Hooray for College Spring Break!

I managed to cook two good meals (Thai curry and shrimp alfredo) that even made decent leftovers, so I feel successful. I also baked cookies for my book club, but lucky for me Alexander came home to make the mix, since that's his specialty. He also tackled the lawn, changed the filter in the furnace, and dusted the corners of the ceiling.

College is apparently working out for him.

The movie this week was Tomb Raider, which ended fairly well but had a slow start. I also rewatched Wrinkle in Time and Black Panther because I wanted the share the former with my boys and Alexander still hadn't seen the latter. I am now out of goodies on my movie card.

I finished half of the last Cybils from last year, so almost done. Currently Reading has rocketed back up because I started lots of books in a fit of lost focus. At least I've finished the book for my book team.

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 so I'll join in there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed at either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers. My elementary book club kept me eligible this week (I mean, I started two children's books, but only finished one.).

This Week I started:



The Rancher's Lady, Shirley Penick. The author gave it to me!

A Call to Duty, David Weber, Timothy Zahn. The library tempted me.

An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon. Sword and Laser pick.

Shadow of Victory, David Weber. Because I remembered I have lost track of what Honor Harrington is up to.

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L'Engle. Since I saw the movie twice.

Out of My Mind, Sharon Draper. For elementary book club.

A Call to Arms, David Weber, Timothy Zahn, and Thomas Pope. Because I have no patience. In my defense, it meets next week's book team requirement.

I finished:



The Rancher's Lady, Shirley Penick. A very cheerful novella. Kids are well behaved, important people are reasonable, and both sides recognize how very hot each other are. I was bugged by the attempts at conflict -- the situation with the town blaming her for getting assaulted felt fake and even the in-laws animosity seemed tacked on. The biggest obstacle for them was ignored -- both felt at the beginning that it wouldn't be ethical to start a relationship while his daughter was in her class, but apparently they then decided that the sexual tension between them was high enough to override that. I guess the moral principle is that you can only sleep with your kid's teacher/your student's dad if they are smokin' hot. I would have preferred them to decide the conflict could be managed, which I believe is actually the truth. It also matched my book team's weekly requirement.

A Call to Duty, David Weber, Timothy Zahn. This was a fast read and a good reintroduction to the world of Honor Harrington. I liked the new hero, who enlists on a whim (and because it gives him an alibi for the robbery he suddenly realizes his idiot friends are attempting). He somehow has a half brother who is a minor nobility, which sorta ties together some of the political wrangling going on. I'm definitely in it for Trevor's storyline, and put up with the bits about the wider situation and the venality of the aristocracy and the nobility of the monarchy.

Black Butler XI, Yana Toboso. I lost some of the effect of this one by waiting so long to read it -- the first chapters are a dramatic re-interpretation of the mystery solved in the previous book, but I hadn't really paid attention and had forgotten most of it so the butler's cleverness and skill were rather wasted on me. But I'm interested in the cruise started at the end, so I shall continue on.

Out of My Mind, Sharon Draper. I hope the kids like this one! I wonder how much experience with special ed children they have. I wonder if they even notice the references to MySpace, which amused me. My biggest complaint was the huge pile of misfortunes at the end -- I'll see if any of the kids noticed it as well.

Bookmarks moved in:





Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 39. Shan is finally trying to deal with his kid.

London Rain, Nicola Upson. RML audio book. At least there is now a mystery.

Weight of Zero, Karen Fortunati. Cybils YA. The protagonist seems very selfish to me, and I can't tell how much of this is because she's a teenager, how much is because she's mentally ill, and how much is she's just not that decent a person. She talks a lot about being abandoned by her friends because of her mental illness, but it could also be because she's a terrible friend before the illness manifested.

Shadow of a Doubt, Norah McClintock. I like these kids. They mean well but end up messing up. Meaning well is really all I ask.

Giant Pumpkin Suite, Melanie Hill. Bad stuff has happened.

Arabella and the Battle of Venus, David Levine. I see space battles on the horizon!

Game Change, Joseph Manniger. Small town life through the eyes of a newly promoted football quarterback.

All By Myself, Alone, Mary Higgins Clark. Reading My Library Quest pick.

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



Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception, Wendelin Van Draanen.

