leahbird try, tries again to read 75 in 2014

My name is Leah and I live in Tennessee. Until 5 years ago, I was a Cultural Anthropologist. Now I am doing a little bit of everything whenever it strikes my fancy. I farm, I doula (come check me out at Foothills Birth Services), I plan weddings (Something Old Weddings), I spend as much time as possible with my niece Addy, who is the coolest person ever!

As for my reading tastes, I read a lot of children's classics, myths and fairy tales (especially really good retellings), dystopian fiction, light fantasy (more urban/modern than Lord of the Rings and the like), dark humor, books about books, young adult novels (NOT Twilight), British humorists like Evelyn Waugh and P.G. Wodehouse, and non-fiction books about food, sustainability, organic/natural farming, and homemade/DIY ways of doing things.

“She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.”― Louisa May Alcott
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."― Cicero

*Note: Descriptions are not mine, but culled from LT or other sources. Thoughts are all me.

Leah's Best Books of 2013
1. Wool series by Hugh Howey
2. Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente
3. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
4. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
5. World War Z by Max Brooks
6. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series by Maryrose Wood
7. Jacky Faber series by LA Meyer
8. Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne Valente
9. Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
10. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

End of 2013 Book Meme!

How the meme works: Simple! Just fill in the answers with books you read in 2013!

Describe yourself: Six-Gun Snow White

Describe how you feel: Fairest in All the Land

Describe where you currently live: The Belly of the Bloodhound

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: The Scorpio Races

Your favorite form of transportation: The Sparrow

Your best friend is: The Unseen Guest

You and your friends are: Cubs in Toyland

What’s the weather like: The Curse of the Pharaohs

You fear: Etiquette and Espionage

What is the best advice you have to give: Dust

Thought for the day: Legacy

How I would like to die: Rapture of the Deep

My soul’s present condition: Speaking From Among the Bones

Hey! You made it!

Hi Jim! Yep, I sneaked in just under the wire for 1/1/14. Glad to be here now!

Hi Leah... Starring your thread! Happy New Year to you!

Welcome Tina! Thanks for dropping by!

Happy New Thread! Your answers to the book meme made me giggle.

Hi there, Leah!! Love your answers to the meme. :)

Really interesting reading on your pin-boards. I never had a doula, but did have some wonderful midwives. We had several moves in our lives, having to find the best birthing options we could in our new areas, so I've had opportunities to utilize four different options. For someone like me, with normal pregnancies, I can tell you that the more 'medical' the birth - the less satisfying was the experience. From worst to best - ob/gyn in hospital (3rd child), family doc in hospital (2nd), certified nurse midwife at home (1st child), lay midwife at home (4th & 5th). Kudos to you, leahbird, for the alternatives you offer for mothers!

Ah thanks Cindy. I'm very passionate about every mom having a birth team that supports her and helps her make informed decisions for herself, no matter what that ends up looking like for each woman. So many women these days give birth never knowing they have rights to protect them in birth or that so many care providers don't practice evidence-based care anymore. If I can help that happen, I've served my purpose!

Great to hear you had such wonderful experiences with lay midwives! That's what I will be working towards in a year or so and I can't wait. I'll be a direct-entry Certified Professional Midwife and licensed by my state so I could do home births and birth center births.

Hi Leah!

Happy New Year Leah!

Leah I have you starred for yet another wondrtful year on LT. :)

Thanks guys! Back at ya!

Happy New Year, Leah. Hope all is well and books are calling. :)

Hiya Sarah! Books are calling, even if I don't really have time for them at the moment!

I hear ya!

Finally got around to unpacking Christmas gifts and thought I'd share the lovely little art print my sweet cousin got my this year.

"You could never get a cup if tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." C.S. Lewis

De-lurking to say what a sweetie, that's an awesome print.

*snerk* love your meme ... dust ... Cubs in Toyland ...

Just sneaking through to star you and say hello to fellow Wodehouse and Waugh lover. Have family in Maryville, which is a lovely place.

Hi Marianne! Thanks for swinging by my thread. Maryville is lovely for the most part. Right now it's damn cold but at least it's not raining!

The meme is my favorite part of the end of the year now. This year I read too many Jacky Faber books that didn't want to fit into ANYTHING until living in The Belly of the Bloodhound!

The hardest for me were the transportation and weather books. May have to choose what to read just for the title alone!

I never have an answer for the "advice" and "thought for the day" categories. I just don't generally read books with that sort of title, I guess.

Since I enjoy the established book meme so much, I thought I'd hit up another. I think this one made the rounds a bit a year or two ago, but I can't remember for sure. This one is long but good.

1. Favourite childhood book? The Giver

2. What are you reading right now? Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and listening to The Oracle of Stamboul

3. What books do you have on request at the library? The Interrupted Tale and a couple of Harry Potter audiobooks

4. Bad book habit? Holding onto books I will realistically never read. Or, you know, buying those books in the first place. I've gotten better since getting a Kindle and reading/listening to so many library books.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library? The Oracle of Stamboul

6. Do you have an e-reader? Kindle Fire

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once? One book at a time. I might have a book and an audiobook going at the same time, but not typically.

8. Have your reading habits changed since joining LibraryThing? Dramatically. I read more books per year and I read things I never would have picked up without the recommendations of the great readers here.

9. Least favourite book you read this year (2013)? Beautiful Creatures. It was just so bad.

10. Favourite book you've read this year (2013)? Individual book would be Palimpsest but the entire Wool series took top billing overall.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone? More this past year than ever, but usually at least a couple books.

12. What is your reading comfort zone? Light fantasy, urban fantasy, magical realism, fairytale retellings.

13. Can you read on the bus? I avoid buses as much as possible due to near PTSD but other forms of public transit, sure. I listen in the car too.

14. Favourite place to read? My million year old, ugly stripey armchair.

15. What is your policy on book lending? Only to extremely trusted individuals. I bought my sister her own complete set of Harry Potter because I wasn't willing to lend her my first editions.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books? I am not a heathen.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books? Textbooks and cheap mass market books, if for a class.

18. Not even with text books? Ha!

19. What is your favourite language to read in? English is the only language I read in regularly. I have been known to tackle French children's books, such as my favorite The Little Prince.

20. What makes you love a book? A clear voice and something that tugs on me emotionally.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book? If I want to start rereading a book as soon as I finish it because it has something special and unique.

22. Favourite genre? Light fantasy.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?) Mystery. I want to like mysteries but so few are my cup of tea.

24. Favourite biography? Can't say that any come to mind...

25. Have you ever read a self-help book? Not self-help exactly, more like a holistic business reference.

26. Favourite cookbook? Extending the Table

27. Most inspirational book you've read this year (2013)? Fox 8

28. Favourite reading snack? Peanut butter pretzel sandwiches

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book? I rarely pay any attention to critics.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews? No problem.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose? Wish I read French more fluently, but Arabic would be lovely.

33. Most intimidating book you've ever read? Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell, due to sheer number of pages and footnotes.

34. Most intimidating book you're too nervous to begin? The Bible

35. Favourite poet? Robert Frost, Emily Dickenson, and E.E. Cummings

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time? One.

37. How often have you returned a book to the library unread? Handful. I usually don't check out anything unless I'm ready to start it right then.

38. Favourite fictional character? Amelia Peabody is high up there.

39. Favourite fictional villain? Dolores Umbridge. Evil for the sake of power.

40. Books I'm most likely to bring on vacation? Fun and most likely YA.

41. The longest I've gone without reading. Probably a month or so. I have slumps but I do usually manage at least one book a month.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish. Nothing comes to mind but there have been plenty.

43. What distracts you easily when you're reading? Unfortunately, tv. Netlfix. On a happier note, kids and critters.

44. Favourite film adaptation of a novel? Toss up between the Keira Knightly Pride & Prejudice, the Mia Wasikowska Jane Eyre, and the 1993 Secret Garden.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation? World War Z

46. The most money I've ever spent in the bookstore at one time? God, probably $200+

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it? Back cover, maybe first chapter.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through? Bigotry. Violence. Boring.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized? Yes. Even though I mostly fail.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you've read them? I used to keep everything. Now I'm better at reading before I buy so I only buy things I want to keep anyway.

51. Are there any books you've been avoiding? Plenty. Anything else that Stephanie Meyer writes. George RR Martin's books.

52. Name a book that made you angry. Breaking Dawn. NOTHING HAPPENS IN THE WHOLE BOOK! (Well, other than the most hilariously fantastic birth scene ever.)

53. A book you didn't expect to like but did? World War Z. I certainly didn't think a zombie book would be my thing.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn't? The Last Werewolf

55. Favourite guilt-free, pleasure reading? YA all the way!

Wow. That's quite a meme!

