Monday, October 23, 2017

Battle On!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
Alexander came home for the weekend, and it was lovely to see him again. Monosyllabic text responses aren't quite a substitute for his merry presence. There was a slight glitch where we discovered his train ticket went to the wrong station, but a few podcasts later I found him. We went off shopping so I could provide for all his needs, which apparently consisted of a $5 pillow (they were on sale). Now he has everything he needs for the rest of the semester.

Saturday was a 24 hour readathon which I did in a very leisurely fashion, mostly using it as an excuse to lie about reading while the boys were off at all-day D&D. No waking up early or staying up all night, as I wanted to be aware of the kids when they were around. Sunday I hosted my bi-annual Foam Sword Party, which almost nobody showed up for, which was shame as the weather unexpectedly turned lovely after a week of rain. So the family battled each other and got special coaching from the guy, which was fun but exhausting. Usually I spend a lot of time resting on the sidelines after getting mowed down almost instantly. I did quite well against my little brother; it is possible that he was handicapped by having his right arm in a sling but *I* was not wearing my "Let me hear your excuses" t-shirt.

I also took a trip to the zoo with my friend Linda on the only other day this week with sunshine; we saw wolves, elk, monkeys and a tapir. And took a few wrong turns so that it was our longest walk through the zoo so far.

I continued finishing more books than I started. Currently Reading has held at 20 (single page!) for several days. Obviously I am a model of self-restraint.

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called It's Monday! What Are You Reading and I'm going to sign up. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed, and my Cybils reading qualifies me. I'll check in with either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers for their version.

This week I started:
Beauty Like the Night (Spymasters, #6)The Bronze SkiesSpectred Isle (Green Men, #1)The Divided Family (The Amish Millionaire #5)Primary Inversion (Saga of the Skolian Empire, #1)NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children

Beauty Like the Night, Joanna Bourne. My friend Mary Margaret put me onto this author, so I always feel like I'm visiting her when I read a new one.

Bronze Skies, Catherine Asaro. The Skolian empire books are among my slightly guilty pleasures.

Spectred Isle, K. J. Charles. I bought this one and I wanted to start on my kindle TBR.

The Divided Family, Wanda and Jean Brunstetter. For my Reading My Library quest.

Primary Inversion, Catherine Asaro. The first of the Skolian books which I haven't reread in a while.

NurtureShock, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. For my Reading Across the Aisles bookclub next week.

I finished:

A Peace Divided (Peacekeeper, #2)Beauty Like the Night (Spymasters, #6)The Bronze SkiesSpectred Isle (Green Men, #1)
The Divided Family (The Amish Millionaire #5)Helliconia Spring (Helliconia, #1)Primary Inversion (Saga of the Skolian Empire, #1)NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children

A Peace Divided
, Tanya Huff. Sadly, I have caught up on the series about Torin Kerr, space marine. I like how Huff kept the focus on Kerr and her team mates but also showed not only how the changes have affected the individuals but also the wider society, and that her society isn't a monolith but made up of many species, cultures, and opinions. I hope there is at least one more book to come.

Beauty Like the Night, Joanna Bourne. As long as I don't overdose I enjoy the diction of Bourne's French heroines, although in this case I did wonder how she kept her accent she apparently she was adopted into an English household at the age of three. I never did come to accept the guy as a good partner; his careless attitude towards his kid wasn't endearing, and I wasn't as forgiving of his habit of manipulating rather than talking to people, especially his friends and allies.

Bronze Skies, Catherine Asaro. This hero again is all confused looks and blunt statements, and Asaro hasn't completely grown out of her habit of exposition by bizarrely confused people suddenly noticing basic tenets of their lives. But underneath the prose I really like the characters and I also like a good story about telepathic people with SCIENCE.

Spectred Isle, K. J. Charles. This new series by Charles goes back to magic, with a new secret society to protect England. The old ways are threatened by new bureaucracy after the horrendous losses of World War I, and there's a bit of attention put to the advantages and disadvantages of private vs government systems, and the weaknesses when bad agents take hold in either one. And the disgraced status of the new recruit adds an interesting dimension to the look at the historical period. Fun and fast.

The Divided Family, Wanda and Jean Brunstetter. I can't argue that the thinness of this book wasn't enticing for my Reading My Library Quest choice. I also liked that it was set in Amish country, in Ohio, and in the middle of a series, all things I like. It was a fast slice of life story, clearly in media res, although I suspect I had more sympathy for the neer-do-well brother who had turned away from religion than his family or the authors did. I suspect his problems had little to do with his faith.

