Scaifea's 2012 Challenge - Thread #9

New thread time, if you please.

For your viewing pleasure, we go back to my absolute favorite painter, with Waterhouse's "Penelope and the Suitors." Penelope is the ultimate Weaving Woman, with all that that entails. She's long been one of my favorite female characters in mythology:



Below you’ll find an explanation of my reading habits, which, I warn you, is a bit crazy. Usually I have about 10-12 books going at once, one each from the following groups (and occasionally other books slipped in there too):

1. A library book. In Library of Congress call number order. So, yes, from the beginning of the library's shelves. Crazy? Or crazy like a fox?...

2. A book from the 100 Banned Books book (at least currently. As soon as I finish this list, I'll replace it with another, and oh, I've got tons of lists).

3. A children's book, for Charlie's library. I'm trying to collect books from various award lists, and I like reading them before reading them to Charlie or deciding to add them to Charlie's shelves. For this category, I’m working through a few different lists:
a. Newbery Winners list
b. 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Die
c. Parent & Child 100 Greatest Books for Kids
d. John Bellairs' bibliography
e. Beverly Cleary's bibliography
f. Shel Silverstein's bibliography
g. L. M. Boston's Green Knowe books
h. The CYOA books

4. A book from the Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List, in chronological order.

5. A book for the Presidential Challenge. Books for this category are read in chronological (presidentially) order.

6. An audio book, which I listen to as I knit/sew/otherwise craft/drive.

7. Lists I'm working through together with my best friend, Rob:
a. The National Book Award list (in alpha order by title)
b. The Pulizer list (in alpha order by author)
c. The Hugo/Nebula/WFA lists (combined, in chronological order)

8. For this category, I cycle through 7 different stacks:
a. A book from my shelves which I haven't yet read
b. Agatha Christie's bibliography (in chronological order)
c. Stephen King's bibliography (in chronological order)
d. Neil Gaiman's bibliography (in some order other than chronological (don't
ask)).
e. Christopher Moore's bibliography (in chronological order)
f. Stephen Fry's bibliography (in chronological order)
g. The NEH Timeless Classics list

9. An Eliza & Electra Book Club book

10. A bath-time book: I read aloud while Tomm gives Charlie his bath.

So, now you've got a glimpse of just how neurotic I am.
Please feel free to post comments, recommendations, or whatever else strikes your fancy. And Happy Reading, everyone!

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-The Blue Sword (follow-up to a Newbery list)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Gnostic Gospels (audio book)
-Augustus (NBA award)
-Little Men (NEH list)
-(Awaiting discussion of Persuasion and choosing of next read) (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 10: School and Sport (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

Books Read:
164. Let's Share (public library book) - 7/10
163. Firefighter Ted (public library book) - 8/10
162. Doctor Ted (public library book) - 8/10
161. My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother (Parent & Child list) - 6/10
160. One Morning in Maine (1001 Children's Books list) - 9/10
159. Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present (1001 Children's Books list) - 6/10
158. The Danger Box (audiobook) - 8/10
157. The Hero and the Crown (Newbery list) - 8/10
156. Making History (Fry bibliography) - 9/10
155. The Demolished Man (Hugo award list) - 9/10
154. James Madison: A Biography (Presidential Challenge) - 7/10
153. Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club) - 9/10
152. An Enemy at Green Knowe (Green Knowe series) - 9/10
151. Where the Sidewalk Ends (Silverstein bibliography) - 8/10
150. Ramona Forever (Cleary bibliography) - 9/10
149. The Doom of the Haunted Opera (Bellairs bibliography) - 8/10
148. Look & Find: Cars 2 (public library book) - 9/10
147. A Plump and Perky Turkey (public library book) - 8/10
146. Tuck Everlasting (audiobook) - 9/10
145. George's Store at the Shore (public library book) - 8/10
144. Inside UFO 54-40 (CYOA series) - 8/10
143. The Last Lecture (audiobook) - 8/10
142. Funny Fingers Circus (public library book) - 7/10
141. A Stranger at Green Knowe (Green Knowe series) - 8/10
140. The Children's Hour Volume 9: From Many Lands (Children's Hour series) - 6/10
139. The Fox and the Hen (public library book) - 7/10
138. Brown Bear Gets in Shape (public library book) - 7/10
137. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (Cleary bibliography) - 9/10
136. Mystery of the Maya (CYOA series) - 7/10
135. luffy Scourge of the Sea (public library book) - 8/10
134. The River at Green Knowe (Green Knowe series) - 8/10
133. Otto Goes to the Beach (public library book) - 7/10
132. Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? (Silverstein bibliography) - 7/10
131. Ramona and Her Mother (Cleary bibligraphy) - 9/10
130. The Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie (Bellairs bibliography) - 9/10
129. Myths and Heroes (public library book) - 7/10
128. My Dad's a Birdman (audiobook) - 8/10
127. Firefighters (public library book) - 6/10
126. Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms (Charlie book) - 9/10
125. Parade Day (public library book) - 7/10
124. Songs of Innocence and Experience (Charlie book) - 8/10
123. Treasure of Green Knowe (Green Knowe series) - 9/10
122. Sheep Trick or Treat (public library book) - 7/10
121. The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder (Bellairs bibliography) - 9/10
120. The Young Black Stallion (Farley bibliography) - 3 stars
119. Pickles to Pittsburgh (public library book) - 3 stars
118. It Looked Like Spilt Milk (public library book) - 3 stars
117. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (public library book) - 3 stars
116. Oh, David! (public library book) - 2 stars
115. The Black Stallion Legend (Farley bibliography) - 2 stars
114. Down the Rabbit Hole (audio book) - 3 stars
113. Jeremy's Tail (public library book) - 3 stars
112. Down by the Bay (public library book) - 2 stars
111. Ramona and Her Father (Cleary bibliography) - 3 stars
110. Hickory Dickory Dock (public library book) - 3 stars
109. The Adventures of Odysseus (Charlie book) - 4 stars
108. Rocket Town (public library book) - 3 stars
107. The Best Mouse Cookie (public library book) - 4 stars
106. An Acceptable Time (to complete the series) - 3 stars
105. Big Fat Hen (public library book) - 3 stars
104. Let's Play in the Snow (public library book) - 3 stars
103. I Spy: A Book of Picture Riddles (Charlie book - garage sale find) - 3 stars
102. Corduroy's Day (Charlie book - garage sale find) - 2 stars
101. I Spy Little Animals (public library book) - 3 stars
100. The Big Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook (1001 Children's Books list) - 3 stars
99. Many Waters (to finish the series) - 4 stars
98. Turtle Tale (public library book) - 3 stars
97. A Swiftly Tilting Planet (to finish the series) - 4 stars
96. A Giraffe and a Half (Silverstein bibliography) - 3 stars
95. The Real Mother Goose (public library book) - 3 stars
94. Sesame Street: The Library (Charlie book) - 3 stars
93. Play These Games (impulse buy at the book store!) - 3 stars
92. A Wind in the Door (toward completely the series, Charlie book) - 3 stars
91. A Manatee Morning (public library book) - 2 stars
90. Dear Mr. Henshaw (Newbery list * Cleary bibliography) - 4 stars
89. Tickle Teddy (public library book) - 2 stars
88. Dicey's Song (Newbery list) - 4 stars
87. Kaleidoscope (Charlie book) - 3 stars
86. Thomas the Tank Engine's Big Lift-and-Look Book (public library book) - 3 stars
85. Five Little Monkeys Bake a Birthday Cake (public library book) - 3 stars
84. Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep (1001 Children's Books list) - 4 stars
83. Millions of Cats (1001 Children's Books list) - 3 stars
82. Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs (public library book) - 3 stars
81. Fifteen Animals! (Charlie book) - 4 stars
80. I'm a Tractor (public library book) - 2 stars
79. The Brave Cowboy (public library book) - 3 stars
78. Time for School, Mouse! (public library book) - 4 stars
77. Stone Soup (1001 Children's Books) - 4 stars
76. For One More Day (audiobook) - 2 stars
75. The Harvard Classics: The Five Foot Shelf of Books, Vol. 25: John Stuart Mill: Autobiography, Essay on Liberty; T. Carlyle: Characteristics, Inaugural Address, Essay on Scott (library book) - 2 stars
74. The Ghost in the Mirror (Bellairs bibliograpy) - 4 stars
73. The Black Stallion and the Girl (Farley bibliography) - 3 stars
72. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Parent & Child 100 Greatest Books for Kids list) - 4 stars
71. My Shape Book (Charlie - public library book) - 3 stars
70. I Want to be a Doctor (Charlie - public library book) - 3 stars
69. Maggie's Moon (Charlie - public library book) - 3 stars
68. Fish Eyes (Charlie - public library book) - 3 stars
67. When Marian Sang (Parent & Child 100 Greatest Books for Kids list) - 3 stars
66. Lafcadio (Silverstein bibliography) - 3 stars
65. Ramona the Brave (Cleary bibliography) - 3 stars
64. The Egypt Game (Charlie book - Newbery Honor book found on the library sale shelf) - 4 stars
63. A Visit to William Blake's Inn (Newbery list) - 4 stars
62. Jacob Have I Loved (Newbery list) - 4 stars
61. The Magic Pudding (1001 Children's Books list) - 2 stars
60. The Dutch Twins (1001 Children's Books list) - 3 stars
59. Terrific (public library book) - 4 stars
58. Nothing (public library book) - 4 stars
57. A Dirty Job (Moore bibliography) - 5 stars
56. Milo's Hat Trick (public library book) - 4 stars
55. My Rhinoceros (public library book) - 4 stars
54. Paddington Helps Out (bath-time book) - 4 stars
53. Mary Poppins and the House Next Door (NEH list) - 3 stars
52. Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane (NEH list) - 3 stars
51. The Swiss Family Robinson (NEH list) - 3 stars
50. Rempelstiltskin's Daughter (Charlie book) - 3 stars
49. Night of the Gargoyles (Charlie book) - 3 stars
48. The Children's Book of Virtues (Charlie book) - 3 stars
47. The End of Everything (audio book) - 2 stars
46. Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go (a gift from the In-Laws to Charlie) - 3 stars
45. Stuart Little (NEH list) - 2 stars
44. Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose (a gift from the Ladies Next Door) - 3 stars
43. Blink (audio book) - 3 stars
42. Mickey's Easter Hunt (Charlie book) - 3 stars
41. Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs (Charlie book) - 3 stars
40. Dinosaurs Roar! (Charlie book) - 3 stars
39. Treasure Island (NEH list) - 4 stars
38. Mary Poppins in the Kitchen (NEH list) - 2 stars
37. Mary Poppins from A to Z (NEH list) - 2 stars
36. Mary Poppins in the Park (NEH list) - 4 stars
35. Mary Poppins Opens the Door (NEH list) - 4 stars
34. Mary Poppins Comes Back (NEH list) - 4 stars
33. The Children's Hour Volume 8: Myths and Legends - 3 stars
32. Coraline (Gaiman bibliography) - 4 stars
31. Four Past Midnight (King bibliography) - 4 stars
30. Duck and Goose: Here Comes the Easter Bunny! (Charlie book) - 3 stars
29. Are You My Mother? (Charlie book) - 3 stars
28. Blue Hat, Green Hat (Charlie book) - 4 stars
27. Moo, Baa, La La La! (Charlie book) - 4 stars
26. Barnyard Dance! (Charlie book) - 4 stars
25. Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs! (Charlie book) - 4 stars
24. Mary Poppins (NEH list) - 4 stars
23. The Know-It-All (audiobook) - 2 stars
22. The Children's Hour, Volume 7: Favorite Mystery Stories - 3 stars
21. A Dance with Dragons (series) - 4 stars
20. Ulysses Annotated (for help with #19) - 2 stars
19. Ulysses (Banned Books list) - 1 star
18. Socks (Cleary bibliography) - 3 stars
17. The Mansion in the Mist (Bellairs bibliography) - 4 stars
16. The Black Stallion's Ghost (Farley bibliography) - 3 stars
15. Ramona the Pest (Cleary bibliography) - 3 stars
14. Heidi (NEH list) - 2 stars
13. Bridge to Terabithia (Newbery list) - 4 stars
12. The Black Stallion Challenged! (Farley bibliography) - 3 stars
11. The Black Stallion and Flame (Farley bibliography) - 3 stars
10. The Secret of the Underground Room (Bellairs bibliography) - 4 stars
9. The Light in the Forest (NEH list) - 3 stars
8. Orlando Furioso (for a group read, of sorts) - 5 stars
7. The Horse-Tamer (Farley bibliography) - 3 stars
6. Kids Go! (found in Walmart sale bin for $4!) - 3 stars
5. A Gathering of Days (Newbery list) - 3 stars
4. The Chessmen of Doom (Bellairs bibliography) - 4 stars
3. The Black Stallion Mystery (Farley bibliography) - 4 stars
2. The Growing-Up Feet (Cleary bibliography) - 2 stars
1. The Trolley to Yesterday (Bellairs bibliography) - 4 stars