I took the liberty of stripping the answers from your meme to make it easier for folks to copy and paste and create their own versions:

1. Favourite childhood book?

2. What are you reading right now?

3. What books do you have on request at the library?

4. Bad book habit?

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?

6. Do you have an e-reader?

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

8. Have your reading habits changed since joining LibraryThing?

9. Least favourite book you read this year (2013)?

10. Favourite book you've read this year (2013)?

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?

12. What is your reading comfort zone?

13. Can you read on the bus?

14. Favourite place to read?

15. What is your policy on book lending?

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?

18. Not even with text books?

19. What is your favourite language to read in?

20. What makes you love a book?

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?

22. Favourite genre?

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)

24. Favourite biography?

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?

26. Favourite cookbook?

27. Most inspirational book you've read this year (2013)?

28. Favourite reading snack?

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?

33. Most intimidating book you've ever read?

34. Most intimidating book you're too nervous to begin?

35. Favourite poet?

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?

37. How often have you returned a book to the library unread?

38. Favourite fictional character?

39. Favourite fictional villain?

40. Books I'm most likely to bring on vacation?

41. The longest I've gone without reading.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.

43. What distracts you easily when you're reading?

44. Favourite film adaptation of a novel?

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?

46. The most money I've ever spent in the bookstore at one time?

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you've read them?

51. Are there any books you've been avoiding?

52. Name a book that made you angry.

53. A book you didn't expect to like but did?

54. A book that you expected to like but didn't?

55. Favourite guilt-free, pleasure reading?

That was very thoughtful Lori! Thanks! Look forward to reading everyone's answers.

Somehow this hermit made it to a movie today and two SEPARATE functions tonight, a stiff upper lip type shindig for my friend who is having a double mastectomy on Tuesday (she called it her "Ta-ta to TaTas" party) and the youngest of my oldest friends 30th birthday party. Both called for drinks and I got a little flirty by the end of the night, but it was nice to let my hair down a bit for a change. Well, figuratively since no one needs to see the state my hair is in these days. I need a serious haircut. Ran into an ex-boyfriend with whom I have a tumultuous history (mentally, not violently) and a high school fling I haven't seen in million years but I was good and didn't touch anyone inappropriately. ;)

But you did touch them appropriately, right? :P

Here you are! Happy New Year! I hope there is a lot of great reading in store for you this year!

No touching other than hugging. I was well behaved.

*Love* the party name! :)

Have I mentioned lately how much I seriously LOVE winter, especially winter in TN, which is about as spazzy as Tigger on espresso? I love it. No really. I do. ::wild eyed stare:: You believe me, right?

We've had a decent winter, only a few days of 20s, only a dusting of snow, and surprisingly not all that much rain. But then, as if on cue, only when half the family is out of town do we get threatened with Winter-magedon 2014. It's one of those perfect storm thingies where we get all this moisture from the Gulf at about the exact moment an arctic blast comes down from the midwest and they drop us from 60°F at one point today to a projected low tomorrow of 3°F (windchill of -14°F, something I have never experienced in my life, even on a freaking glacier) with 100% chance of precipitation.. That meant that my sister, brother, 4 yr old niece, and I spent most of the day racing around like headless chickens attempting to keep any of the animals from freezing to death. We put up 36 window wind breaks. De-iced and put heat pumps in 10 water troughs. Blanketed 22 horses (the rest either don't need them or don't belong to us so someone else had to worry about them). Filled the pig shed with hay for burrowing and spread hay over half the yard so piggy feet don't freeze in the mud. Battened down the hatches in the chicken coop and filled it full of goodies so they don't kill each other out of boredom. Fixed 2 broken breezeway doors that should have been fixed months and months ago. Fixed a fence the cows broke and put them back inside said fence where they belong. Dropped hay in 5 horse fields. And managed to squeeze in a pony lesson for Addy as well. I mean, if you make a 4 year old hang out in a barn all day and do chores, you better offer some riding time as compensation.

And now I am totally pooped. My parents should get in tonight just in time for us to most likely get iced over. Lucky them. They are, however, coming home to a house full of their grown children (and granddaughter, 2 cats, and an extra dog) since they have the most reliable heat with two fireplaces and a wood-burning stove. Plus, if we sleep over Dad will make breakfast and it will all be worth it. Well, at least the work today will be worth it. Going out in that grossness tomorrow to thaw other water troughs and check on everyone... well, nothing except the animals not dieing can make that worth it.

Leah, I was feeling a little sorry for myself about having to take Adrian out in the bitter cold temps until I read your list of things you have to do for your livestock. I'll think of you when Adrian & I are out and hope that all of your hard work will be rewarded by the survival of all your animals. You're too young to remember the 24 below record low in 1985. I remember it well, and I bet your parents do, too!

Thanks Carrie, I hope you guys stay safe! I dread having to get my ancient lady dog out in it.

We were living in W TN in 1985 (I was 2-3), so I don't know if we even experienced that. I do, very vividly remember The Storm of the Century in 1993 when we had 26" of snow and NO POWER for 2 weeks. Please god, don't do that to me again.

We only had 16 inches here officially, but had drifts well above my knees. I lived in a dorm at the time. Our power was only out for 3 days, but food services had planned for a normal weekend when the campus would empty. Instead, everyone got stuck there with no power and a limited food supply.

Sounds totally exhausting! I guess it's a good thing you behaved yourself the day before, sounds like you needed the energy! :P

Sure did. It was bad enough on 5 hrs sleep and after 3 drinks.

Oh god, it's started! Wind sent things flying everywhere and now there is..... SNOW. AHHHH, I HATE SNOW!

Best case scenario, it's yucky enough tomorrow that my data entry session is canceled and I can spend all my non water-bucket-checking hours reading. Worst case scenario, it keeps snowing FOREVER.

I'm going to be all angsty and emo until this passes, just so you know.

You can be angsty and emo all you want, so long as you don't express your feelings in the form of music. :)

*Hugs*

I feel your pain, Leah! I am so over winter! Although I'm just cooped up in the house with two kids who are off school for extreme cold, not having to deal with keeping water buckets unfrozen. I grew up on a farm in Missouri and remember those days. This is definitely a time for angst!

Yeah, the last thing you want to do in the freezing cold is deal with water. It's no fun at all.

Stay sane!

I don't normally do stuff like this, but I have a favor to ask. My dear friend is in surgery right now for her mastectomy. It's a long one, 6-8 hours. She's doing well so far but you can never have enough positive energy, so could everyone just send healing thoughts her way. And keep her boys close to your heart as they try to understand what's going on.

A million thanks dear friends.

You've got it. Lifting up a prayer for your friend.

Saying a prayer for your friend, Leah. My family walked this road last year with my cousin's wife. Their youngest was 7 when she was diagnosed. She had surgery in May and had her final treatment right before Christmas. (She had both chemo and radiation and I'm not sure what she ended with.)

Thanks ladies! She's out of surgery now with minor issues and they think the cancer hasn't spread to her lymph nodes. No one will be able to see her for a few hours but the relief is palpable. I'm with their youngest, the 3 year old with Autism, and he's been carrying her scarf around all day and asking for her but isn't upset. Hope he stays this way as he won't see her for the next two weeks except for briefly tomorrow.

That's really great news about the lymph nodes. My cousin's wife wasn't quite that lucky, but her long-term prognosis is still very good.

Keeping your friend in my thoughts, and in particular her sons; how heartbreaking that the wee one will be separated from her for so long.

Thanks! Luckily the boys will be with her mother which they enjoy. There is no way Caroline would be able to rest and recover if they stayed.

Coming home tonight, a passing car ploughed through a water puddle (how it wasn't frozen is beyond me) and splashed my whole windshield with water. It froze instantly upon contact, completely obstructing my view. I almost crashed and would have had there been any other cars on the road as I swerved wildly. Finally found the flashers and the defroster and was mobile again before the next car came along. Terrified the crap out of me.

Beware puddles of death!

#51 -- Scary! Glad you are all right.

I'm glad that turned out well. I'll definitely keep an eye out for puddles. We've had some on our local roads during the day, even though it's below freezing, since it's sunny and the roads have been treated.

I hope that the roads are okay tomorrow. We have a one hour delay but it's probably not enough. Temp should be back in double digits though.

*Hugs*

Found you! Somehow I missed the start of your thread in the flurry of 2014 threads!

I'm really glad you're ok!! That sounds terrifying.

Wow, that *is* scary! Adding my relief that you're okay to the other well-wishers here.