Helliconia Spring, Brian Aldiss. I'm a bit late to this Sword and Laser pick, but it was hard going and never really grabbed me. The idea was nifty but the societies and characters were stock in an old fashioned way that repelled me. Sometimes I can read old stuff (this is from the '80s) and overlook annoying things that were standard then but sometimes I can't. Also, nobody seemed to have much agency -- things happened, and they reacted a bit, but I couldn't care that much about an imaginary history without something human to grab on to.

Primary Inversion, Catherine Asaro. This time I bought the kindle version so I could compare it to my paperback, as Asaro apparently re-edited the whole thing. It's been too long since I read it to notice any small plot changes, but looking at a few paragraphs the new version is better written and brings out things buried in the original, making explicit Soz's fear of turning into a cruel version of her half-brother and her ambition to rule and make better choices. I also really like this depiction of an extremely shell-shocked soldier complete with picking up a cute boy for an easy sexual fling to help get over a broken relationship.

NurtureShock, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. I'm now ready for Tuesday's Across the Aisles bookclub where we'll be talking about child rearing. I felt very smug that I knew about most of the topics discussed until I went to record reading it and saw that actually I read the whole thing seven years ago. The fun part was that all the stuff relevant to tweens and younger was remembered keenly, while all the teen stuff seemed fresh and interesting, so I guess that shows where my interest lay back with the kids were twelve and under. I lent the kid to the current sixteen year old so he can see what the experts think of his developing brain.

I started six and finished eight, including all six that I started. That's a good direction for my currently-reading list!

Picture Books:
Weekends with Max and His DadJuana and LucasThe Not-a-Pig (Mango & Bambang #1)The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde (The Princess in Black, #3)

Weekends With Max and His Dad, Linda Urban. Cybils finalist. It's an easy to read book with easy chapters so good for a starter independent reader. But there's no real emotion in the book -- Max's parents have split up but he doesn't care at all. All the neighbors are nice and a bit quirky, the illustrations are cute, but there's no depth to anything. Very dull for an adult reader, and I don't see it sticking in the memory of kids either.

Juana & Lucas, Juana Medina. Cybils finalist. Lively voice of a young girl as she starts the school year and struggles with adding English to the curriculum. The author sprinkles a few Spanish words in the text to show that as the character's actual language, and the bright illustrations depict the small scenes the girl works through with energy. I liked how her attempts to study don't really bear fruit until she buys into a good reason to learn (that's a trope I really like) and how her trip to America is delightful even when a few things don't work out as she planned.

The Not-a-Pig (Mango & Bambang 1), Polly Faber. Cybils finalist. The story was fine but I was utterly charmed by the pictures, drawn in pencil (?) with a purple sidekick color. The purple popped in interesting ways, highlighting both charming details and the important parts of the story. It was excellent timing for me, since I saw a tapir at the zoo on Monday. That one had less lilac, though.

The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde, Shannon Hale. Cybils finalist. Fun but a bit disappointing. As expected, the disguised Princess Black and her loyal pony defeat the monsters. Some of the monsters are cute bunnies, but I expected more from that premise than I got.

Bookmarks moved in:

Alliance of Equals (Liaden Universe, #19)Hostage (The Change, #2)Someplace to Be Flying (Newford, #8)Virtues of War (Virtues of War, #1)Little FuzzyFlame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist, #1)

Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 21. Padi's necessities are fairly clear, as are Tolly's, but I know what Shan needs to do I'm not sure how it's personal for him.

Hostage, Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown. The princess from the evil town is not enjoying her position as captive, and I suspect some of her mistaken certainties will be taking a beating.

Someplace to Be Fying, Charles de Lint. OK, the fox guy went from creepy child stalking to child abandonment, still protesting that he's doing it for her own good while ignoring his own responsibilities or even her choices. I'm not enamored with him. Good thing I think the perspective is about to jump.

Virtues of War, Bennett Coles. A bit more space ship maneuvering.

Little Fuzzy, H. Beam Piper. 3-5/6. During the readathon I kept this on whenever I was in the car, so I made good progress. I like audio books that I've read a few years ago; it's a good balance of interest but familiarity so that driving is not distracted but more enjoyable. It was fun when Alexander recognized the story, although he preferred the Scalzi version.

Flame in the Mist, Renee Ahdieh. I got this back from the library but I really don't appreciate the main character, who seems directionless and a bit clueless. I read fantasy adventure for more adventure, so it's not to my taste.

These I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.

KenilworthThe Emerald Atlas (The Books of Beginning, #1)A Traitor to Memory (Inspector Lynley, #11)The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does HappenReading and Learning to Read

Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott. Queen Elizabeth is not impressed with the men presented to her for knighting, except for the gallant Raleigh. Also, the Earl is tempted by ambition but weakly struggles for virtue.

The Emerald Atlas, John Stephens.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. Looking at the levels of vocabulary and what it really means to understand a term, especially in various contexts.

