The Plays The Thing

This was a fun week. I had a second trip to the zoo, this time including a scavenger hunt with friends. My washing machine broke (it had a long and respectable run) and we replaced it. I saw a move: She Rides Shotgun. I had lunch with one friend and a walk with another. Summertime is good.

Oh, and we met up with my brother and family to see Much Ado About Nothing which is an importance summer milestone. 

Goodreads still thinks I am reading 65 books. At least it’s not going up? The library thinks I have 69 physical books checked out, which seems maybe a wee bit high. Maybe if I finished a few book I could turn them in and work on both statistics at the same time. 

Books Completed  Aug 1 - Aug 6

Rosalie Lightning, Tom Hart. Wow. This was a moving and powerful chronicle of a family dealing with the sudden, unexplained death of their toddler. The graphics manage to echo the drowning, formless grief that encompassed them, as well as the gifts and support of their friends and the meaningless rhythms of life that continue on in heartless disregard of their loss. 

I Survived the Black Death, 1348, Lauren Tarshis. Most of these are based in America, but this one j7mps to England a the distant past. I appreciated how Tarshis worked to capture the flavor of the times while keeping to the style of the series.

Of Solids And Surds, Samuel R. Delany. These essays on why he writes were fun to read. The length varied from a sentence to a full chapter and the tone varied from witty to deeply analytical to almost nostalgic. The occasional discussion in the footnotes with the editor were an unexpectedly charming note.

I Survived The Attacks of September 11, 2001, Lauren Tarshis. I vividly remember this day, although I was on the west coast getting my kids ready for preschool. My best friend called because she knew my husband was flying back from the east coast and she wanted to check his flight number before I turned on the TV. I also liked the football concussion side plot, and I appreciated the essay about the writing process and the uncle.

Mary-Anne’s Bad Luck Mystery, Ann M Martin. This had a definite jump the shark feel to it. At least when I read the graphic novel they had fun illustrating the graveyard scenes; this just had the club passing the idiot ball around a lot, sometimes squabbling so they could all hold it at once.

Books Started

I Survived the Black Death, 1348, Lauren Tarshis. Not American!

The Unravelling, Benjamin Rosenbaum. Scintillation book club. I will miss the meeting.

Hearts Still Beating, Brooke Archer. Cybils finalist.

Bookmarks Moved

When the Moon Met the Sun, Alaina Hope. 

Tribute, Sherwood Smith

Devils, Joe Ambercrombie. Sword and Laser pick. 

One Jump Ahead, Mark L Von Name

Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy

Lawless, Leah Litman. 

Sheine Lende, Darcy Little Badger. Hugo finalist.

The Selected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers, Robinson Jeffers

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan

The Honey Witch, Sydney J. Shields

Because Internet, Gretchen McCulloch

Lepunia: Kingdom of the Gallopers, Kevin Ford

Bourne Supremacy, Robert Ludlum

Endling: The First, Katherine Applegate

The Wild Girls, Pat Murphy

Bookmarks Languished

I have not given up on these! Ignore all evidence.

                                                                                                

                                                                                 Into the Vast Nothing, J. Bruno.

                                                                             Marry Me By Midnight, Felicia Grossmann       

                                                                 True Colors, Abby Cooper.

                                                           South Riding, Winifred Holtby     

                   The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell         

               A, B, C: Three Short Novels, Samuel Delany

      An Exchange of Hostages, Susan R. Matthews

   I’m Nobody, Who Are You?, Emily Dickinson

   Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel

   Calypso, Oliver K Langmead

   Monstress Vol. 9, Marjorie M. Liu

   The Hunger and the Dusk, G. Willow Wilson

   Speculative Whiteness, Jordan S. Carroll

   Track Changes, Abigail Nussbaum

Heavenly Tyrants, Xiran Jay Zhao

Picture Books, Poems, and Short Stories

 None. 

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. On to laundry and linens.

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. Reintegration.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). 

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). Mail bribe.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon. Mail bribe. Moving back to personal stuff. 

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. Teen romance is hard.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. To the Market.

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe. I’m past Christmas!

Books Acquired

I only notice when I’m caught up.

Future Plans

This is for the actual future, so weeks beyond the books in this post. It is also probably wrong.

I am reading: 

• Book I own: Devils
• Library Book: A, B, C: Three Short Novels
• Hugo Finalist: Sheine Lende
• Ebook I own: The Demonic Ox
• Foolscap Book Club Book:  Arabella of Mars
• Sword and Laser Club Book:  She Who became the Sun
• Scintillation Book Club: Accident of Stars
• Cloudy Book Club:  The Bright and Breaking Sea
• Torches and Pitchfork Book Club:  Who Fears Death
• River Runs Under It Book Club: This Tender Land
• Talbot Hill Book:  Recommendations: Babysitter’s Little Sister, Pokémon 
• Friday Book Club: Dune
• Romance Book Club: Amnesia