Stay On Target

 Still on the hook for my challenges -- I've only one last Cybils finalists to finish so I'm turning my attention to my geography lists.  I need eleven more states, including D.C. I think this is the worst shape I've been in for December since I started this challenge.

Of course, there may be some other distractions going on this month. At least I finally have my tree up, and have scattered my outdoor lights across the floor of my living room. If you peer through my windows you may get a glimpse of them blinking.

I'll sign in at Book Journey or Teach Mentor Texts since I want to see what everyone else is reading this month.

This week I finished:

• Ruby Holler, Sharon Creech. Kidlit. For my elementary school book club.
• Boy21, Matthew Quick. YA. Cybils finalist. My high schooler recommends it.
• The Last Dragonslayer, Jasper Fforde. Kidlit. Cybils finalist. The protagonist is 15, but it does read more as kidlit than YA. Another book receiving my son's praise.
• The Cabinet of Earth, Anne Nesbit. Kidlit. Cybils finalist.
• The Adventures of Beanboy, Lisa Harkrader. Kidlit. Cybils finalist. My son recommends it, although he thought it took place in Ohio. Sadly, it is Kansas based.
• Chomp, Carl Hiassen. Kidlit. Cybils finalist.
• The Peculiar, Stefan Bachmann. Kidlit. Cybils finalist.
• Endangered, Eliot Schrefer. YA. Cybils finalist.
• A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, Dorothy Gilman. I defiantly read a book just for me. Go Mrs Pollifax, international agent in a spiffy hat.

What am I currently reading?  My book bag has some essays by Fadiman, a cozy mystery in Indiana, the latest paperback In Death book, and my NOOK. 

• At Large and At Small, Anne Fadiman. Library. Gems of essays for the sake of being essays.
• The Storyteller, Antonia Michaelis. YA. Library. The last of the Cybils, but so dark I'll probably take a week or so to read it.
• Paradise, Toni Morrison. It's been pushed aside by Cybils reading, but its Oklahoma setting may push it back up.
• Calculated In Death, J.D. Robb. Library. Only one dead body so far, so maybe it's not one of the gruesome ones.
• Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?, Louise Rennison. Audio. YA. Library. On disk 4/5. The boys are liking this even though they only here it intermittently -- I listen even when they aren't there.
• Conspiracy, Lindsay Burokers. NOOK. Still not making progress. The library picks always push in front of this poor purchased book.
• Developing Standards-Based Report Cards, Thomas R. Guskey & Jane M. Bailey. I should just finish this -- the last session roamed all over the book.
• Radio Fifth Grade, Gordon Korman. The new teacher does not respect the radio.
• Out to Canaan, Jan Karon. Service sometimes demands sacrifice. And guests.
• Keep Me Forever, Rosemary Laurey. I like the progress of the rich gardener.
• A General Theory of Love, Thomas Lewis. Some false notes about autism.
• The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. Pickwick is defiant, and goes to Bath. I snore.
• How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card. I like his definitions of science fiction.

What's up next? I'll attack the eleven books I need for the Where Are You Reading challenge, and hope to fit in two more colors books as well. I got a bunch from the library, so that should help.

2013 Challenges:

1. Cybils: 73/74.  I'm 50 pages into the last one.
2. Where Am I Reading?: 40/51. No change -- I had zilch luck with the wave of Cybils I just finished, which I was kind of hoping would give me a few of the remainder.
3. Crazy Quilt Colors: 7/9. Still need brown and patterns.
4. Reading My Library:  Not this week, either. Maybe next week.
5. Best of the Best 2012: 46/25.   In Zanesville is on deck.