In Media Res

  We seem to have another three day weekend. Well, the middle school has Monday off and the high school has next Friday off, which is what comes when you jump districts between one school and the next.

There's not much to talk about this week -- I read into the middle of several books but didn't really get to the end of any of them. But I'm enjoying all of them, so it's more a case of dawdling and smelling the flowers along the way than of avoiding the pages and wishing it were all over. Even my audio book is not quite as distasteful as it was for a while, which is odd because the thing that perked my interest back up was the kid actually getting to rob some graves. Ew.

I'll sign in at Book Journey and Teach Mentor Texts since I want to see what everyone else is reading this month. I managed to finish two whole books, plus a few picture books.

This week I've managed to finish:

• The Forbidden Rose, Joanna Bourne. Fun historical romance with French people talking in cute French syntax and spying and competence. Also fondly associated with reading the other books in the series during my New Zealand vacation.
• The Shadow Thieves, Anne Ursu. Where has Ursu been hiding herself? I assumed she was new when I fell in love with Breadcrumbs last year, but she's got a backlist. And now I've got a longer TBR list. This finishes off a batch of Reading My Library books, so I'm glad I've got their replacements ready.

I also read some picture books:

• The Fossil, Bill Thomson. Beautiful but scientifically frightening.
• Boy, Bird, and Dog, David McPhail. More of an early reader than a book for sharing.
• Vote For Me!, Ben Clanton. Pick a candidate -- the elephant or the donkey. Get it?

What am I currently reading? Five books in my bag.

• Magic Rises, Ilona Andrews. This is a lot of fun.
• Untold, Sarah Rees Brennan. YA. Wow, I can't believe I am making myself savor this. I'm only reading a section a day. Sadly, it still won't last me until the third book comes out.
• Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins. YA. OK, Katniss, things are getting grim!
• The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemison. I'm only a few pages in. Book club is on Tuesday.
• Fierce Reads Anthology. NOOK. Short stories aren't giving me a sense of urgency.
• Rotters, Daniel Kraus. Audio. The family that grave-robs together... I have no idea how to finish that sentence.
• Developing Standards-Based Report Cards, Thomas R. Guskey & Jane M. Bailey. Time to finish this for real.

Reading intermittedly, and deliberately slowly:

• Radio Fifth Grade, Gordon Korman. Is it cheating to do your homework (a trivia quiz) by running a trivia quiz on the radio?
• Out to Canaan, Jan Karon. The son is home, and is only 14. I was picturing him college aged.
• Keep Me Forever, Rosemary Laurey. Men are condescending.
• A General Theory of Love, Thomas Lewis. The chemistry of despair.
• The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. I should get over my dislike of Pickwick and relax and enjoy all the other bits.
• How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card. Since I read a page or so whenever I finish something, this has been gathering dust.

What's up next? This is pretty much the same list as last week, since I didn't finish much this week. I'm still concentrating on my home library, so maybe next week I'll get to The Second Spy, a Books of Elsewhere sequel. From my dusty shelves I'm thinking something skinny.  If I finish Magic Rises I'll go on to The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan. And my friendly book club is doing Tarzan of the Apes. 

2014 Challenges:

1. TBR Triple Dog Dare: 4. Another ancient book read.
2. Cybils: 8/77. I've ordered up some nonfiction picture books.
3. Where Am I Reading? 7/51. I used the location of the Biggest Mall to pinpoint this one.
4. What's In a Name?: 0/6. 
5. Book Bingo: Five Squares.
6. Reading My Library:  Finished Ursu's The Shadow Thieves.
7. Best of the Best 2012: 48/25.  Dragging through Rotters. Looking forward to Lover's Dictionary.