappointed by it. But I think last time I was unprepared for the story about two young protagonists, set in modern day France, with mentions of googling, iPods and Nikes. It was so unlike GGK's usual novels that I was thrown for a loop and didn't like it. It must be that I'm prepared for the differences, because I'm really enjoying it this time. It's not like GGK wrote it any differently, his writing is still beautiful and lyrical, he's still an awesome wordsmith.

Me too, Katy. I can't believe how many ebooks I've already accumulated. I haven't entered the ebooks yet into LT, because I'm not ready to admit to myself the number of eTBRs I've got. At least most of them were free. I even downloaded some M.R. James. I don't like ghost stories as much as you do, but I remember you mentioning him and saw his name on ProjectG so thought I'd give him a try. And so grows Mt eTBR.

>15 sandragon: Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume are my favorite childhood authors. And I have read Runaway Ralph before, but I totally forgot what it's about.

It's sooooo cute! I still can't wrap my brain around the 35 moltings before hatching, though...

Yeah. Does the embryo reabsorb the shells? Or does it just get really crowded in there?

Gahhh! Somehow, I didn't get the last half of the last disc when I ripped Runemark to my player. I requested it again from the library and it's been in transit now for 3 days. 3 days! Victoria is not that large. It ended right in the middle of the climax and I don't know if 'he' (trying not to give spoilers) is really dead and what Sugar 'n' Sac, the goblin, just accomplished with his derring do :o(

oh, darn! I am sorry that happened to you, Sandragon! Hope you find a satisfactory ending...soon.

It was a short-lived temper tantrum. I got the Runemarks audio from the library on Saturday, loaded that last disc onto my mp3 player and immediately took Loki, our dog, out for a walk. And it was a great ending.

I'm not that familiar with Norse mythology, and I didn't enjoy the first book I'd read connected with it, American Gods. Runemarks was worth giving Norse myths another go. Maddie is a 14yo girl who has grown up in a world, 500 years after Ragnarok, that has stamped out imagination, dreaming, stories, magic. But Maddie has a ruinmark on her hand, and an ability to use charms and cantrips, which sets her apart from the other people. She meets a one-eyed traveler at a young age, and over the years, when he makes his way back through her village, he teaches her the stories of the gods from long ago and how to use her glam. And, of course, adventures ensue. Wonderful story.

I prefer stories of gods and heroes to retain the awe and wonder and magic of the original tales. I think that's why I didn't like American Gods and why I didn't watch very much of Watchmen before turning it off. It's not that I expect them to be perfect (none of the Greek or Norse gods are perfect, and I like Loki) but I like them larger than life and outside the everyday mundane world.

The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography Of Desire meanders through the natural history, conservation, black market and legal economics, politics and social history connected with the sturgeon. There were a lot of names connected with different organizations that became jumbled up in my head, and all of it's left me without any urge to try beluga caviar. But it was a worthwhile read about something I hadn't known very much about before.

- sturgeon are cartilagenous and have scutes (like crocodileans) instead of scales
- There are over 20 species of sturgeon, beluga is just one, and several can be found in North America. I'd no idea. I may try to find some North American-made caviar to try.
- due to stresses from over fishing and poaching, and pollution, some scientists believe the beluga sturgeon have stopped reproducing in the wild
- the Caspian Sea is so large parts of it freeze in the winter and parts are subtropical.

When we went to a dam on the Columbia River, we saw sturgeons. They can be HUGE and made me have no desire whatsoever to swim in that river! Ugly, in the "only a mother can love them" way.

Nope not very pretty. Although they do have pretty weird syphon mouths.

Are you sure that isn't Bill Engval's "dorkfish"?

Where's my corndog?

??!??!??!

*googles*

:o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH6sE8RMUuU

Always glad to lead others to new knowledge.

I am now weirded out!

Where would we be without google and youtube? !! LOL.

MrMorphy and I call each other dork fish all the time. Hee hee.

Bill Engval + GreenDragon Ladies = Lots of fun!

*snork!*

I finished Ysabel last week when I stayed home one day with a cold. (Never mind that I work from home; I stayed out of the office and didn't answer the phone.) It seemed like a completely different book from when I read it last. I enjoyed it more this time and, probably because I'd reread the Fionavar Tapestry last year, caught on more to the connections between the two.

I was going to read Mark Kurlansky's Salt next, but I seem to be caught up in 3 different short story collections instead. I've got them all on my ereader and have been alternating between them. All of them very different from each other, all of them keeping me interested.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Stories: All new tales edited by Neil Gaiman
Coyote Ugly by Pati Nagle, an Early Reviewer ebook

I had also started listening to From Dead to Worse, the 8th Sookie Stackhouse story, but after about an hour realized I didn't really care anymore and wasn't looking forward to hearing more. So I'm listening to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane instead. I can't say I'm liking any of the characters very much, or the reader, but the story is keeping me interested and I want to find out where Katherine Howe takes us with the witchcrafting.

Love the new word I learned:

athenaeum ˌæθɪˈniːəm
n
1. (Social Science / Education) an institution for the promotion of learning
2. (Social Science / Education) a building containing a reading room or library, esp one used by such an institution
from Late Latin, from Greek Athēnaion temple of Athene, frequented by poets and teachers

I really didn't like the characters all that much in Deliverance Dane but I ended up liking the book quite a lot. I also listened to it. I will be interested if you end up liking it, after all....

It's just gotten more interesting. Connie has discovered her Granna's recipe cards and found the ones with latin script. I still want to thump her advisor over the head though.

of course!

I ended up liking The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane well enough, even though I didn't warm up much more to the characters or the narrator. I liked the descriptions of Connie's research and the library bits, and the witchcrafting.

Now listening to Stephen King's Under the Dome. I wasn't too sure about it when I started, because of the comments I've seen about the violence and gore and cruelty, but I'm sucked right in. Fell asleep too late last night because I couldn't turn this off. I think this will be a neat contrast to The Stand which I read in 2008; worldwide disaster vs. disaster in absolutely contained microcosm.

In between bouts of studying this past weekend I read several short stories that I found online, all available on tor.com:

Bitter Grounds by Neil Gaiman
http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/09/bitter-grounds
Kind of meh. I find his stories are hit or miss with me.

After the Coup by John Scalzi
http://www.tor.com/stories/2008/07/after-the-coup
Great little sci-fi story. Interesting and told with humour. A military technician is cornered, by the powers that be for diplomatic reasons, into agreeing to ritualized one-on-one combat with a member of an alien race he knows nothing about. This is set in the Old Man's War 'verse which I really want to read more of now.

Overtime and Down on the Farm by Charles Stross
http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/12/encore-presentation-overtime
http://www.tor.com/stories/2008/07/down-on-the-farm
The Charles Stross stories are set in the Laundry 'verse and got too wordy with its beaurocratese and computer demonology. And I'm not a big fan of Lovecraftian style stories. I'll be staying away from the Laundry Series.

Firstborn by Brandon Sanderson
http://www.tor.com/stories/2008/12/firstborn
This was ok, divertive enough for its purpose (keeping me away from studying!) A sci-fi story about a military officer being forced to fill his perfect military genius of an older brother's shoes.

I liked Stross' Halting State but after checking tags and reviews on the Laundry books I decided to stay away from those... for just the reasons you mention.

From Scalzi I've only ever read Old Man's War, and I will read on in that universe but at the time I felt it too derivative of Heinlein... which I devoured as a teen but feel a bit wary about now. But I seem to be in military SF period at the moment so those would fit right well now ;-)

Busifer, I read as much Heinlein as I could find as well, although I was in my early 20s then. I've been thinking about rereading them; hoping the suck fairy hasn't gotten to them. I especially liked his books with younger protagonists, like Podkayne of Mars and The Rolling Stones. I also remember really liking The Door into Summer.

My brother-in-law has lots of sci-fi, so I went to him looking for Old Man's War but the only Scalzi he had was The Android's Dream so I'll try that one first, after I get through a few other books.

I read a lot of shorter fiction the last couple of weeks.

Two were graphic novels:

The Life Eaters by David Brin
I mostly love Brin's stories, when they're not too detailed with the physics, but this was unsatisfying. Found it hard to follow the storyline from one 'issue' to the next, and it was a grim WWII what-if.

Mercy Thompson: Homecoming by Patricia Briggs
I've been thinking about trying some of Briggs' urban fantasy and decided on this as an intro. I think I'll get the first in the series on audio from the library.

I was going to list the short stories I read, but listing the audiobook is easier.

I'm still listening to Under the Dome, which is amazingly tense for not a lot of violence. There is violence, which gets released, but otherwise it's under the surface and you know it's going to get out sooner or later, which is what makes the whole thing tense. I'm liking the story, but I needed a break and listened to Emma Thompson read Nanny McPhee Returns. Very short, with Emma's diary of the filming of the movie interspersed with the actual story. Took a bit of getting used to the jumping back and forth but I ended up really enjoying the whole thing. Emma's a wonderful storyteller and it was fun to learn a bit about making a movie and the people in it.

