Heat Wave!

I remember when 80 degrees was a cool spring day. Now I wilt all over the place. Wilt wilt wilt. Also, here in Washington it gets hottest in the late afternoon, while I remember in Texas it was scorchy by noon. Weather is odd. Anyway, I picked the one decent day to head up to the zoo with my friend Linda. We admired the hippos swimming in circles and then said hey to the rhinos. Also the baby giraffe was out and about so we cooed at that.

My brother in law had a birthday, so me and the boys turned out to honor him. We joined up with his family to check out the MoPOCP in Seattle, especially enjoying the Prince and Jimi Hendrix exhibitions. Although you wouldn't know it from that exhibition, Jimi Hendrix is actually from our hometown of Renton. We then enjoyed poking around the science fiction and fantasy wings, and I put my toe into Horror before scurrying back out. Then off to see the Apollo 11 IMAX film.

And then DONUTS for dinner. Well, also food, but let's look at the donuts some more.

Family dinner with the little brother again, and well as Frito Pie. The good kid, not the kind in the Frito bag.

My currently reading is steady at 16, which is very low for me! Two library books, an audio book for the car, a reread from my shelves, the serial audio book I get a few minutes of each week, five books I'm just kidding myself that I'm reading, one ancient book that I'm trying to actually finish, and my five books that I'm only sorta reading.

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 sign up there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers so I'll sign up over there, since I read a few picture books.

Started: 




Stone Cold, David Baldacci. For the last week of the reading challenge. I needed the stripes. I'm not sure how this got on my TBR list (it's the 3rd of a series I haven't read) but I usually like Baldacci. He has a tasty formula for me.

Princess Cora and the Crocodile, Laura Amy Schlitz. This was sent to me for review and put in the wrong pile, so I'm terribly late. But it is a wonderful book.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, Charles Yu. My local Sword and Laser book club has gone rogue and read this instead of this month's pick.

Mr. Serious, Danica Winters. This was a gift from the author! And I need a book with a vehicle on it for the reading challenge.

Hunger: A Memoir of My Body, Roxane Gay. Recommended by a librarian.

Vessel, Lisa Nichols. The actual Sword and Laser pick for July.

Completed:





Princess Cora and the Crocodile, Laura Amy Schlitz. I read this in the library last year (it was deservedly on the Cybils list). It ran in the Early Chapter books division and didn't win, but it seems to me a book that deserves to be shared. I guess there's no Older Picture Book division? Share Read Possibility? This is the kind of book I'd love to sit beside a kid as he read it, maybe taking turns with the pages. I loved the crocodile.

Stone Cold, David Baldacci. Sometimes formula books are very relaxing. Although this is book 3 of 5, it was easy to slip into the world of good guys, bad guys, and (for tension!) guys who could go either way. Violence is a way of life, but only occasionally has an effect on people. The government is people with deeply sinister characters seeking power or heroic types who spare no exertion in saving the world (or a single person!).

Silvered, Tanya Huff. I loved the different paths the three main viewpoint characters took, and how Miriam redefined her goals and accepted sacrifices. Reiter's journey from a soldier following orders to a man refusing to take part in atrocity was well handled, and Danica's experience as a prisoner was harrowing. I'm just sad that we don't get more, because Miriam's next steps will also be interesting.

Mr. Serious, Danica Winters. The plot and the romance in this didn't work together. The murder mystery plot was too clunky and unformed, making the characters seem dim and incompetent, and its gravity made the romance seem trivial and childish. And I'm appalled by the secret this guy's family kept from him, and that he was so isolated he never figured it out on his own. They all appeared utterly oblivious to each other's emotions and characters, and that's the only thing that made the plot work. Not the fun little romance I was hoping for.

Vessel, Lisa Nichols. The actual Sword and Laser pick for July. I'm DNF-ing (lemming) this, because it does a lot of things I don't want to read about right now. It's a good book -- I like the writing, the characters are well drawn, and they are dealing with normal and supernormal things in a realistic way. It's just that among the things they are dealing with are regrets about adultery, turning to alcohol to deal with stuff and thereby messing up relationships with family, etc. I skimmed through for the SF stuff -- also good-- but the library wants it back so I don't have time to pick it up and put it down often enough to get through the emotional tough parts.

Bookmarks Moved In:




Son of the Black Sword, Larry Correia. 53/? Baen's podcast serial. The main character is not a very likable person lately.

