Monday, July 14, 2014

Fireworks and Statuses

2a
I've just come back from a lovely vacation, where I got to visit my mom and my best friend and her lovely family, and I brought along my lovely son. It was lovely. Have I mentioned that?

It was also a time of delicious food and interesting days, along with learning much about my iphone that I had never known before. Also there were sparklers involved.

Most summers I try to read a book a day, but this year I haven't really committed to that. Yet not having an impossible and arbitary goal is nagging at me. I think I'll commence STARTING a book each day (and try to keep that to only one book) and see how that works for me.

What have I read this week and last week? I shall tell bookjourney's crew about it, and, since so much of my reading is kidlit, also link to Teach Mentor Texts:
  • Skin Heat, Ava Gray. I'm enjoying these almost science fictional paranormals, although the sex is a bit graphic for my tastes.
  • Angel's Blood, Nalini Singh (reread). My book club had fun with this. It was as close as I could find to a "sex slave" book.
  • Grim, Ellen Hopkins (ed). My son and I enjoyed these YA short stories. Sarah Rees Brennan's "Beauty and the Chad" was our favorite because it made us laugh.
  • Black Butler, Yana Toboso. A manga recommended by my elementary book club. Good enough for me to order up the sequel.
  • Other Goose, J.otto Seibold. A Reading My Library pick, reminiscent of The Stinky Cheese Man.
  • The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez. Best lesbian vampire book I've ever read.
  • The Martian, Andy Weir. Simple, clever fun.
  • Blue Remembered Hills, Rosemary Sutcliff. Nifty biography. I like how she faced her lameness.
  • Garment of Shadows, Laurie R. King. A good addition to the girl-marries-Sherlock-Holmes series. I think the amnesia endeared Mary Russell to me; she sometimes seems too smug.
  • A General Theory of Love, Thomas Lewis. This was an interesting if a bit repetitive discussion of the science and biology of the emotion love.
  • The Sharing Knife 4: Horizon, Lois McMaster Bujold (reread). At first I was grumpy because I really liked the idea of an insoluble problem, but the more I get over the book it isn't the more I appreciate the book it is.
  • My Real Children, Jo Walton. Very cool. Highly recommended.
  • Poppleton and Friends, Cynthia Rylant (picture book) Why do the animals wear shirts but not pants? Inquiring minds want to know.
  • A Bug, a Bear, and a Boy, David McPhail (picture book). Even the fifth sixth grader noticed the alliteration -- let's hear it for the letter B. An exceptional easy reader -- simple but not boring.
What am I currently reading?
  • The Midnight Tunnel, Angie Frasier. The library is calling this middle grade mystery home so I am trying to finish it quickly. I like the setting -- a holiday hotel in Canada in the early 1900s.
  • The Girls of Atomic City, Denise Kiernan. A paperback pick from the library that looks interesting. I hope it's a quick read as it's due on Thursday.
  • English Fairy Tales and More English Fairy Tales, Joseph Jacobs. The last book for my Reading My Library Quest, Juvenile Section.
  • Shards of Time, Lynn Flewelling.  The series is long enough to get a bit top-heavy -- I hope she reminds me of backstory because it's all muddled, but I can usually trust Flewelling to tell an interesting tale.
  • The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison. I am slowly savoring this. I suspect when I finish it I will go back to the first page and start all over again.
  • Cathedral of the Wild, Boyd Varty. Tough family life. 
  • Tinker, Wen Spencer. I'm rereading to see how it works with Wood Sprites. And because I like rereading it.
  • The Golden Leopard, Lynn Kerstan. Finally made some progress!
  • Inkheart, Cornelia Funke. Recommended by Talbot Hill Elementary book club. Library due dates keep pushing it back -- see Black Butler up ahead, another recommendation.
  • The Son of Neptune, Rick Riordan. Following up on this series. Since I own it, there is no urgency.
Reading intermittently, and deliberately slowly. These never change much:
  • Out to Canaan, Jan Karon. Some reunions, which probably mean more to people who read the earlier books.
  • The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. Quite dull.
  • How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card. How to live the life of a real writer.
What's up next? After I finish the library fire drills, I've got a paranormal on my NOOK and I'm hankering for another Mrs Pollifax fix.

2014 Challenge Progress:
  1. Cybils: 48/77. Time to get cracking on these again.
  2. Where Am I Reading? 29/51. Gosh darn it, I already had Alabama! I need Alaska, Arizona and Arkansas. Also Colorado and Connecticut -- any recommendations?
  3. Alphabetically Inclined: 18/26. It would help to catch up on these library books so I can read more from my shelves!
  4. What's In a Name?: 6/7. Weather is surprisingly hard. Would "Heat" count?
  5. Book Bingo: Finished a square!  Seven boxes into the next one since I last calculated.
  6. Gentle Spectrum Challenge: 10/10 colors, but I still need a cheesy title. The Other Goose would count, but I want a longer entry.-
  7. Small Fry Safari: 7/8. No change. Still need something precious.
  8. PoC Speculative Fiction 9/5: Three books this week would qualify. Maybe four, but I forget how dark the protagonist of Skin Heat was.
  9. Best of the Best 2012: 52/25.  I am stalled.
  10. Reading My Library: One book to finish off the first section. Then I go on break while they rebuild the library.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a lot of books!

Connecticut-Amy&Roger's Epic Detour, Drink, Slay, Love, or Last Night at the Lobster.

Arizona-Animal Dream by Barbara Kingsolver

Good luck with your challenges!
~Megan
http://wp.me/pzUn5-24a

Beth said...

I have put a hold on the Durst already, because I loved Animal Dreams so I trust your recommendation. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Wow, you are a prolific reader!
:-)

GatheringBooks said...

I am impressed by the number of titles you have here, and I always enjoy your one-liners about the novels you've read. :)