Nanny McPhee sounds great, I love Emma Thompson, I can see she'd be a wonderful narrator.

Your summing up of Under the Dome is perfect, tense without a lot of violence, yup, complete agreement with you there. It's such an interesting story, I couldn't stop, 'cause I had to find out the origins of the dome.

#46 - Sometime back in the early 90's I stumbled on a copy of Space Cadet, which I read and reread in my early teens. On my 90's reread I was horrified over the misogynistic world view.

Today I reread it as a fast trifle, every now and again, and am able to relive some of my early enthusiasm for the story, making excuses for the way women are portrayed as "typical of the time". I haven't been too eager to dig out some of the others, though...

Here are the short stories I've read over the last couple of weeks. They were found online at the authors' various websites.

By Brandon Sanderson:
Centrifugal - Science fiction. Ambition and revenge, millenia in the brewing. Meh.
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/library/24/Early-Short-Stories-CENTRIFUGAL-(1994...

I Hate Dragons - This was a fun dialogue only story
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/library/91/Recent-Short-Stories---I-Hate-Dragons

Defending Elysium - Science fiction in a future where The Phone Company is the MIB. Great story. Would love to see more set in this world.
http://www.brandonsanderson.com/library/53/Recent-Short-Stories---Defending-Elys...

By David Brin
Reality Check - Don't know what to say about this without spoiling it all. But I really liked this.
http://www.davidbrin.com/realitycheck.htm

Thor Meets Captain America - Basis for the graphic novel The Life Eaters. I liked this better on its own than the graphic novel.
http://www.davidbrin.com/thor1.htm

Aficionado - An Uplift prequel. The first Uplift trilogy are my favorites of Brin's books and this was a nice return to that world.
http://www.davidbrin.com/aficionado.htm

By Naomi Novik:
Feast or Famine - A Temeraire short. I haven't read the novels yet so this was my intro the the series.
http://www.temeraire.org/stories/Feast_or_Famine.shtml

Apples - Not sure what to think of this one.
http://www.temeraire.org/stories/apples.shtml

Araminta, or the Wreck of the Amphidrake - A feminist pirate story.
http://www.temeraire.org/stories/Araminta.shtml

By John Scalzi
The President's Brain is Missing - Silly story
http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/07/the-presidents-brain-is-missing

How I Proposed to my Wife - Silly and fun story about interspecies dating, but the ending was too abrupt.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/04/16/a-shareware-short-story-how-i-proposed-to-...

Neat. I will look over these some more when I have more time.

Powers by Ursula Le Guin - About a slave who persists on placing his trust blindly, overlooking warning signs. Sometimes this story seemed more about the slave's journey than about the slave himself. Events would push him along, but he never took the initiative to get himself out of a situation, which I found very frustrating as a reader.

Under the Dome by Stephen King - I enjoyed this until the very end. The conclusion left me feeling deflated. I was looking for the actions of the heroes to be worth something but in the end it didn't matter what they did, they were helpless. So I guess this story mirrored 'Powers'. Both about people who can't get control of a situation, although in one he never tries and in the other they do.

I've started a reread of Laurie R King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice which is definitely making me feel more cheerful. I first read this years ago, before reading any of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Now that I have read some of those stories I can see how well King's Holmes stays true to the original character. I find myself smiling constantly at Homes' interactions with Mary Russell, a person just as perceptive as he is.

Little J and I also finished Ralph S. Mouse which was ok. I definitely thought the first in the series was the best book. I didn't care for the boy in this one. He basically blackmails Ralph, his friend, into doing something he didn't want to do, and doesn't seem to learn the wrong in that, although he feels bad about the consequences even though he doesn't see they are his fault. Huh. I gave this a 3 1/2 star, but after thinking this through I think I was generous. I'll have to go change the rating.

We've now started into A Bear Called Paddington. Only a chapter in, but so far so good.

I loved Paddington when I was a kid. There's a great story about when he wallpapers a whole room, including windows... and then there's his friend Mr Gruber and the "cleaned" painting, and... :)

Yeah, so many wonderful, funny stories in Paddington, definitely holds a special place for me.

I'm listening to The Beekeeper's Apprentice right now, for the first time, and really enjoying it. Although I'm not keen on the narrator's "voice" for Holmes.

We've read about 3 chapters the Paddington, which I'm quite enjoying and which Little J says he likes as well, but then he got two Jack Stalwart books using Christmas gift cards. They're about a 9yo secret spy for the GPF (Global Protection Force) with super cool gadgets. Guess which books Little J would rather we read? We've finished The Escape of the Deadly Dinosaur: USA which he loved, and now we're reading The Search for the Sunken Treasure: Australia.

On audio I've finished listening to a couple of books:

Genesis by Bernard Beckett was good and made me think about what it means to be sentient and self aware, but I'm ambivalent about the ending. It's a short post-apocalyptic tale and I think I need to listen to it again.

Good Harbor by Anita Diamant was a really good story about friendship. I wasn't sure I'd like this at first, I tend to stay away from books about relationships, but this one grew on me. Two women, one in her 40s and one in her 60s, meet at a Synagogue by chance (as neither go to Temple with any regularity) and become easy friends. During the ensuing summer Joyce and Kathleen support each other through cancer on one side and a feeling of disconnection with her family on the other. This was a very nice (not gooey) story.

I've had Good Harbor on my wishlist for ages, nice to know it's a worthy consideration.

It does sound like a very nice read. I'll have to add it to my wishlist, too.

I like Anita Diamant enough that I'll give any of her books a try. I've only read three so far now, but they've all been very different: The Red Tent, based on a story from the bible; The Last Days of Dogtown, historical fiction about the people living in a poor rural part of Massachusetts and what makes them stay; and Good Harbour, a modern day story about friendship. I'm pretty sure she's written another fiction. I'll have to go looking for it.

Other stuff I've finished in the past few weeks:

Coyote Ugly by Pati Nagle - An ER book of short stories that were okay. Nothing to tie any of the stories, not even genre. Light and easy to read, but nothing that really stayed with me.

Bone: Tall Tales - Another graphic novel about Boneville. Some background about the rat monsters and why they have no tales. This was okay but I'm not one for tall tales.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King - Great reread. Looking forward to the next Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes adventure.

Temptation by David Brin - Another Uplift short story that I found on Brin's website.
http://www.davidbrin.com/temptation1.htm

Stories edited by Neil Gaiman - A mosty great collection of short stories by many well known and some not so well known authors. They were almost all a little creepy, without being horror. My favorite was 'A Life in Fictions' by Kat Howard, her first published work. About a woman whose ex keeps literally writing her into his stories.

WE3 by Grant Morrison - A graphic novel about 3 animals bioengineered to be weapons of war. Wouldn't recommend this to people who don't like reading about animals getting hurt. Lots of graphic violence as well. Didn't want to leave this lying around the house for the kids to find so I returned it to the library as soon as I finished it. Normally I don't read a graphic novel this violent but this was short and it had my kind of ending so I ended up not hating it.

At the moment I'm listening to The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie and to my surprise I'm really enjoying it. I've tried a few other Christie mysteries but I don't like Poirot and I'm going to try another Miss Marple before I decide against her. But I felt like something light and this was available and I'm glad I gave it a try. Tuppence and Tommy are two down-on-their-luck young people who decide to partner up and start an agency called The Young Adventurers, the plan being to hire themselves out for anything you can't do yourself, ideally for lots of money. But even before they get their agency going they get involved in a mystery over a missing person. This takes place just after WWI and there's a lot of 'you old thing' and 'old bean' which makes me think of PG Wodehouse books.

I'm also reading Mrs. Ames by EF Benson, which is set just before WWI and the tone is very different. These characters are very proper in their manners and Benson pokes fun at the unwritten rules of this village's upper crust. Not laugh out loud funny, or even chuckle out loud, but I find myself smiling at their antics.

You have lots of ones I like here, sandragon. I like Tommy and Tuppence, too - they're also in Partners in Crime and By the Pricking of My Thumbs. I'm a pushover for most Agatha Christies.

I also like Laurie King's Sherlock and Mary Russell books, and Jeff Smith's Bone.

I've never read E.F. Benson, but have been curious. Is there one you recommend starting with?

I've got We3 on order at the library. We're empty nesters, so the violence should be okay. It's supposed to be a good one.

Edited for Sunday morning sloppy spelling

jnwelch - sorry, can't help with any Benson recommendations. This is my first one.

I've already requested Partners in Crime from the library. Christie was first recommended to me by my cousin when I was a teen and she's an author I find myself wanting to like, so every few years I'd give her another try. But until now it's been miss rather than hit.

Took a 30 minute break from Mrs. Ames to read the tongue in cheek Zen for Cats by Henry Beard. I can sense a conflict looming within as the dual forces, nekogin and inugin*, strive to mesh as one, which this book would imply can't be done.