Charlie and his wishful thinking that he'd need his umbrella on our trip to the library last week:

I'm here first, I'm here first! Where's my cookie?

And the new Bonus Question:

What is your favorite word?

Morphy: How about a snickerdoodle?

Heh, the question reminds me of a joke, but it's a visual one.

"What is a woman's favorite word?"

"Alfalfa."

(said making obnoxious tongue-sticking out movements)

#3 That's a lovely picture. What's the big booky thing in the background?

No favorite word, there are so many and I do like words and books about words, but off the top of my head I've always been partial to "gloaming" and "circumambient."

I also like the words "doughnut" and "pie" for obvious reasons.

Ha! Love Charlie and his umbrella. Snickerdoodles look delicious!

Favorite word? Meningitis, obviously. It's just so fun to say! :)

My favorite word changes a lot, but currently it's "diphthong", which always cracks me up because it could really use an extra vowel or two.

Great answers, everyone!

Morphy: Tsk. You're such a naughty girl sometimes. ;)

deniro: 'gloaming' has always been a favorite of mine too.

Stephen: 'meningitis' always makes me think of the Ween song on the subject...

Nora: Good one!

Rhian: It's an end table; the bindings of the 'books' are drawers. My mom got it for me years ago for my birthday, and I love it!

136. Mystery of the Maya by R.A. Montgomery (CYOA series, 134 pages) - 7/10
You are a researcher looking for information on the lost Mayan civilization. Depending on your choices, you either get caught up in modern day revolutionaries or travel back in time to get to know the ancient civilization first hand.

Not the best in the series by a long shot. Quite silly in parts, really. But I still get a nostalgic kick out of reading these.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (Cleary bibliography)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-James Madison (Presidential Challenge)
-The Last Lecture (audio book)
-The Demolished Man (Hugo award)
-Making History (Fry bibliography)
-Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 9: From Many Lands (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

Gah! Choosing a favorite word is as hard as harder than choosing a favorite book! Some of my current favorites include:

tentacular (having the form of a tentacle)
boustrophedon (bidirectional text)
Glycyrrhiza glabra (scientific name of the licorice plant)
coryza (cold symptoms)
toast (um... toast... browned bread spread thickly with butter)

casvelyn: Oooh, 'tentacular' is particularly good!

I know! It's so much fun to say!

My favorite two words is a diagnosis: Biliary Dyskinesia. It's a lot of fun to say but not very fun to have.

I love your end table and your little man and his umbrella!

Carrie: Ooooh, I had to look that one up, but I agree - fun to say, likely not so fun to experience.

Well, I pushed through the tooth pain (there is a bit despite my self-medicating efforts) and finished Charlie's new quilt this afternoon:





Now, on to start one for my parents!

Amber - congrats on the latest thread. I'd love to go back to the days of bedspreads like Charlies' rather than the girlie pastel shades I am forced to lay beneath these days!

Paul: Ha! I try to be fair to Tomm in that respect - our current comforter is a simple, plain, dark blue. Eventually I hope to get round to making a quilt for our bed, too, but when I do, it'll be in shades of blue and brown and ivory, so hopefully not too girlie.

Amber- Love the new thread and I'm crazy about that little book table! Where did you get that? Good shot of Charlie too!

And you get Deniro stopping by? Impressive.

Mark: My mom bought the table for me years ago, and I think she found it at Hobby Lobby. I've had many offers from people wanting to take it off my hands, but I just love it. And yes, I count myself among the very fortunate every time deniro graces my thread with a comment!

Cute quilt! I'm glad to see you can still make cool things even when you're loopy and medicated. Errr, not that you are loopy when you're medicated or anything. *Nervous laugh*

Stephen: I wish I *were* loopy, but I'm just nauseous. Blerg.

Are you nauseous in your foot? That would definitely qualify as loopy.

*snork!* Nope. Just in the normal way.

5 - Lackadaisical

18 - Beautiful!

What a champ you are! Pushing through the tooth pain to finish a lovely, lovely quilt. I'm impressed.

As you may know, Waterhouse is also my favorite Pre-raphaelite artist.

I have a difficult time choosing a favorite, but this one is at the top of the list.

Miranda and the Tempest

The quilt is lovely. I've always wanted to have a go at a quilt myself but it's one of those very many things I've never got around to.

My mother would never have allowed any of us to open an umbrella in the house. In fact, she brainwashed me so well, I had a wee bit of a twinge when I saw that pic.

Gloaming is a lovely word. I like 'defenestrate' but seldom get a chance to use it. Onomatopoeic words are good fun, like sizzle. Can't pick a favourite.

Now that's a quilt! Love the colours and Kermit.

Blerg about the nausea indeed.

21 -- The privilege is mine. Amber is a kind, talented person who, if tested, would probably score in the near genius range. She grew up in my neck of the woods (more or less), attended college where I did (after me), and taught at a college where I visited and almost attended. I marvel at her enthusiasm and stamina, two things I utterly lack.

Luxx: That *is* a good one!

Linda: I always think of you when I choose another Waterhouse, because I know that we share an affinity for his stuff.

Rhian: This is about as easy as quilting gets - simple squares with a simple border, and the quilting itself was just straight lines.

tiffin: I wondered if someone would mention that particular superstition. I don't really go in for them, myself. My favorite MST3K moment is while they're watching a movie called Puma Man; when the eponymous character gets thrown out a window, then flies up and climbs back in through the same window, one of the robots says, "Look, he's refenestrating himself!" Ha!

deniro: Well, gosh. I'm blushing. You're too too kind, my friend.

137. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (Cleary bibliography, 179 pages) - 9/10
Ramona, now in 3rd grade, feels the weight of her years in the new responsibilities she has, including trying to be nice to annoying little Willa Jean and trying not to be a nuisance to her new teacher.

Again, I just think the Ramona books are a hoot. Can't help myself, I'm afraid.

138. Brown Bear Gets in Shape by Alan Durant (public library book, Charlie pick, picture book) - 7/10
Brown Bear thinks he's a bit tubby, so he tries to lose his belly fat with some help from his friends, a bunny and a monkey. Finally, his friends convince him that he's just perfectly bear-shaped, so he decides to be content with who he is.
Meh. Nothing special. Charlie seemed to like it okay, but it won't be a re-borrow, I suspect.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-A Stranger at Green Knowe (Green Knowe series)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-James Madison (Presidential Challenge)
-The Last Lecture (audio book)
-The Demolished Man (Hugo award)
-Making History (Fry bibliography)
-Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 9: From Many Lands (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

I missed an entire day in Amber-land and I would be remiss if I didn't ooh and aah over that quilt. Very nice!

Thanks, Laura! I forgot to mention that it's all flannel, so it's nice and cozy and warm, and we picked out character fabric with some of his favorite things on them: Thomas the Train, the Muppets, Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse...

139. The Fox and the Hen by Eric Battut (public library book, picture book) - 7/10

Henrietta Hen lays her first egg and doesn't really know what it is (?!), so she gives it away to the Fox. When she tells the other farm animals what she's done, they explain what the egg is and then, of course, she wants it back. So, she makes several attempts to barter with the Fox until finally she finds something for which he's willing to trade.

