If you are looking for a gift for me, the cable connecting my phone speakers to the car jack is getting flaky. Also, my kids are supposed to get me a superhero movie, preferably one with Hemsworth in it. Or any other Chris, really.
In the meantime, I'm in the short time of year when I'm much younger than my older brother, who just had his birthday, and the same age as my younger sister, who had hers the week before. (The other brother has his birthday in the fall, so he's just weird. He's also the only one who might read this blog. Hi Kevin!) But for these few weeks the world is askew and anything can happen. Then my birthday comes, I eat cake, and we are stair-step siblings once again. This is still fun for me and my older brother is almost 50 -- I imagine it will still tickle me as he turns 79. Leap years are especially fun because it gives me an extra day for this imbalance, and reminds me that I'm a leap year birth, which is more special than non-leap year people. Much more special.
The Book Date is collecting the roundups of what everyone is reading and talking about this week. I'll also look in with Teach Mentor Texts which does the same thing for kidlit.
This week I finished only four books:
Cupcakes, Trinkets, and other Deadly Magic, Meghan Doidge. This was February's Vaginal Fantasy pick. I liked the setting (as did the group) but found the protagonist suffered from TSTL (too stupid to live) syndrome. Also, the grief over the murder victim seemed a bit over done -- they hadn't even had their first date yet. Yes he looked hot at yoga class, but that doesn't really imply a deep soulful connection. Horror at the murder, yes, personal grief, not so much.
No Vulgar Hotel, Judith Martin. This witty reminiscence of life as a Venetaphile felt like listening to a charming and intelligent companion at a dinner party that you thought you were dreading but are having a marvelous time at. Martin assumes you are as delightful as she is, and you almost believe it. I'm not converted to her passion, but I appreciate how she lives it.
* Twin Spica 5, Kou Yaginuma. I've stuck with two manga series -- this and Bride's Story, and I guess that are mostly opposites. This one is set in near-future (modernish?) Japan, and I suspect that one reason I like it is that the main character is so short I can easily tell who she is. In the fifth volume, I find the story of the new boy interesting, as well as more back story for the Lion guy. I've requested book 6, and I'm eager to see how the training exercise in the woods turns out. I'm really hoping the kids pull through successfully.
Rob Roy, Walter Scott. This book stayed action adjacent to the very end. The narrator seemed a passive observer when he was close enough to see what was going on, although mostly he just missed events and heard about them later. As a framing story to tell the story of Rob Roy, it left me flat. I did feel a little sorry for his girlfriend, who deserved better. At least life with our Francis was possibly marginally better than being walled up in a French convent, as her dad planned for her.
* Books I started this week. Most books tend last for weeks on my lists, because I have this habit of reading dozens of things at once. But occasionally I keep focus for several days on end.I wasn't feeling too great on library day, so I didn't browse for picture books. Which made me feel even more low energy. Everything conspires to make me grumpy when I'm ill.
The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy, Julia Quinn. The next Reading my Library book, because I'm not enjoying Miracle at Augusta.
Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon. The next Cybils YA. I should space these out more, as I suspect that reading too much non-SF YA makes me crabby. Kids with weird problems and angst.
Child of the Ghosts, Jonathan Moeller. Another Kindle book I have somehow acquired. I know absolutely nothing about this except that it appears in my Kindle reader.
Bookmarks moved in several books:
Republic, Lindsay Buroker. I'm rooting for Moldynano to keep his girlfriend.
Hild, Nicola Griffith. Things got a little confusing when I accidentally skipped 3 disks, but now I'm on track again. There's no way I'm finishing before the library limit is up, though.
Under a Graveyard Sky, John Ringo. They are only giving us ten minutes or so each time, down from twenty or thirty minutes a few weeks back. More discussion of the rules of sea salvage.
Crux, Ramez Naam. Still not grabbing me, which is a pity since this means I'm falling behind on my mail (I read it while sorting the post).
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak. Nazi Germany was a grim place to live in during the war, especially if you were in any way a decent person. Also, foreshadowing the death of the neighbor boy does not make me want to leap ahead in my reading. Need to finish this by next Tuesday, though.
Radiance, Catherynne M. Valente. So far I don't mind reading about 50 pages a day, but it's not hard to put it down after that. But I'm hoping that like the hosts of Sword and Laser I'll find the back half more interesting.
Miracle at August, James Patterson & Peter de Jonge. Our hero does some smart stuff, and then some stupid stuff. I'm guessing there is a difference between a 6 and a 9 in golf clubs?
A Traitor To Memory, Elizabeth George.
Awakening to the Sacred, Lama Surya Das. How to meditate Rushen, identity-meditation.
Midnight Crossroad, Charlaine Harris.
Emerald Atlas, John Stephens. The brother has pulled an Edmund and fallen in the hands of the evil witch.
Reading and Learning To Read, Jo Vacca. Peer reading appears to benefit both the able and the lagging reader, so have at it!
2016 Challenge Progress:
- Cybils 2015: 10 out of 82. Reading Everything Everything, and then Dumplin' will finish off my first category.
- Reading My Library: Reading Miracle at Augusta. Not enjoying it, so also reading The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy. Still listening to Hild.
- Where Am I Reading?: 13/50. Nothing new this week.
- TBR Triple Dog Dare. My totals are 26 library books, 6 personal library, 4 e-book. I don't think there are many library books left.
- Full House Challenge: 25/25. I'm done! Rob Roy has been in my TBR bookcase for years.
- Library Challenge: I'm at 38 and have moved into the last category.
- Diversity Challenge 2016: Kidlit: 6/12. Adult lit: 6/12.
- Shelf Love Challenge 2016: Moving up! 8.
- Grown-Up Reading Challenge 2016: 12/20. I don't think I'm approaching this in a very adult manner.
- Eclectic Reader Challenge 2016: 2/12. I got the easy ones.
3 comments:
Busy week for you.
Looks good...ENJOY!!
Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My It's Monday, What Are You Reading
All you older siblings are just old. And 'Hi' yourself.
I had to look up "No Vulgar Hotel" simply to find out what on Earth a "Venetaphile" was - I can't say that I've ever been desperate to visit Venice, but it sounds like it would a fascinating read.
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