Cyteen, C.J. Cherryh. Reread. Well, that was the rape scene. After this the death scene will be a relief.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home, Carol Rifka Brunt. Still inching along.

Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan. 1/10 discs. Well, this is a bit of a shock. I was casually expecting a fantasy with kids and magical bears and whatnot, and I've just spent a disk listening to a child getting routinely raped by her dad. She's also stupid, which may be a result of the rapes. If this were a library book I'd give up right here, but I own it so I can read it in as tiny chunks as I need.

Picture Books:



Music, Music For Everyone, Vera Williams. Further adventures for the kid from A Chair For My Mother. Pretty but not as sharp.

Ruby's Birds, Mya Thompson. Book about birdwatching. Which I am terrible at. But I liked the book.

Palate Cleansers

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



A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Alan Burgess. She's in love! This is not the cute guy from the movie.

The Educated Child, William Bennett. What to look for in an elementary school. Wow, I never asked any of these questions.

Cookie, Jacqueline Wilson.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. Onward!

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2017. Nothing.
2. Cybils 2018. Accumulated some poetry books.
3. Reading My Library. Haven't started the next print book.
4. KCLS Ten to Try. Three books, two from my shelves. I didn't score very high, but I cleared off a few from my TBR piles so I'm pleased.

College Take One!

Well, apparently the current version of the Avengers movie has a few extra seconds in it, and also if you gave blood last week they give you a free ticket. So I grabbed a son and headed for the donation center, secure in the knowledge that it's been about a year since my iron was high enough to donate.

Joke was on me -- my number was in the 40s -- that hasn't happened since before I gave birth for the first time! So sick people get two pints of blood (son always qualifies) and we went to see the movie again. To save you waiting until the end, the extra seconds include the first few minutes of the Spiderman movie, an unfinished bit with the Hulk which is noteworthy mostly for the uncanny valley of the partially-animated Mark Ruffalo, and another tribute to Stan Lee. So cute but definitely not worth seeing for their own sake.

Then I woke up early and drove the recent graduate to Pullman for his college orientation. They had a track for parents, but I opted to check myself into a hotel instead and have a short reading vacation. I brought a zillion books and had fun picking what to read next while my son was hiking up and down hills and being orientated. Then we drove home.

On Sunday a good friend hosted a small games party where we played Telestrations (I was the worst drawer), Pandemic, and then split up for either Yatzee or Apples to Apples. She also had a delicious selection of dark chocolate. I tried them all and can definitely say: I live dark chocolate.

My currently reading is down to 16, which is very low for me! A library book, a book from my shelves, an audio book for the car, a reread from my shelves, the serial audio book I get a few minutes of each week, five books I'm just kidding myself that I'm reading, one ancient book that I'm trying to actually finish, and my five books that I'm only sorta reading.

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 sign up there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers so I'll sign up over there, since I read the Cybils YA books.

Started: 





Phoenix Unbound, Grace Draven. Pulled from my TBR list for the weekly challenge.

We Say #NeverAgain, (lots). Cybils YA Nonfiction.

Buddha: An Enlightened Life, Keiron Moore. Cybils YA graphic novel.

Diesel: Ignition, Tyson Hesse. Cybils YA graphic novel.

The Tea Master and the Detective, Aliette de Bodard. Recommended on Be The Serpent episode #35.

Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan. I've had this book on CD for ages.

Junkyard, Lindsay Buroker. Unread book on my kindle.


Completed:






The Grand Escape: The Greatest Prison Breakout of the 20th Century, Neal Bascomb. This Cybils YA history covers a WWI breakout, one that probably helped inspire the more famous WWII ones (one of the escapees helped a bit with the British training on "What To Do If You Find Yourself Behind Enemy Lines, Perhaps in a Prison"for WWII officers). It gives backgrounds on most of the escapees, concentrating on the ones that made it all the way back to Holland and freedom. I was interested in the discussion of class, and why even the officers living in abject squalor still had servants looking after them, and why those servants (non-officer British prisoners) were not as interested in escaping. I think there's an adult version, which I'd probably recommend to people interested in this subject.

The Last Unicorn, Peter Beagle. The June Sword and Laser pick. Wow, the back end of the book is a searing indictment of fairy tale love as an entitled young man utterly destroys his beloved's personality and independence and somehow through his devotion transforms her into a passive reflection of him and his love. Yikes. Thank goodness the Red Bull is there to save her, but I'm not sure what lessons we should draw. This book is going on my shelf for "Books That Are Completely Different When You Re-Read Them As an Adult."