Strange story (how dumb is this hen? I mean, seriously.), but the illustrations are lovely - I'm a sucker for charcoal drawings.

My favorite word, judged by which word the kids have picked up and use, a lot, is evidently: actually. I actually do use this word all the time, as do the two youngsters who hang with me frequently. So much so that the Mom asked me if I had taught them the word. They use it correctly, most of the time, too. Ha!

My favorite word for many years, since I did my Senior thesis on Sylvia Plath-a word she used several times in her poetry-nimbus-her poetry is full of images and word choices that have stuck with me over the years. I was glad to have popped in, I was waiting for someone to ask what my favorite word was. It has been nimbus for so long...there now I've used it twice! Definition by the way is-a cloudy radiance said to surround a classical deity when on earth, a radiant light that appears usually in the form of a halo or circle around the head of a sacred person, a splendid atmosphere that surrounds a person or thing. I think it was that last definition that Plath referred to most often. Then, of course, it is a rain cloud. Thanks for asking!

maggie: A few years ago, I caught myself saying your favorite word more than I liked, so I've made a concerted effort to stop. I still catch it slipping out sometimes, but thankfully not as much!

Mary Beth: As a Latinist, I whole-heartedly approve of your choice for favorite word - it is indeed a Latin word meaning (you guessed it) 'cloud'.

I'll take some time later to write up an explanation of my favorite few words, but as it will take a bit of doing, I'll leave it for later; right now we're waiting for my parents to arrive for several-day visit, and Tomm's getting packed for his conference trip (he leaves in about an hour and will be back on Thursday). So, I'll likely not be around very much in the next few days, but I'll be peeking in when I can.

Love the Charlie picture, love the Book Table, can't think of a favorite word off the top of my head. I'm so glad you have a new picture at the top of your thread--Clytemnestra scared the beejeezus out of me every time I opened up your thread!

Oh! As for 'pet' words that I use excessivley, well those would be Actually, Totally, and Definitely. I actually totally overuse those, definitely.

As long as you don't say 'like' all the time. I definitely find myself actually totally growling when I hear 'like' every three words in a conversation.

Terri: Well, she *was* thinking about murdering her husband in that painting, so it's not all that surprising that she's a bit scary, eh? Again, I stand by my assessment of her as 'formidable'.

Stephen: *snork!*

tiffin: I think that seems to be fading out of fashion, no? At least I don't seem to hear it that often anymore.

Parents safely here; Tomm safely in Philadelphia. We're off to visit a petting zoo in Dubuque today. Should be a hoot.

Oh, I think I do use 'like' a lot. And tons and tons of 'ummms.' I'm extremely shy but I'm also extremely jittery, I speak ridiculously fast and I stammer and stutter a lot, so when I try to force myself to slow down I usually fill in all that blank space with obsolete sounds like that. I'm just terrible at verbal conversation in general, I suppose, there's no fixing it.

>43 scaifea:: I think that seems to be fading out of fashion, no? I can attest that "like" is, like, still very much in use among like, those of high school age. I think Stephen is correct that it's a filler word similar to "ummm".

Yes, "like" is definitely a filler word. I guess I just haven't heard it much lately - perhaps Kenyon students just didn't use it much, or at least the ones who took Latin...

140. The Children's Hour Volume 9: From Many Lands (Children's Hour series, 372 pages) - 6/10

A collection of stories from various cultures and countries.
Meh. Not exactly a spectacular collection. *shrug*

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-A Stranger at Green Knowe (Green Knowe series)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-James Madison (Presidential Challenge)
-The Last Lecture (audio book)
-The Demolished Man (Hugo award)
-Making History (Fry bibliography)
-Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 10: School and Sport (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

I love your quilt! It is fun. My husband and I have talked about learning to quilt together and making one for us but........ you know.

I wish I could have so much more time for reading and other hobbies!

>46 scaifea:: perhaps Kenyon students just didn't use it much ... I think you're right! Kate didn't use it much in high school, and I don't hear it at all now. My younger daughter Julia uses it much more. Could be a maturity thing or simply being among all those erudite Kenyon folk.

Some of my favorite words are sesquipedalian (long words, or people who like to use long words), quiddle (to putter about, dawdle), happify (pretty much what it sounds like), Ucalegon (in some unabridged dictionaries, this is defined as "a neighbor whose house is on fire" - a children's librarian pointed it out to me once, and I love it!), and perfidious (treacherous).

Love the picture of Charlie ready to go to the library, and the beautiful quilt!

Carrie Lee: Tomm is interested in designing quilt patterns for me to make, but he's so busy at work these days that I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Laura: They are a different breed, those Kenyon Kids.

Mary: Good words, and thanks!

Okay, parents left this morning and Tomm isn't due back until tomorrow, so it's just Charlie and I for a little space. We had a lovely visit with my mom & dad, and I hated to see them go, but we'll be visiting them in just a little over a week's time, so that's okay.

So. Now. I've got a bit of time to explain my own few favorite words:

"horticulture"
Dorothy Parker made me love this word. She was asked to use it in a sentence. Her answer: "You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think."

"candidate"
I love this one because it's a wonderful example of how cool word origins can be. It comes from the Latin adjective for "white, bright, shining"; Romans wore variations of togas to represent their status in society, and those who wore all white togas (with no borders at all) were advertising the fact that they were running for political office. Hence, our use of the word "candidate". Cool, no?

"mommy"
Not really on my list of favorites until about 2 years ago. Now, though, when spoken by a certain little monkey, it makes me feel all warm and happier than I could ever adequately describe.

A little late to your new thread Amber, but I'm here and boy did your guy put a smile on my face with his umbrella and sunglasses!

Love the quilt! Do you buy the fabric on sale? I find the fabric here is super expensive so by the time you add up all the cost of all those pieces, it would pretty much add up to the same price as buying a brand new quilt..... But I guess you can't put a price on the time and love you put into it right??

Valerie: Fabric is indeed expensive, so I wait for sales and use coupons. This was all flannel cotton, so not as expensive as other kinds of fabric at least. And as far as quilts go, it's cheaper to make your own, because buying a nice, hand-made quilt is *pricey*. And I don't like store-bought comforters - too bulky and mostly too cheaply made for my tastes.

I love how you can personalize it. Just wish it didn't cost so much. Actually I just wish I could sew first...forget about the actual cost, haha!

Love the picture of your umbrella toting young man, Amber. Not much use for one of those lately, although I did wake up to rain during the night. It didn't amount to much, however. Maybe I dreamed it?

Serendipity and conundrum have always been favorite words of mine. I have to be careful not to use them too frequently and annoy people. I must also say "perfect" a lot because I've noticed Haley saying it recently. But then she is pretty perfect in this Grandma's eyes!

Mommy Bragging Time: Charlie won a couple of prizes at the library program tonight - one for best picture (the challenge was to submit a picture of your child playing with legos), and one for being one of the top readers in his age group (we read 90 books together during the past 2 months). Yay for Charlie!

Donna: Huh. I need to go and look up 'conundrum'. I have a hunch about its origin...

141. A Stranger at Green Knowe by L.M. Boston (Green Knowe series, 199 pages) - 8/10

Ping returns for another summer holiday at Green Knowe, and this time he finds an unexpected friend taking solace there as well. The two fellow refugees befriend one another, but it may be difficult for them both to keep their secret...

The stori in itself is good, but I'm still missing Tolly and the ghosts. At least Mrs. Oldknow is in this one again, which makes it slightly more improved from the last one.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-Inside UFO 54-40 (CYOA series)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-James Madison (Presidential Challenge)
-The Last Lecture (audio book)
-The Demolished Man (Hugo award)
-Making History (Fry bibliography)
-Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 10: School and Sport (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

>58 scaifea:: I have a hunch about its origin... enlighten us, Professor!

>32 scaifea:: I don't particularly either but Mater was adamant about umbrellas and hats on the bed. I do like refenestration.
>43 scaifea:: When I retired 4 years ago, "like" was alive and well. I would love to think that it really is fading as a verbal tic.
>57 scaifea:: while I'm delighted for you that Charlie is one of the top readers, somehow I'm not surprised. *wink*

Congratulations to Super-Charlie!!!

Way to go, Charlie! And congrats to his mommy!

Good to hear about a love of reading and library prizes during a time of so many non-reading distractions.

Laura: Ha! I was right (maybe)! It's likely (it's origins can't be 100% proven) a 'fake' Latin word, made up by a 16th or 17th century scholar (that sort of thing was popular at the time). It started out meaning "whim" and "pun", and then only later developed the meaning "puzzling problem" (late 18th century).

tiffin: Indeed, I hope that my inclination that "like" is going out of fashion isn't just wishful thinking.

Terri: Thanks! He got a certificate last night, but in the little packet of coupons and stuff the all the kids received, his has a little note saying that, because he was an award-winner, we need to stop by the library to pick up a special prize. I'm interested to see what it is - we'll be going tomorrow morning anyway to get more books, so we'll find out then...

Joe: Thanks! I feel very lucky that we live in a small town with such a wonderful library, which offers lots of great programs and events for children. Our city taxes are quite high, but I don't mind so much, knowing that it's going toward this sort of thing (plus there are tons of parks in town and they're all taken care of expertly).

>64 scaifea:: cool, thanks! I like that kind of etymology stuff.

Laura: Me too!

That is impressive! Charlie has read more books this year than my husband has read in his life so far..... Good for Charlie, but kind of sad for my hubby. :)

The top reader in Charlie's age group apparently read 250 books (or had them read to him, of course). That seems a bit extreme; did that kid get any time to play outside this summer?!

Either that or the books were each only a 1 page long....
That is pretty crazy! I wish I had the time to read 250 books in a year!

I bet he cheated. You should start a petition to get him tested for steroids

Valerie: I wonder if they counted re-reads? Some kids want the same book every night, and if counted every time it's read, that would boost the numbers some.

Nora: *snork!* Don't tempt me...

I probably had close to that many books read to me when I was Charlie's age. I was the only child until I was 3 1/2, and my mom spent a lot of time playing with me, and I loved books.

Maybe I should go back to 20-page books with lots of pictures to up my reading count for this year! Considering I'm 16 books off schedule at the moment...