Thanks for the concern. It was pretty terrifying but I made it home in one piece. It didn't help that I'd been fighting massive allergy induced sinus and chest congestion for 2 days so I was at less than 100% brain activity. That's what happens when you are allergic to hay, dust, and even slightly to animal dander and spend 2 full days in a barn. Bit better today thanks to meds and neti pot.

I was supposed to be doing massive data entry Monday as one of our businesses switches point-of-sale systems but the weather postponed us till today. Was going to drag my stuffy self down there today until I got a call that they are just switching the hardware and software today and wouldn't need me. So, after feeding and checking water, I've decided today is dedicated to pajamas and reading and as little anything else as possible. It's going to be great!

Pajamas and reading... yep, I'm jealous!

Big thanks to David for posting about Reading Bingo! I'm totally on board. I'll probably do both boards. You can get in on the action over here.

It's a BABY DAY! My cousin/client just called to say she's being induced. Not the outcome we were hoping for but we won't let it mar the experience. See you guys on the other side.

Congrats! Let us know how things come out...so to speak. :)

Haha, yeah, what Jim said! I hope it's not a bloody mess or anything. :P

We've got baby! Mom was disappointed to need an epidural but all went very smoothly and a beautiful baby girl joined the world.

Stephen, of course it was bloody, but not any more than usual. ;)

A baby without a bloody mess is unthinkable :-)

Have a wonderful weekend, Leah!

Yay for a baby girl!! Congrats, cousin/doula Leah!

Hooray, baby!

Thanks guys! It was awfully exciting as my first professional birth.

I've been flat out for about a week and a half and it's exhausting me a bit. I've been listening to books when possible but not enough. It looks like the next month is going to bee pretty much the same, but I'll try not to be MIA.

OVERDRIVE HELP NEEDED.

I have MP3 files of the Harry Potter UK audiobooks and thought I could load them to my Android app via the Overdrive desktop program but it's saying that MP3 files aren't supported... I'm pretty sure that's what I download from Overdrive so what the heck is that supposed to mean?

I could load these on my new iPod (which I inexplicably got for Christmas and have almost no need of whatsoever but couldn't send back without hurting my mother's feelings as she had the silly thing engraved) but I feel like it should work on my phone and I don't particularly want another thing to keep up with. Sheesh.

A BOOK, A BOOK!!!

1. The Interrupted Tale by Maryrose Wood (read by Katherine Kellgren)


Description: For fans of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events and Trenton Lee Stewart’s Mysterious Benedict Society comes the fourth book in the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, the acclaimed and hilarious Victorian mystery series by Maryrose Wood.

In The Interrupted Tale, Miss Penelope Lumley receives an invitation to speak at the annual Celebrate Alumnae Knowledge Exposition (or CAKE) at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females. Optoomuchstic as ever, Penelope hopes to give her CAKE talk, see some old friends, and show off the Incorrigible children to Miss Mortimer, but instead she finds her beloved school in an uproar.

And when Penelope is asked by the Swanburne Academy board of trustees to demonstrate the academic progress of her three wolfish students so the board can judge the true worth of a Swanburne education, the future of her alma mater—and of her job as governess to the Incorrigibles—hangs in the balance.

Thoughts: I was so ready to rush on to listening to this newest installment as soon as I finished The Unseen Guest in the hopes that there would be some answers to the hints dropped throughout the first 3 books and I was not disappointed. While the answers are really just confirmation of things we've been suspecting for a while, it was nice to have concrete evidence! And there were hints of even more intriguing plot twists that I had not yet suspected.

The only thing that distracted me from the story and felt like an oversight by Ms. Wood was that none of the current students of Swanburne seemed to know Penny. Having just graduated not even a year previous and having lived there for most of her life, I wasn't surprised that the teachers remembered her so fondly, but how did she have NO friends amongst the younger girls (or the girls her own age that didn't "graduate early" as Penny and her friend Cecily did) with whom she could have shared a nice reunion? It just didn't add up and kept pulling me out of the story with a jolt when no student came forward to welcome their old friend back.

But that's a small quibble. Overall, this was a very nice addition the the tale of the Incorrigible children and I look forward to more in the future!

Rating: 4.08

Liked: 4
Plot: 3.5
Characterization: 4
Writing: 4
Audio: 5

Unfortunately, there is no way I have found to put OverDrive WMAs onto an android phone. It is possible you might be able to burn them onto a CD and then rip the CD back onto your computer as mp3s? But that's a lot of effort and I don't think it will work.

They aren't Overdrive WMAs, they are just generic MP3s. Which is why I'm so confused.

Ahhhh sorry, I misread. You can't put non-OverDrive mp3s into the OverDrive app, but you should be able to upload them to your Android phone as if they were music files and then listen to them with your music-playing app. So at least you don't have to use two devices.

Ah, that makes sense. Why I didn't think of them as just music files is... well, embarrassing. Maybe I need that nap more than I thought I did. Thanks Nora!

ETA: And, naturally, that worked like a charm.

Yeah... what Nora said. My files are under "music", lol. I'm sure you could create a folder called audiobooks but I was happy to just get them on there at all. :D

And, I'm so behind on the Incorrigible children! I have 2 books to read now. Plus, I just got today the next Flavia book. Plus all those others sitting there taunting me...

My Flavia book doesn't arrive until tomorrow. In the same box with the follow up to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. What to do, what to do. I'll probably read the Flavia straight away. Or, if recent history is any indication, these much anticipated books will be started and abandoned after 2 chapters because my attention span is shot. I am so ashamed that The Ocean at the End of the Lane and The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two are laying, unread, on my bedside table with accusing typeface on their spines...

I still have Fairyland waiting as well. And you reminded me I have Hollow City coming too... OMG I should probably make some sort of stack to pull from instead of just having them scattered about. Ya think?

My stacks of "I'll read this right away and therefore shouldn't bother shelving" are starting to get tall and dusty. I am a bad bad book owner/reader.

Leah, I'll nudge you toward Miss Peregrine. I was fortunate enough to read an ARC of the latest Flavia book. It was good, but not as good as the previous book. I think the cliffhanger ending of that one raised my expectations too high.

I was afraid that was going to happen. I've been itching to see how it's resolved since the day I put it down. Drat.

I Flipagramed my 2013. It was a good year with some major bumps but full of love.

http://flipagram.com/f/oplqegCZcy

That was really cool Leah, I love the toenail painting, very sweet :)

The toenail painting was great! She was so excited!

Hey there Leah -- popping to say hello. Waiting with great anticipation to see what you say about the next Flavia!

>82 leahbird:: Oh, that's lovely! Thanks for sharing! And flipagram = v. cool! Never heard of it before...

Flipagram is super easy to use except I can't figure out how to reset the order it automatically shows my pictures so I had to spend more time than I liked organizing the pics chronologically. It was worth it in the end.

Entering my new Harry Potter audiobooks into LT, I realized that there are WAY more editions of the books than I realized. And that's not even getting into different languages, that's just English (UK & US). And now I want to have them ALLLLLLLL!

I think I need to sit down and look through the editions and maybe just try to get my one or two favorite cover art from each edition rather than trying to collect entire sets. Because I seriously don't need 14 complete sets of Harry Potter.

I mean, I LOVE Harry Potter, but I can't justify that craziness. Until I win the lottery and have a house with a giant library and Potter can just have it's own little room. Then I will buy every cover ever made. This room will be next to the 57 other rooms needed to house my as yet controlled but constantly threatening to overwhelm me love of special editions and the urge to just buy everything.

Hint hint, nudge nudge
http://www.librarything.com/topic/167560

Leah - I have just realised, shamefacedly that I haven't visited you thus far in 2014.

Thousand apologies and I won't stay away for so long in future.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks Paul! I visited your thread but quickly lost my way and don't think I ever commented. I shall aim to do better.

Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock Sherlock! Five minutes and it's already the best thing I've seen in ages!!!!

I have to work tomorrow and I just can't stay up until midnight to watch it tonight. :(

I'll have to watch it online later this week.

All I can say is - great episode!

It was a great episode! The reintroduction to John was about the coolest scene ever!

Although, I'm wishing I hadn't geeked out hard core and watched it a second time since I've been at the hospital since 7 am with a client in labor. Gonna be a long day.

Or two. Still at work and starting to crash.

Auuugh!!! I haven't watched the new Sherlock season yet... but in fact I just turned to El Husbando and said "Sherlock? Tonight?" and got a resounding "YES." so that will be remedied fairly quickly...

36 hours of labor support with only a few micronaps almost did me in. Everyone happy and healthy post birth, but it was a tough 2 days of fighting against red tape and unknown on call Drs who disregarded EVERYTHING mom told them she had cleared with her Dr. Hard core. I had to use some aggressive techniques to keep everything for spiraling out of control and it wiped me completely.