Change of Heart, Norah McClintock.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

2018 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2017! 7/104-ish. Started a YA.
2. Cybils 2016!  104/106. Working on the last YA, which is a bit too full of teen self-centeredness for my liking.
3. Reading My Library: Working on London Rain which at least at added a possible mystery. Working on All By Myself, Alone.
4. Where Am I Reading 2018?: 25/51. Added Ohio!

A Sugar Rush of Celebration

After my birthday (and the leftover cake), my house became a sugar storage site. There were the Girl Scout cookies that I bought, and that were given me. (The peanut butter ones are the best. Thin Mints are overrated.) There was the peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough left by my book club. There was Pi Day, which I celebrated by making homemade brownies in a Pi pan. And did I mention the giant chocolate bars that were my other birthday present? Never have I missed my sweet-toothed college boy so much. Sadly, I expect to finish eating almost all these goodies by the time he arrives for spring break next weekend.

I went alone to give blood, because my Paulos had switched weekends to spend time with me on my birthday. I figured it would go fast because I've been failing the iron test since Christmas, but to my shock I passed. So I spent most of the weekend napping and rebuilding my supply, which takes more effort now that I am old. And I skipped the cookies to snack on raisons in the donor-room, since even I tire of sweets at some point.

The movie this week was Wrinkle In Time. A good time was had by Linda, Nicky and me, especially me because I had also liked the book and I thought the movie mostly did a good job of capturing the spirit of it. Occasionally it dragged a bit, but mostly that was to give people a chance to admire the special effects.

I finished another Cybils from last year, so only two to go. Currently Reading has dipped below thirty, which is obviously a good thing. And I've joined another book team, so I hope that helps with my piles of unread books.

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 so I'll join in there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed at either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers. All my Cybils reading keeps me very eligible for that.

This Week I started:



A Dog in the Cave, Kay Frydenborg. 2017 Cybils nonfiction.

All By Myself, Alone, Mary Higgins Clark. Reading My Library Quest pick.

Shadow of a Doubt, Norah McClintock. From my shelves.

Black Butler XI, Yana Toboso. Working my way through the series.

I finished:



The Collapsing Empire, John Scalzi. This start of a series read very much as the start of a series, in which the main character was the world building. Scalzi's easy style of clear information and smart, snarky characters made the pages turn, but since the impersonal world is really the protagonist there wasn't as much heart in the story as usual from him. But it was fun to read and I'll probably pick up the next ones to see what happens to the universe, and maybe I'll start caring more about what happens to the people inside it.

The Evil Wizard Smallbone, Delia Sherman. Cybils middle grade. Nick, the main character, had a good development from abused runaway to heroically "evil" wizard, and the side character Diana, child scientist and possible selkie kept an interesting perspective from Smallbone's town. I really wish the off-hand contempt for "Romance" books hadn't pushed in an unnecessary dose of girls=stupid just when I was congratulating myself that NOT ALL MALE CHILD PROTAGONISTS. I did like that the author didn't bother to redeem the bullying cousin or indeed most of the bad guys.

Adulthood Rites, Octavia Butler. I've had this in my bag for ages but been distracted by all the library due dates falling on me. A leisurely morning in the library prompted by a car battery failure accompanied by a GPS mapping glitch game me the time to finish my reread. Butler has ordinarily awful humans and amazingly compassionate alien hybrids; it's a bit uncomfortable that I find the human cruelty completely believable while I struggle to accept the more non-violent responses. And now I can't find the final book in the series, which is annoying me!

A Dog in the Cave, Kay Frydenborg. 2017 Cybils nonfiction. I found the topic fascinating -- how interaction with dogs may have changed humanity on a genetic and social level. The discussion of time lines, archeological evidence, genetic drift, brain scan evidence for the social development of infants and dogs, all were interesting and I wanted to learn more. I was pulled back by wondering how footprints were so obviously gendered -- the first image is Frydenborg vividly picturing a boy and his dog wandering a cave as evidenced by the thousands of year old footprints they left behind. Why a boy?

Bookmarks moved in:




Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 39. There are a lot of bad guys looking for good AIs.

London Rain, Nicola Upson. RML audio book. Still finding it dull and I keep finding excuses not to listen. Heard some good postcasts on the way, at least.

Game Change, Joseph Manniger. Small town life through the eyes of a newly promoted football quarterback.

Arabella and the Battle of Venus, David Levine. I continue to hope for more space battles, as Arabella's love life is not what I'm interested in.