@ 64

I've always preferred "kankedort" to "conundrum" anyway. It's up there in my list of favorite words. Also sarsaparilla and sassafras.

Laura: Well, if it's good enough for Chaucer, I suppose it ought to be good enough for us, eh?

"Laspididious" I suspect my father made this one up. And I googled it, just to be sure. The ONLY hit I came up with was my own use of it here. But sometimes it's exactly what I mean to say.

Linda: If that isn't a real word, it should be.

How would I use it, Linda?

#77 Whenever you want to say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, but just don't have time.

Hi Amber, love the picture of Charlie. He looks like he has grown recently. And as always I am in awe of your talents, that quilt is beautiful.

Favorite word? I've always loved chocolate - not just the flavor but how the word sounds.

Judy: He is indeed constantly growing - too fast! Chocolate is a lovely word in both sound and meaning, and it's one of those words that I think sounds better when spoken by the Brits. We bloody colonialists just don't do it justice, I think.

Catching up on the current thread, at least, after my 3 week absence. "Indubitably" is one of my favorite words because I love the way it rolls off my tongue!

Roni: Oooh, that makes me think of the School House Rock song about adverbs, which, next to the adjective one, was my favorite!

142. Funny Fingers Circus by Karin Blume (public library book, picture book) - 7/10

A picture book about animals in the circus, with holes for sticking little fingers through to make the legs or arms of each animal.
Cute. Nothing special, really, but it did bring back memories of having a similar book when I was a kid. Charlie picked this one off of the shelf and he seemed to enjoy it.

143. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (audiobook) - 8/10

Pausch, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, was invited to gift a lecture in their Last Lecture series. Shortly after accepting the invitation, he discovered that it would, indeed, be a Last Lecture in the truest sense - he was dying of pancreatic cancer and had been giving only a few months to live. So, he used the lecture as an opportunity to, in essence, talk to his small children (aged 6, 3 & 18 months) from beyond the grave.

Hm. Not sure exactly what to say about this one. Pausch was clearly a smart guy and a very successful one in his field. My criticism is that he knows all of this, and knows what a great guy he was. And he comes off as a particularly annoying kind of cocky - he *knows* he's pompous, and instead of, well, not being so, he passes it off as one of the faults that makes him charming. Even so, I was moved at parts and don't necessarily regret listening to his book.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-Inside UFO 54-40 (CYOA series)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-James Madison (Presidential Challenge)
-Tuck Everlasting (audio book)
-The Demolished Man (Hugo award)
-Making History (Fry bibliography)
-Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 10: School and Sport (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

144. Inside UFO 54-40 by Edward Packard (CYOA series, 118 pages) - 8/10
On your first trip on the Concord, you are abducted by aliens. Make choices to try to escape, or to help the aliens find the paradise planet, Ultima.

Another silly, but fun, entry in the series.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-The Doom of the Haunted Opera (Bellairs bibliography)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-James Madison (Presidential Challenge)
-Tuck Everlasting (audio book)
-The Demolished Man (Hugo award)
-Making History (Fry bibliography)
-Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 10: School and Sport (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

>84 scaifea:: Always wondered about The Last Lecture, it seemed gimmicky. I'll continue avoiding it.

Laura: It's not terrible; I think I just have a particular sensibility toward self-pleased people, no matter how subtle they try to be about it (my MIL gives me much practice at this, though she's not clever enough to be subtle about it at all), so I may be a bit harder on the book than others would be.

Hi Amber- Congrats on Charlie and his library program wins! How fun. I see a future Lter in our midst. Hope you are enjoying the weekend.

Arrogance, how I hate that. I always try to be humble, because I'm such a super awesome amazing person.

Wow, it felt ridiculous just TYPING that. :P

Hi, Mark, and thanks! We got some rain here today, which cooled things off nicely - hope that coolness is headed your way.

Stephen: You may not believe it, but that's very close to something that my MIL has said before. Sheesh.

Hm. Not sure exactly what to say about this one. Pausch was clearly a smart guy and a very successful one in his field. My criticism is that he knows all of this, and knows what a great guy he was. And he comes off as a particularly annoying kind of cocky - he *knows* he's pompous, and instead of, well, not being so, he passes it off as one of the faults that makes him charming.

I love this!

I know a few people who fit this category. As I get older, my tolerance for them is less and less.

I hope your tooth ache is gone!

Linda: I'm so glad that some of you agree with me. Whew! I was nervous that you all would think me too harsh.
The tooth ache is slowing dissipating, although it's still sensitive. I have yet another appointment Monday afternoon (this time for a cleaning), so I'm going to ask about it, since I've never had a filling that made the tooth sensitive for this long. Sigh.

Hope your toothache improves soon - I'm having similar problems. Last weekend my tooth was so painful I went back to the dentist on Monday, thinking I had some sort of infection, but all it was is the gum has swollen up behind my tooth so I keep biting it whenever I chew. Gradually improving, but I just hope it doesn't do the same thing again when I have my permanent crown fitted on Friday.

Rhian: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that you're having a painful time of it, too. Here's hoping the crown goes on easily and pain-free.

145. George's Store at the Shore by Francine Bassede (public library book, picture book) - 8/10
George is a duck who owns a little shack of a store on the sea shore. He stocks his store with all sorts of items, and the reader counts the items (1-10) as they get stocked.
Not terribly imaginative or original, but it's cute, and the illustrations are adorable.

The Scaife household is looking forward to a lazy Sunday: Charlie slept until the late-late hour of 6:30 this morning, so Tomm and I did too, and it felt luxurious. Tomm and Charlie are headed out now to the driveway to ride bikes together (round and round in a circle - I don't know how Tomm doesn't get so dizzy that he falls off, really), pretending to be Mario and Luigi (it's adorable). And I'm headed up to the sewing room for some work on the quilt I'm making for my parents. I'll be baking a cake later on (a Pink and Beige Cake - a white cake with half the batter tinted pink and the other half spiced with nutmeg & cinnamon, then the two halves swirled together). Leftover Chinese take-away for lunch (delicious!) and a Creamy Chicken Soup for dinner (I like to make a big batch of soup on the weekend, so Tomm can take it in his thermos for lunch during the week. I know, I know, I mother him something awful, but I want him to have a hot, healthy meal at work). I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to our lazy day, especially since this next week will be hectic - I have another dentist appointment tomorrow afternoon (intensive cleaning is needed, apparently, (Sigh.)), and then much packing must be done on Wednesday (my birthday! Yay!) for our trip to Indiana-Ohio-Indiana, which starts Thursday and runs through the next Tuesday. A nice thing in the middle of all this will be a couple of treats on my birthday - the library is having a Scholastic Book Fair on my birthday (how thoughtful of them!), and Charlie won a $6 gift card for the book fair, so I get to help him buy books. After the book fair visit, Tomm and Charlie are taking me out to lunch and then we're all getting ice cream.
So, hopefully I'll be energized enough after that to face the Trip to the In-Laws 2012. Ugh.

I am SO glad to hear your comments on The Last Lecture. I read it right before he died, and I felt extremely guilty for not liking it, but my reasons were the same as yours. There was just something very, I don't know, maybe self-serving about it?

Whew. I'm validated.

Terri: Yes! I didn't really feel too guilty, but I was afraid you all would think I was being terrible. Whew, indeed! I do, though, admire his ingenuity in making the lecture into a book, if it was meant to add to his family's financial security.

I have not read it, but I've seen him give parts of the lecture, and enjoyed what I heard. It's not something I'm likely to read, though.

I read all I needed to of The Last Lecture in the WSJ excerpt. I felt much the same way as I do about Mitch Albom books. I also had a wee bit of trouble with my last read, The Fault In Our Stars. I think I'm becoming cynical in my old age. ;-)

Have "fun" on your trip to visit the in-laws. Be sure and take plenty of reading matter with you!

Happy Early Birthday, Amber! I love Scholastic Books. How nice to have credit to spend on your birthday. I know you and Charlie will have great fun picking out his books.

But you're visiting Indiana. That has to count for something, right? (Speaking as a native Hoosier who has no desire to leave, I'm probably biased. I love my home state!)

Luxx: The books it more than only the actual lecture, but, yeah, I'm not in the least encouraging you to read it...

Donna: Mitch Albom is even worse, I think, and I intensely dislike his kind of stuff. *shudders* Oh, and I'm already pondering my Currently Reading pile to try to figure out which ones to take.

casvelyn: Oh, the Indiana part of the trip I'm very much looking forward to, in fact. We're visiting my parents, and that's always a great time. I'm happy that we have a buffer day with them on each side of the Ohio leg of the trip.

Okay, so I'm working on a quilt for my parents, which will (hopefully, if I can get it done in time) be a surprise at Christmas for them. I'm pretty excited about how the blocks are turning out, so I thought I'd share pictures of a couple of them:





And yeah, I know that the pinwheel points don't exactly match up on that last one - I'm working on it...

*Wink* - I don't know what the "pinwheel" points are, but if I would be one of your parents I would be very happy to receive such a beautiful gift. I love "handmade" things - they have charm, they have character and they are especially made for someone you like. :)

Beautiful !!!

146. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (audiobook) - 9/10
The Tucks, while traveling to find a new homestead, camped in a lovely clearing in the wood, which happened to have a little spring. The all drank - even the horse - from that spring, except the cat. And that's important. Because 80-some years later, they're all still alive and haven't aged a bit, even the horse, but the cat died years ago. Winnie Foster stumbles upon the Tuck family and their story, and the chance encounter changes all of their lives, forever.

Oh, what a lovely little book! A unique story delightfully told, with characters that I was to meet and befriend. I know this is one in particular that my mom would *love*, so I'll be on the lookout for a print copy to get for her.
I thought for certain when I finished this one that it would replace whatever book I had listed on my year-by-year book list, but, alas, 1975 is also the year of Danny the Champion of the World, which is one of my all-time all-round favorites and will not be removed.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-The Doom of the Haunted Opera (Bellairs bibliography)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-James Madison (Presidential Challenge)
-The Gnostic Gospels (audio book)
-The Demolished Man (Hugo award)
-Making History (Fry bibliography)
-Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 10: School and Sport (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

I loved Tuck Everlasting! I wish I had known you wanted one--they had several like-new paperback copies at the Book Fair this weekend. I'd have been glad to pick one up & send it to you.