*respectively cat person and dog person

From Zen for Cats

The Wisdom of the Tao

The food bowl is a treasure, but it is the hollow it shapes that makes it useful.
The wall keeps out the wind, but it is the door cut into it that makes it useful.
The house provides shelter, but it is the empty space within that makes it useful.

What is there would have no utility
If what is not there were lacking.

No sound, the true source of restfulness.
No medicine, the surest sign of health.
No dog, the ideal companion for a cat.

>63 sandragon: Keep posting those short stories you find on the Internet. They are really cool, and refreshing. And most of them I absolutely love. There's a story way up there called I Hate Dragons, the one about the person who's only talent is to attract the deadly dragons by his irresistable scent. I LMFAO. I usually don't use that acronym because of what it stands for, but I seriously did. Then I showed it to some of my friends and we all agreed on the best part:

"I'd like to be a hunter, sir. You know. Hold a harpoon? Fire a crossbow? I wouldn't mind just reloading for the other hunters until I get the hang of it."
"Don't be silly. You couldn't do that while out in the center of the field, being bait!"
"I wasn't talking about doing that while being bait. I'd rather do it instead of being bait. Sir."
"But nobody else has yer special gift, son."
"I don't think it's all that great . . ."
"Why, sure it is! In all my years hunting dragons, I've never met someone who attracts them like you do. You've got a gift."
"The gift of smelling delicious to dragons? Sir, I never asked for this."
"Just 'cause a gift is unexpected doesn't mean it ain't a gift."
"A knife to the back can be unexpected. That doesn't make it a gift either. Sir."
"Look, son. You're special. The scent of you . . . it drives them mad with hunger. It'd be a shame to waste that. Do what you were created to do. Reach for the stars."
"Stars are giant balls of gas, burning far away."
"They are?"
"Yes. Reaching for them, even if it were possible, would likely burn your hand. Sir."
"Ain't that something."
"Isn't that something."
"That's what I said. Either way, son, you need to explore your talents."
"My talent is getting eaten by dragons, sir. It seems that's less something to explore, and more something to experience. Once. In a grisly, painful, and abruptly-ending sort of way."

But yeah, keep posting those short stories. They're awesome.

I'm glad you're enjoying them DragonFreak. I don't have anymore at the moment but every once in a while I'll pop onto an author's website to see if they have any short stories to share. Some are favourite authors of mine, some are new to me authors that I'm thinking about trying out. Next, I think I'll go hunting for some of Gene Wolfe's short stories online. I read one of his in the Neil Gaiman Stories collection which I liked and I'd like to try more.

(later): Just had a quick look. This may be harder than I thought. Gene Wolfe doesn't seem to have a website.

Finished reading Winnie the Pooh to my 10yo. I'd read this last year to my 6yo but it was fun doing it over again because T is old enough to get the humour little J missed. I don't read much to T anymore, he's so busy with homework and his own reading. I miss the snuggle time we used to have. I think he does too since he was happy to have me read Pooh to him, a chapter here and there over the months when time permitted.

Agatha Christie's The Secret Adversary was fun! I loved all the characters and I was kept guessing about the mysterious Mr. Brown. I had it narrowed down to 2 people. At first I was positive it was one person, then I was convinced it was the other, then I was back to thinking it was the first. Wonderfully frustrating. I've got the next Tommy and Tuppence audio on hold at the library.

In the meantime, I'm listening to The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. I find it creepy, but not scary, or maybe just a little bit. What is going on in that big gloomy house?!

I've been in the mood for graphic novels recently and have started in on the Fables stories again.
Vol 11: War and Pieces - Loved it. Great finish to the war between the Fables and the Adversary.
Vol 12: The Dark Ages - I think I would have liked this better if I hadn't read it right after War and Pieces. WAP completed a story arc, to my complete satisfaction and enjoyment, and Dark Ages started up the death and destruction all over again.

Jack Horner (aka Jack the Giant Killer, Jack Frost, etc) has his own spin-off and I tried the first one, The (Nearly) Great Escape. Jack is very irritating and full of himself, but the story was good and I'm willing to try some more.

I also read Veils, not a Fables book but a stand alone about a women in the 1800s who is newly and unhappily married, and moves to a middle eastern country with her husband. There she is invited to visit the harem of the Sultan. This was a little titilating, but dark and I wasn't drawn in by the artwork. Vivien's story is told in photographs which were at times unclear and grainy and didn't appeal to me. A story told to Vivien, about another woman from the West who once lived in the harem, is told in drawings.

Back to more Fables, this one about Cinderella, From Fabletown with Love.

About Jack, the series just came to and end with issue #50.

I noticed Jack shows up in the regular Fables series again, in Vol 13. Maybe he's back permanently? I've requested the rest of the Jack volumes from the library so I can get caught up with his story.

I'm seriously considering buying the Fables series and reading them again from the beginning. I figure one volume per paycheque will make it manageable.

I guess I should also mention the three books I read, and then I'll be all caught up with journaling, for the moment anyways.

Mrs Ames, my ER book for January, was light and fun. From my review: 'Mrs Ames is queen bee of Riseborough, where social machinations can at times be as delicate and convoluted as political diplomacy. Above all, these members of high society must not show fear, or let on how hard they work at keeping up appearances, if they are to rise to the top. This was a fun light read and I ended up feeling rather proud of Mrs Ames.'

I'm looking forward to his Mapp and Lucia books which I've heard are more polished and funnier.

The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street is the diary of Helene Hanff's trip to London, which she was finally able to do after 84, Charing Cross Road was published and became so popular. Hanff is so direct and casual and unwilling to be anyone but herself, and it seemed like everyone wanted to meet her and take her out to dinner. Very different from Mrs Ames' world where you kept secrets from your neighbours and were always worried about what they were thinking about you and there are hidden agendas behind every dinner party.

Also finished up The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, which I didn't get sucked into until about halfway through. McKillip's writing is kind of bare, sparse, and I wasn't getting attached to anyone. Sybel is a very confident, powerful, and cold character who has the ability to call wonderous beasts, as well as people, to her and to control them. I couldn't understand why she called and kept the magical (and also powerful) animals with her, except maybe it was just because she could.

Not sure what book to pick up next.

*hugs for sandragon* Hello there! :O)

I read 84, Charing Cross Road last year and loved it! Isn't Helene Hanff wonderful? She has such a lively and vibrant sense of humor that really shines through in her books. I got such a kick out of her no nonsense queries to the bookstore! :O)

BTW, there is a lovely film version of the book starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. If you haven't watched it yet, you're in for a treat! :O)

Hi Pandoras :o)

I loved 84, Charing Cross Road, but I'm afraid I had a hard time watching the movie. I ended up not finishing it. I already had voices in my head for Helene Hanff and Frank Doel. While Anthony Hopkins was fine, Anne Bancroft's actual voice was just too different from what I'd ...
what's the audio version of envisioned?

I never thought about it, but it was mentioned in Duchess, that Hanff mail purchased books from the London store for 20 years even though she could probably just as easily have found a New York store that carried what she wanted. Wow. That's customer loyalty.

78:

Hello, you dragon-of-the-sand, you! :O)

"I'm afraid I had a hard time watching the movie. I ended up not finishing it. I already had voices in my head for Helene Hanff and Frank Doel."

It was the opposite experience for me. My bestest friend bought me a divine copy of the 2 books in one, after I admitted I'd never read them. Then, perhaps knowing how I admire Anne Bancroft's prowess, told me she played the role in the movie. So, in my mind/head, it was her voice narrating to me throughout. :)
...
what's the audio version of envisioned?

What an interesting question you pose here! I've often wondered what phrase to use to describe it myself! I'll have to perambulate on the matter further, but for now... Hmmm. Mayhaps "auditorially imagined"? "internal voice projection?" :O)

what's the audio version of envisioned?

Per chance "enaudioed?" teeheehee

I read the book when it first came out, and didn't see the movie until many years later, then read the book again. Love Bancroft and Hopkins, so had no problem with their voices being in my head (along with all the ones I have in there on a daily basis *giggle*) for the book, when next I read it.

80, millhold - See, you're much braver than I am. I wasn't going to admit to any other voices.

79, Pandoras - The same thing kind of happened with Inkheart. I listened to Lynn Redgrave read it before seeing the movie. I ended up envisioning her as Elinor. Sadly, she didn't end up playing Elinor in the movie. Luckily, I love Helen Mirren so I didn't mind doing the switcheroo in my head.

sandragon, it's always better to admit to the voices right off the bat; otherwise, when you're caught talking out loud--without your bluetooth in your ear--people look at you as if you're strange. However, having already admitted to the voices, that then becomes your *normal* and everything is fine: nobody thinks anything of it. Twisted, right? :-)

I do think bluetooth has helped a lot of eccentrics look relatively normal while talking to themselves. Even if they don't actually have one, you wonder whether they have some gizmo that you're not seeing.

I talk to myself sometimes, and keep meaning to get a bluetooth or a reasonable facsimile for appearances sake. :-)

Do voices respond? No comment.

#83 Do voices respond?