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception, Wendelin Van Draanen. Sammy is awesome. My only question for this book is whether I should keep it even though I don't have the complete set (unsettling) or give it to a deserving middle grade student even though it's a bit beat up.

Stories of My Life, Katherine Paterson. Library Quest audio that finishes off Books on CD for me. I finished this on the drive to Pullman, as my son wanted to nap after a late night of working and the narrator has a very soothing voice. The chapter about her husband's death moved me to tears, which was awkward while I was driving, but I managed. She's a great storyteller (as her books proved!) and I really enjoyed this autobiography.



Phoenix Unbound, Grace Draven. Draven always tells a good story, and as I'm getting used to she pulls her hero and heroine from completely different cultures (although both human this time). The circles of concern are on a steep upward trajectory -- her family and small village, his entire tribe, the giant evil empire menacing them both... And then back to our cute couple. I was impressed at how Draven convinced me to root for the couple; they meet when he kidnaps her and usually that doesn't impress me as a good foundation for a relationship, but Draven moves slowly enough that their eventual affection for each other is earned.

We Say #NeverAgain, (lots). Cybils YA Nonfiction. Written by the journalism students and teachers of the Parkland school where a gunman massacred 17 students and teachers, this collection of essays looks at both that bloody day and the aftermath, especially the political movement inspired by the event. The kids are overwhelmed by the horror and very aware of their need for counseling and recovery, while also sure that something can be done to fix something. Very current.

Buddha: An Enlightened Life, Keiron Moore. Cybils YA graphic novel. Lovely art helps tell the story of the Buddha, from his pampered childhood through his search for meaning among various disciplines to his enlightenment and life as the leader of a monkish order and eventual death. The role of his troublesome brother helps give the story a familiar shape as he serves as an adversary to be defeated. I hope it's accurate as the images will help make this the version I remember best!

Diesel: Ignition, Tyson Hesse. Cybils YA graphic novel. This was a hard read for me. I'm terrible at decoding comics; whenever an action scene started I would just gaze in incomprehension at the pretty colors until everyone once again was standing around talking and I could try to figure out what just happened. And the characters looked much younger than their ages, and I wish I hadn't notice that they were supposed to be 18 or so because that made their actions and emotions seem irredeemably immature and selfish. Disliking the main character intensely is a tough barrier to enjoying a story.




The Way Into Darkness, Harry Connolly. This guy is one of my favorite authors for a reason. The best part of my vacation was sitting in the shade and finishing this book, although I'll miss the two protagonists.

Junkyard, Lindsay Buroker. This is a novella setting up a series, with a dandy android, a big dog, an autistic spaceship captain, and a lot of heart. This is a very cosy author.

The Tea Master and the Detective, Aliette de Bodard. I had forgotten almost everything mentioned about this, so the ways in which it is a delightful pastiche of Sherlock and Holmes amused me exceedingly. The space stuff left me cold (in the way that happened in Ninefox Gambit) but the characters were worth hanging in there for.


Bookmarks Moved In:




Son of the Black Sword, Larry Correia. 52/? Baen's podcast serial. Ten minutes a week makes for a very long read. I started this in August last year.

Cyteen, C.J. Cherryh. Reread. My younger son, about to go off to college, is about the age of Justin and Grant here. Probably why it's so hard to read about Ari's abuse of them.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home, Carol Rifka Brunt. The narrator reminds me of everything I hated about myself as a teen.

Silvered, Tanya Huff. Starting to get traction here.


Picture Books:



LMNO Peas, Keith Baker. I"ve picked up almost all the follow-ons, but finally got to read the original from a display at the Neill Public Library in Pullman. It was a fun, energetic alphabet book with lots of room to seek out details and enjoy a rich vocabulary with a youngster.

Palate Cleansers

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



A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Alan Burgess.

The Educated Child, William Bennett. I mostly looked for happy kids at a preschool. Happy kids and creative play. These guy seems a bit hard core.

Cookie, Jacqueline Wilson.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2017.  Finished YA graphic novels!
2. Cybils 2018. Finished the last YA nonfiction!
3. Reading My Library. Finished Stories of My Life, which I think is the last audio CD. Haven't started the next print book.
4. KCLS Ten to Try. Still need to read a poetry book and the librarian recommend.
5. The Hunt Is On!  Two books, both library books on my TBR list.