Turkey Time Approacheth

The month is November, AKA NaNoWriMo, so I'm writing a novel. Still. I'm on target for word count, so that's a thing. I manage to come up with plot idea about a day in advance, so I'm thinking overall coherence may be a problem.

I also hosted the judging for our junior high art contest, which was a thing. Now we just have to display it at teacher conferences and my big event is DONE. And I can start worrying about what I've been assigned for Thanksgiving dinner.

The Book Date is collecting the roundups of what everyone is reading and talking about this week at back at her blog. I'll also look in with Teach Mentor Texts which does the same thing for kidlit, since I read two kids books.

This week I finished 6 books:



Mischief and Mistletoe, assorted short stories. I like most of these authors, and my book club just read one of their books, so I was inspired to actually read this one. It was fun, and worked well as I wrote my novel, since there is no overlap between my story and these stories.

Vengeance of the Demon, Diana Rowland. I seem to have drifted away from this series -- I think I missed a few? I like the characters, but the situation is now a bit top-heavy for me to get back into it.

The Gods Themselves, Isaac Asimov (reread). I missed the final club meeting for this book, which was a bit of a shame. I've read it about three times, ten years apart, so for me it was interesting to see how I reacted each time. I liked it the most the second time.

Little Robot, Ben Hatke. I think kids would enjoy this more than I did -- I kept falling into the question of real vs imaginary that it completely not the point. But Hatke's illustrations are still delightful -- his children are real and powerful and smart, even on the pages with no dialogue at all.

Logan (Montana Creeds), Linda Lael Miller. Billionaire cowboy romance, just like it says on the tin. I did recoil in horror from the abysmal health care provided -- who gets a proscription for birth control pills without understanding when they start working, or what to do if you are already pregnant? Next time find a Planned Parenthood, lady! Also, MONTANA!

Strange Relations, Sonia Levitin. I picked this for it's Hawaiian setting, and also because I trust the author. It was a good choice -- the Hawaii, Orthodox Judaism, secular Judaism, boyfriend issues, and even the family backstory mixed well together for an interesting fast read.

And I started new books:



The Cobweb, Neil Stevenson & J. Frederick George. This is of great interest to me as it is set in IOWA.

14, Peter Clines. My next book club book. Anyone have good suggestions for creepy house movies?

Songs of Willow Frost (started), Jamie Ford. My next Reading My Library pick. Chinese orphan in California, so no new state for me.

Bookmarks Moved in one other book, plus the audio:

audio: Lord of Scoundrels, Loretta Chase. Well, thank goodness the hero drank himself to oblivion rather than have sex with his wife while my son is listening with me. I hope I don't crash the car. In the meantime, we're both roaring with laughter at the appropriate places. Reading My Library pick.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson. I'm reading this to catch up to Sword and Laser. I have a strong feeling terrible things are going to happen, so I'm dragging my eyes about the last 100 pages.

The next few books I'm not really reading, just dipping into between the books I'm trying to finish so that I can pretend that I'm going to read the books on my bookcases.



The October Country, Ray Bradbury. Small town ladies are tough. Tougher than death.
If I'm Jewish and You're Christian, What Are the Kids?, Andrea King.
Rob Roy, Walter Scott.
Waiting For the Party, Ann Thwaite.
A Traitor To Memory, Elizabeth George.
Reading and Learning To Read, Jo Vacca. I like books about how reading works.

2015 Challenge Progress:

1. Reading My Library: Listened to the audio book.
2. Where Am I Reading?: 39/51.  Read the Hawaii plus a Montana and started the Indiana. It's going to be tight this year.
3. Award Winning Book Challenge: I have apparently stopped reviewing books. But I've ticked off many awards -- Strange Relations was another winner. 
4. Book Riot Read Harder: 23/24. I still need an African author.
5. Alphabetically Inclined:  I V X  Z still missing. 22/26. Since I only count books I own, this is hard.
6. Best of the Best 2012: 52/25.  I am stalled. Maybe time to go back?
7. Cybils 2014: Complete! I bought the last one as the libraries didn't seem to have it. WOOT!