Pretty quilt blocks! Keep us posted on that project. What size will the finished quilt be?

Terri: Well, dang. Thanks for the thought, but I'm sure it's fairly readily available, so I'm certain to find one soon.

Laura: Thanks! It will be a king-sized quilt and the blocks are 12 inches.

Hi Amber, I've had Tuck Everlasting on my wishlist for some time, will have to give it a nudge.

The quilt you are working on looks like it is going to be lovely, I bet your parents will be thrilled with their christmas present!

Love the quilt blocks, and Tuck Everlasting is a classic for good reason. I'd also recommend the author's The Search for Delicious.

Amber

I also very much like the book Tuck Everlasting. I has a magical feel to it.

The quilt you are making looks lovely!

Cool quilt blocks, Amber!

147. A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman (public library book, picture book) - 8/10

A certain town runs into some trouble when, come November, the townspeople realize that all the turkeys have wised up and left.

A silly but fun rhyming story, but nothing too extraordinary.

Judy: Oh, do bump it up on your list - I think you'll not regret it.

Roni: I'll defnintely keep a lookout for that other book - thanks for the recommendation!

Linda: Magical is a great way to describe it.

Joe: Thanks! I'm excited about it, but nervous too, because it will be the first time that I've tried to hand-quilt anything, and the project seems a bit daunting.

>108 scaifea:: King size ... wow, that's quite a project. My mom used to do a lot of quilting, but I never caught the bug. I will admire from afar ...

I still need to read Tuck Everlasting! Thanks for the reminder, Amber.

Laura: Indeed. Hence the nervousness about getting it done by Christmas.

Stasia: Welcome! I hope you get to it soon, because you'll love it!

I will try and remember to check it out my next library trip!

148. Look & Find Cars 2 (public library book, picture book) - 9/10

Charlie *loves* these Look & Find books, and this one in particular. In fact, he loves it so much that fort the first time I'm worried that we may have trouble trying to take it back to the library! Always before he's been so excited by the process of returning books and picking out more that it hasn't been a problem, but he really *really* loves this book. We'll see...

>148 DeltaQueen50:. We had a couple of those with my son- We renewed them, then had to take them back, but managed to check them out again in a few weeks. Good luck explaining this to C however- Maybe renewing will give him enough time to get ready to return it. Eventually I found the absolute favorite on ABE and bought his own copy- just about the time the passion faded. Cowboy Small is in his "keep forever" collection, though I doubt it will go to college with him.

>114 scaifea: My sister-in-law sews quilts all the time, and we love it when we get to be the beneficiary (we have one for winter and one for the rest of the year on our bed, and ones for our family room, and both our kids got quilts from her). They're treasures, pure and simple.

Helen: Yeah, that's the thing - the keenest will, hopefully, fade, and quickly.

Joe: They're wonderful gifts and heirlooms, no?

Ugh. Back from an intense cleaning at the dentist's office, and my gums are *throbbing*.

Took the weekend off from thread reading and am now floundering. I saw The Last Lecture live on the internet a year or so ago and didn't mind it, perhaps because his "charming" personality carried the day sufficiently. I know for sure that I couldn't manage a last hurrah like that if I knew I were dying (no chutzpah that way). But I don't know what it would be like to just read or even listen to without the visuals.

Love your quilt squares. I'm going to quilt this fall, once I get my new machine figured out. Right now I'm even leery of turning it on and threading it! Wouldn't have even noticed that your triangle thingummies didn't line up if you hadn't said.

tiffin: Ooooh, a new machine! What kind?

Janome. When it doesn't sew, I think it doubles as a spaceship. Totally computerised and therefore terrifying.

I covet a schmancy new Viking myownself. One of those embroidery, more-complex-than-my-laptop sorts of deals. But, yeah, they cost more than I paid for my last car. Sigh.

Gums are feeling much better this morning - whew!
Today will be a stay-at-home day; I need to get all laundry done, so that we'll have everything clean to pack tomorrow (yuck. Not a fan of packing.). Our dog/cat/house-sitter will be coming over this morning to go over stuff (this is the first time we're having her, so I need to show her where everything is and such), the I think I may make come cookies. We've been having really lovely weather this week - upper 70's and breezy - and I'm hoping for another of those days today, but I suspect that it will be hotter than that.

Amber, a warm salt water rinse is very soothing to insulted gums.

Linda: Thanks - I may give that a try.

Hi Amber!

Great job on the quilt for Charlie, and the quilt for your parents is looking good!

Your favorite word description for "horticulture" made me giggle!

Chelle: Thanks! And, yes, I love Dorothy Parker.

149. The Doom of the Haunted Opera by John Bellairs & Brad Strickland (Bellairs bibliography, 153 pages) - 8/10

Lewis, along with his friend, Rose Rita, finds a long-lost opera written by a long-gone local celebrity in the long-abandoned opera house and, of course, all hell breaks loose. What's worse, his uncle Jonathan and their friend, Mrs. Zimmerman - both magicians themselves - are out of town. Can they stop the ghost of the composer from performing the doomed opera and becoming King of the Dead?

Another solid entry in the series. Still love the characters and love the just-right amount of creepiness in these stories.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-Ramona Forever (Cleary bibliography)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-James Madison (Presidential Challenge)
-The Gnostic Gospels (audio book)
-The Demolished Man (Hugo award)
-Making History (Fry bibliography)
-Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 10: School and Sport (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

Happy Almost Birthday To You.

I hope tomorrow is a very special day!

Oh, Linda, what a lovely thing to wake up to! Many thanks!
As I mentioned earlier, I'm getting taken out to lunch by my two favorite guys, then they're whisking me off to the library for the book fair, and then out for birthday ice cream (since we're leaving tomorrow for a week-long family-visiting trip, there's no since in having wasted cake leftovers. Besides, I have a suspicion that my mom will have a birthday cake for me when we get there tomorrow.). I'm looking forward to having a lovely day.

Amber! have a very happy day, and many many more to come!!

Bountiful birthday blessings, beautiful!

Woo-hoo! Happy Birthday, Amber!

Have a nice day, Amber. A book fair and ice cream? My goodness, I can't think of a better way to celebrate! :)

happy birthday!!

Sounds like you have all the good activities lined up for a great birthday. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, a day before my sister's and six days after my Mom's. Cake, ice cream, books, family. Yeah, that's pretty much all I need.

Many thanks, everyone! It's been a nice day; the book fair was so much fun and brought back great memories of similar fairs in grade school, and the lunch and ice cream was delicious. I've just been informed that I can choose whatever I'd like to have for dinner, and I'm going with a Culver's Cheeseburger and fries. It's nice to be pampered. Charlie presented me with a horn for my bike, and then showed me that Tomm bought a little one for Charlie's bike, too. So now we have matching alarm systems. It's adorable. Tomm gave me books (clever man, no?) and season 2 of Psych (yay!). I'm a happy birthday lady.

150. Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary (Cleary bibliography, 191 pages) - 9/10

Ramona faces big changes in her life: her Aunt Bea is getting married and her mother is having another baby. Can Ramona make peace with her new uncle and learn to become a middle child?

I'm still very much enjoying this series - Cleary does a nice job with the girls' growing up years, and I look forward to more of the same.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-Where the Sidewalk Ends (Silverstein bibliography)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-James Madison (Presidential Challenge)
-The Gnostic Gospels (audio book)
-The Demolished Man (Hugo award)
-Making History (Fry bibliography)
-Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 10: School and Sport (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

Have had no internet all day so joining in late to wish you a happy birthday, Amber. Many happy returns!

I hope you had a wonderful birthday! Sounds like your boys know how to treat you right. :)

Seeing you enjoy the Ramona series is kind of making me want to read them. I remember them as being some of my favorite books when I was about in the 7-8 range. Cleary seemed to nail what I was thinking at that age so well...

Mary: Yes, agreed - Cleary really does a great job of expressing what's going on in a kid's head, and that's why those books are so likable.

Happy Birthday, Amber!

Ooops, happy belated birthday, Amber!

Happy Belated from me too! Glad to hear it was full of books and yummy things... :D

So sorry to have missed your birthday! Sounds like it was a wonderful one!

Yay! More birthday wishes! I'll take all the good will I can get, since I'm now at the (ugh) in-laws for the next 3 days.

Hang in there, Amber!

Sorry to have missed the birthday celebration, Amber, but a 'Happy Belated Birthday' from me!

I also have apologies for being late to the party Amber - Happy belated and have a wonderful weekend.

Happy belated birthday, Amber! I hope you had a great day of celebrations filled with love from family and friends. :)

I have Tuck Everlasting on my shelves and it is one of the few books where I watched the movie first because I didn't know that it was originally a book first. I'm pretty sure the book will be much better. Have you seen the movie version?

OH NO I missed your birthday! Happy Belated Birthday!

Well, we're back. Finally. I won't go into the wretched details of the visit to the In-Laws; I'll just hint at the grilled cheese sandwich that MIL made for Charlie, dropped on the floor, didn't get to before the dog licked it, thought I didn't see, and still tried to give to Charlie for lunch (!!!). Or the oh-so-obvious favoritism she shows to her other grandchildren. Serenity Now! But visiting my parents on the way there and on the way back was a nice buffer, and it's so wonderful to be home again. We're apparently in for a lovely rest of the week - 70's and breezy, with a chance of a bit of rain - and that sounds delightful. I received some books as belated birthday presents (WOOHOO!!) and I read a good chunk of Persuasion while traveling, so it wasn't a total wash. Today will be devoted to laundry, grocery shopping, laundry, getting Charlie re-adjusted to our regular routine, laundry, and, uh, laundry. But no need for any cleaning, as the house/dog/cat sitter left the house immaculate - she cleaned and vacuumed every room! - she's definitely a keeper, since Tuppence clearly loved her, too.

Laura: It's good to know that I've got friends out there who sympathize with my In-Law woes!

