Nora (norabelle414)'s module beta: In which Nora does not see her shadow

Let's face it: winter is pretty much over.


Irving, the Wikipedia groundhog.


My goals for 2012 are thus:

• Help plan (and attend) the big giant Washington DC spring LT meet-up (planning thread here)
  
• Read 75 books
  
• Read War and Peace
  
• Learn and use more HTML in my thread
  
• Catch up on my LTER reading / reviewing
  
• Read more books than I acquire (acquire fewer books than I read?)
  
• Possibly some other goal(s) related to not accumulating books and/or getting rid of books and/or reading books I have owned for a long time and/or using the library and/or reading more books than I listen to.

Previous Threads:
2012, part 1
2011, part 5
2011, part 4
2011, part 3
2011, part 2
2011, part 1
2010
2009

Books read in 2012:

January:
1) The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
2) The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
3) Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (borrowed)
4) From Then to Now: A Short History of the World by Christopher Moore (LTER)
5) Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
6) City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare (borrowed)
7) Long After Midnight: 22 Hauntings and Celebrations by Ray Bradbury (A) (library)


February:
8) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (reread)
9) Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (A) (library)
10) The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital by Samuel Shem (borrowed)
11) Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (borrowed)
12) Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (borrowed)
13) Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (A) (reread) (library)


March:
14) Bossypants by Tina Fey (A)
15) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (borrowed)
16) Book of Enchantments by Patricia C. Wrede
17) Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
18) Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery (A) (reread) (library)

Currently reading:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (reread)
The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital by Samuel Shem (borrowed)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Coming soon:
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (borrowed)
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (borrowed)
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (upcoming movie)
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show?)
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. LeGuin (reread?)

BOOKS READ: 7
BOOKS BOUGHT: 2
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 2
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 334
BOOKS REMAINING: 68
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.91

*Stalks Nora from her shadow so Nora doesn't find him*

Winter must be over! Two days ago we had 4cm of snow dump on us in the space of 2 hours, and by the morning, it had melted. That's not winter! That's... nature having PMS or something. LOL.

Winter never really got started for me Nora. Congrats on the new thread.

>4 Ape: *jumps 180 degrees and yells* Boo!

>5 dk_phoenix:,6 It never really did start this year, did it? It's 60 degrees here today. I haven't gotten more than 4 inches of snow in years :-(

checking in on your new thread. Happy reading

Waahhhhh! *Hides*

Nice new thread! Good luck on the job front!

I'm not sure I ever did say hi on the last thread, Nora, so I'm going to be sure to check in early here!

just popping in to keep track of the new thread.

Nice new digs. I feel like the creature up top deserves a name. Irving, maybe? Anywho, how goes War and Peace, Nora?

Aww! I love your woodchuck!

My son has a woodchuck living in his yard. I'll have to tell him to keep an eye on him tomorrow! :)

Hi everyone!

>13 MickyFine: Irving it is! War and Peace is going verrrry slowly. I'm only on page 65. I really need to read it for longer periods of time, because each time I pick it up I've completely forgotten what's going on.

**Job update!**

I got an offer from the new contracting company for a different job in my same office. Basically the company has no idea what we do in our office so they made up some editor-type job and gave it to me. But, my new title is "Subject Matter Expert" which looks waaaay better on a resume than "Program administrator". The pay is very slightly higher (they basically just rounded to the nearest 1000), but the insurance and 401(k) plans are worse, but they'll reimburse me for my Metro costs. So it kind of evens out. I've accepted the job, because I figure if I hate it I can just find something new and then quit, rather than being out of work while I look for something else. Of the other 7 contractors in my office, 5 have gotten offers (3 accepted, 1 declined, and 1 still deciding) but 2 have not, and it's pretty safe to say that they are not going to get offers. I'm sad about that.

But after work the 2 who have not gotten offers and the one who is still deciding and I all went to Kramerbooks for drinks and dinner and more drinks and dessert and drinks. And then I went drunken book shopping! So I now own:

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales edited by Kate Bernheimer (a collection of stories by Aimee Bender, Michael Cunningham, Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates, etc etc etc)
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Feed by Mira Grant, and
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

so basically, anything with a purdy cover. All for full price. But I have a job!

Yay, good news on the job front!

It's too bad about those other two co-workers, though :(

Man, seems everyone is reading that anthology... I'm jealous (but too cheap to buy it so far).

Hope you love The Last Unicorn. It's one of my favs.

Wow, that was some super awesome drunken book shopping! If I went drunken book shopping, I'd probably come home with eight copies of "Mac for Dummies" and then be super confused in the morning. Mostly because I don't own a Mac.

But some seriously great titles AND, as an added bonus, you just reminded me that I should break out the Bernheimer anthology, which I HAD to have as soon as it came out, but then of course did not read.

Congrats on the job!

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me has some great stories in it.

Have you read Mieville before? I liked Perdido Street Station but it is odd.

Woohoo awesome! Super happy for you, Nora, I hope everything is to your liking once you settle down in the new position. When will you be making the switch?

Yay for a job offer and a copy of The Last Unicorn!

I hope you like the new job :)

And well done on the book haul. I hope you like The Wind-Up Girl more than I did, and yay for The Last Unicorn. It's an amazing book.

Book #8: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - reread - Not as good the second time around, since I knew what was going on. The "creative" dialog/letters part annoyed me. Also, I think it's losing its poignancy as time moves on and Sept 11 falls further into the past (which is tragic in itself). However, rereading it reminded me of how it made me feel the first time I read it, which was nice. Still recommended to anyone who hasn't read it, but I most likely won't be reading it again.

Currently reading:
The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital by Samuel Shem (borrowed)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Coming soon:
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (borrowed)
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (borrowed)
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (upcoming movie)
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show?)
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. LeGuin (reread?)

BOOKS READ: 8
BOOKS BOUGHT: 7
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 7
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 333
BOOKS REMAINING: 67
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.97

>16 _Zoe_: I am very relieved for myself, but concerned for my other 2 coworkers. One of them is Soraya, whom you met at the National Book Festival.

>17 leahbird:, 18 I'm really excited for the anthology. I will probably review the stories separately (while trying to avoid spoilers) since people seemed to like that for the Ray Bradbury anthology.

>19 UnrulySun: I have not read any Mieville before, but I like weird books so I'm looking forward to it.

