Monday, June 20, 2011

Monday Again! And I'm Still Reading

I spent the weekend at a waterpark where it was almost too hot to swim.  After a few excusions down the slides, I retired to the sidelines and pulled out my books, finishing off a couple of books I've been eyeing for a while.  Before that I spent most of the week re-reading my three Dooley Ryan books by Norah McClintock, but I can't actually list them because I read them in a scattered fashion, skipping forward and back to visit scenes I remembered.

So, what have I finished in the past week?
  • The Demon's Surrender, by Sarah Rees Brennan (hooray!)
  • Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates, Thomas Cathcart and Daniel
  • The Whistling Season, Ivan Doig
  • The Curse of the Wolf Girl, Martin Miller
  • Harmonic Feedback, Tara Kelly
What trends do I see? Em, I'm list-driven? All these books satisfy challenges.  Of course, I bought the Brennan just because I love her YA books, but the others came from recommendations from friends and lists.  But I enjoy the variety this gives me -- I have YA books, SF books, nonfiction books, mainstream books, all in pleasing proportions.

Right now I'm reading:
  • Feng Shui, Robin D Laws. On loan from my brother.
  • Trick of the Light, Rob Thurman
  • The Battle for Azeroth, ed. Bill Fawcett. Analysis of the World of Warcraft MMORPG.
  • Little Fuzzy, H. Piper.  In preparation for Scalzi's relaunch, I got this for my NOOK.
  • Death's Excellent Vacation (audio).
  • Territory, Emma Bull (vacation book)
  • Downbelow Station, C.J. Cherryh. Reread.
  • Bad Prince Charlie, John Moore (vacation book)
  • The Rogue's Return, Jo Beverly (vacation book)
  • The Secret Duke, Jo Beverly. Found under my bedside table with a bookmark.
  • How I Met My Countess, Elizabeth Boyle. Also found.
  • The Terrorists of Irustan, Louise Marley.  I snuck this into my vacation pile.
I'm concentrating on the top two, with dips into the third as a reward for actually finishing something. The fourth is my current NOOK book, but I have a few others queued up.   I read the bottom hordes in dribs and dabs.  I don't like to drag my brother's book out of the house, so I need another book from library for walking around.  The Sanger book is next up, although if it's too dry I'll sneak in some more Cybils reading as a reprieve.  And Cagebird is looking at me reproachfully...

Quick stats on my Challenges:

A-Z: 38/52. Chugging along.  I'm now vaguely looking for the missing bits.  Anyone know a good Q book?
Cybils: 45/76. Finished Non-Fiction Picture books.
Global Reading Challenge:12/21. No change.
Once Upon a Time: LOTS/5. I'm an overachiever. Definitely past time to start the Shakespeare.
Read Around the World: 12/20. The Prince of Wales threw me a picture book.
Science Book Challenge: 2.141/3.141... I've checked out a biography of Meitner, which would complete this.
Stream: 3/3, 1/3, 3/3, 2/3. One stream has branched.  I've officially finished this, but I'm enjoying it too much to quit.
Take a Chance: 3/10. Finished #4, and I have another in my pile.
20/11: 17/20. If I caught up on reviewing, I'd be done.  This is still true.  Which new book to include...
What's In a Name?: 5/6. The movement in the title one is hard.  Hey, maybe "If a Tree Falls" would count -- falling is movement, right?  But I want better.
Where Am I Reading?: 21/50. I added Montana.  I'm reading a Nevada book, but that's a repeat -- ARGH.  I think I have some Westerns out that might give me some new states...

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