Got home and slept for almost 19 straight hours. There are 10 million LT posts I have missed in the past days so I'm going to lay on the couch watching Netflix while catching up. And maybe I'll read some.

It only took me a week but I've finally caught up on threads! It'd be way less sad if I actually read more threads to begin with...

Ugh, I'm way behind on threads. After a few weeks of moping having not managed to get hired during the holidary season (seriously?) I'm back to filling out applications again, so I can't seem to find the time to visit. It's really intimidating when you have a huge list of threads with 20-50+ messages each. Eep!

My list wasn't even that long but all the threads had 30+ messages and I just couldn't seem to find the time to give them attention.

I hate when I don't read a single page for days and days then decide I really should manage at least a few before bed and then it's magically 2 am and I've somehow devoured 150 pages. Why can't I have reading binges in the evening when it's productive rather than the middle of the night when I have things to do the next morning?

On the other hand, my interest is completely renewed in The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches. I'm actually having to force myself to put it down for the night.

I' glad you're enjoying the newest Flavia! It wasn't one of my favorites, but it still stands out from other series.

I'm looking forward to a brief respite from the sub-freezing temperatures! I hope your animals are getting used to the cold weather.

I think they are but I'm certainly not and it's making me very gloomy. I'm ready for a break from it as well.

I saw something about a "doula" on the local news the other day and thought of you, Leah! Did you catch that story? I think it was WBIR, but it may have been WATE or WVLT. I'm terrible about just watching whichever one the TV happens to be on at the time.

No I didn't see it. I really detest the local news stations so I never watch them. Too bad I missed it.

I finished book but I haven't found time to review it yet. Hopefully tomorrow.

More importantly, Sherlock was PERFECTION again. The only negative is that now there I is only one more episode left. ::sob::

2. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley


Description: On a spring morning in 1951, eleven-year-old chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce gathers with her family at the railway station, awaiting the return of her long-lost mother, Harriet. Yet upon the train’s arrival in the English village of Bishop’s Lacey, Flavia is approached by a tall stranger who whispers a cryptic message into her ear. Moments later, he is dead, mysteriously pushed under the train by someone in the crowd. Who was this man, what did his words mean, and why were they intended for Flavia? Back home at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ crumbling estate, Flavia puts her sleuthing skills to the test. Following a trail of clues sparked by the discovery of a reel of film stashed away in the attic, she unravels the deepest secrets of the de Luce clan, involving none other than Winston Churchill himself. Surrounded by family, friends, and a famous pathologist from the Home Office—and making spectacular use of Harriet’s beloved Gipsy Moth plane, Blithe Spirit—Flavia will do anything, even take to the skies, to land a killer.

Thoughts: Speaking From Among the Bones ended with such a major cliffhanger that I was almost angry to have to wait a whole year to pick the story back up. I had a suspicion that it would turn out as it did, but I wasn't disappointed. (Had it gone the other way, however, I would have been immensely excited to see how it all played out.) The outcome provided just the right note of melancholy and longing that a Flavia book needs to really shine. And this one did shine.

For the most part.

Honestly, had the Flavia series not really been about mysteries and murders in the town of Bishop's Lacey and had focused solely on the story of the de Luce family, Harriet's disappearance most especially, I would have been just as avid a read as I have been anyway. The underlying tensions and histories and connections and misdirections just amongst this small group have been so interesting and rich, and this volume probably the most in that regard. The fact that it is only in finding out for sure that Harriet is dead that Flavia (and the reader) are finally privy to the how and why of her disappearance is so wonderfully executed. And Flavia's mixed emotions about the mother she never knew yet resembles in so many ways are heartbreakingly honest and real.

The mystery in this one, however, was much less successful and well executed than some of the others, as it's almost more of an afterthought to the family drama. My first guess about the character at the center of the mystery was exactly what transpired (except for one small detail which I'm still unclear about, Who actually was the traitor that Harriet was meant to bring to justice since it wasn't Lena?) and it didn't feel very well constructed. The biggest let down was how the murderer is unmasked. I still haven't the foggiest idea what transpired in the moment the family stood up to go to the casket. Did Lena pull a weapon? If so, why in the world do it there in front of so many witnesses? Or did the police figure it all out and decide to apprehend her then and there? If so, again, why would they choose that moment? Did I miss something obvious? All I see is Flavia stumble and the next minute Lena is running around like a headless chicken. And who kills their self avoiding apprehension in front of their young daughter? I'm so utterly confused.

I'm extremely intrigued to see where the story goes next with Flavia given yet another surprising ending, even if not a cliffhanger like the last one. This should be interesting and I can't wait!

Rating: 3.9

Liked: 4
Plot: 3.5
Characterization: 4
Writing: 4

I was a bit irritated and confused to realize I've only finished 2 books so far this year until I remembered that I'm reading multiple books at once at the moment, something I almost never do. I have a tiny number of hours left on one of my audiobooks and a few hours of actual, focused reading on Sorcerer's Stone. Hopefully I will find the time before the month is up to knock those out. Fingers crossed. And no more trying to book multitask!

Book multitasking makes up for itself on those occasions in which you can finish three gigantic books in one day :-)

True, but I am not good at it. I already feel like I need to relisten to some of my audiobook to remember what the hell was going on.

Unexpected snow day. As in they let all the kids go to school and by 10 am school was cancelled and everyone was scrambling to pick kids up on iced roads with no notice. Took me almost 3 hrs to pick my niece up and that was only 18 miles round trip. Cars of the road everywhere. My sister is sleeping in a bed at the drug rehab center she works at rather than risk coming home.

This was my road after only an hour of snow.
http://instagram.com/p/jt9e93tlH4/

A cross street near my house 3 hrs later.

Yuck! Glad you made it home safely. Having to drive in snow takes away all of my joy at having snow in the first place.

I could handle the driving for the most part but you can imagine how most Southerners react when the conditions are like this. It was trying to survive idiots that got me into sticky situations. Rather than go up and down a large hill where everyone was trying to pick up kids (where the road was icy but not terrible because of the heavy traffic), Addy and I went through a neighborhood with almost no traffic but steeper, untraversed roads. We slid down one hill at about 1/2 mile an hour and needed the curb to bring us to a complete stop to turn but at least we were away from soccer moms on their cellphones trying to go 30 mph on slush ice in heavy traffic.

I think the final count of cars off the road in those 18 miles was about 20. And they were just being left on the side of the road because police and tow trucks were too overwhelmed to get to anything where someone wasn't injured.

We're up to 3 inches now and it's still coming slow but steady.

How much snow did you end up with? It was about 5 inches in my yard. I get to shovel it after it warms up enough to do so. I want the temps to a point the ice melt will work.

About 5 inches here too. The sun is melting it already even though it's still cold as crap. The small ones got some decent sledding in this afternoon.

Hey there Leah -- Loving the Latest Flavia review. In the midst of listening to the audiobook. Only hovered the mouse over the spoilers a couple of times before steeling my discipline and moving on. Will have to come back and read your review whenI'm done!

One more thing ... SHERLOCK!

Stay warm! :P

Whew! Glad to hear that your safe and sound after the snow!

I am so horribly behind on reading and threads that it's almost making my head spin. Working on this computer changeover at the family business is turning out to be horrendous and stressful and I'm working about 50-60 hours a week. I took today off because I have company in town and needed a break, but I have to go back tomorrow. Blurgh.

Sherlock was the highlight of my week for the last few weeks but it's over now. Hopefully Downton can perk up a bit and keep my Sunday evenings exciting.

Miss catching up with all of you and I'm going to try to be better!

Now I know why it's been so quiet here lately! I hope work slows down to a manageable pace soon. I haven't watched the last episode of Sherlock yet. Maybe tomorrow or Thursday. I wish there were more than three episodes in a season!

Thanks! It's a giant mess that is stressing me out a ton but it is rewarding in the fact that my dad has put a ton of faith and stock in my opinions which is not something he's practiced at. He's given me nearly free reign in the implementation off the new system and procedures going forward and it's very nice to know he values my skills.

I'm grateful for ANY number of Sherlock episodes but I am definitely devastated when they are over.

There was once a day when there were 20 to 25 episodes per season at least. It's no wonder that TV has lost most of its audience!

I'm in Cumberbatch withdrawal

British seasons/series are typically a lot shorter than U.S. seasons, but 3 episodes is short even by British standards.

To help ease the Cumberbatch withdrawl, I present Benedict on Sesame Street!

http://io9.com/benedict-cumberbatch-must-solve-a-mystery-of-his-own-on-151567658...

Nice one! (although it's all apples and oranges to me...)

