Family Reunion

This is a two-week post since I was out of town last Monday. We want to Georgia for my father's memorial, and it was a wonderful time. I reconnected with many of my East Coast relatives, and more importantly we talked and told stories and I know think of my Dad as he was before Parkinson's took so much of him away.

This week has been a resettling into routine, with me hosting my monthly book club on Friday, followed on Saturday with our annual Foam Sword party, which was a lot of fun. A good range of ages, everyone was a good sport, and the heat didn't descend until the afternoon. Even the pizza came on time, so success! Book club was also good, with a lively discussion of the book, plus good friends, and the surprise addition of a delicious cake. So I'm in good mood to start the autumn.

I'm off to sign up to see what everyone else is reading lately at bookjourney's and Teach Mentor Texts lists. Here's what I finished this week and last week:

• The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Stars: Steadfast, Jack Campbell. I can't recommend the writing style, but I like the characters and am enjoying the plot.
• Into the Forest, Jean Hegman. This was our Friday night book club pick. No one really enjoyed it, but it made for a good discussion.
• The Fault in Our Stars, John Green. Now I can go see the movie!
• Affliction, Laurel K Hamilton. These always make me laugh. Nothing like trying to find a work/life balance between a zombie apocalypse and your twelve or so lovers.

And last week, a lot of which was spent traveling to my father's memorial,  I finished:

• Whedonistas! A Celebration of the Worlds of Josh Whedon by the Women Who Love Them, Ed. Lynne M. Thomas. I like reading essays.
• Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang. For Sword & Laser book club. Very good.
• The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison. Finished is a strong word, as I just go back to the start. This will probably be my phone book for a long time.
• The Fourteenth Goldfish, Jennifer Holm. Science Fiction for kids!
• He, She, and It, Marge Piercy. Vaginal Fantasies pick last month. Slow start but strong middle and finish.
• The 14 Fibs of Gregory K., Greg Pincus. Wow, this kid has a mean family. Cybils.
• War Brothers: The Graphic Novel, Sharon McKay. Very painful but strong book. Cybils.

What am I currently reading? In good news, I finished more books than I started. I'm still reading a couple of dozen books, though, which is a bit excessive even for me. Most (not quite all) of my currently reading list is now on  GOODREADS.

• The Silver Metal Lover, Tanith Lee. For last month's Vaginal Fantasies pick.
• There Is No Dog, Meg Rosoff. YA. So far God is not very impressive.
• Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean. From my shelves.
• Nathan Hale's Hazadous Tales: Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood, Nathan Hale. This will probably be a downer.
• A Matter for Men, David Gerrold. From my shelves.
• Ultra, David Carroll.  I like the framing story -- the run, the interview, the memories.
• Anna of Byzantium, Tracy Barett. p.23. This is the story of a strong woman failing in her dubious goal -- I can tell I will have to read it slowly.
• Boxers & Saints, Gene Luen Yang. Boys are dumb around girls.
• Growing Up Brave, Donna Pincus.  How to not have an anxious child.
• Magic City: Recent Spells, Paula Guran, ed. Soon this will come back to me. p.201
• Always, Abigail, Nancy J. Cavanaugh. No change. p. 51
• About That Night, Norah McClintock.  No change. p. 53.
• Rogue, Michael Z. Williamson. I don't always understand their undercover techniques.
• Protector, C.J. Cherryh.  No change. p. 67
• Wildflower, Alecia Whitaker. No change. p. 51 16%
• Tell the Wolves I'm Home, Carol Rifka Brunt. No change.
• Divergent, Veronica Roth. No change.  p.61
• Yonder Comes the Other End of Time, Suzette Elgin. No change. p.113
• Shards of Time, Lynn Flewelling. No change. p.35
• Cathedral of the Wild, Boyd Varty. No change. p.107
• Tinker, Wen Spencer.  No change. p.310
• The Golden Leopard, Lynn Kerstan. No change. p. 234.
• Inkheart, Cornelia Funke. No change. p. 260
• The Son of Neptune, Rick Riordan. No change. p.256

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

• The Jury, Stephen Adler.  No change.  p. 36.
• Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vacca. Top down versus bottom-up reading theories. p.31.
• Nerds, Michael Buckley. Life is hard for villains. Also, there is a secret department in the school. p.54.
• Out to Canaan, Jan Karon. The dog gets hurt but doesn't die. p.276.
• The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. No change. p. 755.

What's up next?  Ideally I would only start two books a week until my currently-pile approaches normal, but I'm still frantically playing catch-up with challenges and a groaning library pile. Every other day will have to do:

Monday: (skip)
Tuesday: A Web of Air (sequel to a book I liked)
Wednesday: (skip)
Thursday:  Codex Born (from my shelves, another sequel)
Friday: (skip)
Saturday:  Imprisoned, Cybils pick
Sunday: (skip)

NOOK books: I've got some more library books waiting, starting with Trial By Desire. Also, I bought Blood and Betrayal last spring and would really like to read it.

2014 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils: 57/77. War Brothers and 14 Fibs are my two for this fortnight. I'm still behind pace.
2. Where Am I Reading? 32/51. Added one more. Behind pace.
3. Alphabetically Inclined: 19/26. No change. Still need an E, I, J,  V, X, Y, and Z.
4. What's In a Name?: 7/7. Still have to review everything. Ha!
5. Book Bingo: Fifteen boxes into square 2.
6. Gentle Spectrum Challenge: Got all the colors. Need a punny book.
7. Small Fry Safari: 8/8. All done! Except for the reviewing...
8. PoC Speculative Fiction 18/5: Affliction is a rather weak entry, I think, but Anita Blake is proud of her Hispanic heritage.
9. Big Books: 1. Time's up so I'll have to be content with my singleton pass.
10. Best of the Best 2012: 52/25.  I am stalled.
11. Reading My Library: Library temporarily closed, so on hiatus.