Responding isn't the issue; it's keeping them on topic, that's the problem. *runs off snickering as though she's written something funny*

Do voices respond?
They will if you're in the Green Dragon.

Responding isn't the issue; it's keeping them on topic, that's the problem.
Again, the Green Dragon comes to mind.

You are so right, sandragon! All kinds of voices in The Green Dragon.

I need to update my journal more often. This is going to take a few posts.

Graphic Novels:

Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love - Enjoyed this Fables spin-off more than I did the Jack of Fables issues. Cinderella is a shoe store owner by day, secret kick-ass spy by night. I hope more are written.

There is pretty much no redeeming quality to Jack of Fables, but the characters he meets are pretty awesome. Can't wait to find out more about the Literals (Pathetic Fallacy, Mr. Revise, the Page sisters,etc) in the next Fables issue. I read the following, and I think I have two more to go before I'm finished with the Jack issues.

Jack of Hearts
The Bad Prince
Americana
Turning Pages
The Big Book of War

Short stories:

By David Brin:
I Could've Done Better, written with Gregory Benford - A man is approached by two women from the future who tell him he is destined to become the saviour of the human race. Great twist to this one.
http://www.baens-universe.com/articles/I_Could_ve_Done_Better

Gorilla My Dreams - Silly Uplift story into which Brin throws every writing technique, including the kitchen sink. Meh.
http://www.baens-universe.com/articles/Gorilla_My_Dreams

The Smartest Mob - Post apocalyptic, sort of, in which a journalist uses the benefits of group think when faced with potential disaster. Lots of futuristic gadgets in this one if you like that sort of stuff, which I do.
http://www.baens-universe.com/articles/The_Smartest_Mob

Stones of Significance - Humans link with sentient computers to increase their mental capabilities and a pro-reification group wants to extend certain rights and freedoms to simulated (fictitious) beings. Good story, but got a bit metaphysical at the end.
http://www.davidbrin.com/stonesofsignificance1.htm

Yeah, more stories!

And even more stories:

C.J. Cherryh
The Last Tower - A very gentle story about saving the last of the magic. Short and dreamy.
http://www.abyssapexzine.com/2010/12/the-last-tower/

Juliet Marillier - A new to me author. I liked both these stories. Both can be found at the bottom of http://www.julietmarillier.com/books/shortfiction.html

Let Down Your Hair - A version of the fairy tale Rapunzel. Very similar to the fairy tale I grew up with, with a reason why the witch had to have Rapuzel.
Otherling - Every few years a Bard is born who is given advice from the ancestors through song. This is about what must be sacrificed in order to keep nature in balance.

Julie Czernada - Another new to me author.
The Passenger - A man is discovered, living alone, in a life supported simulation room on board a colonization ship that is decades out from Earth. Disturbing, but good.
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-passenger/

On audio, I finished listening to The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, which was creepy enough, but left the what and why of the supernatural activities unanswered. I have my opinion on the matter, but I would have liked a definite answer. I'm glad I listened to this. I don't think the spookiness would have come out as well if I'd read it.

I also finished listening to Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier. This was a mix of the Twelve Dancing Princesses and the Frog Prince, set in Transylvania. I found myself pretty frustrated by how helpless and powerless the sisters were when their heavy handed cousin started taking over their house and business. But I guess that was the point. This was mainly good, the original fairy tales were nicely fleshed out, but there was still something lacking. I found myself staying detached from the sisters.

I'm now listening to Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie. This is the next Tommy and Tuppence story. Rather, several short stories loosely tied together by an overall plot. I love the two main characters, their teasing and comraderie and one-upmanship. Each story is styled loosely after a well known fictional detective, only two of whom I know: Sherlock Holmes and Poirot. I haven't actually read those ones yet, but I know they're coming up.

Shadow Conspiracy II - From my ER review: A collection of short stories set in a steampunk Victorian England and its contemporary North America. Each story stands on its own but is loosely tied together by mention of Ada Lovelace. An actual historical figure, daughter of Lord Byron, she is credited with creating the first computer program to be processed by machine. In this alternate steampunk world she is one of the minds behind the creation of automata. Another recurring theme in these stories is the controversial theory, and practice, of soul transference. Written by various authors, there were one or two stories that left me feeling like there was background information I was missing, but mainly this was an enjoyable read.

Q's Legacy - More of Helene Hanff writing about Helene Hanff. Not as good as the first two, but I still enjoyed it. She makes me smile. She writes like she's over having tea and a chat.

Heat Wave
Naked Heat
These were very light and fluffy. Good for when I was putting off studying. They're like a season of Castle mashed into one book, especially Naked Heat. I noticed none of the characters are even described. Just insert the appropriate image of Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic, Jon Huertas, Seamus Dever and Tamala Jones. I don't like Nikki Heat as much as I like Kate Beckett though.

Kenneth Oppel visited my kids' school today. I very much wanted to crash, but I'm not the crashing type. Details are very hard to get out of either boy. I'm very envious, but to make me feel better, T brought my copy of Airborn to school to get signed. T, my 10yo, his teacher has been reading Silverwing to their class and T's thinking he'll go on to read the other three in the series. Yayy for author visits!

I was never fond of Oppel's bat books but Airborn and sequels were great. Lucky kids, to meet him!

Sandra, or Sandy, I forget which you prefer: as a former teacher let me say that having parents attend and be interested in an author visit should not be thought of as crashing. You showing interest is great modeling for all the students, and I'll bet the teacher and the school would have been delighted had you shown up.

Tardis, I never had an urge to read Oppel's bat books. I really don't like books that anthropomorphize a group of regular animals, giving them human culture and mindsets and voice. There are some exceptions, like Charlotte's Web and The Wind in the Willows. Airborn and its sequels were great though. T says Oppel is working on a young Frankenstein duology next. Not sure if that's for me, but I do want to try his latest book, Half Brother.

Maggie, I prefer Sandra, definitely.

T asked if parents were allowed to come to Oppel's visit, and the response was more of a hesitant 'Welllll.... I guess so' rather than a delighted 'Of Course!' so I stayed away. I don't mind though. The visit was for the kids anyways and my guys really enjoyed it.

I get it. Too bad. I was able to join an occasion when Frank McCourt spoke to a local high school English class. It was delightful.

96> That was exactly my problem with the bat books too. The kids and I read the first one and none of us wanted to go on to later books. I have the same problem with Watership Down and its ilk. I love the Wind in the Willows but the characters are not really animals, if you know what I mean. Redwall works for me in the same way, what little I've read of that series.

Wow, a lot of interesting books and stories here. I will be staring this post and checking back often.

98 - Duncton Wood is the one that really put me off those sorts of books. The details are vague, but I remember a power hungry domineering priest raping his rebellious daughter and thinking to myself 'Give me a break. These are just moles!'. Since then I've been reluctant to pick up any of those books about rabbits, mice, bats and other various woodland creatures.

Thanks, Joybee. All visitors and comments are welcome :o)

Tuck Everlasting - This was one of the first audiobooks I listened to, about 5 years ago. This time, T and I listened to it on the car rides to and from gymnastics twice a week, so about a half hour each time. This is a lovely story about what it could mean to be immortal. Little J has gymnastics only once a week but even he was enjoying it, even though he missed whole half hour gaps. It was neat listening to the boys talk about becoming immortal and learning how their thoughts differed, because of age and personality differences.

Wow. Just, Wow. I've been reading Julie Czerneda's short stories, found on her website, and I think I've found a new favourite author. Very much looking forward to reading her novels. I'll come back later to list the short stories, but I just had to enthuse somewhere.

I like Julie Czerneda's novels very much. Haven't read them all yet, but she's definitely on my collect list.

I've ordered Reap the Wild Wind by Julie Czerneda. It's not the first one written in her Clan Chronicles series but it's the first one in the internal chronology and the one Czerneda recommends starting with on her website. I shouldn't be buying more books at the moment but I haven't been this excited about a new to me author in a while and I couldn't resist. Of course, with the postal strike going on in Canada, who knows when I'll be getting it.

The other short stories I found on her website and devoured recently are:
http://www.czerneda.com/index.html

Prospect Park - Today's society, in which many people must carry their cell phones/net books where ever they go so's not to miss any calls/news, taken a step further into the future.

'Ware the Sleeper
What Sleeps in the Shallows Belongs to the Depths
Related fantasy stories about a war and a people's desperate last ditch effort for peace.

Brothers Bound - Loved, loved, loved this one. This was quite moving. Czerneda writes aliens well. They are very alien, whether physiologically apparent or not, which makes it very difficult to find any common ground between races. Humans don't feature in this short, having only a minor part, but the dog more than makes up for that lack. I'm looking forward to exploring this world more in Czerneda's Clan Chronicles series.

Prism
She's Such a Nasty Morsel
A Touch of Blue
Related stories about a semi-immortal shape shifting blob, decades (centuries?) old but young compared to the rest of her small family group and with plenty still to learn. These were set in Czerneda's Web Shifters universe and were quite fun and quirky.

