Norabelle414's part IX: In Which Fall is Still Nora's Favorite Season

Rory Pond loves the National Book Festival, too!

Goals for 2013:

• Read 75 books
  
• Catch up on my LTER reading / reviewing
  
• Read more books than I acquire (acquire fewer books than I read?)
  
• Tag all of my books owned and read by decade in which they take place
  
• Plan & attend the National Book Festival LT meet-up in DC done!
  
  

Previous Threads:
2013, part VIII
2013, part VII
2013, part VI
2013, part V
2013, part IV
2013, part III
2013, part II
2013, part I
2012, module eta

Books read in 2013:

January:
1) The Country of the Blind and Other Science-Fiction Stories by H. G. Wells
2) Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
3) In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber by L. A. Meyer
4) The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin
5) The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge by Jeremy Narby
6) Redshirts by John Scalzi
7) Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
8) Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and Lily of the West by L. A. Meyer

February:
9) Looking for Alaska by John Green
10) John Dies at the End by David Wong
11) Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
12) The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson
13) Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
14) Paper Towns by John Green
15) My Bonny Light Horseman: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, in Love and War by L. A. Meyer
16) The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

March:
17) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
18) Graceling by Kristin Cashore
19) Rapture of the Deep: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Soldier, Sailor, Mermaid, Spy by L. A. Meyer
20) Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy
21) Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
22) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

April:
23) I am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson
24) The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book I: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood
25) Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury
26) The Wake of the Lorelei Lee: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, On Her Way to Botany Bay by L. A. Meyer
27) The Incorrible Children of Ashton Place, Book II: The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood

May:
28) The Incorrible Children of Ashton Place, Book III: The Unseen Guest by Maryrose Wood
29) The Gunslinger by Stephen King
30) Wool by Hugh Howey
31) Watership Down by Richard Adams
32) Babette's Feast by Isak Dinesen

June:
33) Fables Vol. 5: The Mean Seasons by Bill Willingham
34) The Grand Tour, or The Purloined Coronation Regalia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
35) Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi
36) Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
37) War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

July:
38) Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
39) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
40) The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kitteridge
41) Odds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich
42) Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
43) Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik

August:
44) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
45) A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan
46) Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
47) The Shambling Guide to New York City by Mur Lafferty
48) Austenland by Shannon Hale
49) The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea by L. A. Meyer
50) The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
51) 666 Park Avenue by Gabriella Pierce

September:
52) Viva Jacquelina!: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Over the Hills and Far Away by L. A. Meyer
53) Cursed Pirate Girl by Jeremy A. Bastian
54) How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
55) Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood
56) The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde
57)

I'm going to try keeping a closer eye on the books I acquire throughout the year. Perhaps that will keep the numbers down.

Books acquired in 2013:

January:
1) Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger (free)

February:
None!

March:
2) Feminism in the Worlds of Neil Gaiman by Tara Prescott (free)

April:
3) Wool by Hugh Howey (new, $12)
4) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (used, $7.99)
5) Zone One by Colson Whitehead (used, $7)
6) The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (used, $7)

May:
7) Matched by Ally Condie (used, $.50)
8) Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce (used, $.50)
9) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (used, $1)
10) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling (used, $1)
11) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (used, $1)
12) Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (used, $1)
13) Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare (used, $1)
14) 11/22/63 by Stephen King (used, $3)
15) The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Two-volumes (used, $3)
16) Bullfinch's Mythology - 1947 edition (used, $3)
17) The Tesseract by Alex Garland (used, $3)
18) The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (used, $3)
19) Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (used, $3)
20) In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson (used, $3)
21) The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (used, $.10)
22) Wicked by Gregory Maguire (used, $.10)
23) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling (used, $.10)
24) The Maze Runner by James Dashner (used, $.10)

June:
25) Vogue Knitting Knitopedia edited by Carla Scott (new, $18.98)
26) Bite Me: A Love Story by Christopher Moore (new, $5.98)
27) Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi (new, $13.95)
28) Maus I: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman (new, $15.95)
29) Cursed Pirate Girl by Jeremy A. Bastian (new, $24.95)
30) Changeless (used, $1.50) and
31) Blameless by Gail Carriger (used, $1.50)
32) The Chronicles of Chrestomanci Volume II by Diana Wynne Jones (used, $1.50)
33) Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams (used, $3) - first edition
34) Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card (used, $1.50)
35) Old Man's War by John Scalzi (used, $1.50)
36) The Mislaid Magician; or Ten Years After by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (used, $4)

July:
None!

August:
37) Coraline: The Graphic Novel by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell (used $0.10)

September:
38) Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (new, $15.25)
39) H. P. Lovecraft: Great Tales of Horror by H. P. Lovecraft (new, $7.61)
40) Deadline by Mira Grant (new, $9.54)
41) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (new, free)
42) The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde (new, $12.17)
43) Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates (new, $26.70)
44) Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (new, $9.54)
45) Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (new, $18.13)
46)

Book #54: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff - Fifteen-year-old, anorexic, New Yorker Daisy's pregnant step-mother thinks it would be best for everyone if Daisy spent some time visiting her cousins in the English countryside, so off she goes. She loves her cousins - older & wiser Osbert, young & reverential Piper, cryptic Isaac, and especially sensitive Edmond. She loves their lifestyle - living on a farm with very little supervision from Aunt Penn. At first, she loves it even more when World War III breaks out and Aunt Penn can't return home from a business trip to Oslo. There is plenty of food on the farm, and fun things to do like fishing in the river and walking to town to get rations and having copious underage sex with your cousin. And who cares, because the invading army marching through the English countryside is miles and miles away. As long as they have each other everything will be just fine.

What a moving book. Daisy's voice is vivid and the stream-of-consciousness writing style is perfectly reflective of a 15-year-old's thoughts without being dumbed down. It's really hard to pinpoint a genre here - I wouldn't call it "science fiction" though it takes place in the near future and has some not-quite-realistic elements, but maybe "magical realism" or "unreliable narrator fiction" would fit better. The point ends up being, at least for me, that when World War III hits, none of that stuff - bed-times, genres, parental supervision, narrator reliability, incest - will matter at all.





Book #55: Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood - We've heard the story of The Waterless Flood twice now - the Crakers' story (via Jimmy) and the eco-cultist God's Gardeners'. Now these two stories have come together along with another - two vile, sadistic painballers intent on raping and pillaging the few remaining women on earth. As anthropologists currently wonder about the Neanderthals and the Cro-Magnons - will these groups interbreed, or exterminate each other? Who will be the founders of the rebirth of humankind?

Just like the previous two books, copious flashbacks make this Maddaddam much more world-building than plot-driven. There are an infinite number of questions about the past desperate to be answered, both by the characters and by the reader. What kind of planet was this to lead Crake to take such drastic action? Did he do the right thing? How close is our planet to that tipping point? What will the future hold? Will all of Crake's work have been in vain?

What more can I say? If you enjoyed the first two then you're already desperate for an ending. If it sounds like you'd like it, go read the first book. In terms of the world as a whole, this is a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. We can clearly see the direction this world is headed in. On a character-basis, however, the lives of the people the reader has come to understand so deeply just fizzle out, almost as if they were real people and this was a real future. Almost as if half the things Atwood made up in Oryx and Crake have come true already.



Currently reading:
The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde
Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer

Currently listening to:
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, read by Simon Vance

Coming soon:
?

Library requests:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker
Lexicon by Max Barry

BOOKS READ: 55
BOOKS BOUGHT: 42
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 45
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 0

DAYS REMAINING: 99
BOOKS REMAINING: 20
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.95

New thread! Can't wait!

Whoo! New thread!

Hi Leah! Hi Paws!

I somehow managed to acquire some books this weekend. Not sure how that happened.

The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

I also got The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Biography of the Song that Marches On by John Stauffer and Benjamin Soskis for a Christmas present for my dad.

And Mary kindly loaned me Black Powder War by Naomi Novik, which is the next book I need to read in the Temeraire series.

Orange cat in orange bag. Excellent!

Glad you had a fab time at the National Book Fest. :)

Happy new thread! I lost track of the old one at some point, so this time I will try to keep up.

Awwww, RORY! What a fun, bright picture of him. Love it.

Did you know How I Live Now is a movie? (Isn't everything these days?) It's due out any day now, and stars Saoirse Ronan. I'm not real sure she passes for 15 any more, but I'm looking forward to it anyway. :)

Oh yay! It has been a trial to load your thread for some time now, so I'm especially excited for your new thread, Nora! :)

I'm glad you liked How I Live Now (though I personally didn't). I skipped your review of Maddaddam because I haven't read the other two, but I'll get to them all one day.

