Spring Sunshine

Spring poked its head into the Northwest this week, and I sure hope it likes what it sees and settles in. This got so good that I actually went for a run. Well, more of a toddle really, but perhaps it can lead to better stuff. I also make some progress on my Cybils challenge, reading most of the small chapter books.

This may be the longest I've ever made it through a TBR dare, so I'm chuffed about that. I'm still not sure I'll make it all the way to the end (March is a very long month), but I'm proud of making it to St Patricks Day. Now I'll sign in at Book Journey and Teach Mentor Texts since I want to see what everyone else is reading this month while I show off my recent reading path.

• The War With Grandpa, Robert Kimmel Smith. For my school book club. Fun read.
• Kelsey Green, Reading Queen, Claudia Mills. Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist.
• The Case of the Toxic Mutants (Dragonbreath #9), Ursula Vernon. Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist.
• Nory Ryan's Song, Patricia Reilly Giff. A book about Ireland, appropriate for the holiday.
• Georges, Alexandre Dumas. NOOK. This adventure story was also the oldest book on my Goodreads TBR list.
• Keep Me Forever, Marlene Darcy. A paranormal I've been slowly reading.
• The Dragon and the George, Gordon R. Dickson. A book from my shelves.
• Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat, Anna Branford. Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist. Started rereading it with my early reader.
• Home Sweet Horror, James Preller. Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist.
• Undead and Unwed, MaryJanice Davidson. NOOK. For Vaginal Fantasies.
• Lulu and the Dog From the Sea, Hilary McKay. Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist.
• Love Bites (My Sister the Vampire), Sienna Mercer. Another book from my shelves.

Also a picture book:

• The Nowhere Box, Sam Zuppardi. Someday I want to read a picture book about an older sibling who sometimes wants to play by himself and that's OK. But not this book -- the kid comes to the Important Realization that it is More Fun To Play With Your Siblings.

What am I currently reading?

• One Week Girlfriend, Monica Murphy. I got distracted by other books, but so far this is cute, if young for me.
• The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater (book & NOOK). How the really rich are different from the rest of us.
• The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, Dorothy Gilman. AUDIO. I love sharing things I like with my kids.
• War For the Oaks, Emma Bull. I've been meaning to read this for decades.
• The Unseen Guest (Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place), Maryrose Wood. Library -- next on my Reading My Library Quest.
• Long May She Reign, Ellen Emerson White. I didn't actually finish this in time for book club, but I'm enjoying enough to finish it late.

Reading intermittently, and deliberately slowly. These never change much:

• Radio Fifth Grade, Gordon Korman. Crises approaching as all roads intersect.
• Out to Canaan, Jan Karon. BBQ meets air-show.
• A General Theory of Love, Thomas Lewis. Training your brain with neural networks.
• The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. Pickwick in prison -- dull.
• How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card. Info-dumping with style.

What's up next? My family book club is reading The Great and Terrible Quest, so I need to reread that.  We Are Not Eaten By Yaks is up on top of my nightstand, with the library book The Night Circus next to it. That's a book I've meant to have read, although I'm not sure I'll like reading it. Constellation Games and Hawkes Harbor are due soon, so I'd better start them as well.

2014 Challenge Progress:

1. TBR Triple Dog Dare: 21. Two more weeks before I can buy more books!
2. Cybils: 28/77. Almost finished the Early Chapter Books and started on poetry. Oh, and I just noticed that McKinley's Shadows is on the list. Woot!
3. Where Am I Reading? 16/51. Unchanged, which is OK. I'm currently reading books set in California and Virginia, which is good. Oh, and Georges was set in the South Pacific Africa! Oops. I mean, it's an island, but culturally I guess it belongs to Africa.
4. Alphabetically Inclined: 13/26. Half-way already! Still only using books on my shelves.
5. What's In a Name?: 4/7. Got a time reference. Still need weather, school subject, and shape.
6. Book Bingo: 19 Squares. New Releases will be easier once I'm off the Triple Dog Dare.
7. Gentle Spectrum Challenge: 5/10, 4/10. No changes, since I'm not counting the youngest books.
8. Small Fry Safari: 4/8 -- A picture book and Rump fall into Name in Title and Unsightly in Title.
9. PoC Speculative Fiction 1/5: I'm counting on the Cybils to help me out here.
10. Best of the Best 2012: 51/25.  I have The Night Circus on deck, and another audio waiting for after I finish Mrs. Pollifax.
11. Reading My Library:  Should finish Maryrose Wood's book soon.