Still Here!

My second week posting in a row!  I'm clearly (sortof) back.

I'm going to try to do a lot of reading this week, since I have seven books from the library that cannot be renewed, as well as four challenges that still need spots filled. Luckily there is a least a little overlap between those categories, so I only need to read ten books or in the next six days. We'll see next week how successful I am...

What have I read this week? I'll go sign in at Book Journey's round-up of what people have read, are reading, and will read. And since most of my reading this week was YA or younger, I'll also check in with Teach Mentor Texts, which specializes in books for the non-voting crowd.

• Page By Paige, Laura Lee Gulledge. Cybils graphic novel. 
• Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland, Sally Walker. Did you notice the MARYLAND in the title?
• The Red Pyramid, Rick Riordan. Pre-reading for family book club.
• The Throne of Fire, Rick Riordan. Family book club book!
• Unspoken, Sarah Rees Brennan. Smart and funny YA fantasy.
• The Murder of Tutankhamen, Bob Brier. Gave added insight to the Tut exhibit at the museum.
• All Seeing Eye, Rob Thurman. Fun paranormal but not a romance.
• The Voyage of the Frog, Gary Paulsen. Hemingway for the elementary school crowd.
• Close Range, Annie Proulx. Wyoming!

What am I currently reading? I started four books yesterday after noticing that the library would call them home soon. I have three others that I'll attack if I do well with those four, and then there are the other books I was reading anyway:

• The Vision of Stephen, Lolah Burford. One of the books recommended in Noel Perrin's A Child's Delight, a book of book recommendations. Due at the library VERY SOON.
• Rock Bottom, Erin Brockovich & C. J. Lyons.  Takes place in WEST VIRGINIA, and due soon.
• The Rat-Catcher's Daughter, Laurence Housman. Another rec from Perrin, who thinks that the poet's brother is a bit neglected. Due at the library.
• Hot Water, Erin Brockovich & C. J. Lyons. Takes place in SOUTH CAROLINA, and due soon.
• The Geometry of Sisters, Luanne Rice. (NOOK) Takes place in RHODE ISLAND, but is apparently not a fluffy romance.
• Super Human, Michael Carroll. My son recommends this Best of the Best title. So far I agree that it is fun.
• Frost, Marianna Baer. (NOOK). Waiting for the library to give it to me again.
• The Hum and the Shiver, Alex Bledsoe. I'm liking this. I like the girl soldier.
• The Revenge of the Forty-Seven Samurai, Erik Haugaard.  Interesting setting in Japan around 1700.
• The Curse of the Wendigo, Richard Yancy. (audio) The grossness continues, although with some very strange female characters.
• Phoenix In Flight, Sherwood Smith & Dave Trowbridge. (NOOK).  I'm not reading this that quickly.
• Elfhome, Wen Spencer. (NOOK, reread) Knock 'em out, Oilcan!
• The Borrowers Afield, Mary Norton. Dipper. Intruder alert! 
• War With the News, Karel Capek. Dipper. Not really starting yet.
• The Catholic Church in the Modern World, E.E.Y. Hales. Dipper. 
• Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid, Megan McDonald. They garborated the class newt!
• Smart But Scattered, Peggy Dawson. Good stuff. The "planning" chapter hit home.
• Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey. Paused.

I'll keep the remaining list of the books started but unfinished over summer vacation here for my reference, as I do plan to finish them, hopefully before next summer:

• The Tunnel of Hugsy Goode, Eleanor Estes. Was getting dull.
• Ecstasia, Francesca Lia Block. I find her mythic stories harder going than her Weezie Bat books.
• Bob, Son of Battle, Alfred Ollivant. I'm not liking the dialect, and I think the guy I hate is supposed to be the hero. Oops.
• Tricksters, Margaret Mahy. I have no excuse for not finishing this yet.
• Tessie, Jesse Jackson. The author makes me giggle.
• Puddleby Adventures, Hugh Lofting. I had too many Dolittle books back-to-back.
• The Avion My Uncle Flew, Cyrus Fisher. I lost this while reading it, but now I know where it is.
• The Eye of the Warlock, P.W. Catanese. Mixed-up fairy tale.
• Redskin and Cowboy, G. A. Henty. Waiting for the boy to run away from home.

Challenges:

1. Cybils: 69/73. Final four; I'm about to start Words in the Dust. 
2. Global Reading Challenge: 17/21. About to start a South American book.
3. Where Am I Reading?:  38/50.  Got Wyoming and Maryland. Two months, twelve books left. I'm currently reading books in Tennessee, West Virginia, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. Still need Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and North Dakota.
4. Science Book Challenge: 3.1415/3.14159. Done, but I'd like more.
5. Reading My Library:  Chugging along.
6. Eclectic Challenge: 11/12. Still need a classic.
7. Best of the Best: 31/25. No change, but one has entered my reading bag.
8. Summer Reading Goal: All over but the cleanup. My bare shelf is filled up again, but two boxes have disappeared from my living room.