What did you say your book stamp thing was called?

>13 _Zoe_: It's an Ideal Desk embosser (Ideal Desk is the brand) and it's a model M.

Hi Nora! Aw, Rory looks so charming and cuddly in his book bag. :) Can't wait to hear about your NBF festivities! How strange that you'd have books come home with you! How I Live Now sounds interesting and I'm going to have to try and resist the urge to request it rightthisverysecond - excellent review as always!

>14 norabelle414: Thanks! I may ask for more detail at some point.

Meanwhile, here is the new Gail Carriger thing I was talking about.

Love the new thread! Jealous about the book festival! Love the cat in the bag!

*waves*

Hello, Nora! Wish I could have gone to the Book Festival...

Love the colors in the Rory pic! I might pick up How I Live Now. Sounds interesting.

I just borrowed How I Live Now as an e-book from the library based on your review. Sounds like a good plane read and I have two trips coming up!

>20 katiekrug: Make sure you have some other stuff to read too, because there are some pretty intense and graphic scenes. I had to switch books a couple times to calm myself down because I got very into it.

Can't wait to hear details about the NBF. Wish I could have been there!

How I Live Now sounds very, very interesting! How do you think it would translate to audio book?

>22 TinaV95: I think it would be great as an audiobook, with the right narrator of course. The story is very much a singular voice, like a teenager's diary.

I've read What I Was by Meg Rosoff liked it, so I'll have to keep that one on my radar.

Book #56: The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde - The events of the previous book have had pretty much zero effect on Jennifer Strange's everyday life. She's still a 16-year-old orphan girl who has run the largest magic company in the Kingdom of Snodd since its manager, the Great Zambini, vanished a few years back. The magic levels are definitely rising, however, and King Snodd is eager to gain full control of it. He appoints the Amazing Blix (manager of iMagic, Kazam's competitor) to be the official Court Mystician. When Jennifer refuses to follow Blix's orders, King Snodd announces a competition between the two companies, and Jennifer knows that iMagic will never fight fair.

The plot here is perfectly adequate, and everything comes together brilliantly in the end, but as usual the world-building and characterization are where Fforde shines. We learn tons more about everyone from the Great Zambini and the Amazing Blix to quarkbeasts and trolls. It's a delightfully Fforde-esque book, which of course means it is not for everyone, but definitely for the best kind of people.



Currently reading:
Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer

Currently listening to:
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, read by Simon Vance

Coming soon:
Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
The Wind-up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Deadline by Mira Grant
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Library requests:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker
Lexicon by Max Barry

BOOKS READ: 56
BOOKS BOUGHT: 42
BOOKS ACQUIRED: 45
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 0

DAYS REMAINING: 97
BOOKS REMAINING: 19
DAYS PER BOOK: 5.11

>9 MickyFine: Thanks Micky! He manages to hide in those bags pretty well. Sometimes I forget he's there until he jumps out and attacks my feet.

>10 foggidawn: Hi Foggi! Welcome back!

>11 UnrulySun: Hi Kathy! I probably heard it was going to be a movie and that's how it ended up on my reading list. I don't always see the movies that are based on books, but I absolutely hate getting a book spoiled by a movie trailer :-( I do love Saoirse Ronan, ever since Atonement. It will be interesting to see how they deal with the sensitive issues in the book, like the cousin sex.

>12 Ape: You know, if you posted on my thread more often, Stephen, I would have to start a new thread more often.

>15 LauraBrook: Hi Laura! Those books jumped into my bag when I was nowhere near the book-buying tent, I swear.

>16 _Zoe_: Since I didn't buy it myself I don't know how much more detail I can offer. I'll ask my mom about where she bought it/how she designed it, but it was several years ago so I don't know if she'll remember.
Thanks for the link! That's not a lot of information about something that's supposedly coming out in a week.....

>17 scaifea: Hi Amber!

>18 RosyLibrarian: Hi Marie! Maybe next year?

>19 Morphidae: Hi Morphy! How I Live Now is one of those books that is super intense and deals with tough issues but is well worth the read.

>24 Ape: I have not heard of anything else by Meg Rosoff, but she will be on my radar now.

Quick National Book Festival Summary, Part 1

(I'm going to leave the photographs to others (Zoe, Qebo, etc.) because my cell phone camera is completely inadequate.)

On FRIDAY I picked up Zoe from the train station and we dropped her stuff of at my apartment. I showed her the lovely view from the roof of my building and then we went to get chicken at Nando's Peri-Peri (a kind of weird but excellent Portuguese/South African casual restaurant). Then we went back home and played By Jove, which is a board game based on Greek/Roman mythology that I loved when I was younger. It was fun, but not as epically awesome as when I was 10.

SATURDAY morning Mary flew in and took the Metro to my apartment. She dropped her stuff off here and she, Zoe, and I had breakfast before heading to the festival! We got to the Fiction & Mystery tent just in time to join the throng of people waiting to get seats to see Margaret Atwood. Zoe and I managed to get seats in the middle (not together) and Mary and her sister were in the back. Atwood had a lot of interesting things to say about how her writing defies genre and her feelings about the technologies she explores in Maddaddam. She was eloquent and hilarious and I'm even more in awe of her now than I was before.

After that we headed over to the book signing lines, where Mary began her epic quest to get a book signed by Veronica Roth. She got in line at about noon, and there were already well over 100 people ahead of her. The signing started at 2pm, at which point there were approximately seventy-eight thousand people total in line. Mary ended up being one of the last people to get their book signed, at 3:20pm. She has the patience of a saint! The book wasn't even for her.

Meanwhile, Zoe and I wandered around the festival to see what we could see, which included my hot next-door neighbor guy who works at the book festival. *Sigh*
Then, we had our LibraryThing/Bookcrossing meet-up in the Hirshhorn sculpture garden. It was attended by myself, Zoe, SqueakyChu, Gilroy, Drneutron and Mrs. Drneutron, Qebo, and a multitude of Bookcrossers named Cathy.

National Book Festival Summary, Part 2

Next I headed to the Teens & Children tent to see Jonathan Maberry, who unfortunately did not show up due to airplane issues. So I went over to the Children-Children tent to see the adorably-Irish-accented Oliver Jeffers adorably draw pictures and tell stories with some adorable children.

Then Zoe and I listened to Paolo Bacigalupi talk about how much he hated when he was young and authority figures made him read The Red Pony, and so he always writes books that he would like to read. He was very animated and energetic.

After that we met up with Mary and her sister at the Contemporary Life tent for Daniel Pink, who discussed management and marketing and introversion/extroversion/ambiversion. Immediately following him was Charles Wheelan, who discussed making statistics understandable to lay-people and also his plan for a centrist third political party.

At this point the weather was alternating between uncomfortable drizzle-rain and deluge so we took the Metro a few stops to dinner in Chinatown instead of walking. Dinner was at Chinatown Express, one of the few older restaurants in Chinatown, which I enjoy because you can watch them make dumplings in the front window. Dinner was attended by myself, SqueakyChu, Qebo, Zoe, bell7 and sister, and Drneutron and Mrsdrneutron. Everyone went home full and exhausted.

National Book Festival Summary, part 3

SUNDAY we had brunch at Lincoln's Waffle Shop across the street from Ford's Theater, attended by myself, bell7, qebo, SqueakyChu & friend Barbara, Zoe, MDGentleReader & Johnkerr, WildMaggie & husband Jeff & friend Alice. Many waffles were consumed, and Zoe ate several whole chickens. We then walked toward the Mall and of course stumbled upon a street festival on Pennsylvania Avenue and a parade on Constitution, because this is DC. After a short jaunt through the Natural History Museum butterfly garden, we landed on the Mall and went our separate ways.

Expecting that the crowd for Joyce Carol Oates would be vast, we immediately made our way to the Poetry & Prose tent, where we were lulled into a trance by the deep baritone of Benjamin Percy, reading from his book Red Moon. (You can listen to a sample of the audiobook, which he narrates, HERE).

Next up was Manil Suri, a mathematician at University of Maryland-Baltimore, who has written some interesting-sounding novels that take place in India. He read some excerpts from his latest book, and answered some good questions about being both a mathematician and a writer.