>20 Ape: The transition is on the 15th of February. It should be somewhat smooth, except that the insurance for my new company doesn't start until the first of the month after I begin work. So there will be a 2 week gap in my insurance coverage. *puts on bike helmet and shotguns vitamin C*

>21 RosyLibrarian:, 22 I had never even heard of The Last Unicorn before. I bought it because it was pretty. Now I'm super excited!

Yay for job having! Super glad for you, Nora. And it looks like you got a decent batch of books to boot. I'll be crossing my appendages that health-wise everything is good for those two weeks.

*pats Irving on the head on the way out*

Congrats on the job, Nora! And you're a good drunk book shopper - I'm afraid I'd buy things I already owned just because I thought it was funny at the time. I'm not a good drunk person. :/

Your re-read review reminds me that I should read that book sooner than later. I have an autographed copy of it too, but I keep waiting for the "right time" to read it. Don't think that really exists, I just need to shove to the top of the TBR heap.

Nora - well done with the job confirmation. What better way to celebrate than to add some more books? It is always excruciating when some in an office are kept and some let go. I had to downsize site staff several times on projects in the UK and Malaysia/Singapore as a Project Manager and, with the red pen hovering, you often try to be objective in your choices but it is difficult. I remember letting one poor fellow go on a project in southern england who was an excellent worker but had the terrible habit of leaving his smelly workboots too close to my office window!

If you need to be tie you to a chair for two weeks, in a scary dungeon, with an array of suspiciously phallic torture devices, so you don't get hurt or anything...well, I can do that for you...y'know, as a favor. You can repay me however you like, whenver you can. (I like pepperoni pizza and Mountain Dew, plus my favorite kind of cake is chocolate with white icing.)

#24 by @norabelle414> I had never even heard of The Last Unicorn before. I bought it because it was pretty. Now I'm super excited!

NEVER?!? Wow, you are so in for a treat. (Well, I hope you really like it because if not I'm going to seem strange) I didn't know it was a book for the longest time as my only experience of it was a strange half memory of watching an amazing movie about a unicorn at the babysitting service at the Peabody Hotel near Disney World when I was 7... Fast-forward 12 years and a college friend reintroduced me to the movie, which was just as good as I remembered. Found out it was based on a book, bought it immediately, LOVED it, and have been buying up everything related to it ever since. A new deluxe edition comes out soon and I can't wait!

Where have I been? I missed your job update. Congrats, sure sounds better than it could've been. And just to be clear, the "supervisor" didn't change her mind? Any logic to the people who were rehired and the people who weren't? Not lots of notice to the people who are out.

While I'm sorry for your two colleagues, I am happy you still have a job, and without the evil supervisor it might even be tolerable! Good luck!

WAIT A MINUTE... you had never heard of The Last Unicorn? That is amazing. Wow. And now you get to read it for the first time... I'm a little jealous, because that first encounter only comes once. It's one of my favorite books. And I adore the animated film, for which Peter Beagle wrote the screenplay (even though they mangled it with edits for the DVD release).

I hope you love it!

PS: Peter Beagle is pretty wonderful all around. Lots of his books are great.

I've done it so many times...there's something about the spine of The Last Unicorn that just catches my eye everytime I'm in the sci-fi/fantasy section of my public library. I don't know how many times I pulled it out thinking "Ooooh, what is that" only to be disappointed by the ~*~GIRLY~*~ unicorn on the cover. Ewwwwwww! :P

Since when are unicorns girly? It's not even sparkly.

What could possibly be grilier than unicorns? Except, y'know, pegasi. (That's plural for pegasus, right? Peguses?)

Your cover does look cool though, assuming the aged-looking cover with the black stencil-y unicorn is the one you have.

Everyone should read The Last Unicorn, watch the animated movie and then read the graphic novel. That's how good it is. :)

Sparkly vampires (shall we call them glampires) are more girly than unicorns.

Interesting tattoo. ...I'm just wondering where exactly the rainbow is coming from...

His belly button, of course!

However, this may explain where the rainbow actually comes from.

seconded mbellerose's suggestion

I am sad to say that I watched that "Space Unicorn" video like 15 minutes ago and it's still repeating in my head. At least I'm not singing it aloud. :|

>36 Ape: Yes that's the one I have, but the letters, unicorn, and embellishments are actually shiny red, not black.

Haha! It plays in my head quite often. It doesn't help that my 8yo has it on her iPod and plays it constantly. She's a big Parry Gripp fan.

My soon-to-be-ex-"supervisor" is very upset that no one in our office gives a shit that she has not yet been able to pin down a full-time job that pays her what she wants. (She's only gotten several high-paying consulting jobs and a teaching position)

Can she just leave already?

So you're planning a great big going away party for her, right? ;)

Well, she is leaving at the same time that other people are getting laid off. So we can't have a "happy" going away party. And we don't really want to give her any sympathy when we're bidding our laid-off coworkers goodbye.

#45

Why can I only think................diddums ;)

How did I not post here yet?!

Congratscongratscongrats on the job!! WooHoo!!

Book #9: Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler - audiobook from the library - Someone please remind me why I started listening to this book in the first place. It was even worse than the first one. This book follows the adventures of Jane Mansfield of regency England as she is thrust into the body and life of Courtney Stone, a 30-something living in Los Angeles in the early 2000s. While in Jane's life, Courtney had gone to parties, learned to sew, avoided parents, etc. In Courtney's life, Jane fails to pay the bills, quits Courtney's job, and gets married to someone who thinks she is Courtney. That's quite a lot to do when one is the guardian of someone else's life. Jane somehow magically knows how to do lots of things, including: a) use a computer to surf the internet and look things up on Google, b) drive a car through the streets of Los Angeles, including knowing where people live and how to get there, c) swim in the ocean, and d) use a TV and DVD player to watch movies . All of this is explained away by something called "cellular memory" in which each cell of Courtney's body remembers how to do those things. *Insert retching noises here*

I'm almost positive that at the end of the first book, Courtney returns to her life in LA. At the end of the second book, however, Jane is still happily living in Courtney's body, fucking with her life. I'm not sure how that is supposed to work.

This book was mildly interesting while I was listening to it, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.


