Weak Internet Is My New Excuse

Still here, but sparsely. I did try to do some reviewing, but my internet connection kept failing. I'm blaming the heavy rains, but I hope it steadies itself soon.

I managed to read just about everything I really really wanted to finish, jettisoning a few books when I discovered I already had read books set in the same state.  I got everything in on time, and even slipped my library holdings under my age for a few minutes -- the time between dropping of my books and walking over to the hold shelf ;-). So I only read nine books, returned three unopened, and declared victory.

Next week I hope to finish two books that the library will call home soon (Superhuman and Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun), finish one Cybils and start the next, and read some picture books with N. He's currently got a stash of books about Egypt and the pyramids, and I snuck in one about Germany as well, since he'll go on vacation there soon. I'll probably also pick up the next Reading My Library selection as well as at least one of the books I've been buying.

What were those nine books? 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.

• Rock Bottom, Erin Brockovitch & C.J. Lyons. West Virginia!
• The Rat-Catcher's Daughter, Laurence Housman. Elegant fairy tales.
• The Vision of Stephen, Lolah Burford. Respectful time-traveling kidlit.
• Wild Wild Death (Pepper Martin #8), Casey Daniels. New Mexico!
• Hot Water, Erin Brockovitch & C.J. Lyons. South Carolina!
• The Revenge of the Forty-Seven Samurai, Erik Haugaard. More quality historical kidlit.
• A Friendship For Today, Patricia C. McKissack. A Reading My Library selection.
• Rescuing the Children, Deborah Hodge. Fascinating nonfiction kidlit about the Kindertransport.
• Queen of Attolia, Megan Whelan Turner. Reread for my family book club.

What am I currently reading? Technically I have 24 books open, but really I'm only trying to read about six. I guess that doesn't make me sound much saner, does it?

• The Geometry of Sisters, Luanne Rice. (NOOK) Takes place in RHODE ISLAND. The family claims to love each other, but everyone is indescribably cruel.
• Super Human, Michael Carroll. I'm enjoying this Best of the Best pick enough that I picked up the sequel for X.
• Frost, Marianna Baer. (NOOK). Waiting for the library to give me this Cybils pick again.
• The Hum and the Shiver, Alex Bledsoe. I like the mystery about this Tennessee family.
• The Curse of the Wendigo, Richard Yancy. (audio) The grossness has reached new and awesome heights.
• The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt. (NOOK) My brother recommended this to me.
• Words In the Dust, Trent Reedy. Cybils finalist. I've read two kidlit books about Afghanistan, and both involved girls with a cleft palate.
• 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. Europe has just separated church and state, often with disrespect to the True Church. 
• Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid, Megan McDonald. They garborated the class newt!
• Smart But Scattered, Peggy Dawson. Good stuff. "Organization" and "time management" are also weak areas for me and my kids.
• Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey. Paused.

The list of the books I started but didn't finish over the summer remains depressingly static:

• 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. No change, but I'm partly through 2 of the final four.
2. Global Reading Challenge: 17/21. I got one waiting in my book bag.
3. Where Am I Reading?:  41/50.  One month, nine books. This is looking grim. I added South Carolina, West Virginia, and New Mexico. I'm currently reading books in Tennessee and Rhode Island. Still need Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and North Dakota.
4. Science Book Challenge: 3.1415/3.14159. Done, but I'd like more. I wonder if Righteous Minds will be science?
5. Reading My Library:  Chugging along.
6. Eclectic Challenge: 11/12. Still need a classic.
7. Best of the Best: 31/25. Almost done with Superhuman, and Wendigo is sliming along.
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.