At last, Joyce Carol Oates! She was discussing her latest book, The Accursed, a gothic novel which deals with sexism in Princeton, New Jersey during the very early 1900s when Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton University. A particular highlight of her talk was when a cranky old coot asked if "we are going to have to re-write all the great works of literature to include the word 'like' every few words". Oates first pointed out that every language that has ever existed has had filler words and that they are a characteristic of spoken language only and thus are not recorded for posterity, and then went on to say that the use of filler words indicates humbleness and that if someone does not use filler words that makes people suspicious, and sounds like a robot. What a lovely and dignified response to such a rude question.

National Book Festival Summary, Part 4

Next on our agenda was Tamora Pierce, so we headed to the Teens & Children tent early. Before Ms. Pierce was D.J. MacHale, who had a very interesting perspective on writing YA books from someone who has worked for a long time in television. (He was the creator of the Nickelodeon show Are You Afraid of the Dark?).

We managed to squeeze into a few seats surrounded by Alannas, Beka Coopers, Kels, and Alys in full costume. Tamora Pierce was exactly what you'd expect an author like her to be - relaxed, wry, and candid. Most of the questions asked of her were book-specific, but she was still very entertaining to watch and clearly an inspiration to tons of young women.

After saying farewell to Zoe, Mary and her sister and I popped into the book-buying tent (again!) so I could pick up a book I'd missed the previous day, and then went to the Children tent. There we saw Richard Peck, who had such poignant things to say about reading and writing and kids and his fans that he officially won the award for Author Who Makes Nora Tear Up at the National Book Festival. (Previously only awarded to Susan Cooper)

And with that the National Book Festival was over, so the three of us walked around the Mall, visiting the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial, and the Albert Einstein Memorial. Then we took the Metro to Dupont Circle and Kramberbooks & Afterwards Cafe, where we ate and drank and were merry. And there was ice cream. Mary bought a book at Kramberbooks but I did not because I am amazing and have will power of steel!

Then we took the Metro back to my apartment, doted on Rory, and went to sleep without reading because we were exhausted. MONDAY morning I took Mary to the airport and she went home.

THE END.

Whew! What a whirlwind. I am exhausted just reading about it :) Glad you had such a good time.

Fantastic summaries! And I'm sad to have missed all the fun activities on Sunday evening.

It all sounds just wonderful. I sooooo wish I hadn't had to cancel. Good thing is that now I HAVE to attend the next thing, no ifs, ands, or buts!

seventy-eight thousand people total in line
a multitude of Bookcrossers named Cathy
Zoe ate several whole chickens
we were lulled into a trance by the deep baritone

LOL!

Yours is a perfect description of that fun weekend. Thanks again for all the thought and time you put into organizing it.

The National Book Festival always sounds like so much fun! And I'm ever thankful for you detailed summary, thanks for taking the time to type all that up, Nora! :)

Excellent summary, Nora! The only thing you missed is that before I got in the epic line for Veronica Roth, we went to the book tent wherein I showed great restraint and bought nothing. I believe you exited with four books? :)

I loved reading your summaries. They made me smile. Glad you had such a fantastic time!

>37 bell7: Excuuuuuse me I bought THREE books on Saturday, and one of them was a gift for someone else!

>39 norabelle414: lol that's right I forgot. Mea culpa! :D

It sounds like you had so much fun, I am super jealous! You guys should all come down and visit me in Charleston for YALLFest. :) Veronica Roth is going to be here too.

*Hugs*

Working from home still sucks. Plus a whole bunch of other stuff has happened to put my office even *more* into turmoil. The only good (?) thing is that the contract I work under is paid through February and since I'm already working from home I won't be directly impacted by Congress' current round of petty bickering. I will get a lot fewer emails from the field, though.

However, the zoo is closed if there is a government shutdown :-(

___________________________________________________

For lack of anything else to say, here is my three-quarter-year summary:

Books read: 56
Books purchased (paper+audio): 42
Books acquired (purchased+free, not audio): 45
Books borrowed (friends+library): 42
Books read that were on the shelf for a year or more: 3
Books deaccessioned: 0

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

Books read: 56 (paper+audio)

Paper books: 38
Audiobooks: 18

Pages read: 11,921 (no audio)

Average paper book length: 314 pages
Median paper book length: 308 pages

Average pages read per day: 33
Average pages read per week: 229
Average pages read per month: 993

New reads: 56
Rereads: 0

Fiction/Nonfiction:

Fiction books read: 52
Nonfiction books read: 4

>42 Ape: Thanks dear :-)

Government shutdown is stupid. I still haven't figured out what they think this crap actually accomplishes. Except that they still get paid whether they are competent at their jobs or not. Wankers.

Glad to hear you are good through February. I will be furloughed, so on my day off I've been watching the news all day long waiting to see what happens... Ugh, government.

>45 leahbird: It is stupid indeed, but I don't think it's going to stop happening anytime soon. History has shown that after fiscal crises like this and the debt ceiling issue incumbents are statistically more likely to be re-elected. Everyone thinks that their "side" is the one doing the right thing and that the shutdown is "the other side"'s fault, so they re-elect their extremist incumbents. Have you noticed that no candidates ever bother talking about compromising with the other side during their campaign? They know that won't get them elected.

Also, the reason that Congress gets paid during the furlough is that it is illegal to work for the government without getting paid. If Congress did not get paid they would be legally prohibited from working and thus could never pass a budget.

>46 RosyLibrarian: Sorry, Marie :-( Eat some extra ramen for me.

47: I'm just going to switch to a margarita diet until this thing passes. :)

For both of you:

Oliver Jeffers?! I'm so jealous. But I'll allow myself to be soothed by the lovely LemonLyman...

>50 scaifea: He's so adorable in person, Amber. He acted out the story with the crayons. He also told a kid from the audience that he was going to draw his portrait and then drew an elephant.

Even more jealous now. Charlie and I *love* his books.

Oh Nora!! I LOVE your NBF summary! What a wonderfully detailed mini-vicarious excursion into y'alls adventures! Smiling just imagining ~~

Stupid congressfolks.... the lot of them.

Hi Tina! Thanks for stopping by!

>47 norabelle414: I don't get the "illegal to work for the government without getting paid." I personally know two people considered "essential" that are working but not getting paid. One here at LT and one from SparkPeople.

>55 Morphidae: People who are "essential" federal government employees must get paid for their time worked at some point. They probably will not get that money until after the shutdown is resolved, but they must eventually get paid for that time worked.

Ah, okay. The key word being "eventually."

Today was supposed to be the Library of Congress' annual open house, but that didn't happen. Also I was supposed to work at the zoo on Saturday. So this weekend was basically a bust. And working from home is getting worse and worse.

I actually have finished two books (and almost done with another), but I'm feeling too blah to write reviews.

*great big virtual hugs*

Can you do remote log in from a coffee shop to switch it up?

*Great big virtual group hugs*

I've been thinking of you and your zoo work with the government cock-ups. Sigh.

>59 MickyFine: Since all of my work is done on a shared drive I have to connect through a VPN and so it would be unbearably slow to be on any internet except my super fast home internet. I also have to be available via phone at all times and a) sometimes we talk about sensitive topics and b) I don't like to talk on the phone in an intimate public space.

Plus half the time my main problem is showering/getting dressed/getting out of my chair. The few times that I went to the gym in the middle of the day I felt great. (Now that the government is furloughed the gym is way too busy during the day for my tastes (i.e. there are actually other human beings in there!))

____________________

I actually had a decent day yesterday. I wandered around the mall, got coffee from Panera, didn't buy anything at Aerosoles OR Sephora (my two biggest weaknesses in the mall), went to the library to pick up Lexicon by Max Barry, sat in the library and read for about 2 hours while checking out the *new* cute guybrarian (who seems to be a bit on the young side, so I'll stick with the previous cute guybrarian), wandered around the *other* mall and bought stuff at Nordstrom Rack (I was mostly there to scope the place out because I've heard you can get awesome dresses there), went to World Market and bought wine and random kitchen items, and then went to the pet store and bought a ton of toys for you-know-who. So then I felt fine about doing nothing productive for the rest of the day.

This morning I'm at the temporary office for a meeting and then I'll go home and work for a bit, then take a nap before going to see a play with my dad this evening. And tomorrow is my library book sale!! So it should be a decent week.

>60 Ape:, 61 Thanks, both of you.

I miss World Market. Sigh.