Currently reading:
The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital by Samuel Shem (borrowed)
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (borrowed)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Coming soon:
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (borrowed)
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (upcoming movie)
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show?)
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. LeGuin (reread?)

BOOKS READ: 9
BOOKS BOUGHT: 7
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 7
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 330
BOOKS REMAINING: 66
DAYS PER BOOK: 5

And that is precisely why I tend to avoid any piece of fiction that attempts to ride Jane Austen's coat tails. They are never as good and quite often they fall below par of regular fiction.

I was prepared for cheesy and predictable. I wasn't prepared for discontinuities and the illogical.

That sucks. I totally understand wanting something cheesy and predictable and then getting just very poor quality. No fun at all. Hope the next read(s) is/are better.

I played hooky from work today (okay, I have PTO that I have to use before the contract is up or I lose it, but playing hooky sounds so much better) and apparently I missed a bunch of gossip!

The "supervisor" has decided that she can't stand to be in DC any longer, so she's most likely moving back to Philly on SATURDAY even though our contract isn't up until TUESDAY. So that's fewer days of her! Apparently she brought her personal computer to work today, and didn't even bother pretending that she was working.

Also, we're having an end-of-contract happy hour on Monday and the Government Boss (GB) wants to invite my mentor, who worked in our office from 1994 to September 2011, when he was forced into retirement (but treated like he was being fired) by the "supervisor". The "supervisor" flipped out about that, and GB is terrified of confrontation so he decided not to invite my mentor. But now if the "supervisor" is moving back to Philly early, then my mentor can come to the happy hour!

I'm taking another day off from work on Thursday. At least this week is not boring :-)

Woohoo on all counts! :)

Other good news is that I went to my bar last night for the first time since they renovated. I don't know if this is actually what they were going for, but it's totally steampunk now. I love it!

--------------------------------

I'm super jealous of all the people doing the 12 in 2012 challenge. I'm so bad at that kind of thing. I love finding books to put into categories, but I'm really awful at coming up with categories myself :-(

Ooooh, I wish I had a steampunky bar.

54: apparently I missed a bunch of gossip!
Glad you're passing it along. :-)

Oooh, steampunk! I don't go to bars, but that sounds fun. :)

Oh and I have some good news for you about OverDrive and returning eaudiobooks early. I'll just quote the whole memo for you:

"As of February 6, 2012, a software update means that some versions of the mobile Overdrive app can now return eaudiobooks.

Overdrive apps that can return eaudiobooks are:
• Android OS v1.5 (or newer)
• Touch screen BlackBerry OS v4.7 (or newer)
• Non-touch screen BlackBerry OS v4.5 (or newer)
• Windows Phone 7

Overdrive apps that cannot yet return eaudiobooks are:
• iOs (iPad, iPhone, iPod)
• Windows and Mac desktop versions of Overdrive Media Console

Overdrive reports that an update for iOs apps is coming soon and will include the ability to return, but did not provide a release date.

No effective way to return WMA format audiobooks yet
Because WMA audiobooks can only be downloaded and transferred using the Windows desktop version of Overdrive Media Console (which cannot yet return audiobooks), this means that for now only MP3 audiobooks can potentially be returned."

Don't know if this is good or bad news for you but thought I'd pass it along. :)

>56 norabelle414: So just copy someone else's categories! It's not too late to start.

>59 MickyFine: It is great news for me! I use mp3 format on Android. I got the update a day or two ago and have already returned a book! (a few hours before it was set to expire, but still!) Now if only they would fix the other problems, like bad files and not being able to renew books. (I'll forgive them for the time it checked out the wma format when I wanted mp3 because that only happened once.)

>60 _Zoe_: hmm maybe.

ETA: ok I thought about it. And came up with some. But I'm not going to join the group or make a separate thread because the last thing I need is more threads to follow/update.

• Rereads (last read more than 10 years ago)
  
• Books not originally written in English
  
• Books I've owned since before I joined LT (July 11, 2007)
  
• Hardcover books
  
• Books 250 pages or less
  
• Books from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
  
• Books with LT member rating of 4.00 or greater
  
• Science non-fiction
  
• Books from a series (greater than 4 books long)
  
• Books begin within 1 month of purchase
  
• Borrowed books (not from the library)
  
• Fairy tales and mythology
  

Obviously there will be overlaps because I can barely make 75 books a year, let alone 144. Feel free to tell me that they are dumb.

Your categories are great! Mine are pretty simple, too, since I didn't want to limit my reading by making my categories too weird. I'm also overlapping. It feels a little wrong to me to not include a book in every category that it fits. Some categories I'll read more than 12 easily, but others will be more difficult.

I love those categories! Seem like ones I would pick, except replace the 250-pager category with something like "400+ pages," since I rarely read those.

I'm just doing 6 books in each of my categories, for a total of 72.

Ooooh good idea! I don't think I could make my categories not overlap though.

I don't think I could deal with all the planning of my reading that would go into keeping up with all those categories. I mean, I enjoy planning my reads, but sometimes I also just want to pick something random just for the sake of it. But I totally applaud you for trying it out, Nora!

Well, almost every book I have falls into one of the categories, and several of them are related to my yearly goals anyway.

I tried planning for the 10 in 10 a few years back and failed miserably. But it was fun along the way anyhow! Good luck :D

You should do it, Nora! Those are great categories, and probably cover the books you want to read anyway. And you don't have to aim for 144 as Zoe pointed out. The 12 in 12 group is much quieter than this one, so less to follow.

Reminds me I need to go and update that other thread.

I'm really happy with my categories this year, so it's going well so far. Except that I'm slightly behind in updating my thread.

I did random reading last year, and found that I wasn't as satisfied as when I was choosing books deliberately. I think the key is to make sure that the categories leave enough room for choice, and not to worry too much about whether you actually finish. When I did the 10-10-10 I started getting stressed out around October because I felt like I didn't have any flexibility left, but the start is always fun.

Good categories, Nora. And good to overlap, as well.

