April Folly!

Well, the bad news is I am officially out of the March Madness Basketball pool. The good news is my book fast is over! Hooray! I can read new books again! I can browse the library!

I can read the books I won, including my ARC of Sarah Rees Brennan's Tell the Wind and Fire. My son already read it, as he is not bound by foolish dares, and he recommends it highly. He enjoyed it despite his lack of Dickens awareness, and at the end he was disappointed to learn it was a stand-alone; he wishes he could spend more time in the world Rees Brennan builds.

I read something on GoodReads about how people (teens) enjoy Rees Brennan for her love triangles, which I can kind of see for her second trilogy but usually the love part is secondary to the need to grow up and oh yeah, save the world. Tomorrow I plan to read and find out for myself.

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, which I read three of this week.

This week I finished:



Twin Spica 6, Kou Yaginuma. The kids wrap up their outdoor challenge, and our hero shows herself to be a true astronaut by refusing to leave anyone behind. And the mystery disease crops up again. I really need to start learning the kids' names so I can talk about the series.

* A Bride's Story 7, Kaoru Mori. My other manga series, which I have now caught up on! This one has lovely drawings, and this episode focussed on a new character, a lonely bride who finds a friend at the bath house. So a lot of nudity happens, and I think I forgot to hand this one over to my son. Accidentally!

Courage & Defiance, Deborah Hopkinson. The next Cybils YA nonfiction.

* Fire Touched, Patricia Briggs. I always enjoy Brigg's version of the world, with the fae and werewolves revealed among us. I liked how several ongoing issues are firmly dealt with, especially the hostility of her husband's pack towards her, and how prices are paid for risks taken.

Airtight, David Rosenfelt. My next Library Quest book. And it takes place in New Jersey!

Pillars of the World, Anne Bishop. I think I forgot to mention that I started this Vaginal Fantasy pick last week. The misogyny of the bad guys was a bit over the top, but I liked that the main character picked a good guy instead of the flighty fairy prince. And I liked how Bishop had at least three sides to the problem, and despite the bluntness of the evil witch hunter had a more nuanced introduction to the worlds of fairy.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo. I can confirm that I'm not a magic person, but at least I was better about getting rid of things as I read this. Maybe that will stick.

* 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 started and am still reading four more books:



The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Laurie R. King. I think I've read this with another book club, but now I'm reading it for my Tuesday night meeting. Mary Russell is clearly an amazing person, but then so is Sherlock Holmes, so if I believe in one I can believe in two. It's a good excuse to watch some Basil Rathbone, anyway. (Sherlock Holmes: Dressed to Kill was last week's movie selection.)

Tommy: The Gun the Changed America, Karen Blumenthal. The next Cybils YA nonfiction book covers the development and spread of the submachine gun made famous in Hollywood gangster movies and in appalling crimes during Prohibition.

Sisterland, Curtis Sittenfeld. My next Reading My Library pick.

Tell the Wind and Fire, Sarah Rees Brennan. I've just dipped my eyelashes in because I couldn't wait once I pried it back from my son. It's apparently a retelling of A Tale of Two Cities, which I remember enjoying as a teen.


Bookmarks moved in several books:



Hild, Nicola Griffith. The relationship with Cian is a bit odd, but I like how Hild is growing into her power.

Under a Graveyard Sky, John Ringo. The difficulty of scaling a cruise ship that still has survivors is real.

Crux, Ramez Naam. I wish I liked the good guys more; the bad guys seems to be more sympathetic.

Child of the Ghosts, Jonathan Moeller. The child is learning to spy, and also how to use seduction.

Blake, or the Huts of America, Martin Delaney. This is the first book on Nisi Shawl's Crash Course in the History of Black Science Fiction, which I have commenced working my way through. I wonder how the son's accent stayed so different from his parents, although I suspect it's to be symbolic of his intelligence and independence as opposed to their acceptance of their servitude.

Archangel's Enigma, Nalini Singh. It's back -- the Roomba pushed it out from under the bed. Robot servants for the win! Singh is balancing the HEA couple with an ongoing apocalyptic disaster, which is a good combination of romance with paranormal.

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.




A Traitor To Memory, Elizabeth George.  More mysteries of a forgotten childhood.
Awakening to the Sacred, Lama Surya Das. How to make mediation part of your daily life.
Midnight Crossroad, Charlaine Harris. Bobo is a good investigator.
Emerald Atlas, John Stephens. The children meet a strong protector. Can they trust him?
Kenilworth, Walter Scott.
Reading and Learning To Read, Jo Vacca. How to incorporate personal reading even with emerging readers.

2016 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2015: 17 out of 82. Two more YA nonfiction, so I'd better order up some YA SF.
2. Reading My Library:  Finished Airtight and started Sisterland.  Still listening to Hild.
3. Where Am I Reading?: 20/50.  New Jersey! It's very relaxing to be on track, although I don't see any of my current reads giving me any freebies.
4. TBR Triple Dog Dare. My final totals are 32 library books, 7 personal library, 5 e-book. And a comfortable library list, and, last but not least, a renewed sense of sanity.
5. Full House Challenge: 25/25. DONE! My first new book of April filled the 2016 spot. Now to start over.
6. Library Challenge: I'm at 62. I do love me a good public library.
7. Diversity Challenge 2016: Kidlit: 10/12. I need someone on the spectrum and a Holocaust book. Adult lit: 6/12. Picked up PoC woman in speculative fiction.  Tracking sexuality this month; so far I read mostly books about straight people.
8. Shelf Love Challenge 2016:  10! Finished first level. I need to make a list of what I've acquired so I can see if I'm keeping up.
9. Grown-Up Reading Challenge 2016: 16/20. I need a Pulitzer winner.
10. Eclectic Reader Challenge 2016: 7/12. Airtight had them chasing a guy who killed a lot of people -- is that a serial killer by definition? It's not as gory as most.
11. Surprise Me Challenge: I ordered my April book from the library: The Year of Living Dangerously. When I finish it I'll get the January book.
12. Flash Bingo: I got a BINGO! And I'm really close to a few more.
13. Literary Exploration Challenge: 7/12. This is a list of genres with a challenge to read from them all. I signed in for 12, but I'm tracking the higher level of 36 as well. 9/36