>64 scaifea: I miss when I didn't live across the street from World Market. I had way more money and drank way less wine and had way fewer kitchen gadgets and cooked way less Indian food and ate way less weird Japanese candy and . . . . okay nevermind.

>62 norabelle414: I figured the remote connection would be problematic. But yay for a good day! Hopefully the short week treats you well.

Rory photo of the week:



Napping on TWO pillows.

*waves* Hello Nora and Rory!

Ahhh, I tried to work from home for *two days* (plus weekend) because of fall break, and it's already making me insane. I don't know how you do it.

Oh, Rory, if only he knew how lucky he is. :P

((Rory's furry cheeks))

Sounds like a nice day!

Argh! I miss their Indian food mixes! Tomm misses their hard cider.

Aren't you tempted to do a roadtrip to Maine this weekend? https://www.facebook.com/events/214906732012440/

Will your move back to your office be delayed by the shutdown? Crosses fingers that it isn't so.

I got told to go home yesterday after working 1.5 hours. My badges were taken from me. Then at 9:30 this morning, I was told to go back in. First, I had to collect my badges from my company's office. Then we got told how many hours we could work over the next two days. If I could ever be clear for the span of more than an hour or two when I might be expected at work, I'd meet you for lunch one day. Grump.

This is all so... pointless.

Mycroft always sleeps against pillows but never on them. Quirky beast. :)

>73 _Zoe_: Yeahhhh Tim mentioned that in the thread about the new employees. It would be lovely, had I gotten more than 2 weeks notice. I've never been to Maine.

>74 MDGentleReader: Most of our move back to the office was not delayed because the people in charge of putting everything back together were contractors, and their supervisors are military. There's a chance that we might be back in the office this Friday, actually.

Woo Hoo! Very cool. I'd go nuts if I had to work from home as long as you have. I've actually been appreciating the folks who sometimes get on my nerves when I've been in the office since you've had to work from home. So and so may be really loud, but he's another human being and if I need to vent, or bounce something off of someone - he's there.

Today was book sale day! I'm probably going back for the bag sale on Saturday, but today was members-only preview night, so here's my haul:

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville - I didn't notice until I got home that this is an ARC and from flipping through it there seem to be a lot of typos, etc. We'll see how it goes.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Penguin Book of Scottish Folktales edited by Neil Philip - for mom
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion - yes, I already read it. But I liked it a lot, so there.
Count Zero by William Gibson
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith - to replace my copy which I loaned out and was never returned
Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd
Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
The Fairy's Mistake by Gail Carson Levine
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling

Not a super exciting haul, but not bad!

>77 MDGentleReader: It definitely has made me appreciate my coworkers a lot more. My (super amazing really nice) supervisor knows that we are all going nuts and so she has been really understanding about low productivity. But I hate being unproductive!!

Me, too. I'm not very patient, so I'm big on getting things done and moving on. Our office has been hampered by never knowing which folks in other orgs are furloughed and which are not. It changes every day.

Note: I am not giving the following reviews the attention they truly deserve, because I am still in a weird funk.



Book #57: Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple - Mother/wife/Seattle-ite/neighborhood eccentric Bernadette Fox completely vanished the day before she and her daughter and husband were supposed to leave for a family vacation to Antarctica. Through the resourcefulness of her precocious teenager, Bee, we learn who Bernadette was, why she left, where she might be, and whether or not she will ever come back.

This book is, essentially, an experiment in perspectives. The book is an assemblage of letters, notes, e-mails, etc. between different people in Bernadette's life. Just as in real life, no one person is wrong or right, they just all see life from a different perspective. It's only when we read the same scene from multiple points of view that we get the real story. Some parts of the story are outlandish and overly dramatic, but I enjoyed reading it anyway.






Book #58: Black Powder War by Naomi Novik - The third book in the Temeraire series. When we last left Lawrence and Temeraire, they were in China making peace with the Emperor. Suddenly, they are urgently summoned back to England via Istanbul, where they are to pick up three valuable dragon eggs the British have purchased. They decide to travel over land, having many adventures along the way, and then get caught up in that whole Napoleonic War thing.

I found most of the book to be a bit dull (traveling through deserts, nearly running out of food, etc.), but the ending was very thrilling. As usual Temeraire brings both humor and insight to the otherwise period-heavy writing through his misunderstanding of and frustration with human society.





Currently reading:
Lexicon by Max Barry
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer

Currently listening to:
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, read by Simon Vance (71%)

Coming soon:
You by Austin Grossman
Deadline by Mira Grant
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Library requests:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker

BOOKS READ: 58
BOOKS BOUGHT: xx
BOOKS ACQUIRED: xx
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 0

DAYS REMAINING: 76
BOOKS REMAINING: 17
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.47

I think it's an excellent book haul, Nora! With my library, it's more about quantity over quality, you can come home with bags and bags of books but they are mostly lesser-known works by obscure authors. Not that it makes them bad, of course, but it's cool that you can find books by authors such as those at your library sale. :)

>82 Ape: The neighborhood this library is in (my old neighborhood) is upper-middle class and moderate/liberal, so they buy and read a lot of popular books as soon as they come out and then donate them to the library. The book sale is almost always tons of copies of popular books that I've either already read or have no interest in reading.

The book sale I go to is actually the smallest of the four libraries in the city, but they have so many books that they stretch the sale out over four days. They replenish the books every day, and this year they're saving over two thousand books for Saturday's outdoor sale. I'm probably going back on Saturday because the books are cheaper toward the end of the sale.

The zoo is reopening to the public on Friday morning! They're having a big reopening festival Friday morning and they need lots of volunteers to welcome people and answer questions. They're even giving the volunteers free breakfast and coffee.

And so, of course, tomorrow is the day I have to report back to my office which is supposedly completely fixed up from the August 9 flood. But my friend in the IT department says that the network will not be up by Friday. So what's going to happen is that I'll go to work in the morning, stay there just long enough to miss the festivities at the zoo, and then be sent home because there is no network. Awesome.

That cough is sounding pretty bad. Better stay home for a little while tomorrow morning, you don't want to infect your co-workers just when you are finally reunited with them. After all, everyone is stressed out and more vulnerable to germs.

84: 85 is a more clever version of what I was going to say.

>85 MDGentleReader:, 86 Ha! I know, right? And I actually really need to use some paid leave this month because I'm only allowed to accrue up to a certain amount. If it was any other day I could totally do it, but we all HAVE TO come into work tomorrow to check in.

Because of all the special events at the zoo this month I'm scheduled to work the 20th, the 26th, the 27th, and the 30th. So I'm sure I'll get my fill of the zoo soon enough.

I watched the new CW show "Reign", which I thought would be entertaining because it is supposed to be about Mary, Queen of Scots.

To call it "loosely based" is really, really, really exaggerating. Why pretend it's a period piece if the clothes and hair and make-up (!) are not going to even try to be appropriate? AND the plot is completely wrong. AND the characters are wrong. So what's the point? If they'd changed one or two things I would understand and enjoy, but literally the only things that are realistic are 5 people's names.

Ouch. Guess I'll skip that one then. It was on my potential watch list but I was feeling iffy about it. That review has dissuaded me.

Awww, too bad. But CW brought back Whose Line is it Anyway?, so that's something. :)

I'm normally a huge fan of CW shows, actually. They are cheesy, yes, but they come up with some interesting stories, and most of the shows are based on books or mythology or old tv shows. Very few medical dramas or police procedurals, and no reality shows! (Except Whose Line which is just generally amazing, except that I don't like how they've started bringing in a celebrity for every episode.)

Yes, I can do without the celebrities on Whose Line, they are always awkward and those bits are rarely as funny as the rest of the show. Would you consider that a reality show though? I'd say it's closer to standup comedy than reality.

I actually haven't watched anything else on CW, but maybe I should look into it?

>92 Ape: I consider a reality show to be absolutely anything that isn't scripted. So even though, in execution, it is completely different from a reality show I still put it in that category.

I think you would really like Arrow, and The Tomorrow People. And possibly Supernatural? But it's just starting its 9th season so it might be difficult to follow.

But aren't most reality shows scripted?

I'll lry not to forget to look into those the next time I turn my TV on! :)

So did you go to work in the office yesterday?

How about today? Is the network back up? Did you get to work at the zoo this weekend?

>95 qebo: I did! I actually went in to the office on Thursday to see how things were going and my cubicle was all set up (unlike most other people's) so I sat down and started working. I got a ton of stuff done, of course, since no one else was in the office. Friday was okay, except that everyone else was running around like chickens with their heads cut off because the identical trash can under their desk wasn't THEIR trash can.

