Finished a Challenge!

Today is the last day of S Krishna's COYSChallenge, so I spent it hurredly adjusting my score. (20% of my reading had to be books I owned on October 1st). Final tallies:

Books Read: 46
From my shelves: 12 (not counting the one I bought in November)

1. Flint, Louis L'Amour (Western)
2. Lord Caldwell and the Cat, Joy Reed (Romance)
3. Astro Turf: The Private Life of Rocket Science, M.G. Lord (Memoir & History)
4. Fairest, Gail Carson Levine (kidlit)
5. The Princess and the Hound, Mette Ivie Harrison (YA)
6. Outlaws of Ravenhurst, M. Imelda Wallace (kidlit, Catholic style)
7. The Noonday Friends, Mary Stolz (kidlit, Newbery)
8. Kringle, Tony Abbott (kidlit)
9. Star Trek 2, James Blish (SF/TV)
10. Jip: His Story, Katherine Patterson (kidlit, Newbery)
11. Left By Themselves, Charles Paul May (kidlit)
12. Is Pluto a Planet?, David A. Weintraub (Science)

Percentage (drumroll please!): 26% I win! I win! I'd like to thank my parents, who I don't think know about this blog, and my agent, who is a figment of my imagination, and all my loyal followers (likewise fictional). And my children, who went to bed so I could quickly finish four books from my shelves and ensure my success. Not to mention bringing me a fork so I could eat pie in bed while reading the last Western.

Also, my family across the street, who gave me two of those books for my favorite birthday ever, and A-Z Wednesdays, which led me to the books for the weeks I, J, K, L, N, O, and P.

We will not look at what would have happened if I had been too busy to finish those last four books today. (19%! Failure! Didn't Happen!) And you can all count your blessings that I don't know how to rig this blog to play the theme from Chariots of Fire, let alone make it go all flashy and blinking lights.

Sunday Round-Up

What have I read? Which is a bit of a different question that what have I mentioned on this blog. In reverse order, since that is what I get from LibraryThing, I see:

• The Mysterious Benedict Society
• Storm Glass
• In the Stormy Red Sky
• The Princess and the Hound
• Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading

Distressingly, only one of those is from my shelves; the others are all library books. I have one day left on the Clear My Shelves Challenge, and I think I need to read about three more shelf books. It's not a long list, but I also read a few hundred pages in other books without finishing them. I find Thanksgiving weekend to be rather distracting. Good food, though.

What am I currently reading? Well, from the library I have:

• A Fatal Waltz
• The Necessary Beggar
• The Prisoner Within
• A Weed By Any Other Name
• Marcelo in the Real World

And I also have bookmarks in a few other books, ones without deadlines because I own them or borrowed them from people who won't hurt me:

• Clutter's Last Stand. I seem to be reading this when I get the urge to clean. Actually cleaning would probably be more effective than reading about it, though.
• Fairest. I'll finish this tomorrow to up my ratio.
• The End of Racism. Lots of big words.
• Dead to Me. Book I started at the airport while waiting for my children to drift by. Was I unreasonable in thinking "they'll come out on the first floor" to be a bit nonspecific about where my children would emerge from their transatlantic flight? The one that they took all by themselves? Thank goodness A remembered that we meet at the baggage claim even if you have no baggage, because the silly lady responsible for him kept trying to lead him goodness knows where. Anyway, I wanted a book that I wouldn't be too interested in, and this was perfect.
• Whiskey and Water. All of Elizabeth Bear's books start slow for me, so I'm still nibbling a few pages here and there. Eventually I expect it to become all-consuming.

Underground in Seattle

Kat Richardson's mystery series about a private detective who finds that her near-death experience lets her see ghosts has a solid protagonist and sturdy, twisty plots, but my favorite part is the thrill of place recognition. The books are set in Seattle, and Underground, the third in the series, lets even a geography challenged type like myself feel right at home. Well, in my brother's home, since she lives in West Seattle, but I spotted lots of places I could find if given enough time.

I like how Harper approaches even the most surreal problems with grounded common sense and pragmatism. Her love life is fairly straight-forward and she treats it in an adult way -- even when a relationship has insurmountable problems. That is a nice change from most paranormal series, where it's mandatory for the girl to waver for eons between two hotties. I like playing around with the werewolf trope, and I'm interested to see if Richardson sticks to her guns in the next book. These are fun mystery stories with a paranormal twist, but no vampire lovers.