Book #10: The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital by Samuel Shem - This is an example of the benefits of stepping out of one's comfort zone. If one of my coworkers (who was a nurse in the 70s) had not lent me this book, I never ever would have picked it up. It is exactly as it proclaims to be on the cover - the Catch 22 of medicine. It is a hilarious satire of life in a modern hospital, where the extremely elderly can be artificially kept alive forever, but athletic 30-year-old fathers still die of heart attacks. As you can imagine, it is very dark. The characters are phenomenal (if a little dated), from the genius black sidekick and the horny nurse to the policemen who speak like Harvard professors and the bitter workaholic female resident.
It wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed it and it's helped me understand my coworkers a little better. Highly recommended, at least if you don't usually read this sort of thing.

Categories: borrowed


Currently reading:
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (borrowed)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Coming soon:
Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (borrowed)
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (upcoming movie)
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (borrowed)
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show?)

BOOKS READ: 10
BOOKS BOUGHT: 7
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 7
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 325
BOOKS REMAINING: 65
DAYS PER BOOK: 5

Book #11: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher - The beginning of this book hits you like a punch in the gut. The plot was zipping along for many pages before I had any idea what was going on. But once I figured it out, it was awesome!
This is essentially the story of two prisoners. Finn is trapped inside a sentient, living, evolving prison, but has vague memories of once living outside of it (which is supposedly impossible). The prison, Incarceron, sees him and speaks to him and tries to prevent him from leaving. Claudia is outside the prison but still trapped by her strict father and arranged marriage and the government's Protocol, a set of "protective" laws which ban all technology and customs developed after the equivalent of our early 1800s. So despite the fact that they once had the technology for televisions and holographic communication, even the washing machine is forbidden.
Without spoiling too much, Finn and Claudia get in contact, and vow to help free each other.
The world-building was phenomenal, but I wish the plot and writing were a little more polished. Definitely don't read this book without the sequel handy, because it doesn't have much of a conclusion.

Categories: borrowed


Currently reading:
Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (borrowed)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Coming soon:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (upcoming movie)
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (borrowed)
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show?)

BOOKS READ: 11
BOOKS BOUGHT: 7
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 7
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 325
BOOKS REMAINING: 64
DAYS PER BOOK: 5.08

Oooh, I really need to read Incarceron... I've had it here (and the sequel) for awhile, but only El Husbando has read them... but he keeps telling me to! LOL.

You are setting quite a pace there, Nora! *High fives*

>73 norabelle414:. Very interesting review. May have to look this one up.

All the reviews I've heard for Incarceron have been reviews but ones for Sapphique have been more mixed. I'll be interested to see what you think.

I'm on page 90 and liking it so far.

Just checking in after being out of town for a week - looks like you're getting some good reading done! And WooHoo for all the good news: crazy supervisor leaving early, mentor meet-up, steampunky bar - all sounds very cool.

Hi Amber! I just finished knitting my baby blanket from the pattern you gave me! (Actually I finished a week ago but I wanted to wait to post until you got back.) It was great; I love a well-written pattern. Here's a picture:



However, I don't actually know any babies, so it's been co-opted as a dog blanket:



Thanks again!

80: Cute blanket (and dogs)! I wish I knew how to knit.

Oh, I *love* the colors and the color pattern you gave it - wonderful!

So how's work today?

Work today is interesting! (Though less-so than yesterday was.) I'll write a recap of the whole nonsense after my orientation with the new company tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, I now have further reason to wish I was Meryl Streep

HEAR HEAR! I majorly heart Colin Firth.

Ha! The clever woman took that golden opportunity to snatch a kiss - good for her!

Yeah, she's definitely a woman to envy. :)

I heart Colin Firth too. No other Mr. Darcy can ever top him. That gallantry was too adorable for words.

Yum, yum. That was loverly--thanks for sharing, I hadn't seen that. My favorite Darcy as well.

Only now caught up with all your posts for the year, we all seem to have worked out some sort of coping mechanism for the large number of threads on here. My resolution was to be more active on the threads but I think I'm doing less posting than last year.
So glad that you managed to keep your job and add my kudos for the great books you got in #15. I'm a fan of The Last Unicorn and really enjoyed reading My mother she killed me, my father he ate me last year. I've read a couple of pages of A Discovery of Witches, not sure if I'm going to love it or not but have put it back on my tbr pile while I tackle a few other books.
Love the blanket you knitted too, the dogs look to be appreciating your hard work.

Yeah, I've noticed that the threads are much more under control now. It's back to a more reasonable 20 - 30 minutes to do LT in the morning versus the 90!!! it was taking me at the beginning of the year.

*Hugs*

Much appreciated, Stephano.

Most of my new company-related stress should be over soon, so I'll be back to my new status quo of a) training 2 new employees, b) continuing my office's usual duties with reduced staff, c) training for my new role in the office, d) worring about my friend who got laid off, and e) not sleeping.

But at least I have access to a computer again. And I connected some dots that lead me to realize that my brother left his PS2 unattended at home while he is in Europe. So that's happening.

Awesome.

When I first got Shyanne she chewed up one of my memory cards (*weeps*) but that's not why I don't play PS2 much anymore. The problem is there are no trophies! Um, trophies are OBVIOUSLY important, and I couldn't possibly spend hours and hours without hearing that wonderful 'ping!' noise. :_(

I just need the percentage complete value to make me feel like my gaming time is worthwhile. :)

I mostly play We Love Katamari. The ultimate statistics machine.

Katamari. *Twitch*

There's a new one. On the PS3. With trophies.

Book #12: Sapphique by Catherine Fisher - Entertaining, but the end was kind of confusing and I'm still not sure what happened. The story and writing style did leave something to be desired. I wouldn't necessarily say that I recommend it, but I really don't see how anyone could not read it after reading Incarceron. So there's not much point in recommending it or not.

Categories: borrowed


Currently reading:
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (borrowed)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Bossypants by Tina Fey

Coming soon:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (upcoming movie)
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show?)

BOOKS READ: 12
BOOKS BOUGHT: 7
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 7
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 313
BOOKS REMAINING: 63
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.97

The seventh THURSDAY NEXT book is coming out in July!! Hooray!

Oh YAY! Need to go preorder now...

ETA: Oh bummer, it's not available for preorder yet.

ETA2: On Fforde's website I found this message: "Title change for the upcoming Thursday Next book. No longer Dark Reading Matter but the more descriptive (and fun) The Woman Who Died a Lot. Dark Reading Matter will now be the title of TN8."

It also said the book would be out in September. Where did you see July?

wow! Fforde must have added that message in the past couple hours, because I got the information from his website at about 9am this morning.

