Heading Into the Holidays

I continue to neglect this little blog, but I'm also getting stressed about the holidays approaching. I still need to finish all my challenges! And if I have time around that, I might do some Christmas shopping or decorating or maybe baking. Hmm. I can probably delegate that last to my kids; they make better cookies anyway.

This week I only read five books, and four were middle school books. None were from my Cybils challenge, none gave me new states, and one filled in my final North America slot. What they had in common was the library calling them home - all five had no renews left.

Next week I REALLY need to read at least two more state books, although I'm partly through at least one, as well as making progress on two Cybils books. I got a last South America book from the library from my latest READING MY LIBRARY gathering, although now I note that I need another South Pacific book.  And I want to spend time in Robin McKinley's Sunshine, although I can dally there since I've read it so many times already. But the library strain is lifting, and I should make it into January, where I'll institute some kind of Read-Your-Own-Silly-Shelves discipline.

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

• Milagros, The Girl From Away, Meg Medina. A Reading My Library book that also takes place in non-USA North America.
• The Clone Codes #2, Patricia C. McKissack. Continuing the series that my school book club is reading.
• War Horse, Michael Morpurgo. RML book that makes me all trendy.
• The Magnificent 12: The Key, Michael Grant. Third in the series; lots of fun although the kids liked it more than I did.
• Master and Apprentice, Sonya Bateman. Sequel that grew on me the longer I read it.

What am I currently reading? Technically I have 28 books open, but really I'm only trying to read about six. I guess that doesn't make me sound much saner, does it?

• Sunshine, Robin McKinley. Rereading my favorite vampires & chocolate book. Yum. I don't mind how long this reread takes.
• Everybody Sees the Ants, A.S. King. Cybils book, and also a Best of the Best pick. Looks like it will be depressing.
• Fargo Rock City, Chuck Klosterman. History of heavy metal that is set in NORTH DAKOTA. It emphasizes how out of it I was in my youth.
• Moon Over Manifest, Clare Vanderpool. I bought this for the Newbery sticker, and it's set in KANSAS.
• The King Commands, Meg Burden. Sequel to an earlier Cybils book and top of my TBR list.
• Sheltered From the Swastika, Peter Kory. Present from LibraryThing. The war just ended, and bureaucracy has a plan for Peter.
• The Curse of the Wendigo, Richard Yancy. (audio) Paulos can't understand why Xan and I stick with this; the scene with the kid trying to rip out a corpse's heart started this conversation again.
• Frost, Marianna Baer. (NOOK). I got it back! I have to say, modern boarding schools are tough reading for me; the kids just seem less interesting on their own.
• The Enemy, Charles Hudson. NOOK. This was almost our December family book club pick, but no longer. I guess I'll finish it anyway.
• The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt. (NOOK) My brother recommended this to me, but it keeps getting buried beneath challenge books.
• Phoenix In Flight, Sherwood Smith & Dave Trowbridge. (NOOK).  Deaths and dismemberments in the final battle!
• Elfhome, Wen Spencer. (NOOK, reread) Well, I finished it but I'm still going back to the really fun parts. That doesn't mean the sex, which Spencer doesn't do particularly well.
• The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. Dipper. New book from my classics shelf.
• The Borrowers Afield, Mary Norton. Dipper. Stop with the Spiller hating!
• War With the Newts, Karel Capek. Dipper. We have met the newts/
• The Catholic Church in the Modern World, E.E.Y. Hales. Dipper. Europe has just separated church and state, often with disrespect to the True Church. 
• Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid, Megan McDonald. Dipper. They garborated the class newt!
• Smart But Scattered, Peggy Dawson. Good stuff. I like the kids agreeing to plans because they are sure they know what they are doing...
• Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey. Paused.

The list of the books I started but didn't finish over the summer has not budged:

• 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: 70/73. Three YA books left; one almost finished, one started, and one waiting. I'm calm.
2. Global Reading Challenge: 19/21.  I finished North America, I have a South America waiting, and I need an Oceanea. Slightly stressed.
3. Where Am I Reading?:  44/50.  Currently reading Kansas and North Dakota. Have New Hampshire waiting. I think I have North Carolina waiting as well. Need to check on Delaware, and I think I still need Idaho. Stressed.
4. Science Book Challenge: 3.1415/3.14159. Done, but I'd like more. I wonder if Righteous Minds will be science? And if I'll get to read it this year?
5. Reading My Library:  Finished two more, by Medina and Morpurgo. Got the next six, some of which fit into the other challenges.
6. Eclectic Challenge: 11/12. Still need a classic. Stressed.
7. Best of the Best: 32/25. Wendigo is sliming along, and I picked two more audios from the list for our holiday traveling. Some overlaps with Cybils will also notch this up. No stress at all.
8. Summer Reading Goal: I think I'll try to finish the cleanup during the January no-new-books period.