Unfortunately still no time to catch up with, well, anything, but I wanted to share the fun news that, after a few years of trying, I am finally going to be a World Book Night giver this year! I get to give out This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolfe! Really excited.

Congratulations! It sounds like fun!

Awesome! :D

Congrats. Hope you are ready for whatever weather is headed our way.

God only knows, Lori. I really need to work tomorrow but that may not be an option. I really really don't want any more snow but I don't think I'm going to get my wish.

There is so much snow. So much!

The stump next to my driveway has over 4 inches of crusty, icy snow on it. It's still coming down like crazy too. Sledding will be great. Everything else will suck.

Almost 7 inches total but the roads were cleared, so it wasn't the end of the world this time.

And I went sledding. In a kayak. I NEVER sled because I don't like being cold and wet, but the kayak kept that from happening and was therefore a lovely time.

I don't think we had quite that much here, although I didn't measure it. I'd guess somewhere between 4 and 5 inches. It was warm enough today to pretty much clear the roads in our neighborhood.

I'm glad you had fun sledding!

I, and everyone with me, was quite shocked by my willingness to sled. Especially after I gave them a very hard time about using the not-so-cheap kayak on snow and possibly ruining it and killing someone in the process. What can I say, cold and snow make me a total curmudgeon. Once they didn't die or break something important, I decided I needed to have a go. Or two. ;)

I was feeling really down in the dumps because of my inability to consume so much as a page (or whatever the equivalent is when listening to books- byte maybe?) of reading in weeks. Last night I decided to see if my library had ever managed to fix the wonky WMA file of Viva Jacquelina I had tried multiple times to get working to no avail. Shockingly, they had just up and replaced it with the MP3 file! Yay for my library, who almost never manages to elicit happy thoughts from me. So I started listening to it last night and... promptly fell asleep from total exhaustion. But it's there, on my phone, accessible any time now and I am thrilled with the possibility of increasing my pathetic reading numbers for the year. Unfortunately, they don't yet have Boston Jacky in audio at all, but I at least have some hope!

I think I read somewhere recently that Overdrive is dropping the WMA format. That may be what happened with your audiobook.

Well, that's even better news for me! YAY! I hate it when a book I really want to listen to is only available in WMA because it's a real pain.

8 inches at my house. Morristown officially had 7. My elevation is slightly higher.

Sledding in a kayak is genius! :)

Oh, I love the idea of sledding in a kayak! Genius!!

I like sledding, and the kayak idea is brilliant (though I too would worry about it getting damaged).

Best part is that it's a shallow two person kayak. It was a blast! My dad even pulled us back up the hill behind the ranger IN the kayak so I didn't even have to get out and walk back up!

Today, the hated day of Valentine's, I randomly choose to play a freebie PC game which turned out to be about a woman who meets a handsome man online, falls madly in love at first (picture) sight, TRAVELS TO HIS CASTLE, and quickly discovers that he is the vessel for a demon that has been forcing him to enslave women's souls in paintings for over a hundred years.

At one point she literally says "I'm never meeting men on the internet again!"

I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Guess what I bought myself for Valentine's Day with my tax return.

¿Ella lee un libro? No, ella no lee.
¿Ella duermo? No, ella no duermo.
Ella trabaja. Solo trabaja.

Anyone else use Rosetta Stone? I got it about half price and it was still a bajillion dollars. My Spanish best friend used to work for them and assures me it's worth it, but we'll see. This is totally going to turn into that gym membership I spent a fortune on and then never used.

See kids, this is what comes of taking French in high school because you were convinced it was not only the most beautiful language of love but that it would take you exciting places in Africa. Turns out it's not so handy to know how to order a pan au chocolat avec un petit cafe au lait in Africa. And not being able to roll your rrrrrs is not a good enough reason to NOT learn Spanish.

Arabic next.

144: This is EXACTLY why I don't date on the internet. Every time I tell women I live in a castle filled with paintings of different women, they suddenly don't want to go out with me. *Shakes head*

I took 3 years of French in high school and can't speak a full sentence.

As long as you can say, Donde esta la biblioteca? I think you'll do just fine. ;-)

>146 Ape: I took 7 years total and even TAUGHT it to elementary students one semester and I am still barely conversational in French. I can understand it fairly well and can read it decently but I can't put thoughts together in French worth a damn. I was going to say "to save my life" but I did prove that statement wrong once, so we'll just stick with "worth a damn."

>147 michigantrumpet: I really need to be able to say comforting and informative things like "Your baby's head is sticking out of you" and "Don't look at me, I'm not the one who got you into this mess." ;)

In all seriousness, there is a SEVERE lack of resources in this country (except maybe the SW and SoCal) for Spanish speakers who are pregnant. Can you imagine going through pregnancy, labor, and delivery with a Dr and nurses that didn't speak your language and mostly relied on translators OVER THE PHONE? Even for my bestie, who is extremely fluent in English (and French), the emotional and physical stress of birth made it hard for her to communicate with Drs in English in the heat of the moment. It's unacceptable. I'm hoping to become comfortable enough with Spanish that I can offer childbirth classes and labor assistance in Spanish. It's sorely needed.

Given the absolutely wonderful basis of your desire to learn Spanish, I suspect you'll have plenty of motivation to keep with it. (I've also been guilty of that unused gym membership...)

Such a lovely endeavor. Your clients/patients must adore you. I am so impressed.

Yeah, I agree! If I was going to give birth in Spanish I would be super happy to have you around. :)

Aww shucks, Marianne and Stephen. You guys are great!

Anyone catch that Eye of Zoltar, the next book in Jasper Fforde's Chronicles of Kazam series, now has a release date! October 7th! I'm glad to get my hands on just about ANY Fforde, but I can admit that I would be much much MUCH more excited if this was the highly anticpated follow-up to Shades of Grey. Or another Thursday Next. But Kazam is good too!

I know it's bratty, but I am so irritated by being charged sales tax on Amazon now. It was so nice, once upon a time, when I was just expected to self report on that tax....... cause I totally did that like the good citizen I am.

Between the sales tax and the shipping costs it hardly seems worth it to shop there anymore. :(

Does the tax apply to the marketplace too?

I'm not sure about Marketplace. But I don't pay for shipping. I have a Prime membership I split with several family members (you can add up to 5 people total I believe) which makes 2-day shipping free. It's $79 a year I believe, but my portion is only $16 which MUCH more than makes up for whatever shipping I would have paid.

Maybe you should get up a couple people to split a membership with too. Not that I'm advocating Amazon really. I dislike them as corporate giants but I can't resist the prices and the selection. Selection being most key because my tastes and the tastes of the booksellers around me (mostly other chains) are not in sync.

I don't know if the free shipping counts when using the Marketplace, and that's the only way I'll shop on Amazon. The marketplace is composed of independently-owned businesses, so I feel a lot less horrible for shopping there.

Some of the Marketplace ones do offer Prime Shipping if you are a prime member, Stephen.

Yeah, some businesses actually store their inventory at Amazon warehouses and therefore can offer Prime shipping. I've gotten a couple of things that way. But my assumption would be that they are online resellers and not independent brick and mortars or home based businesses like many other Marketplace sellers.

Rumor has it Amazon is considering upping the price of the Prime membership significantly.

Boo. Not that I'm surprised, but tax AND a Prime hike might not end well in this house.

I probably won't renew Prime if it goes up significantly. It won't be worth it.

3. Fables Vol. 19: Snow White by Bill Willingham


Description: With Castle Dark now back in the hands of the Fables, mysteries both young and old begin to challenge the residents of Fabletown. Bigsby and Stinky set off from Fabletown in Rose Red's blood-fueled sports car to track down the two abducted cubs. Unfortunately for Snow White, besides suffering the trauma of having two of her cubs go missing, a long forgotten secret uncovered in Castle Dark threatens to sabatoge her and Bigsby's marriage.

This volume also collects the backup adventures of Bufkin and Lily from issues #114-121, as well as their full length adventures found in issue #124.

Collected here are Fables issues #114-123 (back-up stories only) and issues #124-129.

Thoughts: Nope. Do not like. Do not approve. CANNOT BELIEVE! This was very nearly a throwaway volume.

I was SO very excited to get back to Bufkin's adventures but they were nearly worthless. 3-4 pages per pointless escapade. Just stupid and pointless. The only bit that was any good at all was the last Bufkin story told by a damn ROPE.

Then we get to the "main" story. Seriously. This was just abysmal. Talk about a throw away character and a really really ridiculous throwaway plot and a depressing but completely ridiculous turn of events. But naturally there is a loophole. Because we wouldn't want to go through this for absolutely no reason whatsoever and not a have a loophole to make it even less significant. WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED TO THIS SERIES?

