Social party for oldest son's college, social party for Foolscap, and the Renaissance Faire! I threw an ax, shot my arrows, released the trebuchet and spent some money. Good times had by all. I also saw Valerian and it was very pretty.I'm still doing my summer reading thing of starting a book every day, which will probably mean ending up with a few dozen bookmarks by the end of August, but that's how I like to roll in the breaks between routine. Currently Reading is about 26 books right now.
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 and I'm going to sign up. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed, and as I started a kidlit book, I'll check in with either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers for their version.
This week I started:
The Lost City of Z, David Grann. The Science Friday radio show had this as their summer read a few years back, so I proposed it to my Tuesday book club. I guess it's good because my brother finished it already. I'm liking it but have only started.
The Gunslinger, Stephen King. I ordered this for my summer reading team, but it came too late. And then Sword and Laser podcast picked it for their August read. I'm so lucky!
The Rogue Prince, Lindsay Buroker. A good author, Rachel Aaron, puts her books into Amazon Prime. I collect my ebooks as NOOKS, so that blocks me from reading her latest stuff. This made my son sad, so I signed up for a month of Amazon Prime book-reading thing so he could read his book for free. Then I noticed that another author I like, Buroker, also had some stuff hidden away in the Prime Zone, so I'll see how far I get before my one month trial runs out.
Indigo, [just about everyone]. So ten mystery/fantasy authors collaborated on this. I thought it would be interlocking stories, but it seems to be one story (unless I just haven't gotten far enough in). Interesting.
Equal Is Unfair, Don Watkins and Yaron Brooks. This is the next Reading Across the Aisles pick and it looks like an interesting topic with poor representation. I'm trying to time it so I finish just before the group meets, but the first chapters are not promising. And I'm very unimpressed with their idea of evidence -- apparently ad copy luring Irish immigrants is strong proof of the ease of upward mobility in 1800's America. The idea is whether striving for economic equality is a bad policy, but Watkins and Brooks apparently think acknowledging that white men have things easier than black women in our society is equivalent to demanding we immediately transition to a currency-free Cambodian gulag where ambition is ruthlessly punished. Really. Their argumentative style is to set up straw men, demolish them, then pose for accolades while quoting Atlas Shrugged. I hope our discussion group ignores the book and discussing economic goals for society.
Superstar, Mandy Davis. This is kidlit book about a child starting fifth grade after being homeschooled and the problems that ensue. The kid is pretty much a poster child for Aspergers, but apparently this will come as a shock to his mom and the school. I bogged down when this became the next plot point, because his mom would have had to be utterly neglectful to not have noticed, but I don't think I'm supposed to think that. Also, what I really want is a homeschooled kid who goes to school, manages to fit in, but goes back to homeschooling because that's clearly more fun and often a better way to learn. Anyone know a book like that?
The Murder of Mary Russell, Laurie King. I forget how annoying Mary Russell is when she is all superior and then messes up just like a normal person.
Only seven books! Just what the summer ordered.
I finished:
Blowing My Cover, Lindsay Moran. She quit when she got engaged, both because she felt the CIA was utterly useless after not predicting or stopping 9/11, and because she couldn't face lying to a guy she wanted to build a future with (it was OK with the various affairs she had with cute men going nowhere over the course of the book). I understood the latter reason -- the protocols did indeed seem asinine and poisonous, but I that the attitude that missing something made the entire mission useless rather immature. It was a fun read, but I'm just as happy Moran isn't spying for my country anymore.
Echoes In Death, J.D. Robb. I believe this is the latest Robb book -- I have officially caught up! Eve confronts her past directly, solves the mystery, and protects the innocent, and Roarke is supportive. I want some Peabody development -- maybe someone could kidnap her e-geek and they could save him and wring an engagement out of them?
The Rogue Prince, Lindsay Buroker. I haven't finished the previous series, but I forget where I am so in the interest of speed I'm working on the Sky Full of Stars books. Young Jelena is learning to captain her space freighter while rescuing abused animals, sparring with her adopted brother/engineer, and coaxing what appears to be her love interest back into humanity and away from his career path as an assassin prince.
Hmm, I started 7 and finished 3. I should try to read more short books next week.
Picture books and Short Stories:
Oops, nothing. Not much library time this week.
Bookmarks moved in:
Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Part 10. Time to awaken the wounded.
Desperate Hearts, Rosanne Bittner. Everyone in town gives her the same advice (get a gun), but our Heroine is Spunky and Independent and will go her own way. What do they know, anyway? Also, she has to nurse the nice man back to health.
When the Sea Turned to Silver, Grace Lin. The next audio book for the 2016 Cybils finalists. It's an OK audio but I miss the pictures that I know are in there.
These I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.
The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.
Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.
Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen, Wendelin Van Draanen.
The Emerald Atlas, John Stephens.
Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.
2017 Challenge Progress:
- Cybils 2016! 8 / a lot. Made no progress on anything but a few discs of the audio book.
- Reading My Library: My definition of hurry up and finish apparently does not involve hurrying.
- Where Am I Reading?: 26/51. No luck. Some books aren't even set on earth.
1 comment:
Z started a little slowly, as it wasn't clear what the book was about, but once I got a handle on the multiple threads it engaged me more.
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