Stasia, Paul & Chelle: Thanks! It's always good to spread birthday celebrations over a few days, so no worries on being a bit late. :)

Valerie: I haven't seen the movie, but I'd like to now that I've read it - I should go put it on the netflix list now while I'm thinking about it...

I'm happy you survived, Amber.

*Welcome home hugs*

:)

Thanks, Stephen. What doesn't kill me makes me really grumpy, uh, I mean stronger. Yeah, that's it.

Birthday books:

Taste of Home Baking - from my mom; she know how much I love baking cookbooks.
Bossypants - WOOHOO!! I'm so so excited to read this - I *love* Tina Fey.
Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America - Tomm & I love Parks & Rec, I do especially, being from Indiana and all. Can't wait to read this one, too.

Welcome home. It is nice to be free in one's own home!

Oh, your MIL sounds like pure joy.

A happy belated birthday to you, and welcome home!

Welcome back! i really enjoyed Bossypants, which I borrowed from Kate. It's a very quick read. I expected humor (and there's plenty of it), but I really appreciated the feminist take on her career and motherhood. Speaking of which, Kate now also recommends Caitlin Moran's How to be a Woman. I listened to Terri Gross' author interview on Fresh Air and was impressed, but I haven't gotten to the book yet.

Luxx: Thanks! I can't stress enough how good it feels to be home. Sigh.

Laura: I'll have to look up the Moran book - sounds interesting!

Glad you are home safe and sound. I can understand if a sandwich fell and grabbing it right up (5 second rule and all that) but dog slobber? Uh... no. I look forward to hearing what you think about Bossypants. It's on my TBR Soon list.

I thought Bossypants was terrific - she's hilariously self-deprecating, and what she had to overcome (women aren't funny? can't have too many in a comedy sketch at the same time? hard to believe today) is eye-opening.

Hope you're liking Persuasion, Amber. It's my second favorite of hers after P & P.

I love telling people that the Japanese gov't even publicized the health risk we put on our kids when we are too fussy. "A little dirt never hurt anyone" was my mother's fav saying. I agree. Dog kissing your face is not so dangerous, sharing food, maybe OK, too.

Morphy: I'll likely start it soon, so I'll let you know what I think.

Joe: Persuasion is my first ever Austen and I'm very much enjoying it so far.

maggie: You go right ahead and feed your charges dog-licked sandwiches if you like - I'm making a mental note never to let you near Charlie's food.

oh, even I am too ... dangerous, eh? hahahah

just intending to do my part to reduce Mommy Guilt!

Glad to have you back, Amber! Sorry to hear about the MIL woes. I guess the least she could have done was have asked you if it was OKAY after the dog touched it and you could have promptly replied, "Only after you of course." ;) Although, if she did end up eating it...then I guess we'd be stuck huh?

Hmmm...my immediate reaction to the dog-licked sammy was similar---I'd have said "Would YOU eat that now?" and then call her bluff if she said "Yes". What DID she say when you challenged her on it? Sorry...I know you weren't going to go into gory detail, but I'm fascinated. My MIL used to leave chicken thawing in the sink all night, and I had a real issue with that.

Don't get me started on the state of the sponges at my mother's kitchen sink. The worst part is, I grew up thinking it was OK to use a sponge forever until it fell apart. My husband re-trained me pretty quickly! But now when I visit, well, yech.

Personally I have no problem with eating something that fell on the floor but I would NEVER EVER offer it to someone else, let alone give it to them without telling them what happened.

Valerie: Ha! Excellent comeback! Wish I had thought of it at the time...

Linda: When she started to put it on Charlie's plate I said, "Oh, whoa. I'll just make him another one, shall I?" She was furious at that, but she's 100% passive-aggressive, so she didn't say a word and just fumed at me all the rest of the time we were there.

Laura: Oh, yech indeed!

Nora: Exactly! I don't have a problem with people eating stuff off the floor, and I myself adhere to the 5-second rule on my own, I-know-how-clean-it-is floor (and I would *never* eat what the dog sampled first), but for someone to pick it off of the floor and assume that it's okay to offer it to *my* child. Uh-uh, nope, not happening.

151. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (Silverstein bibliography, 183 pages, but, essentially a picture book) - 8/10

I remember being read these zany poems but a favorite teacher in grade school, but they don't hold up as well as I remembered them. S'okay though; they're still silly and fun.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-An Enemy at Green Knowe (Green Knowe series)
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-James Madison (Presidential Challenge)
-The Gnostic Gospels (audio book)
-The Demolished Man (Hugo award)
-Making History (Fry bibliography)
-Persuasion (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 10: School and Sport (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

So did the dog get the cheese sandwich after all? Sometimes we have to go away to truly appreciate how wonderful our own humble abodes really are. I don't think anything can beat the feeling of getting into one's own bed after visits away. My in-laws rock hard mattresses should be used to punish delinquent monks.

Knowing the history of the floor's cleaning schedule and regime certainly would affect my choices, too!

I know you are happy to be home! I loved Where the Sidewalk Ends when I was teaching. It worked nicely to get some kids reading who otherwise might not.

I'm not one to stress about what we refer to as "floor cookies," but I know my dog sneaks into the cat boxes, so even I wouldn't give Doc something that Hugo had nibbled. ;)

I will forever love Hugo for his vacuum-like qualities, though.

Welcome home Amber, I know your trip had it's stressful moments but I hope overall you had a nice time.

tiffin: Yes, the dog got the sandwich; I tossed it to her as I got up to make Charlie another one, thus making MIL even more angry at me.

Luxx: I have the same knowledge about our own dog, so, yeah. But I agree that her hoover-like qualities are nice when spills happen!

Judy: The best part of the trip (besides seeing my parents, of course) is the idea that I won't have to make that trip again for another entire year! They're coming here again for Thanksgiving (this time they're invited - I'm sacrificing a not-so-important-to-me holiday so that we won't have to travel to them over Christmas), but that's not as bad, since it's on my turf and not hers.

It's storming here now - lots of very welcome rain coming down in sheets, lightening, thunder, the works. And Charlie's sleeping right through it. Excellent! We'll be off to the library this morning; I think we're both going through withdrawal symptoms, as we've not been there in well over a week. Otherwise, another quiet day in store, in the quest to get back to a normal routine.

Ah, enjoy the sleep-in and the library trip!

I think that's the secret to handling difficult relatives. Make them come to you so you have the turf advantage. Very wise decision to go the Thanksgiving route and then being able to relax and enjoy your Christmas!

Look at us discussing Christmas already!

I saw one store already pulling out their Christmas merchandise. Wrapping paper and other tidbits and I was like..whoa, it's NOT even Halloween yet, which is usually the cue to start rolling out the Christmas paraphernalia. @.@

In my youth, Thanksgiving was the day before the stuff came out.

Luxx, Judy, Valerie & maggie: Thanks for stopping by.

I'm typing this from a hotel room. Why is that, you may ask? Well, let me tell you.
Once we put Charlie to bed last night, Tomm and I were watching a movie when all of a sudden there was a BAT (!!) flying round us. Tomm got it out (while I was holed up in Charlie's room, who slept through the entire thing), and we calmed down and went to bed ourselves. Just a random bat that flew in through an open door or window, likely. Yeah. That wasn't it. Because then a couple of hours later, when Tomm got up to get a drink, another bat (!!!!!!) made a fly-by past his head. He tried to get that one out, too, but no luck, so we pack up a few hasty items, I dressed Charlie over his pajamas, we all got in the car and came here to a local hotel. Tomm called all the local-ish exterminators this morning, but none can come out even for the initial inspection until Monday, so Charlie and I are packing up and heading back to my parents' later today. Another 7-hour drive just 2 days after the last one. And who knows when we'll be able to come back (hopefully later this next week). SERENITY NOW!

Oh, Amber, that is so not cool! Hopefully the bat situation isn't too serious and it's an in and out kind of job. Safe travels to you and Charlie as you head to the parent's house!

I've only had one bat experience and it was when we went to Helena in Montana with a group of friends. The upstairs loft was taken by a couple friend of ours who had decided to go to bed a bit earlier. Well, as the rest of us were getting ready to call it a night, we heard them rushing down the stairs looking frantic in their PJs and all. Turns out there was a bat in their room which they at first thought was a bird. Our one guy friend, very nonchalantly went upstairs, caught the bat in a towel, went outside and released our unwanted intruder. Crazy!

Thanks, Valerie. Charle and I are waiting in the hotel room while Tomm tries to contain the bat in one room, so we can go back and pack up. I feel so bad to Tomm, because he's left actually dealing with the nasty little thing.

Yikes! That's got to be tough for all of you, Amber. But the exterminator should be able to get them the heck out of there and keep them out.

Joe: Thanks, and yes, let's hope so!

Bats, cool!

Ummmmmm, I mean, don't get me wrong, it's no fun to have your house infested, but, errrmmmmm, at least it was a cool animal. Like bats. :P

I like bats too. Extremely useful animal. I hope the exterminators don't harm them--bat populations are dying out and we need them. I know they can be disconcerting when they get in the house though, as their flight seems so erratic and unpredictable.

Wow, what an ordeal, it would freak me out too. I hope you're able to get them out of the house soon, Amber. Have a safe trip (again).

What a strange night you had, Amber. I hope the situation gets resolved quickly. I don't hate bats, but definitely don't want to see them up close and personal!

You're lucky that you don't live in the UK. It's illegal to capture, kill or disturb the roost of any sort of bat.

We get one in the house every couple of years- They can get into the attic around the old chimney. They usually get in under the attic door if we forget to put the draft blocker in place. if I can confine it to one room and block the cats out, it usually lands on a ceiling light or high curtain rod. then I quietly go up with a small shoebox and a stiff piece of cardboard and put the box over the bat and slide the cardboard up along the wall. Easy then to take outside and release. We see them eating insects on summer nights and I'd much rather have bats than mosquitos. I think most people have an automatic aversion to their erratic flight pattern in closed spaces - I know I do, but manage to fight it.

Many of our bat in the northeast are dying of a fungal disease - I hope we can keep healthy colonies, but not in our houses.