Audiobooks I've finished up:

Cybele's Secret by Juliet Marillier
Paula, the studious sister from Wildwood Dancing is allowed to travel with her father on a trading voyage to Istanbul as his aide. There, with urging from the Other Kingdom, Paula finds herself on a quest, and a race, for a mysterious artifact and its secrets. There is murder and intrigue and romance, and the magic is there but not as in your face as in Wildwood Dancing. I found myself liking this a little more than Wildwood Dancing, but both were light, easy listens.

From Agatha Cristie
N or M? - Tommy and Tuppence are middle-aged during WWII and quite disgruntled that they are apparently too old to do their part for the war effort. This doesn't last long of course and soon they are helping to snoop out the mysterious N and M from Germany.

By the Pricking of My Thumbs - Tommy and Tuppence get caught up on an old unsolved mystery when they go looking for a missing aquaintance. This was lovely and creepy.

Waiting for the last in this series to come from the library, Postern of Fate. I'll be sad when this series is finished.

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
From reading the reviews, I seem to be one of very few people who don't care much for this book. Kitty marries someone she doesn't love, for very superficial reasons, moves to Hong Kong with him where he works as a bacteriologist, and blames him for her unhappiness. When her husband finds out about her affair she is given the ultimatum of being divorced by him or accopanying him to the site of a cholera epidemic in China. For a reason I don't understand, him divorcing her is different and more scandalous from her divorcing him, which she is unable to do because he will not allow her to. I'm guessing this has to do with the laws and customs of the 1920s in Britain? Anyways, this is all about Kitty and her character growth, which I didn't care about because I really didn't like her. I think I would have enjoyed this more if there were more details about her husband Walter (whom we and Kittly don't ever get to really know at all) and their life in the orient.

Right now, I'm listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with the boys while driving to/from gymnastics. But this is the last week for gymnastics so we'll have to find a different occasion to listen together.

On my own I'm listening to Agatha Christie's The Tuesday Club Murders, which is really 13 short mysteries that Miss Marple's nephew and friends put to each other for fun. Before Tommy and Tuppence I'd only tried a couple of Poirot and Miss Marple stories and never really liked them, but I enjoyed T and T so much I'm giving Miss Marple another chance. So far so good for these shorts.

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaimain - A reread, I enjoyed it more this time. I rushed through it a couple of years ago when I actually wanted to read something else and didn't do it justice. A novella about a young Norse boy with an abusive stepfather who thinks he is a good for nothing. Odd proves size doesn't matter when you've got smarts and determination and shows his worth to himself and to some unusual companions.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - A Green Dragon group read. The story of the woman (and her family) whose immortal cancer cells, known as Hela, have been instrumental in medical research and advances for the past 50 years or so. A reminder that her contribution is just as important and necessary as the knowledge and work of the researchers. Left me with some questions which I found answered in the FAQs on Skloot's website (http://rebeccaskloot.com/faq/), the answers to which I've quoted below:

Q - How can cancerous cells be useful in researching how normal cells behave?

A - "Since the ’50s, if researchers wanted to figure out how cells behaved in a certain environment, or reacted to a specific chemical, or produced a certain protein, they turned to HeLa cells. They did that because, despite being cancerous, HeLa still shared many basic characteristics with normal cells: They produced proteins and communicated with one another like normal cells, they divided and generated energy, they expressed genes and regulated them, and they were susceptible to infections, which made them an optimal tool for synthesizing and studying any number of things in culture, including bacteria, hormones, proteins, and, especially, viruses.

Viruses reproduce by injecting bits of their genetic material into a living cell, essentially reprogramming the cell so it reproduces the virus instead of itself. When it came to growing viruses—as with many other things—the fact that HeLa was malignant just made it more useful. HeLa cells grew much faster than normal cells, and therefore produced results faster. HeLa is a workhorse: It’s hardy, it’s inexpensive, and it’s everywhere. Today, it’s even possible for scientists to genetically alter HeLa cells to make them behave like other cells—a heart cell, for example. So being cancer cells isn’t the limitation most expect that it would be, though there are some things you definitely wouldn’t use HeLa cells for, including any vaccine creation, since you wouldn’t want to inject cancer cells along with a vaccine."

Q - Is the Lacks family benefitting from this book?

A - "The family has benefited from the book in several different ways, including the closure and thanks from scientists that I mentioned in my answer to the previous question above. When it came to money, I didn’t want to be another person who came along and potentially benefited from the family and their story without doing something in return. So I set up The Henrietta Lacks Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit charity, and I donate a portion of the proceeds from my book and related speaking events to it, in addition to my many other fundraising activities for the foundation. The foundation has been in existence since January 2010, and anyone can donate via the foundation’s website (HenriettaLacksFoundation.org). So far donations have come in steadily, ranging from $1 to about $500, with the average being in the $50 to $100 range. These donations are from the general reading public and individual scientists who feel that they have benefited from HeLa cells in some way and want to do something in return for the family.

Among other things, the foundation will provide scholarship funds for descendants of Henrietta Lacks, so they can get the education that Henrietta and her family didn’t have access to. It also aims to help provide health care coverage for Henrietta’s children. So far the foundation has given out eight grants to cover tuition and books for Henrietta’s grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren who are now working toward high school, undergraduate, graduate, and trade degrees. It has also provided grants for medical and dental assistance for Henrietta’s children and grandchildren. The foundation’s mission is to offer assistance to others in situations similar to the Lacks family as well. For more information, visit the Foundation’s website, or see this recent New York Times article about Rebecca Skloot’s efforts with the foundation.

In addition, several members of Henrietta’s family are consultants on the HBO film version of The Immortal Life, and members of Henrietta’s family sometimes appear as paid speakers at events related to the book."

On Czerneda - she's definitely one of my fave authors but I'll warn you that the end of the Stratification suite (of which Reap the Wild Wind is the first book) was kind of... disappointing. At least to me. The rest of the suite was very good, though. Nice mix of SF and Fantasy elements.

I think In the Company of Others rather good as well (I'll admit to having reread it several times), not to mention The Species Imperative trilogy (Survival, Migration, Regeneration) which was a page turner.

I've read all of Julie Czerneda and In the Company of Others is my hands down favorite of her works.

I think it may have been you, Busifer, from whom I heard of Czerneda first. If not it was from someone else at the GD. I won't ask what you found disappointing about the end of the Stratification books, or I'll find myself worrying about it. But some day I'll come back to compare notes with you.

The postal strike is supposed to end tomorrow, and I've already received an email that Reap the Wild Wind has been shipped. So it doesn't look like I'll have too much longer to wait for it. The plan is to buy Czerneda's books one at a time, only after I've read the most recent purchase. But suddenly I feel the urge to go online and hunt up In the Company of Others!

The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger - A graphic novel. I loved the concept of a library collection consisting of every book, pamphlet, cereal box only you have read. I'd like to run into my own night bookmobile someday and browse through my life reflected in my reading material. But the tone of the book itself and the protagonist were quite melancholy and we never really find out why.

Evil Genius by Patricia Rice - An Early Reviewer book. I'm going to be lazy and just copy my review here.

Ana Devlin wants nothing more than to settle down and provide a normal home with a normal lifestyle for her large and rather eclectic group of half siblings. Circumstances lead her to Washington, DC to ask her estranged millionaire grandfather for help, only to find out he is recently deceased and the house has been taken over by a mysterious stranger on the third floor. Mysteries and mayhem ensue.

This novel started out well with the promise of many interesting characters to get to know. The mysterious Graham with the sexy voice that never leaves the mansion's third floor. Ana's many half siblings living in exotic locales, all clever and eccentric. Ana's mother, Magda, who flits from country to country, depending on who her lover of the moment is. Sean, the handsome Irish bloke she meets in the pub who seems to know an awful lot about Ana and her family that he shouldn't. But this story is told mainly from Ana Devlin's point of view and we don't get to know the other characters at all except a little and only superficially. Ana herself bounces back and forth between emotions and thoughts so much that she is hard to get to know as well.

The mystery itself is quite convoluted with an outcome quite unexciting considering all the mayhem involved. But overall, a light quick read.

A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King - Second in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series and a reread for me. I liked the mix of female politics (the suffrage movement of the 1920s) and female theology (the untranslated Bible appears to be more inclusive of women and their important roles in events than its translations.) Mary is drawn to an organization called the New Temple of God which is led by a woman. She and the female members of her organization work to improve the lives of poor, abused and illiterate women in post WWI London. But there are just a few too many deaths of women associated with the Temple.

Looks liek we've been enjoying many of the same books! Another who enjoyed Julie Czerenda - following on from Janny's recommendation I think. Must go and check out some more of the short stories.

In the Company of Others is a standalone with excellent pacing and spot on delivery.

The series with Reap the Wild Wind actually is a prequel to her first novel in the Trade Pact Series. So the ENDING of this 'prequel' series makes better sense if you read the books in the order they were chronologically written: A Thousand Words for Stranger being the first in the trade pact series, proper.