2017 Challenge Progress:
  1. Cybils 2016!  42/107-ish. Read a bunch of Easy Readers and Early Chapter books.
  2. Reading My Library: Working on the audio book Little Fuzzy. Polished off Divided Families by Brunstetter.
  3. Where Am I Reading?: 33/51. Ohio wasn't technically a new state, but the previous book was mostly a guess and this one is a definite location.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

10 Book Challenge

The First Dewey MiniChallenge I'll attempt is to recommend a book published in each year of the Readathon: 10 Years 10 Books. I will attempt to find books I actually read, although the rules say if I get desperate I can recommend books I think will be good even if I can't prove it.

So I will keep coming back to this page over the the day as I think of books and check when they were written. Hopefully some of them will be books I actually read today. So I might also change out books if some get supplanted by more choice reads.

I don't think anyone actually reads this blog, but if I'm wrong and you have a suggestion, feel free to toss it out! I'm not proud. I'm willing to let other people do my work for me any day!

2007: A Companion to Wolves, Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear

2008: Graceling, Kristin Cashore

2009: Child of Fire, Harry Connolly

2010: Magic Below Stairs, Carolyn Stevermeyer

2011: 7th Sigma, Steven Gould

2012: Still Life with Shape-shifter, Sharon Shinn

2013: Rose Under Fire, Elizabeth Wein

2014: Being Mortal, Atul Gawande

2016: Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, Lois McMaster Bujold

2017: In Other Lands, Sarah Rees Brennan


Dewey 24Hour Readathon 2017!

readathonbuttonIt's time for another 24 Hour Readathon! I link up with the Dewey 24 Hour Readathon, which is held twice a year. This is the Fall one, and it's a chance for me to clear off some of the 20-odd books I'm currently maintaining bookmarks in. So I hope to get a lot of titles, but it's really not that impressive.

This year I'm not going all out -- my son is in town from college so I'd rather hang out with him. But he's also going out with friends, so won't even notice me devouring a book or five. So I'll see how far I get.

It starts for me at 5:00 AM, Oct 21st, but I'll start around 10:00 AM PST..  I'll track books read, time read, and maybe do some challenges. There will be stuff happening at the home blog, as well as things going on at the Goodreads group around the readathon: Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon.


Books I Opened:
  • Helliconia Spring p. 313
  • Little Fuzzy (Disc 4, Track 11)
  • Primary Inversion (28%)
  • The Flame in the Mist  p. 229
  • NutureShock p. 11
  • Someplace to Be Flying, p. 217
  • Mango and Bambang
  • Hostage p. 169
Books I Finished:
  1. Helliconia Springs, Brian Aldiss
  2. Primary Inversion, Catherine Asaro (ebook version)
Challenges Attempted:
  • 10 Years, 10 Books
  • #CoverFromMemory
  • MadLibs: "It all happened too ADVERB. We were VERBING down a ADJECTIVE corridor toward NOUN/PLACE; then I was in a ADJECTIVE NOUN with white NOUNs, surrounded by NOUNS in white uniforms. One tried to take me into another PLACE. When he wouldn't VERB, I VERBED him over my BODYPART, and he hit the ground with a resounding NOUN, his hospital CLOTHING ripping along the seams."  ==> "It all happened too virtuosically. We were crocheting down a sparse corridor toward an earthquake; then I was in a flaming tamale with white itches, surrounded by paranoias in white uniforms. One tried to take me into another District of Columbia. When he wouldn't vibrate, I curtsied him over my arm, and he hit the ground with a resounding coin purse, his hospital pants ripping along the seams."
  • Make New Friends

Time Count:

10AM - 1 PM: 3 hours.

1 pm - 8:00 : 9.5 hours (30 minute diner)
8:00 - 1 AM == 13.5 hours

This was a much gentle readathon for me -- I took time to check out blogs, didn't obsess over page counts, and was willing to talk to people even while reading my book. Still fun, but not as obsessive.

Hopefully I can obsess in the spring!



Monday, October 16, 2017

Fun Books, Fun People

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
I had a good week, both in books and in people. My monthly Friday night bookclub met over pizza and Think of England, which nobody hated (a relief, since I had suggested it).  Now I have to reread The Fifth Season.

We (a bunch of the book club) also went to the annual Romance Writers extravaganza in Bellevue, where romance writers take a break from their professional convention to give away books and other goodies for two hours to anyone who shows up. It's a lot of fun and I now have far too many books to read.

To show it's not all about the books, I also took a trip to the zoo where I saw all the predators. I was on my own, so I was free to set my own pace, see what I liked, and read when I wanted. (OK, it's all about the books. Of course I brought one with me to the zoo -- why else do they have benches there?)