Weird... Yeah, the message was dated today.

I hate that it takes a lot of his books so long to make their way to the states. And that, like so many books now, they feel the need to change the cover images. I've been watching for the US release of The Last Dragonslayer since it came out in England in 2010... Well, his site says it will be available here in 2013. Which is crazy. And the cover is different... I much prefer the original cover, which is now available in Canada, so I guess I'll order it from Amazon.ca. I would have bought it from Amazon.uk a long time ago, but the shipping was more than the book itself and Book Depository never has it in stock.

Ok, I really need to read The Eyre Affair at some point. Maybe this will be the year.

Book #13: Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery - audiobook from the library - Meh. I wasn't a big fan of these when my mom read them to me as a kid, and I'm not a big fan now. I understand that it's good, but I just don't enjoy it that much. But I own like 8 books in this series, 6.5 of which are completely unread. So I feel like I should read them at some point.

Categories: reread, owned before LT, series, rating of 4.00 or greater



Currently reading:
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (borrowed)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Bossypants by Tina Fey

Coming soon:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (movie)
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show?)

BOOKS READ: 13
BOOKS BOUGHT: 7
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 7
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 306
BOOKS REMAINING: 62
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.94

The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show?)

WHAT? Oh god, that would be weird and intense. Hopefully if this is happening it's an HBO or Showtime show...

ETA: Apparently it's Fox. What in the world?

Fox? Oh well, it will either be terrible, or it will be great and so be cancelled after 2-3 episodes...

truth ;)

>104 norabelle414: Sorry to hear Anne isn't really your thing. I have huge love for her. Probably a combo of childhood memories and the fact that she's a Canadian icon. :)

I do love her. (Especially her Canadian-ness) I just find the books about her boring to read. It's more an issue with LM Montgomery and the writing style of the time than Anne herself. I feel similarly about Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I have to admit that's probably been about a decade since I've read the books. Large part of my love is the film adaptation with Megan Follows which I've watched many, many times.

My mom read me the Laura Ingalls books when I was kid, but I've never felt compelled to read them on my own. *shrug*

I too enjoy the Megan Follows movies better than the books. She really had something that made them special and memorable. I don't think I'd feel like picking up the books ever again, but I look forward to watching the movies with my daughter.

So, are you coming to New York for the April meetup?

Alas, I am going to be out of town for a good part of April, and I'm going to have to work overtime to make up for it. Too bad, because it would be so fun to have a meetup on my birthday!

Boo! Can't you start doing your overtime now and be done by then? ;)

No, I lost all of my accrued time off when my contract switched companies.

But can you accrue more time off by working overtime in advance? Like, if you were planning to work 8 hours on Saturday the 14th, can you instead do that tomorrow?

No, I can only make up time within the same month, and I'm going to have to take some leave without pay as it is.

Out of town in which direction? *Begins searching for a hiding spot*

The first week in April I'll be in Antwerp, and the last thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday I'll be in Texas

Bah. Silly rule. I think they should let you make it up the month before or after.

The spam is funny.

Stay away from Houston! That's where the zombie apocalypse begins after the hurricane...

Those darn lesbian Empresses and their replica watches.

Ah, yes, Empress what's her name was of course famous for her watches. And, apparently, her excellent taste in women.

It's so weird when spam hits LT. But also hilarious. One wonders what the object of said message would be, realistically, given where they are posting. The internets are so much fun! :)

Book #14: Bossypants by Tina Fey - audiobook from Audible - short, but good. I'm glad I listened to this as an audiobook instead of reading it. (It's narrated by Tina Fey herself). It was interesting and entertaining and funny and pleasant, but not groundbreaking (which it didn't need to be). Maybe now, having gotten a glimpse behind the scenes, I will actually enjoy watching 30 Rock. (probably not)

Categories: none



Currently reading:
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (borrowed)
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (movie)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Coming soon:
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show?)

BOOKS READ: 14
BOOKS BOUGHT: 7
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 7
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 301
BOOKS REMAINING: 61
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.93

I made some oatmeal carmelitas (a bar cookie with a oatmeal/brown sugar/butter base, and chocolate and caramel on top) yesterday, in an attempt to copy the "Sheila's Dream Bar" from Potbelly. They were good, but too buttery, I think. I'll try again soon with less butter.

I'm the same way with 30 Rock. The humor just doesn't do it for me, but I love Tina Fey!

#126 - yes, I found the very same thing! I think I could scale down from the whipping cream to a lower percentage cream, too.

>128 Cynara: Hmmm, my recipe doesn't have any milk or cream in it! My coworker just told me that it tasted like eating a stick of butter with chocolate and caramel on it. That made me laugh, because coming from him I could tell it was a huge compliment

#129: Ohmygosh, that sounds delicious! Don't get rid of the butter!!

Oh, duh, I knew my butter was missing something. *Adds chocolate and caramel to his shopping list*

>126 norabelle414:: Ohhhhh... *drool*

My carmelita recipe involves melting storebought caramels in whipping cream - because that recipe needed more butterfat.

Oooh, my recipe just calls for "caramel topping", which is then mixed with flour to thicken it.

Here's mine, in case you're interested:

http://luluthebaker.blogspot.com/2010/10/carmelitas.html

As I said, cut the butter.

I bought a couple books on Amazon that arrived on Monday:
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, and
Book of Enchantments by Patricia C. Wrede

I will probably start one of them soon.

I vote for Leviathan. :)

Ooh, tough call. I liked Book of Enchantments, especially the Frying Pan of Doom, but the Westerfeld series has more meat on it. Looking forward to your thoughts, regardless of which you pick. :)

Book #15: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - Diana Bishop is a witch, from a long line of witches of the Salem, Massachusetts variety. She wants to be a normal academic historian (though if she really wanted to do so she probably should've chosen to study something besides the history of alchemy), so she doesn't use her magic and pretends she's not a witch. But then one day she accidentally exposes her witch-ness to other witches, vampires, and daemons, who suddenly become suspiciously interested in her . . .