It's still a little on the hectic side (the scanner isn't working, for example) but at least I have a real network connection. It only took about 3 hours for my coworkers to drive me crazy, though. And I miss Rory.

>96 MDGentleReader: See above, and also I did get to work at the zoo yesterday! The weather was delightfully cool, and all the animals were out and about. I had a great conversation with a know-it-all kid about sloth bears, and a woman got upset with me for talking to her 5-year-old about Panda "poop" when I am apparently supposed to say "B. M." Good times.

I thought about you on Friday when I was at the Lowry Park Zoo. The animals were given pumpkins to play with and eat. Volunteers abounded.

Tricky getting that whole ratio of time with co-workers versus utterly alone time to work out. When I am working, I work later hours than many folks - we are supposed to have coverage 6 - 6 and I often cover the later bit. I get so much more done starting around 3:30.

I am glad that you are able to work at your accustomed speed again. Being slowed down by factors beyond one's control is really frustrating.

>99 MDGentleReader: We have a few Halloween-type events coming up at the National Zoo so all the herbivores will get their pumpkins then :-)

I have a similar tactic for being productive at work. My favorite (and thus most distracting) coworkers get in after 10 so I usually get in around 7 so I can get things done before they get here. Then if I have any questions or need them for something I can just put it aside for an hour or two instead of having to wait until the next day to talk to them.

Oh man, animals with pumpkins!?!? Sounds cute AND delicious. :)

Has anyone ever heard about www.litographs.com ?? They take the ENTIRE TEXT of popular books and print it really tiny on t-shirts, tote bags, posters, etc. in cool designs. Look at these! They're so lovely!


Pinocchio


Alice's Adventures in Wonderland


Hamlet

Oh man, that is so amazing!!! I want the Hamlet as a t-shirt.

102: Yes, maybe a couple years ago? And maybe on LT? Hadn't checked in awhile. They have a bunch that I don't remember seeing before. Are you going to buy anything?

Glad to hear you are back in the office and back at the zoo. Seems like you are getting your life back where you want it to be! Too bad you can't bring Rory with you though.

Well, goodbye paycheck. Thanks, Nora. ;)

>102 norabelle414: Yup, sure have. I'm contemplating getting one for my apartment or possibly my office. :)

Book #59: Lexicon by Max Barry - Homeless teenager Emily Ruff is specially selected to attend a secret school because of her uncanny ability with words. She always knows the exact words to say to the right people to get what she wants - usually, their money in card tricks. She's not exactly enthusiastic until she learns that this school will teach her more of what she has already scratched the surface of - the right words used against the right personality (of 250 possible personality types) can "compromise" the person, and you'll be able to completely control them. To smart and independent Emily, life becomes a giant challenge. Get a person to answer some simple questions and you can pinpoint their personality type. Memorize words that will control that personality type. Don't let other people know who you are, or they can compromise you. The only rule is that students (and "poets", which they are called in their post-graduation jobs) are not allowed to fall in love, obviously, because to love someone is to allow them to know who you truly are. But Emily has never been much for following the rules.

That's not a very well-written summary because I somehow managed to make it sound really melodramatic. It's not, I swear. It's much more cerebral thriller than angst, I promise. There is true love here (not (just) teenage sexual frustration), but saving the world is always more important. It's not a perfect book - the dialog can be confusing, and some of the science doesn't add up - but the thrilling plot and thought-provoking themes more than compensate. I enjoyed it a lot.




Currently reading:
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer

Currently listening to:
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, read by Simon Vance (91%)

Coming soon:
You by Austin Grossman
Deadline by Mira Grant
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Library requests:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker

BOOKS READ: 59
BOOKS BOUGHT: xx
BOOKS ACQUIRED: xx
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 0

DAYS REMAINING: 70
BOOKS REMAINING: 16
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.38

Okay, you got me. Lexicon sounds fascinating.

Fascinating is definitely a good way to describe it. I had a hard time getting into it at first (it jumps right into the action), but it was seriously thought-provoking. I hope you enjoy it!

I should also mention that Lexicon was another book for the io9.com book club. So that's five books in a row that I have enjoyed (and several more sporadically). I've liked all the ones I have read. I plan to continue reading their picks (though sometimes I don't finish them in time), and also to go back and read the ones I have missed. October's book is Oryx and Crake, which I have already read and love, so I get a break this month.

Here's a rough outline of my reading ambitions for the rest of the year:

60) Oliver Twist (audio)
61) The Windup Girl
62) My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me
63) Isaac's Storm
64) The Raven Boys (audio)
65) You (library)
66) Deadline
67) The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
68) The Mislaid Magician
69) Enchanted (audio)
70) Rotters (audio)
71) The Ocean at the End of the Lane (library)
72) The Circle? (library)
73) Boston Jacky (audio)
74) (io9 book for November)
75) (io9 book for December)

Subject to change, obviously.

I'll be interested in your thoughts on The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. It caught my eye, but Holly Black hasn't made that much of an impression on me.

>113 drneutron: I haven't read anything else by her. It just looked so pretty in that tent at the book festival . . . . .

>111 norabelle414: Ooooh, another book list...

Book #59: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, read by Simon Vance - free audiobook from audiobooksync.com - Little orphan Oliver Twist gets shuffled around from work house to abusive apprenticeship to bad people to good people back to bad people then to different good people, etc. etc.

While definitely not the best of Dickens' work, Oliver Twist gets much more enjoyable once the reader comes to terms with the fact that Oliver himself is the second stupidest, most uninteresting character ever written (after Bella Swan. Actually, Oliver and Bella have a lot in common. Quick, someone write an essay about that!). All of the other now-iconic characters are interesting and well-developed and spend the entire plot doing an elaborate dance of unlikely coincidences around their weepy, bland core. (The Oliver/Bella essay is practically writing itself!). Thankfully Oliver himself barely shows up at all in the second half of the book. Definitely recommended if you like socially-conscious stories of the early 1800s, particularly the audiobook as Simon Vance is excellent.




Currently reading:
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer

Currently listening to:
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, read by Will Patton

Coming soon:
You by Austin Grossman
Deadline by Mira Grant
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Library requests:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker

BOOKS READ: 60
BOOKS BOUGHT: xx
BOOKS ACQUIRED: xx
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 0

DAYS REMAINING: 68
BOOKS REMAINING: 15
DAYS PER BOOK: 4.53

That was a seriously fun review!

>117 leahbird: Thanks! I think "fun" is the best one can aim for when reviewing something like Oliver Twist.

I've posted the review in case people feel like giving me thumbs for a review that is not a scathing rant about YA fantasy.

I do so love when you read bad YA fantasy novels! You should totally subject yourself to more of them...it's a worthy sacrifice. :)

>119 Ape: Sadist :-(

It's not so much that I'm a sadist but that I wish you were a masochist...for my entertainment. That's totally different.

Curtsies & Conspiracies comes out in 8 days!!! I'm probably going to wait and see if I can get someone to get it for me for Christmas.

In the meantime, I'm watching this Curtsies & Conspiracies music video (!) over and over again:
http://io9.com/gail-carrigers-new-music-video-will-have-you-dancing-i-1452314331

Speaking of Christmas, since I had my bad experience with SantaThing last year, I'm going to do the 75ers Christmas book-swap instead this year. I will always have a special place in my heart for SantaThing, but I think this year I'd prefer a swap that is very slightly more exclusive (i.e. you can't just sign up for LT the night before and not have any books in your catalog).

I've had bad experiences only in that other than last year when I got a Green Dragoneer, I've never gotten a response from my Santee. I'm also doing the 75ers swap this year instead of SantaThing. I'll mostly likely get someone I know or at least a serious reader.

I'm wishy washy on the swap thing this year. I like the secrecy and convenience of SantaSwap, but I think the 75ers would make more informed decisions. Hmmm.

I just canceled my pre-order for Curtsies & Conspiracies. I'm hoping to score it slightly used or real cheap later on. I just didn't love the first one enough to get it right when it comes out.

And since I'm making almost nothing at the moment (until the doula business takes off), I am probably going to sit out Christmas swaps this year. I really have loved them in the past, but I'm not reading enough right now to justify spending money I don't need to.