#195 Goodness...what do people do when bats move in to their attics?? I don't think it's allowed to kill them here in PA, but you can hire people to lure them out and then seal the places where they get inside. We had a few bats in our attic at home when I was a kid; they almost never got into the living area, but I remember my dad catching the odd one in a big fishing net. They weren't so much appreciated as an important species back then; I'm afraid those that got caught did not survive.

So... you have "bats in your belfry" ? When I was about 10 years old I heard from another kid that bats will tangle themselves in your hair. Not true.

I hope your "pest control" people know the latest and best ways of dealing with them. We are losing so many small creatures which we really need. I'd hate for all the bugs to get a free "by" because their arch enemies are so few in number.

#197 Goodness...what do people do when bats move in to their attics?? I think you've got to learn to love them! I remember reading about a church in the UK recently where there were a very large number of bats roosting, so many that their droppings were considered a health hazard, but they weren't allowed to do very much to get rid of them at all. They certainly weren't allowed to block up their roost holes.

Amber interesting bat story. They are remarkable creatures - cannot see a thing but have this radar that allows them to zip around without hitting everything. Get a lot of them on construction sites and a colleague fell from a scaffold trying to avoid a bat which would never have touched him. Fortunately he fell all of two and a half feet and was a figure of fun with legs akimbo. Could have been worse though had he been at the top of the 18 metre scaffold with the concrete calling from below.

Have a bat free weekend - bet Charlie was despondent he didn't get to enjoy the nocturnal visitors.

Thanks for the visits, all. We're here in Indiana now, at least until tuesday. I'm afraid I've skimmed over the above praises and sympathies for bats; just not at all in the mood for bat sermons at the moment. Thankfully we're not in the UK, so the pest control people can indeed disturb the nest, if there is one. Meanwhile, Charlie is happily playing with Granny & Pa, and I've a nice stack of books beside me...

I'm glad you had a safe harbor and that you and Charlie are not too disrupted from normal life. Raising a kid is enough without bats added to the challenge.

Catching up after a long absence. Love the quilt further up the thread. My stepmother made quilts for me, my sister and two step sisters about 10 years ago - she must have been busy for months making all those.

Sorry to hear of bat trouble, though I'm so used to the UK situation that I was taken aback at the mention of exterminators. I have a story about Bays in my room once, but you probably don't want to hear it until your house is safely bat-free - and maybe not even then! I hope things are sorted soon so you can be back in your own home again.

Well. We're back. Tomm doesn't think that there are any bats left in the house, and we'll hear from a 2nd opinion tomorrow on how much the work will cost and when they can do it (the first estimate was a bit pricey and the man said he can't get to it for at least 3-4 weeks). I'm exhausted and very much ready to be sleeping in my own bed tonight. Dentist appointment in the morning. Ugh. The good news, though, is that I managed to finish several books while at my parents':

152. An Enemy at Green Knowe by L.M. Boston (Green Knowe series, 171 pages) - 9/10
Ping and Tolly spend a summer together at Green Knowe, and find adventures, which they expected, although they are of a more dangerous and sinister sort than they suspected. In fact, the evil is so great that Green Knowe itself may be in danger...
I enjoyed this one much more than the previous two in the series, because, finally, Tolly is back, as well as lovely Mrs. Oldknowe. A good story with just enough wickedness to suit.

153. Persuasion by Jane Austen (Eliza & Electra Book Club, 250 pages) - 9/10
Anna, once persuaded from a marriage to the man she loved and constantly overlooked, underthought-of and taken for granted by her silly family, now finds that she's been thrust into company with that once-time love-interest.
No sense in more summary than that, I suppose, for such a well-know novel. Why, oh why, have I not until now read any of lovely old Jane's stuff?! This was a wonderful read - I could hardly put the thing down - and I can't wait to chat about it with the Eliza half of our club.

154. James Madison: A Biography by Ralph Ketcham (Presidential Challenge, 671 pages) - 7/10
Of the presidents about whom I've read so far, I believe I find Madison the most likable character, although perhaps Adams and Jefferson are a bit more impressive. Not to say that Madison isn't an impressive figure; he certain accomplished much for his country, just, perhaps, not in as flashy a style. Dolley, however, seems to have been a hoot, and I'd love to come back to her to learn more someday.
As far as Ketcham's treatment goes, I most definitely learned an amazing amount about Madison's life, but I'd be lying if I claimed it to be a riveting read. Ketcham's biography reads like a dissertation gone out of control and needs a strong editorial hand. Indeed, I learned more about Jefferson's life in this work than in the entire Jefferson biography I'd already read.

155. The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (Hugo award list, 183 pages) - 9/10
In 2301 AD, it is nearly impossible to commit a murder. Indeed, none have been accomplished in over 70 years, since the Espers (telepaths) can read the mind of a murderer before he can commit the crime. One man, a genius with a dangerous and borderline psychotic turn to him, finds a way to do it, though. Can the Esper detective bet the killer at his own game and prove his guilt before the entire universe pays the price?
Sigh. I'm tired and I'm not doing this book justice in my piss-poor description. It's an amazing scifi read, which a nicely unexpected twist at the end, for which I was passionately turning pages for most of the book. Winner of the first-ever Hugo award, this is scifi - and indeed fiction in general - at close to its best.

156. Making History by Stephen Fry (Fry bibliography, 380 pages) - 9/10
What would happen if you could reach back in time and make it so that Hitler were never born? Would you do it? Could you dare? What would be the result? Surely it would mean a better world now, no? A physicist who can't come to terms with his father's role in the Nazi party and a History grad student a bit too full of his own importance (but a generally harmless and likable bloke) find that they are indeed capable of such a thing and are just desperate and dumb enough to try. Fry's description of the fall-out is amazingly inventive, horrifying, hilarious and wonderful.
As always after reading a Fry book, I feel a bit dumb, but a little bit smarted, and definitely muchly satisfied. Highly recommended.

157. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (Newbery list, 246 pages) - 8/10
Aerin is the daughter of the king, and although loved dearly by her widowed father, not much in favor by the people, who whisper rumors of her mother having been a witchwoman. Her tomboyishness and flaming red hair (singular amongst the swarthy dark heads of the realm) don't help much. Can she find some way to win a place in the castle and the kingdom and find for her own self who she is and where she belongs?
This was an unexpected treat, and turned out to be a first-rate fantasy story. Enjoyed every page of it, and I'll be off the the library to see if they have the other in the series, The Blue Sword.

What I'm reading now:
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 26: Continental Drama (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.26)
-The Harvard Classics Five Foot Shelf of Books, Volume 27: English Essays Sidney to Macaulay (library book - call #AC1.A4 v.27)
-Women in Love (banned books list)
-(Awaiting a trip to the library for next Charlie-lists book) ()
-The Faerie Queen (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
-The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness (Presidential Challenge)
-The Gnostic Gospels (audio book)
-Augustus (NBA award)
-Little Men (NEH list)
-(Awaiting discussion of Persuasion and choosing of next read) (Eliza & Electra Book Club book)
-Paddington Abroad (bath-time book)
-The Children's Hour Volume 10: School and Sport (I'm working through this series of old volumes that were my brothers' when they were little.)
-The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)
-Our Country's Presidents (to accompany the presidential challenge)

In addition to these, I have some classics-related texts that I'm working through (quite slowly):
-Asinaria by Plautus (reading in Latin)
-Iliad by Homer (reading in Greek)
-Latin Literature by Gian Biagio Conte
-The Cambridge History of Classical Literature Volume 1 Part 1
-History of Rome by Michael Grant
-A History of Greece to 322 BC by N. G. L. Hammond

Amber - not fair, back.....and with six reviews in one post! Good luck at the dentist and nice to see you back.

Welcome back, Amber! Sending you lots of bats-be-gone vibes as you settle back into a routine at home. Boo to the dentist but oh such a necessity of life.

I've not read a bad book by McKinley. Some I've liked more than others, but all in all, a solid writer.

Paul: Yes, the silver lining in all the extra traveling - lots of reading time!

Valerie: Thanks! I'm getting 2, maybe 3 fillings today so, yeah, boo. But agreed on the necessity bit.

Morphy: That's good to hear; I went out to the library last night and picked up The Blue Sword, which, I think, belongs to the same world as The Hero and the Crown. I'm looking forward to starting it today.

I also was a little put off by The Last Lecture. As people above me have stated, it seemed a bit gimmicky. Also, he was knowingly pompous but portrayed it as charming. Agreed.

I also think that it was selfish in the sense that he makes it clear in the book that he spent the last months of his life slaving over this lecture. His wife wanted him to spend time with her and his kids. He said "it's FOR the kids." But was it for the kids? In his mind, perhaps. But really, it was for HIM. It made HIM happy. I think dying people should be happy if they can, but my values are different than his, and I didn't see anything tragically romantic in his choice to spend his last months working.

Rachel: Oh yes, I agree about the book/lecture being all about and for him, too. It's good to hear from so many others who feel as I do about the book, so I don't have to feel so guilty for not liking the guy!

158. The Danger Box by Blue Balliett (audiobook) - 8/10
A young boy with OCD-like issues and severe sight problems, by a set of extraordinary circumstances, gets his hands on a very rare and very valuable book. This leads to making friends and coming out of his shell a bit, and to other, more drastic circumstances, both for him and his family.
Told mostly through the viewpoint and voice of the young boy, this is an interesting tale, and one that I think I would have liked more had I read and not listened to it (the voice of the boy was slightly irritating). At any rate, the story is nicely told and fairly inventive, if a bit predictable. Recommended guardedly. (I skipped to this one, temporarily leaving behind my already-current audiobook, The Gnostic Gospels, because, although I'm enjoying the latter, my mind kept wandering away from it in the car, whereas I can concentrate on it better while sewing, I guess.)

159. Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow (1001 Children's Books list, picture book) - 6/10
A little girl asks a rabbit for help in finding a birthday present for her mother.
I know it's really not meant to be, but I couldn't help but find this book creepy. The drawings are not great (how in the world is this a Caldecott Honor book?!?!), and make the girl look too-largely headed for her body and the rabbit deformedly ganglly and large and, weirdly, his not-wearing-clothes, which shouldn't seem strange at all - he's a rabbit after all - seems borderline inappropriate. In addition, the story is uninventive and, well, kind of dumb.