The previous installment, Cubs in Toyland, was superb and I thought it showed the series was really being reinvigorated and casting off the crustiness, but if Snow White is any indication, I may have just read my last Fables installment.

Damnit. My one day off for the next 10 days and I was so excited to spend it actually reading and then it was ruined by this. Bad, bad Bill Willingham, bad.

Rating: 2

Liked: 1.5
Plot: 1
Characterization: 3
Writing: 3

#163 -- Ooh, bummer. :-(

Thanks foggi. I really can't figure out how they could let something so boring and pointless go to the presses. Yuck.

#165 -- I have read books that made me wonder the same thing, but it's much worse when it comes as part of a series you have otherwise mostly enjoyed.

I think I'm finally going to get on the John Green bandwagon (you know, if I get around to reading ANY more books this year). Which would you recommend as an introduction? I know The Fault in Our Stars is the one everyone's been talking about lately but I'm afraid the subject matter might be too depressing for my first read.

Sorry the Fables book was such a let down, Leah! :(

#167 -- I like An Abundance of Katherines best -- and it's probably the lightest and funniest of his books.

If you're looking for something not depressing, don't start with Looking for Alaska either.

Sorry you did not enjoy the most resent fables. I found it disjointed but I still liked it. I feel that because thd last two have been set at the same time that the could have run they together sidd by side!

Please indulge me for one moment in a bit of perhaps childish whining that's also probably in very poor taste.

I've mentioned my friend who just faced breast cancer at 31. I love her and hate that she has to go through all this and I've been there as much as I can be with all that is going on. I have watched her kids, cooked meals for the family, even attended a charity fund raiser at $45/person. Cancer sucks. Having cancer at 31 with 5 kids sucks horribly. It all sucks.

But that doesn't mean that things in my life might not suck at that very moment just because I DON'T have cancer. I worked 11 hours today, will work 12+ tomorrow and Friday, and probably 10+ Saturday and Sunday. It sucks! And 90% of it is to fix problems caused by the laziness and couldn't give a shit attitude of our employees. Sure, I'm not in radiation treatments for 30 mins every day, but nothing about this could be construed as fun.

Here is the FB conversation that caused this rant.

My status message: Today was long and tedious and tomorrow will be longer and more tedious. Yuck.

Her comment: Perspective my love.

Me: Yes, I know. I could be mining coal in Siberia. But there is something particularly demoralizing in working so long and so hard fixing things that other people just didn't care enough to do right in the first place.

Her: Yeah... Something sucks about radiation every day also. But gosh, it's great to see the mountains and the sun-rise everyday. I love you!!

Seriously. I needed like 2 minutes of self pity. Just 2 would have sufficed. And you know what? I'd love to see the sun rise (or set) but I haven't because I've either been locked in a windowless room counting things or sleeping. That's about it.

Do I think my problem is worse? God no. Would I RATHER have cancer? Nope. But there is something supremely annoying in using cancer as your trump card, even if it's legit.

I just don't know. Maybe I'm just overreacting because I'm tired and grumpy. But I'm feeling very irritated right now and then more irritated because it's not socially acceptable to be irritated at the cancer patient.

Damnit. Can I just go back to yesterday where it was just a bad book ruining my day?

It's certainly a no-win situation for you, poor dear! She is certainly deserving of sympathy but that doesn't mean she should make you feel bad just because you need to vent a little after so many difficult days.

I can understand, from her perspective, that the prospect of death could make it seem irritating when people who aren't facing it can't be happy. But her own comment works against her, it's about perspective, and she feels to see things from your point of view.

I wish the best for both of you, regardless! *Hugs*

Thank you dear Stephen. I'm less irritated by it this morning but it still stings.

I can understand her perspective, but yeah, other folks can have a tough time too. Frankly, when I've come across this in the past, it was a control and attention thing for the person. I'm not saying that's what's going on with your friend, but it happens. Anyway, sorry you had a bad day made worse, and I hope today is better!

We are all allowed to have bad days. You had one yesterday, and clearly so did she because if she couldn't think of anything supportive to say she shouldn't have said anything at all.

Oh, wow. "Perspective, dear." - *that* would have sent me over the rage moon, too. I mean, seriously? So, yeah, you deserve to rant about that one.

Thank you Jim, Nora, and Amber. I tried to just let it go and recognize, as you said Nora, that maybe her day had been particularly terrible which didn't allow her to empathize with the everyday ups and downs that sometimes make people blue. I don't think it was some personal attack on me, just maybe two bad days bumping into each other.

Nora, I think it was that exact thing, the "nothing nice to say, say nothing" concept, that probably bugged me the most. Sure, FB isn't always the place to vent your woe, but sometimes just putting the yuck out in the atmosphere releases you from it and you can see things brighter. That's what I was feeling yesterday. I expected no response, so to get one that felt so condescending was shocking.

It's all probably complicated by the fact that she has no idea what I'm actually dealing with right now as the months after loosing her breasts to cancer didn't seem like the time to ask her to let me unload about business troubles. Maybe she just thinks I'm being dramatic. I so wish that was the case.

Anyway. Today was indeed longer and more tedious but there is light at the end of the tunnel in that the shop I've stripped clean and started from scratch must be reopened Saturday at 9am. Next time I won't think 2.5 days is enough time to do all this with my body and sanity still intact. I wouldn't begrudge any extra fingers crossed for us that day as we switch off our old point of sale and credit card systems and turn on a whole new one. ;)

Fingers crossed and thinking of you!

We made it through the weekend without any seriously bad issues and the pace can finally slow a bit. I'll still probably be working almost every day for the foreseeable future but at least it will only be regular business hours instead of 10-14 h4 days.

Have a review to post but it'll have to be later.

Glad you made it through alive, Leah! :)

I'm probably just dense and totally missed it, but what was causing your schedule to be so busy?

Thanks Stephen!

I don't think I ever really explained it fully, so you probably aren't dense. My family- grandparents down to me and my cousins- owns several businesses. My grandfather is the head of the family corporation and therefore "manages" the businesses. The two that aren't actually made up of family members are supposedly managed by GMs who know what they are doing and just report the big stuff to the family to deal with. The restaurant we own does this beautifully and is very profitable. The other business, a tourist attraction of some small note, does not apparently do this. I have been working to fix that problem.

It was discovered in the fall that our purchasing manager (who no one ever liked and we've all wanted to get rid of for years but my granddad won't for some unfathomable reason) is not only a creep but also almost completely incompetent due to laziness and not giving two fucks whether things are done correctly. He COULD do his job if he cared to, it's not about ability, it's solely and completely about not caring. He has come to believe that my grandfather will never let us fire him so why should he work hard when he can just rake in checks? This has caused our inventory and shops to be so mismanaged that we were loosing obscene amounts of money. My grandfather knew a little and ignored/hid it from the rest of us, but the vastness of it went uncaught because my grandfather only employees weak-willed individuals that he can control instead of competent people who will tell him when he's fucking something up.

Anyway, to fix some of the problem, we purchased a new Point of Sale system- the thing at most stores that includes the register but also manages your inventory and helps you see where items and money are going. We had a very un-user friendly one before and that was part of the problem. Being adept at data entry and not working full time, I was roped into doing the transfer from one system to the other. We all believed this might take a few weeks and then a bit more to train employees. We were wrong.

Once I got into the system and started going through everything with a fine toothed comb, we found MOUNTAINS of issues that had to be fixed. Stock that wasn't even in the system and just being rung up as other things. Overstock of shit that we will probably NEVER be able to sell- would anyone want 95 dozen nail clippers or 112 dozen MISPRINTED keychains? Employees who had been just left to flounder and figure stuff out for themselves. Just rampant fucking incompetence.

So, what should have been a tedious but straightforward 2-3 weeks turned into going on 7 weeks of nearly constant working on the part of my mother and I, including but not limited to: reentering every single item we sell one by one, going through YEARS of unfiled invoices to find correcting pricing information, training all employees on the new system AND retraining them on how to be employees, tearing apart our main gift shop and remodeling it (which was the craziness last week), repricing and retagging every single item, and basically being there every possible second to make sure they couldn't mess it up again.

We turned the system on on Saturday. It went pretty well. We are most likely going to lose one of our "managers" (I use the term VERY loosely) because she's ancient and should have retired but my grandfather would never make her and just can't understand the new system at all. Even though it is RIDICULOUSLY EASY. The purchasing manager has been stripped of his privileges and can't do anything more than the regular shop employees anymore but he should also be gone in no time.

My father finally laid down the law with my grandfather. It was made very clear that, at 81, it was time everyone else took over before he ran us into the ground with stubbornness. It has been a very tense time and my grandparents aren't speaking to my parents and I at the moment but we'll get there in the end.