>122 norabelle414: Thanks for the head's up. Put a hold on it. :)

SantaThing is pretty fun, but I can understand being put off by it if you get a bad Santa. Is there a thread for the 75er swap? I want to follow it! :)

>128 Ape: http://www.librarything.com/topic/160027

Thanks! :)

October's io9.com book club book was Oryx and Crake, which I read several years ago, and I'm enjoying the discussion (which you can find HERE.

November's book is Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross, which does not really look like my kind of book but I will probably try it anyway.

Hi Nora... Sorry for my lengthy absence.

Can I just say that Rory (in 67) is just SO cute I want to cuddly him something fierce??!!??

Great book haul, btw! I loved the Moore series including Bloodsucking Fiends -- great fun!

I also signed up for the 75ers Christmas book swap rather than SantaThing. I haven't done SantaThing since the "Book Depocalypse" year: not because of the delays, but because I think LT's handling of the issue was disgusting. I love Book Depository, and think it's great that they provide free shipping everywhere in the world. LT waited until the last minute to try doing mass orders from them in a new way, and then blamed them entirely when weather delays and new US security procedures meant that packages arrived very late from the UK. If you only allow something like two days' leeway when ordering something from overseas for Christmas, you really have no one to blame but yourself if it comes too late. And LT refused to accept any responsibility for the problems.

>132 TinaV95: Hi Tina! I've missed you. Rory is currently in the dog cat house because I woke up this morning to find a thin layer of (wrapped, thankfully!) Halloween candy across the entire apartment floor. He hadn't eaten any; he'd just gotten on the counter, pushed aside the toaster, opened the tied-closed Target bag, opened the sealed bag, and played with mini Milky Way and Tootsie Rolls all night long.

>133 _Zoe_: I had no problem with the way the Book Depocalypse was handled, but last year the person who was my Santa had signed up for LT the day that SantaThing opened, and had ZERO books in her LT catalog. So how exactly did I get paired up with her? Also, five of the six books she got me were in genres I specifically said I did not want despite the fact that my amazing friends provided her with excellent suggestions. I understand the appeal of having SantaThing be open to all, but I was very disappointed that I put years of time and energy into my LT catalog, etc. (something I do gladly, of course) and got paired with someone who couldn't bother to add 5 books.

I also agree with Morphy (#124). Last year I picked books for three Santees and did not receive a single "thank you". (Though I have in previous years.) I'm really looking forward to a book swap with more dedicated members.

Just to counter (not dispute) the negatives, I participated in SantaThing only once, the year before last I think. Neither santa nor santee was familiar to me, but my santa got books along the lines I'd requested, and my santee's books were compatible with mine and s/he PMed a nice thank you note.

Bag? Tie? Small items that can be batted around? Obviously meant for the cat.

Everyone I know is getting one of these for Christmas this year: http://pussinbookscalendar.com/

I've had fairly good experiences with SantaThing the two years (or three? can't remember) that I participated, but I don't plan to do it or the 75er swap this year. Too much else going on.

I never did the SantaThing because it seemed too complicated (but maybe I'm not very bright...) I love the 75ers swap, as I am more likely to get someone I know (either as my gifter or giftee) and if I don't know them, there is an instant point of connection in terms of being members of the same group. It was especially fun last year, as I got Mark (the organizer) as my giftee and felt a special obligation to get him some good stuff as a thank you for putting in the work to organize it.

I may have to get one of those calendars for The Wayne for Christmas. He recently announced he was leaving all his money to cat rescue organizations when he died. I was not amused ;-)

I went home early from work yesterday because I had a vicious sore throat and very mild nausea. I woke up this morning with a worse sore throat and a rampantly running nose. So no zoo for me today :-(

I'm sure my illness wasn't helped by the fact that some guy knocked on my door repeatedly at FOUR THIRTY AM. I answered when he clearly was not going away and he realized that it was the wrong apartment (I couldn't understand what he was saying because he had a heavy accent and it was 4:30, so I just said "no no no no no no") and went to my left-hand next-door neighbor without so much as an apology. My neighbor was, apparently, the person he was looking for because he only knocked on her door once. Just one more reason to really really dislike my neighbor.

I went to the grocery store and as I was walking through the lobby I noticed that the guy who knocked on my door last night is asleep on a couch. Creepy!

Feeling better though? Or seeking comfort food?

I'm not feeling better, but I was out of milk and eggs and Dayquil. The grocery store is just across the street so it wasn't too much effort to go over there.

Your 4:30 am experience does sound a bit creepy Nora ~ stay safe. It would appear to be more civilised in the zoo.

Hope you feel better soon and it allows you a good weekend.

Ugh, so sorry to hear about your bug and your creepy early morning visitor. Hope the bug passes quickly and the creeper doesn't come back.

I just want to make it clear that the 4:30am knocker most certainly wasn't me. Nope, wasn't. I swear. I would have been dry-humping your door knob when you answered.

What, OH! Where are my manners. Uhh, sorry you are sick, Nora! I hope you get better soon. I find that sudden sneeze tend to terrify the crap out of cats, is that true for any zoo animals as well?

>145 Ape: Rory is completely unfazed by sudden sneezes. But I've heard that Giant Pandas are easily startled by sneezes.

Feel better, Nora!

>147 RosyLibrarian: Thanks Marie!

______________________________

I am feeling much better today. Of course, I was pretty much dead all day Saturday and Sunday, but got better just in time to go back to work.

Glad to hear you're feeling better. I usually hope the worst of my illnesses fall on weekends, but only because I don't get sick days on my contract. :(

>149 MickyFine: I definitely felt that way when I was in school (you might have an "excused absence" but you've still missed everything that happened that day!) but thankfully my contracting company offers general paid time off, which can be used for sick leave or personal leave. I really like this system better because I think it discourages lying (e.g. calling the office and pretending you're sick when really you just need a day at home). In theory it means that I can take a day off whenever I want, but I feel less guilty staying at home when I'm actually sick.

Plus I had to miss my shift at the zoo this weekend :-(

>150 norabelle414: The general paid time off sounds nice. But I'm sorry you had to miss zoo time. I know how much you enjoy that.

I've been in a book funk lately, as I'm sure you have noticed. Neither of my current reads were really doing it for me (The Windup GIrl and You) so I have set them aside and am now reading The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and moving along at an almost normal pace. I also stopped listening to The Raven Boys because I didn't like the narration (I'll borrow the paper book from a friend soon) and am instead listening to The Prince and the Pauper, narrated by Steve West.

I also have some non-urgent work news which I am mulling over and will probably mention in detail tomorrow as I could use some opinions/advice.

Hope the funk lightens soon. :) *hugs*

Sending unfunk wishes your way!

>152 norabelle414:: Patiently awaiting non-urgent work news so as to offer unsolicited advice ;-)

>155 katiekrug: It's not unsolicited! I asked for it! It's a very complicated situation and so I'm still thinking about how best to address it.

Hope everything with you is ok. *big hug*

Sorry, I'm around and things are okay. I keep drafting things to post here and then get distracted or decide I'm going to do it later. And then I don't.

Ok. :) Glad to hear you're doing all right.

>159 MickyFine: This "Talk about Librarything" thread somehow devolved into gratuitous praise of Rory so I'm pretty pleased with myself :-)
http://www.librarything.com/topic/161031

That thread seems to have gone a bit off track. Though it's not clear what track it was on, and anyway Tim began the derailment.

>160 norabelle414: Nicely done. *makes note to self to post picture of Mycroft to own thread*

This picture is the story of Rory's life:

HAHA!

LOL! Love it!

Book #61: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black - Vampires have always lived hidden among us - powerful and elite, yet secretive and self-controlled.That is, until the early 2010s when a young vampire went rogue and started turning people all across the globe, creating a new race of inexperienced, uncontrollable monsters. The governments stepped in, and now all vampires and anyone who might be infected ("Cold") are locked in ghettos called "Coldtowns", which have turned into faux-glamorous communes full of all-night parties broadcast to the outside world on the internet. This is the world that Tana grew up in, living a semi-normal life, until the day when she passes out at a house party and wakes up the next day to find almost all the other guests dead, and a peculiar old vampire chained up in a corner.

This is really the best YA vampire book one could ask for. It's well-written, the characters almost never made my eyes roll, and the world-building is really great. I especially enjoyed the complexity of the vampire infection (If bitten, one might become Cold within 48 hours. Once Cold, one only turns into a vampire if they drink human blood within 88 days, etc.) and the socioeconomic implications (rich people can afford to buy their way out of a Coldtown, etc.)
Highly recommended if you're into this sort of thing.