Thousand Words WAS her debut novel...and it only connects culturally IF you read all 3 in that series...so it's a coin flip what to read first. Reap the Wild Wind and sequel are excellent, the third makes sense only in the entire series context, I feel) Her work gets steadily better as her career got underway.

That might help you gain a little perspective.

I can only agree.

And I think the problem I had with the last of the "prequel" Trade Pact books was that it was such a break when related to the others - it felt much like this had could been another story, not a prequel to A Thousand words for Stranger.

But that is just my humble opinion.

BTW I too have Janny to thank for my discovery of Czerneda. Something for which I'm thankful :)

Feed by MT Anderson - I didn't think I would like this book, but I wanted to try it to see where it would go. The language was off-putting at first, with a lot of, like, meg slang which I found so, like, meg sucked even if all the units were completely youch.

But I found myself getting into the rhythm of the words and interested in the future the characters are a part of. These teens are quite content with their lives as is, not knowing or worried about knowing any other way of life, with their feeds (used like we use the internet but it's integrated into their brains and constantly on) giving them instant access to anything they want/need. But Anderson lets us know, here and there, without really telling us, the distressing reality these kids aren't worried about, because that's just the way things are. I was surprised at finding myself quite impressed with the writing and the story.

A Knot in the Grain - A collection of short stories by Robin McKinley. Another reread for me. This has some of my favourite McKinley stories, some of which are Damar related, some which aren't. About women following their hearts, choosing simple though not necessarily normal lives over power. My favorite one is the title piece which is about a girl in the modern day U.S.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - I also found the writing in this one distracting at first. And I thought the idea of death as the narrator rather gimicky at first. It took me halfway through the book to really get into the story, but I read the last half in one day and ended up really liking the whole thing. Most books set during WWII that I've read are from the Allie's side POV.* It's a change to read about the life of a young German girl during this time. And I think because it's from the POV of a young person helped to keep the tone less bleak than it could have been. Overall, well done!

*Though, come to think on it, I've read two WWII-from-a-German's-POV books in the last 2-3 years. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne and City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin.

I took a break halfway through The Book Thief to read another couple volumes in the Fables world:

Fables Vol 13: The Great Fables Crossover - The storyline about the Literals is put to rest. Jack is still maddeningly frustrating.
Fables Vol 14: Witches - Good one, featuring Baba Yaga, Ozma and Frau Totenkinder (three of the witches) and Bufkin (not a witch, one of the flying monkeys from Oz). Very enjoyable volume.

In Busifer's 'Summer (Vacation) Stack' thread I mentioned some books I may read this summer. I thought I'd list them here and see at the end of summer if I actually got to them.

Laurie R. King's A Letter of Mary - done Aug 3
and The Moor - done Sep 14

Spindle's End by Robin McKinley

The Fresco by Sheri S Tepper

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell - done Jul 12
something on Mt TBR by Ursula Le Guin -Worlds of Exile and Illusion - done Aug 7
something on Mt TBR by Patricia McKillip
something on Mt TBR by Janny Wurts - Stormwarden - stopped Aug 15

So, what are your Mt TBR choices for Le Guin?! I'm curious!

I've got Changing Planes (a short story collection), Lavinia and several Hainish Cycle books. Have you read any of these, Busifer? I'm leaning towards Worlds of Exile and Illusion which is an omnibus of the first three Hainish books.

In defiance of the list in #123, I'm reading The Android's Dream by John Scalzi, which I borrowed from my BIL in March and am finally getting to. The first paragrah promised lots of politics, intrigue and silliness:

"Dirk Moeller didn't know if he could fart his way into a major diplomatic incident. But he was ready to find out."

I found myself intrigued.
And LibraryThing thinks I will love The Android's Dream (prediction confidence: very high)

What does that say about where I am in my reading life at the moment :oD

And actually, 159 pages in and I'm still enjoying it.

Changing Planes was nice, I think, but so are Worlds of Exile and Illusion, and in an entirely other way. My choice would be the latter.

I looked up your TBR-collection and saw you had Four Ways to Forgiveness and Birthday of the world listed. Both are very good but Four ways should be read first - some stories are interconnected...

Lavinia I have not read yet. I was a bit put off by Powers... But hfglen says it's great so I'm sure it is :D

Just to clarify: I haven't read Powers, but am still lost in admiration for Lavinia. ;)

Thanks. I had no idea they started out so small.

I wasn't put off by Powers, but it was my least favourite of that trilogy. Lavinia I've been putting off as I try to decide whether I feel the need to read The Odyssey first.

I'd read a Hainish short story in one of Le Guin's other collections, can't remember which one now, that I really liked so it probably will be this world I turn to next when I read another Le Guin.

Oh, well, grammar ;-)

I think the Hanish books are her best!

#130 No, you don't need The Odyssey. Lavinia is a stray from The Aeneid, but I hadn't read more than a line or 2 of that since school before picking up Lavinia. All you need to come in knowing of the Aeneid is that Lavinia is a Latin girl who becomes Aeneas's 3rd missus after Wossname-who-died-in-Troy and Dido. And that's probably a spoiler, too. Lavinia herself will tell you the rest as you read the book.

Oops. There goes what I thought I knew about The Odyssey. I thought Lavinia was about Odysseus' wife while he was off adventuring.

The Android's Dream was an enjoyable romp, a political intrigue quite bizarre and over the top. Like a psychedelic John Le Carre. I had a hard time putting it down.

I'm now halfway through My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, and loving it. It's a memoir of the author's early years (aged 10-14 I think) spent on the island of Corfu. He grew up to become a naturalist and his love and wonder of the natural world around him shows in his writing. Lots of roaming and exploring the countryside and its animal inhabitants, and of convincing his family to allow his many live specimens indoors.

"Then one day I found a fat female scorpion in the wall wearing what at first glance appeared to be a pale fawn fur coat. Closer inspection proved that this strange garment was made up of a mass of tiny babies clinging to the mother's back. I was enraptured by this family, and I made up my mind to smuggle them into the house and up to my bedroom so that I might keep them and watch them grow up. With infinite care I manoeuvred the mother and family into a matchbox, and then hurried to the villa. It was rather unfortunate that just as I entered the door lunch should be served; however I placed the match box carefully on the mantelpiece in the drawing-room, so that the scorpions should get plenty of air, and made my way to the dining-room and joined the family for the meal. Dawdling over my food, feeding Roger surreptitiously under the table and listening to the family arguing, I completely forgot about my exciting new captures. At last Larry, having finished, fetched the cigarettes from the drawing-room, and lying back in his chair he put one in his mouth and picked up the matchbox he had brought. Oblivious of my impending doom I watched him interestedly as, still talking glibly, he opened the matchbox."

I've also finished listening to Agatha Christie's The Tuesday Club Murders. Light and cozy. I've started listening to Mennonite in a Little Black Dress but I'm not too enthused by the narrator. She's performing too much and I wish it was more toned down, less emphatic overall. I'll give it another hour or so and see if I get used to it.

LOL! Yikes.

Really, I want to read that next sentence! And what happened to dear little Gerald. I love Laurence Durrell's books, too.

Neither humans nor scorpions suffered death, or even a fate worse than death. Gerald, to his regret, was made to return the family to the outdoors after he recollected them all.

Gerald has such patience, respect and comfort when it comes to observing and handling the creatures he encounters. I encourage these traits in my sons, but they are not so enamoured with natural history, and reading about the mama scorpion and her brood made me wonder if this is maybe a good thing ...

Maggie, I've never tried anything by Lawrence Durrell, and his younger brother makes him seem 'highbrow' and rather stuffy so I wasn't sure about trying anything. Which of his books did you love and would recommend?

I've given up on Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. The author's words combined with the reader's tone seem to me disparaging overall, of everything in general. And her parents seem silly and vapid when they're meant to be strict and loving. I know it's meant to be humourous, but I'm just not enjoying it. Maybe this one is better read rather than listened to.

I've moved on to City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, which I've had on my player forever and keep meaning to start.

Sandra, the books I most remember are The Alexandria Quartet. It was a very long time ago so I am not 100% sure I am recommending them, today. Read some reviews before buying, I think.

I just read the most epic battle to the death between a gecko and a praying mantis that took place on the ceiling/wall/bed of young Durrell's bedroom. I'm afraid this means I'm definitely going to have to look for more of his books.

Maggie, I've heard good things about the Alexandria Quartet but I'll have to get Gerald Durrell out my system first before I go on to his brother or my book spending is going to get out of control again.

Just popped in to add:

#126: "In defiance of the list in #123,"

*cheers on your defiance of Said List!* Cheer! Defy! Cheer! :o)

Instigator, Egger-On & General Maven of Mischeif,
~Pandora~

BTW, the two brothers' writing style is very different, one from the other.

(did I put that apostrophe in the right place?)

Yes, you did.

Another big fan of Gerald's work, although I haven't read all of them. In some ways My family and other animalsis his best book, although three are another two I think set in Corfu. His later collecting trips can be very interesting too, but feel somewhat dated now, his last books were all rehashes of previous anecdotes, and didn't really work that well to me. The best of gerald durrell has some great pictures in it. He has also written some fiction!