Though I usually try not to, for this book I snuck a peek at the other user reviews before writing my own. What. The. Heck? Everyone seems to hate this book and I don't really get why. Yes, it's got sexy vampires in it. But it's very upfront about that, so if sexy vampires are a deal-breaker for you, don't read it! If you don't mind sexy vampires, this book is great! It's interesting and exciting and has some history to it, so it's not too fluffy. It's detailed and well-thought out, and I like the heroine. The writing is refined and smooth, so it reads like butter, which is a huge relief after all the weakly-written YA fantasy I've been reading lately. I'll take this well-written mediocre story over a poorly-written novelty any day.

Also, it was well worth reading just for Diana's family's awesome haunted witch house.

Categories: borrowed



Currently reading:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (movie)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Coming soon:
Book of Enchantments by Patricia C. Wrede
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show?)

BOOKS READ: 15
BOOKS BOUGHT: 9
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 9
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 299
BOOKS REMAINING: 60
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.98

From the conversations I've heard, the Bishop house is the shining star of the novel. I have to agree, I thought the house was AMAZING. I'd read a whole book just about that house... maybe from the house's point of view. My biggest complaint was that I wanted more of the history and Ashmole stuff and a tad less romance, but I did enjoy it.

I'm with you. I adored A Discovery of Witches and really didn't understand the negative reviews. But then, sometimes I don't understand good reviews of stuff I don't like!

136: That's funny, I just picked up Book of Enchantments at a library book sale. We'll have to compare notes.

Glad you liked A Discovery of Witches! I really enjoyed that and I'm looking forward to the second!

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a really good read (I'm almost 1/2 way through), but to a young woman with depression issues who might possibly have kids one day, it's a horror story. It's too intense to read before bed, so I'm reading that during the day and Book of Enchantments at night.



Stories from Book of Enchantments by Patricia C. Wrede:

Rikiki and the Wizard - An asshole wizard tries to trade his daughter to the gods for fame and fortune. It backfires . . . surprise! The only god that shows up is a blue chipmunk that doesn't want the daughter . . . unless she has chestnuts.

My library just added a whole bunch of really good audiobooks to their OverDrive site!! I'm excited.

____________________________

Stories from Book of Enchantments by Patricia C. Wrede:

The Princess, the Cat, and the Unicorn - Poor Princess Elyssa's life is pretty decent. She gets along with her older and younger sisters, and her step-mother is really nice. So she decides to run off and seek her fortune (how scandalous, since that is usually the job of Youngest Princesses), with her parents' blessings. She'll be just fine, because she takes her trusty cat with her. OH WAIT, cats aren't trusty . . . .
Roses by Moonlight - unlike most of Wrede's work, this story has a modern setting. Adrian has banished herself from her younger sister's party, because she doesn't like her sister's friends, or her sister's music, or her sister. While outside smoking and contemplating her hatred, Adrian meets a woman who gives her the opportunity to choose her own future. This one has a true science fiction ending (the kind which doesn't actually end), which I love.
The Sixty-two Curses of Caliph Arenschadd - The Caliph is an impetuous man, and every time someone angers him, annoys him, or brings him bad news, he curses them and their immediate family. He has a list of 62 curses, and he uses them in order on each person who bothers him. (Curse 1 for the first time a person bothers him, Curse 2 for the second time that person bothers him, etc.) For the Caliph's subjects, this is just the way of life. But when the grand vizier and his family are the first people to reach Curse 48, something goes wrong.
Earthwitch - A warrior king pays a visit to the Earthwitch, to get her to help save his kingdom from invaders. After a grueling trek up the mountain, the king realizes that he and the Earthwitch know each other . . .
The Sword-seller A mercenary visits a shop to buy a sword and is offered a suspiciously nice one for free. He takes it but insists on paying. However, the sword comes with more baggage than the mercenary had counted on.
The Lorelei - Another modern story. A group of American school students are on a trip to Germany. Their bus breaks down near the Lorelei cliff, and they learn the legend of the Lorelei. She is the German version of a Siren, who sings to distract sailors from the rocky outcropings on the Rhine and thus wreck their ships.

It's *HOT* out today! It's 80 degrees out and my office is BOILING even with all the doors and windows open. And I got my first mosquito bite of the year.

It was an ebola mosquito!

It's totally possible. Definitely.

I'm extra-allergic to mosquito bites, so me getting one is a big deal. And of course, mosquitoes LOVE to bite me . . . :-(

____________________________

Stories from Book of Enchantments by Patricia C. Wrede:

Stronger Than Time - A sleeping beauty retelling, with a twist. The prince missed his chance to release Sleeping Beauty's spell, so now he has to find another way.
Cruel Sisters - A haunting tale of jealousy and malice between two sisters, from the viewpoint of a third sister who watches from the sidelines.
Utensile Strength - Cimorene!!!! This is a companion story to the Dealing with Dragons series, and features some beloved characters from it. Cimorene and Mendanbar obtain a magical Frying Pan of Doom, and must hold a tournament to find the knight that this powerful weapon is meant for. A tournament with a bake-off, obviously.
Quick After-Battle Triple Chocolate Cake - Surprise!! This is the award-winning recipe from the bake-off, which Wrede has kindly translated from its original Barbarian.

Book #16: Book of Enchantments by Patricia C. Wrede - See above for reviews of individual stories. This was a really fabulous and varied collection of fantasy short stories. I only wish it was a little longer. Highly recommended.

Categories: 250 pages or less, series, begun within 1 month of purchase, fairy tales & mythology



Currently reading:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (movie)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Coming soon:
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show)

BOOKS READ: 16
BOOKS BOUGHT: 9
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 9
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 293
BOOKS REMAINING: 59
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.97

I like The Trial, or at least I did when I used to read it. I'll be curious to see what you think!

I think I'll like it, Cynara! I actually started it in May of last year, but it just keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the stack, along with War and Peace . . .

148: I can see why. *Bites Nora*

Oh dude, sorry to hear about the bites (both mosquito and ape variety) - are you feeling better?

I feel okay, but due to my ape bite I must go to the clinic this afternoon and get tested and/or vaccinated for measles, tetanus, athlete's foot, syphillis, meningitis, cooties, tuberculosis, vampiris, black death, gray death, red death, chickenpox, chlamydia, cholera, anton's key, mad cow, leprosy, atlantis complex, snow crash, toxoplasma, polio, captain trips, legionaire's disease, urinary tract infection, descolada, mumps, spattergroit, hypochondria, dryditch fever, kennel cough, smallpox, and of course, monkeypox.

