Energy Has Left the Building

I restarted Family Book club, which we hold with another family. This is especially important now that my family has shrunk to two people. It was a bit of a cheat, as I only made everyone else read the table of contents of NurtureShock, but it was still fun because we had kids and teens and parents to argue about the points. Everyone had fun (and sushi) and now claim they are going to actually read the next book.

I also drove up to Kirkland for a friend's inaugural Feminist Book Club. I had read the book months ago so couldn't add much to the point but it was fun anyway. And I enjoyed World Language Night at the high school, although my sons made a good choice in picking Latin in terms of musicality and performance. I texted at my older son throughout, so we all felt companionable.

Reading wise, I'm facing the end of the year and the fact that most of my challenges are half done. I picked up a pile of YA and am pretending I'm going to read them, as well as the next pile of Reading My Library books. Currently Reading has wavered and wriggled and returned to 21.

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 signing up there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed, and my Cybils reading qualifies me. I'll go look to see what everyone else was reading at either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers.

This Week I started:



Rag and Bone, KJ Charles. I almost missed this one, confusing it with the short story that introduced the characters.

A Study in Charlotte, Brittany Cavallaro. A Cybils YA book. I'm running very late with my Cybils reading this year.

Rebel, Sherwood Smith & Rachel Manija Brown. The third book in this series.

Make Me Stay, Jaci Burton. My next Reading My Library book.

I finished:



Nothing to Lose, Lee Child. Definitely set in Colorado. I found the woman who briefly holds Reacher's interest utterly incomprehensible, but that isn't unusual in these books. A standard version of these stories, nothing out of the ordinary.

Jackdaw, K J Charles. I like rereading the parts after they get away, but the parts where there is the betrayal and the prison and the sadness, those aren't as much fun. But it was fun to spot the guys from Rag and Bone as they passed in the hall.

Rag and Bone, KJ Charles. Just as I was congratulating myself on reading all of Charles's books, I realized that I had skipped this one because I confused it with the short story that introduced the characters. It's another chance to see Crane and Day from the terrified view of other practitioners, as well as a few glimpses of the Jackdaw pair, but it also concentrates on its own characters of a Cornish man who attracts bad mentors and a Black paper collector with firm values.

The Keeper of the Mist, Rachel Neumeier. The next Cybils YA book. This was an entertaining fantasy, with an innovative magic system that was explained mostly by the confusing of the people trying to deal with their new talents after the previous generation botched both the use and the transfer of key positions. I found the tacked-on romance at the end a sad letdown that pulled energy out of the ending, but in general it was a fun read.

Expendable, James Alan Gardner.  For my Tuesday BookClub, which is also now a Minecraft club. I'm not actually supposed to finish this until next week, but I was hoping for some ideas for stuff to build that ties in with the book. The egg collection was easy, as was the statue of Oar, but I'm not sure what to do next. An underwater dome city? Oh, I enjoyed it as SF as well, although Festina is not good with men. This reread I noticed she was a child of 23, so I'm more tolerant.

I started 4 and finished 5. That's better than I thought I was doing.

I Gave Up On:


Strangers in Their Own Land, Arlie Hochschild. I started this too late and the library wants it back, and I don't want to cram it because I have to work at compassion. Some people make it hard. When a man describes how charitable he is by referencing how his family works to provide gifts for needy families through a giving tree, and then casually mentions that they throw out requests for shoes if the sizes are too big, because they might be going to adults, I need to put down the book and try to imagine people who have never encountered any teenaged boys. People who are also so determined that an undeserving person not receive charity that they are willing to let unnumbered children also miss out just in case. Wow.

Picture Books and Short Stories:


Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln, Kate DiCamillo. The last Cybils early chapter book, with an entertaining protagonist of an elderly woman making a brief break for independence, which luckily turns out well as she learns about comedy, candy, and creativity before being welcomed back into her family with more respect. I like the idea of kids identifying with the aged.

"Remnant, " KJ Charles and Jordan Hawke. Two magical crime-fighting couples that meet and annoy each other. Since I think I have now actually finished Charles maybe I'll try the co-author of this story to see what they are up to over in America.

Guess Who, Haiku, Deanna Caswell. Cybils poetry book. I can see this working as a picture book, or even as an aid in explaining what haiku is, but it doesn't really satisfy my "read some poems" itch.

Bookmarks moved in:



Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 25. Daav is back. He's suspicious, as well he should be.

Great Pumpkin Suite, Melanie Hill. The kids, unsupervised, play with sharp tools.

First Impressions, Nora Roberts. 4/6. My audio Reading my Library Quest book. Maryland again! Vance must be incredibly hot because otherwise it's hard to see what Shane sees in him. Well, as the listener I know he's rich so she's probably OK.

Virtues of War, Bennett Coles. I have a feeling this strike team is going to have some problems.

These I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.



Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

2017 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2016!  51/107-ish. Working through elementary Graphic Novels and also back at the YAs. I'm not looking likely to finish by the end of the year.
2. Reading My Library: Working on First Impressions for my next audio, and started Make Me Stay from the top of the next bookcase.
3. Where Am I Reading?: 36/51. I'm reading a much more solid Oklahoma, and a Cybils book is set in Connecticut.