I would agree with Busifer in #127 - worlds of exile and illusion is a better choice than changing planes which was OK but special.

UNCLE! I've added the Durrell books to my wishlist already! I love stories about people and animals and those sound just right for me.

Mission accomplished.

I'm really glad you're enjoying My Family and other Animals. It's been a long time since I read it, and now reading that little paragraph makes me want to renew the acquaintance.

I was 11 when I first read My Family and other animals. Can't help wondering if it didn't subtly help to turn me to my present (very satisfying!) career path.

I started studying biology at university, with an aim to zero in on zoology but, what with certain distractions, a distaste for animal dissections in 3rd year and a yen for travelling, I never did go back to finish my degree. I think I may have turned to botany if I had gone back, but my life went in a different direction. I've been making up for it by enjoying natural history essays and memoirs. My favourite authors of these are David Quammen and Diane Ackerman. I think Gerald Durrell will likely become a favourite as well.

I must still be in the mood for humour. I've moved on to Stories from the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean, expecting some silliness, but I was surprised to find that the first two stories I read were anything but. Each chapter is like a short vignette about a family that own a record store, called the Vinyl Cafe, in Toronto. This is one of a collection of Vinyl Cafe stories that McLean wrote for his radio show, and I've heard him read a couple that were quite funny. I guess there's more of a mix in tone than I was aware of. Not that that's bad, just unexpected.

I love Stuart McLean's radio show. It is on public radio here at least once a week but I never remember exactly when, so, I have to stumble upon it. When I do, I am always so glad!

I also love Stuart McLean's radio show. I've found the pod casts of it and have started listening to the older ones. I'm in November at the moment, listening to them at odd times, so it'll take me a while to get current.

The book was occassionally smile-to-myself funny, but his radio show is laugh-out-loud funny, so maybe it's the delivery. The vignettes in the book are about the everyday things in one's life, which I found a little melancholy sometimes. But sometimes if I reread the same thing with McLean's voice telling the story in my head, I could see how it would be funny. I guess the idea is it's good to be able to laugh at the things that get us down sometimes. I'll read more of the Vinyl Cafe books, but I'll save them for when I'm feeling cozy rather than when I want humour.

I've started Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Ursula Le Guin. No comment yet, except it's looking good.

I finished listening to City of Bones. It was just another urban werewolves, vampires, slayer kind of story, until the last quarter. Then it got more interesting and I liked the twist in relationships. Going to start the next one, City of Ashes, right away.

I liked Clare's worlds but felt the story dimished somewhat as the series progressed. After reading the frist three from the library I wasn't inclined to search out any others.

I read the blurb on the prequel, Clockwork Angel, which sounds like it combines steampunk and the paranormal. Sounds interesting enough for me to listen to another of Cassandra Clare's series, but we'll see if I feel the same after finishing this one..

I've read the first two stories in Worlds of Exile and Illusion. The first was Rocannon's World, about a man from the League of Worlds who, along with various colleagues, is investigating and cultivating as possible allies the sentient races on a technologically unadvanced world. Rocannon becomes the sole survivor after his ship and colleagues are attacked and destroyed by off-world rebels. I found the writing in this story somewhat stiff and the descriptions sparse. I had a hard time getting a sense of a world filled with various sentient life forms. Instead the action was so narrowly focused on Rocannon and his quest to find some way to communicate the state of affairs with the League, that the world seemed quite empty otherwise. Like the rest of the map is blacked out wherever he isn't.

The second story, Planet of Exile, was still a little stiff, but flowed better for me. Same universe as the above, different world several millenia later. A group of Leaguers arrive on planet to investigate just as war breaks out off-world. It is now 600 years later and their descendants have yet to hear from the League. I got a better sense of the strangeness of this world (where the seasons are 20 Earth years long) and the differences despite the similarities between the natives and the off-worlders.

Took a break between those stories to read What Ho, Automaton!, a quick light ER book. It is a pastiche of PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories, set in steampunk Victorian England. Compared with the few Jeeves books I've read, the writing style seems similar. I actually found it quite jarring and too silly at first until I got used to the idea of Jeeves/Reeves being a gentleman's automaton and got more into the story.

Also reread A Letter of Mary, 3rd in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Just as lovely as the previous ones. And this time I realized that the Peter who shows up for a few pages to help Mary out is actually Lord Peter Wimsey.

Now on to the final story in Worlds of Exile and Illusion, City of Illusions.

Read another Jack Stalwart book to J, The Mystery of the Mona Lisa. This one takes place in France. I was better doing a French accent (I think! Thankfully only little J was listening to me strangle it) than the British and Australian ones for the first two books.

That's awesome... I couldn't imagine it, and when I saw the picture I truly did "gasp." Who would have thought it?

I was looking at that photo of the baby lobster.

Finished listening to the last two of the first Mortal Instruments series (City of Ashes and City of Glass) which were good, but would have been better without the constant agonizing of the protagonists over their undying but ill-fated love for each other. Otherwise, interesting supernatural world and conflicts.

Also finished off the last story in Worlds of Exile and Illusion, City of Illusions. Rather meh. I get the sense of isolation felt by Falk, but not the sense of strangeness. Falk's travels through various isolated regions brought him into confusing situations, but I couldn't see the alieness that I think would have been present if aliens really were in control of our world. The aliens themselves seemed very human to me, in form and action, just rather arbitrary and unpleasant ones. The writing was episodic and expository and I wasn't being drawn in.

I'm very behind in my journaling again. In the past month I've listened to:

The Body in the Library - a fun Miss Marple murder mystery

Postern of Fate - a rambling Tommy and Tuppence mystery that seemed to take too long to finish. I only finished it because I enjoyed the other books in this series, and it was the last story Agatha Christie wrote.

The Art of Racing in the Rain - Not laugh out loud funny, but had me smiling to myself. The race car loving dog, Enzo, tells his story well. Amazes me how much racing cars is so much like living life. I let the descriptions of racing cars and racing world name dropping slide by me, but enjoyed the story of Enzo and his human and his family.

You okay after the earthquake?

So there was an earthquake! Yes, Morphy, I'm fine, thanks. I felt the rocking a bit in my chair, but when I looked about nothing was shaking or swaying, everthing outside looked fine. Our little chandelier was swaying a bit, but that was all.

The news says the epicentre was up island from us a couple hundred kms, just off the west coast, was 25kms under the sea bed, was magnitude 6.4, and triggered no tsunami warnings. Hope those closer to it are doing okay as well.

Wicked Bugs - Quick, interesting essays about several of the nasty 'bugs' in our world and how they are harmful. Too quick. I would have liked to read more about each one, their lifestyles and habitats and such. Made me wonder how I ever survived my travels to South East Asia and Australia. Also convinced me to give up pork, which I'd been thinking about for while now anyways...

Stormwarden - I had a hard time with this one and will have to try it again another time. The writing was too descriptive for me and I found myself tripping over similes and metaphors and not able to get into the story itself.

Pirate Latitudes - Apparently this was a manuscript found and published after Michael Crichton's death, and it felt like it, unfinished that is. The story was complete but needed fleshing out. The characters were very flat. Not like Crichton's usual work. I think it would have made a wonderful pirate story if Crichton'd had the chance to work on it more. And now I know what a privateer is, as opposed to a pirate.

Santa Olivia - Thought this would be a werewolf story, it wasn't. Then thought it would be a Zorro-like story, but it wasn't that either. But it had a little bit of both. Loup Garron is stronger and faster than most (thanks to her genetically modified father) and is part of a misfit group of orphans under the care of the parish church. They live in a town, on the Mexican/US border, that becomes isolated and forgotten in a buffer zone built by the US to fend off Mexican revolutionaries. This is a story about inequities and hope and freedom and boxing. Boxing. And I really enjoyed it. Who woulda thought?

I read the first story in the Cordelia's Honor omnibus, Shards of Honor and really enjoyed it. I was expecting something full of action and space battles. Instead, those were in the background and this was more about the characters. Great characters. And it's a love story of the non-raging hormone kind. And there are interesting bits of tech thrown in. Lots of fun. Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan are on opposite sides of an interplanetary war. Both are brave and honourable and patriotic, which is a problem when they'd simply like time to hole up somewhere and just enjoy each other's company.

Before going on to the second story in the Cordelia omnibus, I'm rereading The Moor, a Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mystery. I've definitely read this before, but I don't remember any of it at all. This one takes place on Dartmoor, where The Hound of the Baskervilles is set, and Laurie King's descriptions of the place are wonderful. Atmospheric, I believe the word is.

Also listening to Duma Key, but I've only just started and don't really have an opinion yet.

Stephen King is a great story teller. Duma Key had atmosphere, creepiness and characters I enjoyed getting to know. After an accident that costs Edgar his right arm, he finds himself able to tap into a strange ability to affect events through painting.

Same can be said about The Breathing Method, a novella. Listening to this was like listening to ghost stories being told around a campfire, minus the campfire.