I'll let you know how it goes.

*snork!*

*giggle*

I hear you on the mosquito bites. Mine swell up quite large after I get them. Then they usually go down the next day. Out of curiousity, do you eat a lot of bananas? Because apparently bananas make your blood appealing to mosquitos. *shrug*

Nora - hahaha! Is there such a disease as vampiris - wonderful? If the Ape can give you Legionaires does that make Stephen Beau Geste?

>156 MickyFine: I don't like bananas at all. Too mushy.

>157 PaulCranswick: Vampiris is the disease from I am Legend (the book, not the movie) which turns people into vampires. A few of the others are from books as well.

We can narrow down that list a little bit, I think. The sexually-transmitted ones are nearly impossible and I haven't been near a vector for cooties in over 5 years, and I'm still in the early stages of cholera so I don't think I'm contagious yet.

I'm not convinced that you're not a very cleverly disguised womanizer. Can't be too careful . . . *pours Purell down pants*

Well, I'm fairly open and probably not particularly clever, so that rules out the 'cleverly disguised part. I'm also not entirely sure a womanizer could regularly (see: daily) converse with an entire group of women and not get beaten up, trampled, or have dirty dishes and laundry thrown at him.

Oh god that was a joke please don't hurt me you must believe me waahhhhh!!! *Starts cooking Nora dinner*

But if you were very cleverly disguised, you would pretend to be open and not very clever so that we wouldn't feel threatened. And you do seem to get a lot of attention from women, even if they are pretending to be mad at you.

Indeed, Stephen, your thread is a veritable tizzy of women most of the time. So what do you have to say for yourself?

149: Woo hoo! I'm glad it was good, not that I expected it not to be. I need to get to it now...

In my defense, the majority of the site is women therefore my thread can only be two things: empty or filled with women. I will dispute this claim, however, by pointing out that I post so frequently throughout the day that a large number of the posts are my own. As far as being very cleverly disguised, now you're just being irrational. :P

now you're just being irrational

That's exactly what you'd say if you were trying to ease my suspicions. I'm on to you, Esteban.

Hehe, is calling someone irrational a common method of easing people's suspicions?

If you are guilty, yes. You accuse someone of being irrational so they will be defensive and thus stop accusing you

Ah, well, wouldn't someone who is allegedly very clever be aware of such things?

Book #17: Leviathan by Scott Westerfield - Holy guacamole, this book was awesome!
This is the story of two boys. One of them is actually a girl who dresses up as a boy so she can join the air force - which in this world fly not airplanes but GIANT GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SEA CREATURES FILLED WITH HYDROGEN. The other boy is actually a boy and actually the only son of the late Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Yes, THAT Franz Ferdinand. Because he's the unwanted heir to the Hapsburg throne, he is on the run from the Austrians and Germans in a GIANT TWO-LEGGED STEAMPUNK ROBOT THING. Also there are illustrations!

There's no reason for me to say much more because as you read this you are either a) disgusted, b) nodding emphatically because you have already read it, or c) already on your way to the library or bookstore. When you get back, and zip through this book in a day or so, make sure you read the afterward. I usually skip them, but this one was very good.

Highly recommended.

Categories: begun within 1 month of purchase, rating of 4.00 or greater



Currently reading:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (movie)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Coming soon:
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show)

BOOKS READ: 17
BOOKS BOUGHT: 9
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 9
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 288
BOOKS REMAINING: 58
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.97

I listened to the audio of Leviathan and it was very good, but then I found out the book had illustrations and I was devastated! The next time I found myself at a bookstore, I found the book and looked at all the drawings :)

Must get to book 2.... paper version, NOT audio....

Book #18: Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery - audiobook from the library - Anne is much less annoying in this book, but the book as a whole is less exciting.

Categories: reread, owned before LT, series, rating of 4.00 or greater



Currently reading:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (movie)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Coming soon:
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show)

BOOKS READ: 18
BOOKS BOUGHT: 9
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 9
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 288
BOOKS REMAINING: 57
DAYS PER BOOK: 5.05

I've got Leviathan around here somewhere, it's one I definitely want to get to sooner than later...!

>170 norabelle414: *does a little happy dance* I tolded you! It is awesomeness and I'm SO glad you liked it!

HELP!

Can anyone suggest a good (pocket-sized) Dutch phrasebook?

Forgive me, 75ers; I did a bad thing today. I went to Goodwill. The one with the Book Nook . . . here's the damage:

Victory by Susan Cooper (hardcover)
The Mabinogion by Anonymous, translated by Gwen Jones and Thomas Jones (really nice fabric-style hardcover with a bookmark ribbon)
The Other Wind by Ursula K. LeGuin (hardcover)
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (my first Hale! I'm excited.)
Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon
Terrier by Tamora Pierce

A good haul, I know. But I was doing so well with not buying books . . .

I really liked Princess Academy and gave it to my niece for Christmas.

170: Okay, I've browsed a bunch of reviews for that book, and that is without question my favorite one to date. :)

Gentlemen of the Road - awesome book! The working title was "Jews with Swords" according to Chabon.

>178 Ape: Well, I guess if you like it I'll post it.

>179 drneutron: Yay! It looks great! I'm also pretty happy that it's like 230 pages long ;-)

Currently reading:
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (movie)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Coming soon:
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show)
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer

BOOKS READ: 18
BOOKS BOUGHT: 15
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 15
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 286
BOOKS REMAINING: 57
DAYS PER BOOK: 5.02

Yay! *Thumb*

Book #19: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver - On the 11th of April, 1983, unto Eva Khatchadourian a son was born, and she felt nothing. On the 8th of April, 1999, Kevin Khatchadourian locked seven of his classmates, a teacher, and a cafeteria worker in an empty gym and killed them. The story of Kevin is told through a series of letters from Eva to her estranged husband, a few years later. She wrestles with her guilt by recounting every moment of her life that lead up to this point (and beyond), from her perfect, child-free marriage in NYC to her weekly visits with Kevin in jail.

At first, this book was my worst nightmare. I've never been 100% sure that I ever want to have children, and the idea that I could have one and not magically fall in love with it is truly scary. Does Eva feel nothing for Kevin because there is something wrong with him? Or is there something wrong with him because Eva doesn't like him? Is this all Eva's fault? Was there anything she could have done? No mother is perfect, but where is the line between an imperfect mother and a bad one? Kevin was apathetic, distructive, and sadistic from the very beginning, and I was sympathetic to Eva's helplessness.

