Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Happy Resolutions Day!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
After a lovely Christmas, the boys and I enjoyed a slow drive up the coast to get home. I timed it so that I never had to drive in freezing conditions so we drove up California and stopped in Yreka because the temperature was falling and the name of the town is awesome. We had eaten great pizza outside Sacramento and weren't even interested in dinner, especially after snacking on all the leftovers that we stole from the house as we packed up.

The next day we drove through Oregon in misty daylight and then up Washington to Renton. The cats were glad to see us, and the boys enjoyed putting away their tiny piles of Christmas loot before they went up to see their dad for New Years. I had about the quietest New Year ever, spending it reading books and playing some Minecraft with my nephew.

I still have started many of last years Cybils, but I also have to look at the new ones that were announced on New Years Day. Currently Reading is around 31 as I start all the Cybils books but finish nothing.

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 that I'm going to belatedly sign up for. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed.  I'll go look to see what everyone else was reading at either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers.

This Week I started:
March: Book Three (March, #3)The Plot to Kill Hitler: Di...The HomesmanThe Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror (Pine Cove, #3)Dare to Disappoint: Growing Up in Turkey
Faith, Volume 1: Hollywood & VineBlood Brother: Jonathan Daniels and His Sacrifice for Civil RightsSammy Keyes and the Art of DeceptionTreasured by Thursday (The Weekday Brides, #7)

March, Book 3, John Lewis and Andrew Aydin. Cybils YA Graphic Novel.

The Plot to Kill Hitler, Patricia McCormick. Cybils Non-Fiction.

The Homesman, Glendon Swarthout. A Reading My Library audio started on my drive home.

The Stupidest Angel, Christopher Moore. A Christmas present!

Dare to Disappoint, Ozge Samanci. Cybils Graphic Novel.

Faith, Jody Houser. Cybils YA Graphic Novel.

Blood Brother, Rich Wallace & Sandra Neil Wallace. Cybils Non-Fiction.

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception, Wendelin Van Draanen. From my nightstand pile.

Treasured By Thursday, Catherine Bybee. My next RML book.

I finished:
Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening (Monstress, #1)March: Book Three (March, #3)Dare to Disappoint: Growing Up in TurkeyThe Last NeanderthalThe Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror (Pine Cove, #3)

Monstress, Marjorie Liu. Cybils. Much too hard for my limited comic book reading skills. I almost always missed the scene changes, and even had problems telling the characters apart when they were based on different animals. I'm the worst. I spent so much time paging back to see what had happened, only then noticing the obvious hints in the lush pictures. Luckily my nephew was fascinated by the book and kept asking me what was happening, so I noticed that I had absolutely no idea what was going on.

March, Book 3, John Lewis and Andrew Aydin. Cybils. Powerful, although at times I got a bit tired at how saintly Lewis was. I mean, he could be that good, but I wanted to see a bit more struggle at it, especially since I know he went on to be a politician. But the look at the Civil Rights movement, with its dangers, disagreements, and politics was clear and gripping.

Dare to Disappoint, Ozge Samanci. Cybils. Memoir about a Turkish childhood and the drive to succeed through schools and the pressure from religious, cultural, and political movements. I found the illustrations enticing and the story interesting.

The Last Neanderthal, Claire Cameron. A Reading My Library Quest pick. The bits set in the past were fascinating and poignant, especially with the family of Runt and Girl. I found the modern day parts rather wearisome, with a whiny protagonist and an awful work situation. It did show off nicely how much better maternity care was for the Neanderthal woman than the American archaeologist.

The Stupidest Angel, Christopher Moore. Funny and charming, although the "it was all a dream" touch was a bit annoying. It did save the book from being a super dark Christmas story, though.

Bookmarks moved in:

Alliance of Equals (Liaden Universe, #19)Forged in BloodA Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #1)Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 29-31. OK, the drive from California caught me up. And so far we haven't gone back to the neglected-teen story and instead focussed on either the cloned older characters or the attempt to salvage an ailing AI.

Forged In Blood, ed. Michael Z. Williamson. Moved through the settlement of Freehold and several battles, including hitting some characters I recognize.

A Promise of Fire, Amanda Bouchet. Vaginal Fantasy old pick. The love interest is between a guy who literally kidnaps a woman by tying her up with a magical rope. He (and his friends) then spend pages complaining that she doesn't appreciate him. She finds him irresistibly attractive and can't think of why she shouldn't fall for him. Oh wait, she is dangerous to the people she loves; that's why. This would be a fun fantasy story if the creepy romance were removed, but with it it's almost unreadable.

Strangers In Their Own Land, Arlie Hochschild. I'm working as hard as the author at understanding how people justify their bigotry and lack of compassion. I guess phrasing it that way means I don't forgive.

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

KenilworthA Traitor to Memory (Inspector Lynley, #11)The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does HappenReading and Learning to Read

Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox. I feel guilty when they suggest doing some math, but I still don't do the math.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. How vocabulary is built.

2018 Challenge Progress:
  1. Cybils 2017! 2/104-ish. OK, I compiled the list. I'm not getting much of a head start this year having only read one picture book and one YA.
  2. Cybils 2016!  70/107-ish. Finished three graphic novels and still have piles to go. Oops.
  3. Reading My Library: Completed The Last Neanderthal and started the next audio The Homesman. 
  4. Where Am I Reading 2017?: 41/51. OK, that wasn't very good, but I'll try again next year.

1 comment:

kmitcham said...

I just requested Forged In Blood from my library. So I'll be reading three things, and 2.5 are your fault. (Half credit for the humble-bundle book I'm in the middle of)