Lesson of the day: Just don't work with family. ;)

Well I can see why things have been so stressful for you! It sounds like it will all pay off in the end, right? I hope there is a huge benefit to all your hard work. :)

There should be a HUGE return on all the work. We've plugged all the holes that money was leaking out of and fixed our prices on things so we are making money rather than just giving things away. Once we stop paying 2 salaries to people who don't do anything we'll be a pretty good shape. Might even finally be able to do the improvements we've been wanting to do for a few years.

And getting the control out of my grandfather's hands is huge. I love him and don't want to make him feel like he hasn't been valued when he built all this but he just can't keep up anymore and is just stubborn enough that he would probably bankrupt the company before he admitted he was wrong.

4. Saga, Vol 1 by Brian K Vaughan


Description: Winner of the 2013 Hugo award for Best Graphic Story!

When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. From New York Times bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina) and critically acclaimed artist Fiona Staples (Mystery Society, North 40), Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults.

This volume collects the first six issues of the smash-hit series The Onion A.V. Club calls "the emotional epic Hollywood wishes it could make." Voted one of the top graphic novels of the year by the NYT, IGN, the Examiner, and SF Weekly. Voted Best Comic of the year by MTV Geek and Best New Series by Paradox Comics. Named one of Time Magazine's top 10 graphic novels for 2013.

Thoughts: I don't read a lot of graphic novels. I'm typically very picky about them and spend years deciding if I should invest in a series (I still haven't convinced myself to pick up Sandman or Ex Machina or Hellboy even though I think I'd love them). But, for some reason, I purchased this without much thought when it popped up in my Amazon recommendation list.

Actually, I think I know what drew me in so quickly. The first pages are of a birth, a beautiful example of what natural birth can be like (minus the fact that she's on her back, wish that trope would die), and then breastfeeding. It's honest. I mean it literally sounds like conversations I've heard at almost every birth I've been to. When do you get that in graphic novels?

From there, it continued to impress. The artwork is beautiful, even the weird and gory bits. The world is interesting and peopled with strange characters that somehow feel just right. It's funny and engaging.

And I instantly purchased the next volume and preordered the third. I may not get through a single thing other than graphic novels this year, but if they are this good, I might not mind so much.

Rating: 4

Liked: 4
Plot: 4
Characterization: 4
Writing: 4

Wow, you *have* been dealing with a lot! Good to see that you've made it out the other end in one piece! And it has to feel good to have it all sorted now, too.

Mostly sorted, still a work in progress, but the bulk of it is done and it is a huge relief. A nice sense of accomplishment too, but sometimes I'd like to feel a little less accomplished if it meant the job wasn't quiet so daunting. ;)

5. Viva Jacquelina! by LA Meyer (read by Katherine Kellgren)


Description: The vivacious Jacky Faber returns in the tenth tale in L. A. Meyer's Bloody Jack Adventures, a rip-roaring young-adult series applauded for its alluring combination of adventure, romance, history, and humor. Once again under the thumb of British Intelligence, Jacky is sent to Spain to spy for the Crown during the early days of the nineteenth-century Peninsular War. She finds herself in the company of guerrilla freedom fighters, poses for the famous artist Goya, runs with the bulls, is kidnapped by the Spanish Inquisition, and travels with a caravan of gypsies- all while hoping to one day reunite with her beloved Jaimy Fletcher.

Thoughts: Another subpar Jacky Faber. Jacky should just stay at sea- her adventures on land tend to bore me. This one wasn't as terrible as My Bonny Light Horseman, but almost nothing seemed to actually happen except for some wandering around, bumping into a couple of notable characters, and... magic mushrooms.

Soooo excited that Jacky is headed back to Boston in Boston Jacky! I love the Boston characters and I'm even looking forward to her reunion with Jaimy.

Rating: 3.33

Liked: 3
Plot: 2.5
Characterization: 3.5
Writing: 3
Audio: 5

Just saw Colin Ferguson as the new Maytag Man. Not that Eureka was the biggest show ever, but this still feels like a step down in the world.

>189 leahbird: I'm so conflicted about him as the Maytag man. I *love* getting to see him every time I watch Hulu, but it does make me a little disappointed. He is still on Haven, though, and that show has at least a season and a half left.

I recently discovered that in 2001 he played a deputy sheriff on an episode of Malcolm in the Middle. He looked so young!

6. Saga, Vol 2 by Brian K Vaughan


Description: The smash-hit ongoing epic continues! Thanks to her star-crossed parents Marko and Alana, newborn baby Hazel has already survived lethal assassins, rampaging armies, and alien monstrosities, but in the cold vastness of outer space, the little girl encounters something truly frightening: her grandparents! Named one of Time Magazine's top 10 graphic novels for 2013.

Thoughts: This volume was not nearly as strong as the first, suffering heavily from the sophomore affect and probably the fact that I read it so soon after the first. It's not bad, it's just not very exciting since very little seems to happen. There are some nice moments, especially between Alana and Barr, but they are, ahem, short lived. I still have high hopes that the series will be as good as it's promising start.

Oh, it also lost a few points for one seriously grotesque and wholly unnecessary gross bit. Giant, that's all I'm saying.

But thank god for graphic novels and audiobooks, cause otherwise this would be one seriously empty thread.

Rating: 3.5

Liked: 3.5
Plot: 3
Characterization: 4
Writing: 3.5

Hi Leah! Did you see the story in the Knoxville news about the woman whose first baby came so quickly that she and her husband didn't have time to go to the hospital? It seemed so odd that it came so fast.

I didn't see that but wish I had. That happens in about 10% of births. It's one of the many reasons to take a comprehensive birth class. ;)

Spent all day at a birth conference, Empowering Fearless Birth, and it was awesome. A whole building full of people passionate about natural, fearless birth was just the coolest thing.

There was a panel of dad's which was the highlight of my year so far. These burly, tattooed, bearded, strong, macho guys were amazing voices for involved parenting and how birth isn't about delivering a baby but about creating a mother and a father and a family. It was such a turn on! ;)

My bestie and my godson came with me so the day was made even better by getting to experience it with Lisa and to help take care of Mark.

At one point I looked around at all these beautiful pregnant women and women with their babies and nervous expectant dads and birth professionals of all kinds and just felt so incredibly blessed that I get to be part of this world. Families that work with doulas are usually so grateful for the care they receive but I don't know if they realize how grateful a lot of us are to be allowed to share these experiences with them. It's the most amazing thing to be witness to.

Seriously great day.

>194 leahbird: It sounds like you really had a wonderful day!

All you assholes who recommended Eleanor & Park are on my kill list now. You know who you are. Be warned.

Review to come later when I stop yelling at the Kindle.

*ducks and covers*

Here's my short incoherent thought as of now as an apology for the earlier outburst.

Eleanor & Park is beautiful. I wish will all my heart it had been around when I was a fat teenager with crazy curly hair (that I always wished was red). It's got incredibly depressing bits but the main plot is just heartachingly beautiful. And if there was going to be a sequel, it would probably be my new favorite book.

But I don't deal well with open endings. Like, angry shouting at a Kindle at the dinner table. Like wanting to cry with frustration. These books should come with disclaimers, so now I'm making one for this one!

Oh, open endings are the worst! Especially when you are in love with the book.

I feel your frustration, but I much prefer open endings to poor endings. I'm on the holds list at two different libraries for that one!

7. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell


Description: Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

Thoughts: I loved this book. It drug me under it's spell and didn't let go. Until it did. I'm still pissed about that part, but I'm working on it.

Minus the seriously messed up bits (and maybe some of the wardrobe choices), Eleanor could have totally been me when I was in high school. Overweight but actually much less fat than we told ourselves. Weird and individual and angrily proud of it to cover our other insecurities. Smart but not exactly a model student, usually because of boredom.

But I never had my own Park. I had crushes and hookups but no one I let in enough or invested enough of myself in to have that quintessential "young love." I'm very sad about that. Not because I think it would have been what Eleanor and Park had here, or that it would have been some definitive moment in my life, but that glassy, fumbling, desperate kind of love you can have at 16 is something most people will never experience at a later point in life. It is caught up in curfews and stolen moments and discovery and freshness.

As Park says, it's exactly why people are still drawn to Romeo & Juliet, to young love that is supremely stupid but somehow beautiful even in it's almost inevitable destruction. For the hours I was reading this book, I had a visceral need to be 16 again, fumbling around in the back seat of a crappy car with a boy and feeling like it was the most important moment of my whole life.

God, it was a beautiful feeling. The reading of the book. Get your heads out of the gutter, pervs!

But I might not ever forgive Rainbow Rowell for that open ending. It was beautiful but so completely infuriating. I hate authors and all the power they hold.