Weight of Zero, Karen Fortunati. Cybils YA. The protagonist seems very selfish to me, and I can't tell how much of this is because she's a teenager, how much is because she's mentally ill, and how much is she's just not that decent a person.

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



Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception, Wendelin Van Draanen.

Change of Heart, Norah McClintock.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

2018 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2017! 7/104-ish.  Finished the nonfiction and ordered up some more.
2. Cybils 2016!  103/106. Finished the middle grade SF. I need to read the last YA and the last board book, which I may just have to buy.
3. Reading My Library: Working on London Rain which I'm disliking for the non-mysterious mystery. Started All By Myself, ALONE.
4. Where Am I Reading 2018?: 24/51. Added South Dakota and Montana!

Happy Birthday To Me! Hey, Who Stole My Hour?

I am officially 50 years old, and can now round my age up to 100, unlike my pesky younger siblings, who still round down to 0. All the wisdom is belong to me! I had a very nice birthday weekend, which ended with being taken out to a delicious dinner with fancy drinks (served in a pineapple!). I thought I was taking everyone out, but Linda grabbed the check in a surprise move. As the only one at the table older than me, I guess she had the right. I love my family!

Then it was home for cake (made by Paulos) and prezzies, which were all delightful and included a fat B&N gift card. It's heartwarming to open my present bag and find the perfect treats because it shows they know me so well.

The movie this week was Every Day, which was nicely faithful to the book but stuck closer to the relationship between the two characters and avoided more plotty irrelevancies. A good time was had by Linda and me, especially as we had the theater to ourselves.

My friends bookclub got together and discussed The Long Winter, which we all read as girls but was fun to approach as adults, when I could see what tools the author used and what messages they tried to slip past us. And as it was my birthday, I only ordered my favorite pizzas and then a friend brought leftover cookies from work so it was all coming up ME.

The weather was gorgeous, so it was a good time to be invited to a behind-the-scenes zoo tour where I got to help train an Ambassador Raccoon (that's its job, not its species) and also see an Argus bird do its full plumage display.

I finished another Cybils from last year. Currently Reading is still hovering around 30.

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 so I'll join in there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed at either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers. All my Cybils reading keeps me very eligible for that.

This Week I started:


Worth Dying For, Lee Child. My next Reading My Library Quest book.

Burn Bright, Patricia Briggs. I drove to my store and bought this the day it came out.

The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder. For my Friday book club.

I finished:



Burn Bright, Patricia Briggs. This book is more about friendship and community than Anna and Charles, who are comfortable with each other. Which is good, because there are some cracks in the community they need to deal with.

The Firefly Code, Megan Blackmore. 2016 Cybils. I'm always glad to see more science fiction among the fantasy, and I liked the take on a near-future utopia/dystopia where kids have to make ethical choices.

The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was the only one who reread it and showed up, but everyone remembered the basics from their childhoods. I liked rereading with an adult perspective, seeing the authorial tools, the political interjections (from Rose Lane?) and evaluating how it would read for Native American kids.

Worth Dying For, Lee Child. Jack Reacher leaves behind a swath of bodies and a relieved town when some small-time villains make the mistake of messing with him. Also, his nose gets broke.

Bookmarks moved in:




Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 39. Padi and Shan smooze on their way back to the ship.

London Rain, Nicola Upson. RML audio book. Blah blah. There doesn't seem to be a mystery in this mystery, so I'm bored.

Game Change, Joseph Manniger. I want more football in this sports novel, which is not very fair since I picked it up because of a review that raved about the non-sports stuff.

The Evil Wizard Smallbone, Delia Sherman. Cybils middle grade. It's happening in Maine! It never rains but it pours, I guess.

Arabella and the Battle of Venus, David Levine. Still hoping for more space battles!

The Collapsing Empire, John Scalzi. For my Tuesday book club. I've really started it now, though.

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



Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception, Wendelin Van Draanen.

Change of Heart, Norah McClintock.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

2018 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2017! 7/104-ish.  Have a nonfiction lined up but I never got around to starting it.
2. Cybils 2016!  101/10-ish. Reading a middle grade SF. I still need to find the missing board book.
3. Reading My Library: Working on London Rain which I'm disliking for the non-mysterious mystery. Finished Worth Dying For and I have the next one ready.
4. Where Am I Reading 2018?: 22/51. Montana, South Dakota, and a repeat of Massachusetts and Nebraska this week.