I continued finishing more books than I started. Currently Reading is steady at 22 books already, and my goal is to get back to 20 (the size of my Goodreads page). That's about where I like to be.

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called It's Monday! What Are You Reading and I'm going to sign up. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed, and as I finished Legend I sneak in. I'll check in with either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers for their version.

This week I started:

Think of England (Think of England, #1)The Sumage Solution (San Andreas Shifters, #1)An Ancient Peace (Peacekeeper, #1; Confederation, #6)A Peace Divided (Peacekeeper, #2)

Think of England, K. J. Charles. This was my Friday book club pick. A reread for me, as I recommended it.

The Sumage Solution, G.L. Carriger. I like her historical paranormals, so I want to try this modern one.

An Ancient Peace, Tanya Huff. Luckily for me she picked this series back up.

A Peace Divided, Tanya Huff. I seem to have caught up with Huff.

I finished:

Beginnings: Worlds of Honor 6Legend (Legend, #1)Think of England (Think of England, #1)The Sumage Solution (San Andreas Shifters, #1)An Ancient Peace (Peacekeeper, #1; Confederation, #6)

Beginnings, David Weber. The first one seemed very anvilicious with the Earth government's disdain for science or people not toeing the official line, although I suspect they meant to aim at a previous administration. But I had more fun with the stories set later in the time line and away from Earth, especially when I could recognize some characters. It was nice seeing some middle class people instead of the VIPs whom Honor normally deals with.

Legend, Marie Lu. OK, I had fun with the teens taking on the evil government and being super competent. I had less patience when they started falling in love and smooching, because it made them less competent. Where is Katniss to try to put a sense of proportion into people?

Think of England, K. J. Charles. Short and sweet. I still found the characters endearing, and the situations Charles pushed them into had me laughing out loud several times. The final HEA was a little tough but seemed earned.

The Sumage Solution, G. L. Carriger. Not quite as much fun as the historicals -- the two men seemed overly devoted to snark, so that it was sometimes difficult to tell who was talking, which was annoying since they were supposed to be so different. But it was still a fast and easy read, so I'll probably pick up the rest if I stumble across new ones.

An Ancient Peace, Tanya Huff. I like the continuity -- there are large changes taking place in this space empire, but we see it from the point of view of a confident non-com (sorta retired) who doesn't know how to walk away from a problem. Or leave anyone under her large umbrella of responsibility behind.

I started four and finished five. That's a good direction for my currently-reading list!

Short Stories:

 I discovered that K J Charles has a small collection of stories at her web page kjcharleswriter.com. They are mostly either views of scenes from a different perspective or a chance to catch up on characters a little bit after the ending of a series, so I gobbled down the ones matching the characters I knew. None really stand on their own, but I enjoyed "Song for a Viking, " "A Confidential Problem," "A Feast of Stephen" and "A Private Miscellany."





Bookmarks moved in:

Alliance of Equals (Liaden Universe, #19)Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from SexThe Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin OlympicsHostage (The Change, #2)
Someplace to Be Flying (Newford, #8)Virtues of War (Virtues of War, #1)Giant Pumpkin SuiteHeliconia PrimaveraLittle Fuzzy

Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Shan is having problems rebooting the trading empire that Liad has taken for granted for generations.

Harmful to Minors, Judith Levine. American law seems to treat sexual behavior or interest by minors monolithically, despite the difference between a five, twelve, and seventeen year old's developmental level.

The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown. The freshman rowers are looking very promising.

Hostage, Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown. There are an awful lot of moody young people to keep track of. It would help if I read this faster.

Someplace to Be Fying, Charles de Lint. I want to get out of the flashback about the girl child convincing the ancient fairy to marry her, because it's creepy. More author creepy than character creepy, since it's all her call.

Virtues of War, Bennett Coles. I prefer the action scenes that don't involve torturing, executing, or even just threatening civilians. It confuses me about whom I am supposed to root for.

The Giant Pumpkin Suite, Melanie Hill. Bad times for everyone.

Helliconia Spring, Brian Aldiss. The Sword and Laser book for last month, and it's pretty slow going.

Little Fuzzy, H. Beam Piper. I'm enjoying the narrator, and the feeling of nostalgia for the days of high balls and cigarettes. Which I was too young to notice when they were actually happening.

These I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.

KenilworthThe Emerald Atlas (The Books of Beginning, #1)A Traitor to Memory (Inspector Lynley, #11)The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does HappenReading and Learning to Read

Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

The Emerald Atlas, John Stephens.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

2017 Challenge Progress:
  1. Cybils 2016!  36/107-ish. My new pile of short books should give progress.
  2. Reading My Library: Working on the audio book Little Fuzzy.
  3. Where Am I Reading?: 33/51. No surprise states, but I did pick up some possibles at the Romance Night.