Tanglewreck is about a quest for the timekeeper. Time is going wrong, affecting past and future events, and the only way to fix time is with the timekeeper. Silver and her friends need to find the timekeeper, but it becomes a race as there are others who want to use the timekeeper to control time to their advantage. This was a quick fun young adult story by Jeannette Winterson and Vicky Licorish narrates doing wonderful voices. I've heard that Jeannett Winterson's novels can be bizarre and dark and I can see a touch of that darkness here.

I've tried various other audio books these last few months, but I keep coming back to Miss Marple mysteries. The following I didn't finish:

Jacque Cousteau's The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus: Exploring and Conserving Our Natural World which I found too political when I was looking for natural history.

Charlie Fletcher's Stoneheart, a young adult story that I just couldn't get into.

Peter Mayle's Vintage Caper which was supposed to be a light mystery but kept going on about good wines, good food, nice clothes and beautiful locations. All fine until the main character admits to us he prefers working with good looking people. Ick. It made everything else seem like so much snobbery after that.

Miss Marple always makes me feel better. I've very much enjoyed listening to:
The Moving Finger
A Murder is Announced
They Do it With Mirrors
A Pocket Full of Rye
4.50 From Paddington

And now I'm listening to The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side, which I now realized I've watched on video before, twice. Once with Joan Hickson and once with Angela Lansbury. This is fun because I can remember the motive, but I still can't quite remember who the murderer is.

You seem to be the personification of the avid reader -- have you read "Days of Atonement" or Critique of Criminal Reason" by Michael Gregorio? I would be interested in your opinion. I find them engrossing and informative -- an exploration of 18th century forensics. Could these details be factual?

Sorry, Cyss. I haven't read either of the books you mention. 18th century forensics sounds interesting though.

In the past month I've listened to and enjoyed:

The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side
A Caribbean Mystery
At Bertram's Hotel

And now I'm listening to Nemesis

I think I've almost finished listening to the Miss Marple mysteries. Miss Marple, after The Murder at the Vicarage which I didn't like so much, became very delightful to read. I like that the stories all start from and follow various POVs and they're not all just about Miss Marple. In some of them she doesn't even show up until much later in the story. I think I may give Poirot another try after these. I didn't like The Mysterious Affair at Styles when I listened to it a few years ago read by Davinia Porter, but my library has a version read by David Suchet and I'd like to give Poirot another try.

I also listened to Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, an urban fantasy about a walker that can change into a coyote at will who was brought up by werewolves. It was an okay story and I liked Mercy (the walker) well enough, but I doubt if I'll listen to anymore. I'm not a huge fan of urban fantasy and there are so many other audiobooks I'd rather listen to.

The Stonekeeper
The Stonekeeper's Curse
The Cloud Searchers
The Stone Council

My 10yo (actually, he turns 11 today, WooHoo!), convinced me to try the above Amulet series of graphic novels. They're alternate world, fantasy with a touch of steampunk. I'm hooked! Interesting story with strong young characters and great illustrations. Only 4 volumes are out and we're both looking forward to the 5th.

Graphic novel-wise, I also borrowed Essential Dykes to Watch out For from the library, after hearing very good commets about it from other LTers. Fun to read about these people's lives, angsts, challenges and victories. A lot of politics, in the background and fore, which I found myself glossing over but still enjoyable if sometimes frustrating (in that I felt frustrated for the characters).

Another happy discovery this year were the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold, thanks to my husband and fellow GDers. Most of what I read were in collections:

Cordelia's Honor - with Shards of Honor and Barrayar
Young Miles - with The Warrior's Apprentice, The Mountains of Mourning and The Vor Game
Miles, Mystery & Mayhem - with Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos and Labyrinth
Miles Errant - with The Borders of Infinity, Brothers in Arms and Mirror Dance
Memory

I think I like these because each book can be so different from another. Most of them are from brilliant hyperactive Miles Vorkosigan's POV, but some of the stories are from another character's POV. They are all science fiction, but some are mysteries, some are space opera, some are espionage. I find myself looking forward to each one without worry that the series is going stale.

Others I've finished reading since I last posted in September (gadzooks!)

By Mary Stewart:
Thornyhold - A little mystery, a bit of magic, a touch of romance, a woodsy English setting. This book was wonderful.

The Stormy Petrel - There wasn't a lot to this story, it was short and simple with a dash of mystery. But there was a lovely setting on a secluded Scottish isle, singing seals and flights of assorted birds. I spent a great evening curled up with this book.

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson - My first Stephenson and enjoyable. I'd thought it would be a cross between cyber and steam punk but wasn't really either of these. The events take place about a hundred years in the future when nano technoloy is prevalent. The Primer is a very high tech interactive educational one of a kind book meant for the granddaughter of a lord in a social group that bases itself on the Victorians of the 1800s. But it is stolen by its creator for his daughter and in the process is stolen again and falls into the hands of a young underpriviledged girl. Stephenson created a very interesting world though it seemed rushed and thin at the end. I'm willing to try another Stephenson, but most of his novels look big and intimidating so I may try Snow Crash as my next Stephenson.

Skye Object 3270a by Linda Nagata - from my review for the ER program - 'Skye Object 3270a was named after the life pod in which she was discovered when she was two years old, cryogenically frozen. The life pod stopped working when Skye was rescued and all information the life pod may have kept, including any about Skye and why she was in the life pod, were unretrievable. Skye has lived the 12 years since then on Silk, the only city hanging above the mysterious and secluded planet Deception Well. Skye's background is still equally mysterious and she is believed to be the lone survivor of some kind of catastrophe. But Skye can't help believing there must be other survivors still undiscovered.

This story brought me back to when I was twelve years old and had just discovered the books of Monica Hughes, exciting science fiction in which independant young teens were exploring environments both dangerous and wonderous, risking their lives to find solutions to problems and using wondrous futuristic technology. Reading about Skye and her friends was fun edge-of-your-seat adventure and I found myself, just like when I was 12, believing these teens capable of doing all the exciting things described.'

Don't Look Now and other stories by Daphne du Maurier - A collection of short stories, not really horror with a touch of the supernatural and bizarre. I enjoyed most of the stories and would definitely try another du Maurier. This collection included Don't Look Now; The Apple Tree; The Pool; The Blue Lenses; Kiss Me Again, Stranger; The Chamois; Not After Midnight; The Old Man; The Birds.

The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas - A book of short natural history and biological essays/articles. This was published in the early 1970s and Thomas' sense of the interconnectedness and interdependance of humans with the other creatures on the earth can be found throughout. The essays are serious but touched with a lightness and wry humour that make them enjoyable to read. I love the way Thomas has of turning ideas inside out, like when he questions whether we are individuals that make use of the mitochondria in our cells in the generation of energy, or whether we are merely mobile colonies of mitochondrial bacteria, kept and used by the mitochondria for sustenance and procreation.

I also decided it was time to reread the Harry Potter books and have finished:
The Philosopher's Stone
The Chamber of Secrets
The Prisoner of Azkaban

My sister gave me a Harry Potter cookbook for Christmas, and after reading the recipes I'm inspired to cook some, and read the books again.

That is so fun! I want a George R.R. Martin cookbook. The dishes described in his books sound so good!

Sandra, do you have a 2012 thread? Could you post a link here? Thanks.

175 - Any recipe for pumpkin pasties? I've always wondered what those would be like. And cauldron cakes also sound interesting but I figured they were just pancakes.

176 - Link coming up, as soon as I figure out some stats for 2011.

2011 Stats

Books read: 46
Audiobooks: 34

Of the above:
Rereads: 9
Short Story collections: 5
Fiction: 72
Non-fiction: 8
Mysteries: 22
Fantasy: 18
Sci Fi: 13
Mythology: 2
Other Fiction: 16

As well as:
Graphic Novels: 22
Short Stories (not part of collections): 32
Read to the boys: 13
Unfinished books/audio: 6

Yup, pumpkin pasties recipe included. It was one of the first ones I looked for, lol. Eldest daughter made the pancakes recipe - ooooh, SO good! I'll have to look up cauldron cakes and see if it's there. Will let you know.

impressive stats by the way.

Let me know how the pasties turn out too, if you decide to give them a try. Reading about Hogwarts feasts always make my mouth water.

Link to my 2012 journal:
2012 Green Dragon Reading Journal

#177 The name "cauldron cakes" makes me think of something related to naan, or any Indian flatbread slapped on to the side of the oven to bake.

Mmmm. Yes, naan bread would make more sense than pancakes. Easy to eat with the fingers, on their own, without the syrup or butter or other assorted toppings to worry about whilst travelling the Hogwarts Express.

#182 Of course if you want a really messy lunch, the local supermarkets and curry places here sell one that's hard to beat, and could conceivably come under the heading of 'cauldron cakes'. Namely a rather wet curry in a roti wrap. Vegetarian if you're a traditionalist, chicken or mutton for carnivores, beef only if you insist on offending somebody.

oh, you guys, making me hungry!