Rating: 4.5

Liked: 4.5
Plot: 4
Characterization: 5
Writing: 4.5

8. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling (read by Stephen Fry)


Description: What did Harry Potter know about magic? He was stuck with the decidedly un-magical Dursleys, who hated him. He slept in a closet and ate their leftovers. But an owl messenger changes all that, with an invitation to attend the Hogwarts School for Wizards and Witches, where it turns out Harry is already famous...

Thoughts: I love it. Have for almost 20 years now.

Oh my god, it's been almost 20 years. Hold on a second while I die.





Seriously. What the hell. I can't think about that anymore.

This reread was great and reminded me of all the little things I had forgotten. It was also great listening to the UK audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry for the first time. Looking forward to rediscovering the rest!

Rating: 4.42

Liked: 4.5
Plot: 4.5
Characterization: 4.5
Writing: 4.5
Audio: 4

What I hate most about an open ending is

>201 leahbird:: I finished Eleanor & Park two nights ago and spent 15 minutes sitting on the couch bawling my eyes out before I could manage to compose myself. You hit the nail on the head -- it's so achingly beautiful, but searingly painful at the same time.

I love your comments about Eleanor and Park. It won its first round battle in the Tournament of Books today, and it made the judges there cry too. I bawled too and smiled and laughed. Maybe because I was so afraid that the ending would be bad, but I was willing to let the no ending go. I would have been devastated by a bad ending.

Yes, a bad ending would have been devastating. I just want to KNOW! It's still driving me slightly batty.

After vowing not to years ago, I just caved in and started entering my movie collection on LT. I kept loosing count of which movies I had upgraded to Blu-Ray and discovered 7, SEVEN, duplicates on the shelves today while looking for a movie for Addy. I've tried other movie-specific databases and they suck. Please forgive me LT hardliners, I just couldn't go on.

So, now you can stalk my movies. I got all the truly important ones in today. ;) I'm obviously biased. It's funny because I was realizing how many of these I haven't watched since I bought them but not having them in the house is not an option. I'm a total sucker for a Disney marketing ploy, the most recent being Diamond. Just called it Diamond and put it in a blue box and apparently I'll buy it without question. They are evil.

Now just to get the live action finished up. It feels so much better already.

Yeah, you can tell book readers are stat freaks, even though things like movies are significantly more popular I can't for the life of me find a good cataloguing site for them. At least, nothing as in-depth as Librarything. The same is true for video games (I'm using an alternate account here on Librarything for that (ApeGames) and I've only ever found 1 decent place for music, and it's still kind of so-so.

So, I'm in bed this morning, delaying actually getting up and being a human and going to work, when the phone rings. Out of the speaker comes the most wonderful words.

"Do you want to skip work today and go to the ballet?"

YES! I don't even care what ballet! I want that more than almost anything else in the whole world right now.

So I checked with my boss (me) and she (me) was kind enough to give me the day off. Oh glory! Miracles do exist.

>209 leahbird: There is nothing that I don't love about that post.
So, did you have a great time?

Sorry for the VERY tardy reply, I could have sworn I replied days ago but maybe I dreamed that...

I did have a wonderful time at the ballet. We saw Appalachian Ballet's Peter Pan. It's a great kids' ballet, funny and moves along at a decent pace. I didn't particularly care for Tinker Bell in this incarnation, but everyone else was great. The mermaids were the best dance sequence and it was lovely. Living very near the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina, they had an actual Native American musician playing one of the musical pieces on a 250 year old Cherokee flute of some kind. It was awesome.

The only difficult part of the day was when Addy had a complete and utter meltdown 10 minutes before we left because she thought she was going to get to DANCE in the ballet and not just watch. Huge tears and serious angst. She finally pulled herself together and the rest of the day went wonderfully.

Appalachian Ballet is the dance company that she would most like perform with if she sticks with ballet, which she seems to be likely to do. Right now she just takes a preschool class at a tumbling gym that is half intro to ballet and half tumbling. It's great kid exercise and she loves it but she has already asked many many times to go to the "real ballet school" that her friends go to. It's pricey and much more serious about dance, but they have wonderful teachers who aren't crazy people who will make little girls into psychos obsessed with whether or not they can afford to eat bread so she will probably start there in August.

Today was pretty glorious. I slept half the day, catching up on much need rest, and spent the other half with Addy on the farm enjoying some pretty spectacular weather. My cousin Michael and his wife Elisha (who were my first doula clients) even came out to go fishing so I got to spend some time with little Pippa who is a bit over 2 months already. Insane.

Then my sister made us dinner and now I'm enjoying a nice quiet house and the promise of another wonderful day tomorrow. I had forgotten how lovely weekends could be when you actually use them like weekends instead of working 10 hr days. Glorious!

Glad you enjoyed the ballet -- I'm a HUGE fan as well (season ticket subscriber with Boston Ballet since early '90's). Peter Pan can be just charming, no? Just went to the BB production of Cinderella. The posters tag line is 'The Right Shoe Can Change Your Life.' Love that.

Have a great weekend!

Glad you enjoyed the day. It really started cooling down here though.

Here too. Snow on Tuesday might make my head explode!

Snow? What snow? I'm in denial.

My folks live in Maryville. Don't think they can handle any more bad weather! And they are originally from Michigan!

It's just been the weirdest couple of years weatherwise. Hope we all get last this messiness and on to some lovely spring soon.

I'm just glad it isn't supposed to start until I get home tonight.

Snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow.

And more snow.

Stolen from Lori, I loved this little writing analyzer.

I got

-Cory Doctorow twice
-David Foster Wallace once
-and George Orwell once

The only one I've read is Orwell and I don't particularly like him.... Weird. I guess I should pick up some Doctorow and give him a try.

I got H. P. Lovecraft (who?) and William Shakespeare!

>221 leahbird: For the first sample I put in, I got Dan Brown. That's right: I just got insulted by an algorithm. (With other samples I got Mark Twain, Stephen King, and David Foster Wallace. Better, but I just can't see the resemblance!)

>221 leahbird: I'm skeptical.

>223 foggidawn: ::snort:: Sorry, that algorithm serious must not liked the look of you! Good thing it changed it's tune quickly.

>224 norabelle414: Oh I'm very skeptical too since a LOT of people are getting David Foster Wallace and a couple others. But it was fun.

I'm going to Atlanta for a birth conference on Saturday. Lisa and her husband are coming with Mark. She's actually the reason we are going to this particular conference since it's all about VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section), which she's hoping for with baby #2. We had planned to stay Friday and Saturday night and have a little fun while we were there but they are most likely going to head home after the conference on Saturday. Rather than cancel the extra night in the lovely suite I booked us, I'm thinking I will take a stack of books and lock myself in for about 24 hours of lovely, quiet, private, NO WORK AND ALL READING time. What's a measly $115 for that kind of heaven?

I am sooo excited! I mean, I was very excited for quality time with friends but a day to myself is a luxury I haven't experienced in quite a while.

I'm curious about the writing analyzer, I know my tone of voice (writing-wise) is vastly different between forum posts, reviews, and actual writing, but I'm too paranoid to enter my actual work into it (even if it says it doesn't store information) to enter anything I haven't posted publicly.

I entered my latest review (minus the last paragraph due to HTML) and got:

H.P. Lovecraft. Which doesn't surprise me at all, really.

>227 Ape: I got Lovecraft when I put in a review, too! Weird.

Maybe it means our all-knowing opinons are from the eternal depths, where they lie dreaming until they can find entrance into the world of the living and drive mortals insane.

>229 Ape: *snerk* Yep, that sounds about right!

>226 leahbird: Lovely suite: $115. Locked in there with a stack of books: Priceless!

I think a lot of us got H. P. Lovecraft when we put in reviews. I put in a research report that I'd written today earlier and got Lovecraft too. That's the first time I've gotten him when it wasn't a review. I input a second research report that was originally part of the first and got William Gibson. Of course, I've gotten other authors at other times too.

Heaven, I'm in heaven!



I can now highly recommend Hyatt House hotels. Very nice and not badly priced.

Now back to my stack of books.

Lovely! I've stayed at a couple of Hyatt Place hotels that were very nice.

I hope you're enjoying your getaway!

Haha! Enjoy yourself, Leah! :)

(I don't suppose I need to tell you that, though.)

Thanks guys! I am enjoying it immensly. Just to be away from the craziness of work and home right now is equal to about a 2 week vacation normally. It's just soooooooo pleasant.

And it's working on getting me reading again!

Sounds like it's worth every penny! :)

I'm so glad you're having a good day!

New thread is up...... WITH REVIEWS OF BOOKS!