160. My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco (Parent & Child list, picture book) - 6/10
Ugh. This one is even worse. Not creepy, at least, but the story is tired and the illustrations are downright ugly. Not recommended.

161. One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey (1001 Children's Books list, picture book) - 9/10
Ahhh. This is more like it. McCloskey doesn't disappoint. Sal, from Blueberries fame, is back, this time with a little sister and a lose tooth. She and her dad and sister take the motor boat across the lake into town for groceries and a treat for the girls.
Simple, comfy, wonderful. Great story and excellent illustrations. Definitely ordering this one for Charlie's shelves.

Yay, Amber's back! :D

I just wanted to give you some moral support where the bat situation is concerned. I can imagine how troubling such a situation can be, and as your friend I feel it is my duty to calm and comfort you. Last year I read a delightful book on sanguivores (Dark Banquet), and I can assure you that when blood-feeding creatures bite they inject their host with an anesthetic. So, you see, you won't even feel it when they feed on you in your sleep.

...wait, what? You mean that wasn't comforting? Did I go about this the wrong way? Oh, ummmmm, errrrr, welllll, I'm sure the ones you have are insect-eating bats. Most likely. Mhmmm... *Nods*

Fruit bats....fruit bats. Not scary at all!!

Stephen & Linda: I don't care what kind they were, really; I don't like them and yes they are scary! Good news, though: our second bat guy came today and doesn't think there are any other bats and that it was a fluke, as there is no evidence anywhere (and he was here nearly 2 hours inspecting the house) of bats. We'll still have a few spots sealed along the roof, but I think we can breathe more easily now - whew!
3 cavities filled this morning, so I'm numb and tired. One more appointment for 2 more fillings then I'm done!

@ 211

One Morning in Maine was one of my most favorites as a little kid. A nice story, and I adored the illustrations.

Good to have you back, Amber! Lots of good reading, and no bats - nice to hear.

#215---and it's associated with some good memories of your own mornings in Maine, eh?

Laura: Agreed - the illustrations are wonderful.

162. Doctor Ted by Andrea Beaty (public library book, picture book) - 8/10
Ted wakes up one morning, bangs his knee on the bed and decides to be a doctor. For the rest of the day he tries to 'cure' people - his mother, his schoolmates, his teachers. His patients aren't very receptive to the attention, though, until his teacher hurts her ankle and Doctor Ted comes to the rescue.
Cute, but not extraordinary. Charlie did seem to enjoy it, though, and the illustrations are nice.

>215 lycomayflower:, 218: I thought this was the one I remembered, but it turns out I have similar happy memories of Time of Wonder.

Welcome back, Amber. I'm glad your bat problem is manageable. And I'm delighted to see you enjoying Ms. Austen!

Hi, Laura! I'm delighted with Ms. Austen myself! Again I say, how have I not read her before now?! I have a degree in English Lit, for sobbing out loud!

163. Firefighter Ted by Andrea Beaty (public library book, picture book) - 8/10

In what seems to be a sequel to the previous one, Ted wakes up one morning and smells burnt toast, so dons his firefighter outfit and fights the dangers of fire all day, much to the chagrin of his mother, classmates and teachers.
This one was a bit better than the last one - even Tomm laughed at parts, and that's saying something!

Today Charlie and I will be shopping for a birthday present for Tomm, whose birthday was in fact on Thursday, but bat happenings and such made us decide to pretend (nominally for Charlie's sake, but really for Tomm's too) that it will be Sunday. Gives me time to take Charlie shopping to pick out a present for his dad and for making a cake and such. And now that I'm feeling more confident about being in our house, I need to venture into the basement to do laundry today, too. Supposed to be another hot day today - up in the 90's again. Apparently August isn't quite over just yet...

Many happy returns to Tomm - don't forget to buy him something you both like and can make some use of too.

Paul: In fact, I like to get him something for his birthday that only he will use; that way, he knows it's for him only and that I'm not buying something for me, too. We do that sort of thing for our anniversary - we talk it over and decide on something to get together for the both of us. I get irked when he gets me something for Christmas or my birthday that he likes, too (a season of one of our favorite tv shows on dvd, for example), because then it doesn't seem like it's really for me.

I made you cookies. Then I ate them.

My Mother was famous for being a real bi*ch when people gave her gifts which were for the kitchen. Said she did not like being treated like the live-in cook. I made a note that for me only I would always like everything anyone gave me. Except sometimes my Mom was really creative in giving me the stupidest things. hahahah

Happy Birthday to Tomm. I'm sure you will come up something fantastic for him that he will love. :) Sending some cooler temps your since we have a system blowing through..overcast skies and way cooler weather. Had to turn on the heat this morning!

Stephen: *snork!* Thanks.

Valerie: Oh, it sounds just *wonderful* to have to turn on the heat! I'm so so ready for fall, my favorite season.

Charlie picked out a bike horn (the same present he picked out for me for my birthday earlier this month), so that all three of us would have horns. I also persuaded him to get a light for Tomm's bike, too, since I know that he does in fact want one. Then he picked out a "Congratulations!" card, and a bow for the package. Adorable.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that we stopped into the Dollar Tree to get Charlie a balloon, and I found The Swan Thieves for only $1, of course! WooHoo!

>227 maggie1944: My mom hates getting kitchen gifts for the same reason. I never understood her objection, because when I was a kid, she did all the cooking, so she'd be the only one to use the kitchen stuff. Personally, I love getting kitchen gifts, particularly since my favorite stuff (All Clad pots and pans, KitchenAid appliances, Henckels knives) is all expensive.

I'm okay with getting kitchen stuff as gifts, too, if it's something I've mentioned I really want (KitchenAid is always a good bet), but I love to bake, so it makes sense. I wouldn't, however, be pleased with, say, a vacuum cleaner as a gift.

I think the difference is between women who love to cook and those for whom cooking was the duty of the day. My Mom fell into the "duty" category, and I think she resented having to work and keep house. So, from that perspective I can see her not appreciating kitchen tools.

My husband always bought me cookbooks, usually ethnic ones, which was fine but grew to be a bit annoying after 10+ years. He stopped when I bought him a cookbook for his birthday.

Kerry: *snork!* Good one! And, weird: I just posted a response to you about food over on Paul's thread...

Yes, sometimes you just want a non-kitchen present.

Hi Amber- You know I read the same Madison bio, about 10 years ago, when I was attempting to read all the presidents, which stalled out after joining LT. I remembered it being very good and I agree with you, Madison was a likable guy, maybe it was Dolly's influence?

{delurk}
*smooch*
{relurk}

It does have a lot to do with whether a person likes to cook or not. To use Amber as an example, she (it seems) doesn't enjoy vacuuming, and probably only does it as a chore. It's not some fun activity she looks forward to, like baking. Why on earth would she be excited about getting a new vacuum? Likewise, her awesomesauce husband does the dishes, but he also probably looks at it as a chore and I doubt buying him a pair of dishwashing gloves would make him very happy.

Another example is Amber's approach to sewing. There was a time when that would have been considered an unpleasant household chore, and buying sewing things for someone who felt that way would not be very nice. Amber, however, enjoys it as a hobby and so buying her fabrics or other sewing materials would probably not make her angry at you. Unless you have bad taste in fabric. :P

New vacuums should be purchased like any other household item that isn't looked upon like , as a necessary part of life - NOT a gift. It would be like buying a man a carton of motor oil for his birthday (to use another gender stereotype). I, personally, would not find that a very appealing birthday gift, even if I did need some...

Kerry: Agreed.

Mark: It's not too late to join the Presidential Challenge... I do want to go back and read a biography of Dolley - she seems like such a vibrant and interesting character.

Richard: A Richard spotting! A Richard spotting! I feel honored. :)

Stephen: Oh you sweetheart, you. You're going to make some lucky lady quite happy one of these days, when you actually start talking to them, that is...

Amber
What an experience with the in laws...

I sometimes shake my head at the lack of social skills that many have.

My partner's parents are long gone, but he does have a very retched, nasty sociopath for an Aunt whom I know refuse to be around. She lied to me during a time when I was most vulnerable. It was obvious she meant to harm.

As I get older, I avoid negative, sociopathic people. The world is filled with nice, kind souls.

164. Let's Share by P.K. Hallinan (public library book, picture book) - 7/10

A rhyming book about learning how to share. Not terrible, but not great, either. Just meh.

Linda: I wish I could refuse to be around Tomm's parents, especially now with Charlie in the picture. I don't feel like they're an especially good influence on him, as it must be confusing to witness grandparents, whom one is supposed to look up to, acting more childish than one's 3-year-old self. Sigh. Hope you're feeling okay today, Linda. I'm thinking of you.

I wish Charlie didn't have to absorb their attitude, either. Poor Tomm.

I'm starting to dislike my current book. Whatever shall I do? I only have 1800 others to choose from! *woe*

Richard: I feel sorry to no end for the childhood Tomm had. Seriously. As far as the book goes, you've got the Pearl Rule, no?

Yeah, but...The Various Flavors of Coffee has so much good stuff...I hate to let crotchets get in the way.

I posted this book porn in my thread, but it made me think of you:

Ooooh, pretty! Covetous, I am.

Tomm's stomach doesn't respond too well to flour and bread products sometimes, and he's going through a particularly bad phase right now, so, by his request, no birthday cake this year. Instead, I'm making some lemon sorbet (in the freezer as I type) and some Black Forest Parfaits (I've never attempted this, so we'll see - may be delicious, but may be disgusting: layers of chocolate pudding, whipped cream and black cherry jello...).

Has Tomm been tested for celiac disease?

Richard: No, but that's been my suspicion for awhile. Now, try getting him to the doctor... Sigh.

Oh dear, one of those resistant guys, is he? Esp. the episodic nature of the problem makes me wonder. Good luck getting him there.

>246 richardderus: Not quite enough natural light for me but otherwise just my style.

New thread's up and running! See you over there!