The tables turned for me when Eva had another child, who is sweet and innocent and loveable. Nothing is wrong with Eva; something is wrong with Kevin. Kevin gets more and more malicious, but he manages to hide it from his father. Arguing over Kevin's behavior eventually tears Eva's marriage apart. Is that what Kevin wanted all along?

Whatever Eva (and the reader) thinks she knows about Kevin, she doesn't, in the way you can't ever truly know another person, especially one as misanthropic as Kevin. It's true, this book addresses a few extremely difficult topics. But the difficult topics are the ones it's most important to think about.

Recommended, especially if you appreciated Room by Emma Donoghue

Categories: rating of 4.00 or greater



Currently reading:
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Coming soon:
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show)
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer

BOOKS READ: 19
BOOKS BOUGHT: 15
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 15
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 285
BOOKS REMAINING: 56
DAYS PER BOOK: 5.09

I think I'll have to read that book eventually. But it doesn't exactly sound pleasant.

Props to you for reading that one, Nora, I don't think I could. Excellent review too. Thumbs from me.

It was not as bad as I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be voyeuristic, which I *hate*, but it ended up feeling like you are Eva's friend and you're listening to her not because you want the gory details, but because you know that she needs to talk about it.

*insert drunk comments here*

That's rather an interesting placeholder you have there.

But what I really came to say is that you just zinged me with We Need to Talk About Kevin -- nicely said -- and also that I just bought Gentlemen of the Road also -- what's that they say about great minds, again? :)

Hope you are having a lovely day.

186: I'm afraid by the time I read that message the next morning I was inserting hangover comments instead.

>176 norabelle414:: Ooooh, I have that version of the Mabinogion, and it's awesome (both the look of the thing and the book itself)!

Book #20: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale - My first Shannon Hale book! I've been meaning to read her stuff for awhile, but luckily I didn't buy anything because I found Princess Academy at Goodwill for $1!

This book was so cute. Miri lives in a small village in the mountains, where everyone works in a quarry, gathering Linder, a valuable stone like marble. One day, a representative from the distant Capitol visits the village and announces that the Crown Prince's priests have divined that the Prince's future wife would come from this small town. As such, all village girls of eligible age will attend a newly-formed Princess Academy, where they will learn reading & writing, diplomacy, poise, commerce, etc.

The girls learn all of these things and more, but most importantly they learn that they and their village are special. They learn self-respect, and how to be strong independent women. The ending is very appropriate and satisfying.

The writing style was a little juvenile (though understandably so) to be 100% enjoyable to me, and my only other issue was the relationship between Miri and her sister Magda. Throughout the book Miri looks after her sister, shelters her and worries about how she's getting along while Miri is at the academy. She even goes back home one weekend to slaughter rabbits for food so that her sister won't have to see the blood. However, Magda is about 2.5 years OLDER than Miri! (Too old to attend the academy.) What gives?!

Highly recommended to girls 14 and younger. Recommended to everyone else.

Categories: begun within 1 month of purchase, fairytales & mythology



Currently reading:
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (upcoming tv show)
The Trial by Franz Kafka
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Currently listening to:
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Coming soon:
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer

BOOKS READ: 20
BOOKS BOUGHT: 15
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 15
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 7

DAYS REMAINING: 278
BOOKS REMAINING: 55
DAYS PER BOOK: 5.05

I loved Princess Academy. I can imagine Miri looking after her older sister. IIRC she mentions Magda would be the perfect candidate for princess, but she's too old. I imagined Magda as sqeamish and "citified".

My issue with it as young material was when the men come to the school.

Nice review. I liked Princess Academy too, and most of Hale's other books. This one is, IMO, her "youngest" in tone and topic. Miri is a great character.

I loved Princess Academy too. I actually listened to it as an audiobook and it was dramatized with different people and sound effects and all the songs were really sung. :)

Ooh, I have Princess Academy around here somewhere! Interesting that is has such a young voice, since her other books seem to be a bit older in tone. Still, I'll definitely read it. :)

I also loved Austenland but I'm not sure that's for kids at all!

I'm leaving for Antwerp in 5 days! Squee!

Now that eternal question: What books to bring???

Ooooo! European excursion! Very jealous. I wish you much luck in picking books to take with you. Just make sure you have room in your suitcase for Belgian chocolate to take back home. :)

Ok here's what I'm thinking:

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Collapse by Jared Diamond
A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques
Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

so that's 2 medium sized, 2 large, and 2 extra large. That should keep me for 8 days, right?

I'm really hoping I can finish The Magicians before I go because that is a clunky hardcover and I try to only travel with paperbacks. Few things suck more than packing a hardcover book on a trip when you only have a few pages left, and then finishing it on the first day and having to drag it around with you for the rest of the trip.

Looks like a good mix to me. :)

Mmm, love A Clash of Kings and Crocodile on the Sandbank. The latter has been a favourite of mine since I was twelve.

1st Quarter Summary:

Books read: 20 (how nice and round!)
Books purchased (paper+audio): 15
Books acquired (purchased+free, not audio): 15
Books borrowed (friends+library): 9
Books read that were on the shelf for a year or more: 1
Books deaccessioned: 7

-------------------------------------------------​

Books read: 20 (paper+audio)

Paper books: 15
Audiobooks: 5

Pages read: 5,770 (no audio)

Average paper book length: 385 pages
Median paper book length: 424 pages

Average pages read per day: 63
Average pages read per week: 444
Average pages read per month: 1,923

New reads: 17
Rereads: 3

Fiction/Nonfiction:

Fiction books read: 17
Nonfiction books read: 3

Categories:

Reread: 3
Not originally in English: 1
Owned before LT: 2
Hardcover: 1
Less than 250 pages: 3
1001 Books to Read Before You Die: 1
LT rating of 4.00 or higher: 9
Science nonfiction: 1
Series: 4
Started within 1 month of purchase: 3
Borrowed (not from library): 6
Fairy Tales & Mythology: 2

Yay for stats! :D

Needs more books less than 250 pages though, of course.

Oooh, I like your selection of travel books!

New thread, see link below.