Currently reading:
The Circle by Dave Eggers
You by Austin Grossman
Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer

Currently listening to:
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, read by Steve West

Coming soon:
Deadline by Mira Grant

Library requests:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker

BOOKS READ: 61
BOOKS BOUGHT: xx
BOOKS ACQUIRED: xx
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 0

DAYS REMAINING: 46
BOOKS REMAINING: 14
DAYS PER BOOK: 3.29

>166 norabelle414: And with that review it now goes on the list. I was hesitant because I haven't been a fan of other Holly Black books I've tried but I'll give her another whirl.

163: Heh. Oodles of them end up under the stove.

>167 MickyFine: This was my first Holly Black so I can't comment on whether or not it is better than her others. But I enjoyed it.

>169 norabelle414: Your recommendation is enough for me. :)

Dangit. You got me with another one. *grumbles*

Book #62: The Circle by Dave Eggers - Young Professional Mae gets a dream job at The Circle, a Google-/Macintosh-/Microsoft-like tech firm with lofty aims. She struggles a bit to fit in at first but quickly realizes that she can rise to the upper echelons of the company if she cuts some of the dead weight from her life, such as family, non-Circle friends, and spending time away from her computer. Meanwhile, The Circle is working hard to make the world a better and more transparent place – for those who agree with them.

Initially, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The technology The Circle uses both internally and externally is interesting and imaginative. Watching Mae’s descent into the cult of The Circle was seriously entertaining, like an imaginary car crash. Also my expectations were very low, because I am not in any way a fan of Dave Eggers. I've seen him speak twice and he was unbelievably rude to both groups of college students who were fans of his work and eager to meet him. There's really no excuse for that. But unlike his other books I have attempted to read, The Circle shows little direct evidence of its author's hubris, so I set my personal feelings aside. There were many logical issues with the story itself, however, and I could only suspend my disbelief for so long. My mind raised some major questions about how The Circle functioned which were never answered and cast a shadow on my enthusiasm. It felt as if the ending (which is good, don’t get me wrong) was written first, and the rest of the story was half-heartedly filled in to get there. Combine that with beating the reader over the head with the message and a vast cast of unlikable characters (the only one less likeable than Mae is her crazy anti-technology ex-boyfriend), and an ambitious novel becomes just okay.




Currently reading:
You by Austin Grossman
Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer

Currently listening to:
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, read by Steve West (71%)

Coming soon:
Deadline by Mira Grant

Library requests:
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker

BOOKS READ: 62
BOOKS BOUGHT: xx
BOOKS ACQUIRED: xx
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 0

DAYS REMAINING: 43
BOOKS REMAINING: 13
DAYS PER BOOK: 3.31

172: My mind raised some major questions about how The Circle functioned which were never answered and cast a shadow on my enthusiasm.
I had no enthusiasm to begin with, but yes, I was constantly getting thrown out of the story with... Huh? A techno-buzzword stew of sloppy world-building. And while I don't need characters to be likeable, these ones weren’t even careable.

>173 qebo: I actually "liked" (as in, was intrigued by and enjoyed reading about. Not "let's be friends".) all of the characters except Mae and Mercer and Kalden and Francis. I particularly liked Annie, and Alistair made me crack up.

**SPOILER**
Can I say, one of the things that irritated me the most was how upset Annie got about finding out people in her distant family owned slaves. I cannot possibly imagine how any white person who knew their family were pre-Civil War East Coast bluebloods would actually be surprised that someone in their line owned slaves. What do people think happened to the descendants of slaveholders? They all just vanished? It made zero sense to me. And how exactly would a person be so sure that their family came over on the Mayflower but not know anything that happened between 1620 and 1865?

Obviously I have a lot to say. I'm a bit annoyed that today's discussion doesn't start until 9pm, as I need to go to bed around 9:45 to get a decent amount of sleep. I guess I'll just catch up with the discussion in the morning.

I need to write my review of this one, as well -- and I'm looking forward to the big group discussion, so I won't go into too much here. But I will say that I actually found Mercer slightly more likeable than Mae. Slightly. Also more likeable than Creepy and Creepier (aka Francis and Kalden).

>175 foggidawn: I actually finished several days ago but got the final push to review by the realization that I really had to write my review before the discussion started, so it wouldn't be colored by other people's opinions or words. Now I'm reading through some published reviews.

#176 -- Good point. It's not next in my line of books to be reviewed (since I am always wayyy behind), but maybe I will bump it up and write the review today, if I get a chance.

174: Me too! I have New England ancestors who were not Mayflower but closely related, and Maryland and Virginia ancestors who owned slaves, also New York and Pennsylvania ancestors who owned slaves, and obviously interminglings among them or I wouldn't exist, and this is completely ordinary, not remotely cause for shock. Genealogy is rampant on the internet, so all this stuff is extremely easy to find out. I blame the author for being unaware of this (also in The Circle genealogy is done backward, i.e. forward in time).

176: I was thinking the same yesterday, and puttered around with a draft review, but I couldn't dredge up the interest to refine it for publication.

>178 qebo: Maybe it is a West Coast thing? People I know from the East Coast/Midwest are obsessed with genealogy and name history (even before the internet made it so easy), but the (admittedly few) people I know who are from the West Coast don't know anything about their family past 2 generations back and aren't very interested in it.

180: I dunno. I didn't know much past grandparents initially, but once I started looking it was all there at once, not so simple to claim some connections and ignore others. My father had a grandmother who was hung up on a particular ancestral connection (which, after researching, I'm not at all convinced was actually true -- I'd love to see the family tree she had hanging on her wall as proof, but apparently it is long gone), and when I was growing up some elderly relatives were hung up on another ancestral connection, but The Circle didn't ring at all true as a modern reaction, even exaggerated for effect. I can see being not interested, but not see so much being avidly interested in one line, and disturbed about another.

175: Creepy and Creepier (aka Francis and Kalden)
My only disagreement here would be to switch the labels. :-)

174: I'm a bit annoyed that today's discussion doesn't start until 9pm, as I need to go to bed around 9:45 to get a decent amount of sleep.
Ahem. It’s 10:20 and you’re posting about rice.

LOL!

I said that's when I NEED to go to bed, not when I WILL.

I am posting in my PJs though. So I'm halfway there.

This is to remind myself that I REALLY need to post about my work situation when I get home.

^ Yes, because I'm STILL waiting to provide unsolicited advice!

Ok so. I'm going to do this in a series of shorter posts so that I don't get completely bogged down with writing one gigantic post. Feel free to interrupt with questions, as I have a tendency to leave things out.

My Job
The current situation is that I am a contractor working with the Department of the Navy. I've worked in this office since 2007, when I started as a summer intern. I worked for a different contracting company for several years, but a new company won the contract in February 2012. (It's a 3 year contract.) The contracting company that I currently work for is bad, and my boss at the company is TERRIBLE. He's just an awful boss and a crap person. He's completely unavailable to us, and dismisses any questions or issues we have as unimportant. However, I've worked in this office for awhile (okay . . . it's the only real job I've ever had.) and I like most of my direct coworkers and ALL of my in-direct coworkers (people who work in the cubicles around me but aren't in my department). And I absolutely *love* my program manager. She's an amazing and sweet person and I'm just completely in awe of her program managing skills every day. My "government boss" (the point of contact for the contract, and the director of the program) is a very nice person who I like a lot, but I don't particularly like the way he runs the program.

My questions:

How much interaction do you have with the contracting company boss?
How much do you like what you do?

>189 katiekrug:
How much interaction do you have with the contracting company boss?
We used to have a meeting with him every other week, which he would occasionally show up for, in which he would spend 30 minutes dodging our questions before running away. Now he's just announced to us that he's getting some additional responsibilities so he will be less available. So I would say maybe once every 2 months, whether we need something from him or not.

How much do you like what you do?
The things that my office does in general are great, but my personal job is boring. Not bad, but boring.

The Recent Past
We haven't had a Deputy Director in our office for almost 2 years. About a year ago the Director decided that he couldn't handle the workload and he needed someone in the Deputy position, so he made an agreement for the Deputy Director of our supporting office at the Office of Naval Research to be the deputy director of our office part of the time. This has ended up getting him in huge amounts of trouble, because he basically semi-promoted the deputy director over the director of our office at the Office of Naval Research. Also, the guy he moved to the deputy position is a total brown-noser and very manipulative and withholding. He's super nice to the people he likes, and he does a lot for them, but if he doesn't like you, watch out!