Passive Prince in Princess and the Hound

Another A-Z Wednesday has come, hosted by Reading on the Beach. Although most people just pick a book from their shelves that start with the week's letter, I insist on reading the book that day. If I'm lucky, I can grab something from my currently reading pile, so I don't start from scratch. Or I find a kids book. Or I panic. I'm good at that.

Today I grabbed a YA book from my currently reading table, with a bookmark almost halfway through. And luckily for me, that's about when the plot of The Princess and the Hound, by Mette Ivie Harrison, really takes off. I found myself impatient with Prince George, the main character, who spends most of the book being restrained and inhibited. But after he meets the princess arranged to be his bride, he finds himself grappling with his emotions and preparing to take actions for himself. The princess was a bit too perfect, but I really appreciated how much slower she was to trust him than his feelings for her.

The back cover claims that it's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but only if you squint sideways and are kinda drunk. But it does have a fairy tale flavor, and if you have a lot of patience for slow character building, it's a rewarding book. I finished it while waiting for my brine to cool enough to put the turkey in, so I'll give thanks that it was a good read, because on Wednesdays there is no turning back. B

Strange Lessons from Schooled

Gordon Korman's book Schooled presents two different types of education. Cap Anderson has grown up on an old hippie commune, with his grandmother as the only other resident. Although he has seen very few people in his life, his first lessons were in responsibility and compassion for all humanity, both in the abstract and in the individual. The book instantly throws him from his sheltered existence into life at C Average middle school, where no one is encouraged to care about anyone else. Friendships are a matter of utility, and betrayals are expected and unremarked. This is not depressing or dark; it's just life at a typical middle school.

Cap's arrival changes things for many students, who eventually realize that he isn't faking things or trying to game them, and they tentatively explore the idea of thinking outside their own selfish needs. On his part, Cap welcomes the chance to meet more people, and never stops seeing the best in everyone, partly because of his inability to parse figurative language. Not only does he not recognize lies or sarcasm, he takes idioms at face value. I enjoyed the fun tale, especially the intrinsic kindness of Cap, which stays believable throughout. I was disappointed but not surprised when Cap ends up staying enrolled in public school. Does anyone know a story of a child getting a superior homeschooled education, sent to the shocks of school, and then getting to go back to homeschooling? B+

Sunday Summary, Times Two

This week again seemed very long, but that's because I skipped last Sunday, so this week lasted fourteen days. Ah, the power of the internets. Since my reading pile barely moved, that's just as well. I think I finished a few books:

• Serenity Found
• The Magician's Elephant
• Outlaws of Ravenhurst
• Underground
• What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
• Schooled
• Queens: Portraits of Black Women and Their Fabulous Hair
• The Noonday Friends
• Child of Fire
• Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things
• Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash

I'm fairly happy with my reading; several nonfiction, some fun genre books (my favorite was Child of Fire), a core of kidlit. I'd better watch for my challenges; only two books weren't from the library.

Where are my bookmarks? Let me see:

• The Prisoner Within. I've pushed along maybe 25 pages. Not really worth it so far.
• Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading. As much fun as I anticipated.
• The Mysterious Benedict Society. I took the recommendations of P.'s classmate and made him check this out for me. I had to twist his arm, the little skunk.
• A Weed By Any Other Name. Why excessive lawn care is bad. This must be why I don't do it; I knew this instinctively.
• The Necessary Beggar. Lovely writing, but a bit of a silly story.

From my home library, I have to finish some books to catch up my clear-your-shelves challenge. Maybe something for P day on Wednesday.

• Powers. Bad stuff is about to happen, I can feel it.
• Princess and the Hound. This one is getting interesting, now that we've met the princess.
• Astroturf. I suspect there's only about 30 minutes left.
• Fairest. Another book one real session from completion.
• End of Racism. OK, one chapter a week is about my limit here, so no chance of finishing this.

More Sammy: Wild Cash

I have officially caught up in Wendelin Van Draanen Sammy Keyes series, with the addition of Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things and Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash to my have-read list. Both were enjoyable, although the author is definitely running out of exciting things for Sammy to do, and the resultant strain on my credulity is severe. She hasn't met assassins or immigrant smugglers or even aliens from outer space yet, so maybe there are still room for more sequels.

I liked the idea of taking Sammy out of her comfort zone and into wilderness camping in Wild Things, and enjoyed watching Sammy wrestle with her conscience (best two falls out of three) in Cold Hard Cash. The best part of the series is still grounded in character development, primarily of Sammy, since her boyfriend Casey is too good to be true. Sammy is also a wunderkind, but we watch her struggle for it so I'll accept that in my protagonist. P is chugging along on book 3 of the series; we'll see if he has the stamina to go all the way.