About six months ago one of my least-favorite coworkers, a government employee, left to take a contracting job in our equivalent office at the Department of the Army. She wasn't terrible, but she was bad at her job and not very bright and very sensitive and passive-aggressive. So no loss.

About 2 months ago ANOTHER one of my least-favorite coworkers, this time another contractor (though not on my contract), left to take a contracting job in our equivalent office at the Department of the Army, working with the other coworker. She's very similar to the deputy director; very brown-nosy and back-stabby and plays favorites.

Reading, but probably waiting for the complete series of posts...

Yup, I'm also waiting for the complete series.

Actually, it looks like all of this might have just cleared itself up. To make a long story short, I was told by the deputy director (whom I don't like) that a position will be opening up at the Army that he thinks I would be right for and he would recommend me if I wanted to apply. It would be working with the aforementioned two coworkers whom I don't like, and my direct boss would be the deputy director who has now taken a position as the deputy director of our equivalent office at the Army. The pros are that it is a Government Service position, and the pay grade would be GS-12, which is a 15% raise right off the bat. Plus government positions let you switch around to other jobs in the government very easily, and after three years you're basically unfireable. Since the National Zoo is "owned" by the federal government, all of the keepers and animal staff there are government employees, too.

The biggest con, which has just been brought to my attention, is that it would look very suspicious for someone to go from a GS-12 position to the much lower positions involved with working at the zoo. It might even be completely impossible. So that settles that. No way I'm taking a mediocre job that might preclude me from doing something I might actually like.

Crisis averted!
But thanks for letting me talk it out here.

It makes me sad that it's considered suspicious to go from a boring high-paying job to a low-paying job that you love.

I guess it makes some twisted sense that the government can't recognize happiness and job satisfaction as viable reasons in taking a "demotion." Sigh.

I think if it was just one or two grades it would be okay, but it would probably be a 5 grade demotion. I really don't know what the precedence is or the legality of it. I can't find anything on the internet anywhere.

Seriously, the most positive aspect of this is that you have a goal, when a year or two ago you were worried that you didn’t. Also, a pay raise and tenure are nice, but if you were viewing a stint with coworkers you don’t like as a step toward the zoo, there are probably better ways to both alleviate boredom and get where you want.

The next Jacky Faber audiobook is available on Audible, but not yet on OverDrive. *sigh*

Due to my complete failure as a human being, I'm changing my (futile) reading plan for the rest of the year:

63) The Prince and the Pauper (audio)
64) The Windup Girl
65) You (library)
66) Neptune's Brood (library)
67) The Walking Dead, Vol 1: Days Gone Bye
68) Fables: Homelands
69) Rotters (audio)
70) The Ocean at the End of the Lane (library)
71) Boston Jacky (audio)
72) Saturn's Children
73) Enchanted (audio)
74) Deadline
75) (io9 book for December)

It now includes two graphic novels I'm going to pick up from the library today.

Looking forward to hearing what you think about The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I'm nearly salivating at the thought of a Gaiman book.

Don't worry, I'm sucking at being a human being right now too. I hate the cold and the early darkness and I just can't make myself productive right now.

I honestly want to hibernate after the sun goes down. I don't mind the cold, but this year the lack of light is getting to me. It's hard to make myself accomplish anything in the evenings.

I loooooove the cold and the darkness. I'm just still blah from working from home for so long, I think. My apartment is a mess and I can't make myself do chores. Plus I have a ton of knitting to do for Christmas.

Being human is overrated anyway. Pffft.

>204 norabelle414: Oh yay! I was beginning to think I was the only person on the planet who likes it when it's colder and dark for big chunks of time. :)

Trying to summon up the willpower for a treadmill run at this moment and failing miserably. Maybe tomorrow ...

>206 MickyFine: Well to be fair, your darkness is like twice as long as mine ;-)

Well, you two enjoy your dark and cold, I'm going to go hibernate with Foggi.

>172 norabelle414:/173 yikes, looks like I didn't miss much then. Hm. I am still a little interested though so may wait til the books is to be found cheaply at the second hand shops :)

>174 norabelle414: cool spoiler feature!!

>188 norabelle414: wow, that job situation sounds....less than
ideal. I had a fantastic manager in my most recent full time job, but her managers and the entire organisation were pretty terrible. The immediate work environment being ok makes it worth it, doesn't it?

>204 norabelle414: I love that you have heaps of knitting to do for Christmas! That is something that would not be on my to do list for this year ;)

>209 LovingLit: Hi Megan! The Circle was an interesting read, but not worth all the hype that Eggers seems to get.

My current job situation is not bad (though obviously a lot is in limbo since all those people just left). I'm fine with where I am for the moment.

Knitting stuff for people for Christmas is great! It keeps me entertained and is (sometimes kinda) cheaper than buying stuff. I'll try to post some pictures of my projects soon.

#208: . . . *checks locks on apartment doors*

Don't worry, I already checked them earlier. Bwahaha. :P

All you winter-loving weirdos should just move over there. We've got cold and dark for six months a year.

Book #63: The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, read by Steve West - Audiobook from audiobooksync.com - Edward VI, Prince of Wales, meets a poor boy named Tom Canty who looks just like him. They trade clothes for fun, which results in the true prince being kicked out of the castle and Tom being confused for the prince. Edward roams around the city being abused by Tom's father, captured and forced to steal by a band of thieves, and getting arrested twice. He learns the true plight of his poorest subjects, which allows him to eventually become a kind and fair king. Tom learns, um, how to behave at a fancy dinner party?

The general plot - a poor person and a rich person look alike and trade lives - is timeless and well-known. The details of the plot are just decent historical fiction. It's an interesting look into 1540s England, but not much more. It would have been nice if Tom had learned some kind of lesson in the end, too, like valuing his mother and sister or something. But nope. The narrator, Steve West, was very good, especially considering the dialogue is all Tudor-era-appropriate.




Currently reading:
Neptune's Brood by Charles Stross
You by Austin Grossman
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Currently listening to:
Rotters by Daniel Kraus, read by Kirby Heyborne (1%)

Coming soon:
((see post 200 above))

BOOKS READ: 63
BOOKS BOUGHT: xx
BOOKS ACQUIRED: xx
BOOKS DEACCESSIONED: 0

DAYS REMAINING: 38
BOOKS REMAINING: 12
DAYS PER BOOK: 3.17

>207 norabelle414: That is true.

>213 PawsforThought: Paws, I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Believe me, we do cold and dark for 6 months of the year here too. :P

>214 norabelle414: I will always associate this story with Mickey Mouse.

>215 MickyFine: It always reminds me of Wishbone :-)

215. I have family in Edmonton!
How anyone can live through winters like ours and enjoy it is beyond me.

>216 norabelle414: Oh man, Wishbone! I haven't thought about him in years! :D Thanks for the nostalgia wave.

>217 PawsforThought: Stockholm syndrome? It's the excuse I usually give. ;)

Stockholm syndrome? It's the excuse I usually give. ;)
haha! That is the excuse I gave for wanting to wear a tight shoe after 6 weeks of plaster on my foot....

>219 LovingLit: Hahaha. Sounds like a legit reason to me. :)

Hi Nora! Glad to see you're back at your office, and that 2 of your least-favorite co-workers no longer work with you! I'm with you on liking the cold and dark, but don't know if I could handle Micky-type-cold-and-dark. My Uncle Rob, who lives in Fairbanks, has already had it for this year with dark, cold, and snow, and it's barely been a month. When I talked to him on Sunday he said "Well, only a month to go until it starts to get lighter again". I think it's time for him to move a little further South.

Hope you had a nice Tuesday! What'd you have for dinner? I'm hungry but have no idea what to have. Lord knows I have lots of leftovers, but I don't want any of them. #firstworldproblems

>221 LauraBrook: Hi Laura! Thanks for stopping by. I am so sorry to hear about your dad passing away, but I'm glad you got to say goodbye to him.
I was really lazy yesterday evening so I had what I like to call a "refrigerator salad". I take lettuce and add random things I find in the fridge. Yesterday was lettuce, carrots, frozen corn, and bacon. It was yummy, and I made extra bacon so I could have some for breakfast :-)

>222 Morphidae: Thanks Morphy! What a cutie he is! I miss that show.

New thread is up! An actual book review is coming sometime today.