Lovely weather, but who can enjoy it if they have procrastinated on doing their income taxes? Not me! So come on rain, reflect my emotional state!
I did go out to the movies on Tuesday and saw Dumbo. I didn't understand any of the characters; their reactions made little sense. The movie introduces a family that is caring for Dumbo -- two kids and their dad. They are sad. He has a job as elephant trainer but has no authority, which is bad because Bad Guy #1 has a hobby of mistreating them, especially during performances because that's really funny, particularly when it makes the circus go bankrupt. There are no consequences for this. Dad consoles himself by yelling at his children and then wonders why they run away. If only Wife were still alive, she'd understand these confusing small humans! But Dumbo is super cute, and that's what I was there for. I was glad when Bad Guy #2 snapped them up for his bigger circus, because it gave Dumbo more excuses to fly.
My second son is actually considering colleges now, and so we are driving around doing the visits he was reluctant to do during his junior year. I would complain more about his habit of procrastinating if it weren't so obvious where he got it. See paragraph one above, for example. At least it is his spring break, so we can make trips to the out of town possibilities.
My currently reading remains around 21. Again, on about five of those I'm kidding myself and haven't touched them in months. And one of them is really "preparing for Patricia Briggs's next book by rereading all the previous ones." But I'm trying to promote one of the "just kidding" current reads to "actively reading" and then actually finishing it; that way I will whittle down the list to a more reasonable 10-15. Wait, that's still not reasonable. Oh well, that's how I roll, reading-wise.
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 so I'll sign up there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers so I'll sign up over there as my picture book reading qualifies me.
Started:
Ghost Dog Secrets, Peg Kehret. Elementary school book club pick.
They Both Die At the End, Adam Silvera. Last year's Cybils nominee. I thought the library was calling it home so it jumped the queue but then I managed to renew it so it drifted back a bit.
Patricia Briggs books. I meant to just review in preparation for the next book, but I keep remembering things I liked and going back for more. Some I just browse and some I seem to be actually rereading. Frost Burn is the one where Adam is kidnapped, which I picked up after Silence Fallen, where Mercy is kidnapped.
Completed:
Crimson Death, Laurell K Hamilton. Sweet summer child Anita. May you never change.
Ghost Dog Secrets, Peg Kehret. I like the realism of this ghost story -- I felt Rusty was a real kid. I asked the children about it, and they found his independence incredible -- he could go bowling by himself! He was alone after school. I felt very old when I realized that this book is only ten years old. These kids just live in the big city. They found the kid's unmasking of a meth lab fully believable.
Virtues of War, Bennett R. Coles. Very vivid premier, but too graphic for me. I'm queasier about violence (especially sexual violence) than I was in my youth.
Silence Fallen, Patricia Briggs. I ended up rereading this completely. And then dove back deeper. Oops.
Split Second, Catherine Coulter. My next Reading-My-Library quest book. I was really liking it, but then a magic ring appeared and I fell completely out of the story and grumped about the romance and the dumb moves by the serial killer and the torrid murder attempts on the side plots. How do these people even find competent hit men anyway? Craigslist?
Bookmarks Moved In:
Son of the Black Sword, Larry Correia. 37/? Baen's podcast serial. We have moved back to the main character, so I am hoping that means the plot will pick up again.
The Road to Little Dribbling, Bill Bryson, discs 5-9/11. My current Reading-My-Library audio. A good book for traveling, since he is also moving around. Also the topic shifts as rapidly as the scenery in Washington. I might finish this while driving across the state next week.
Cyteen, C.J. Cherryh. The kids are in elementary school now. Justin and Grant are still very much under suspicion but some of the more decent types are realizing what a raw deal they are getting.
Terran Tomorrow, Nancy Kress. The idiots have done something dumb. Their last chance at that as bears are unforgiving.
The Honor of the Queen, David Weber. My Tuesday's book club pick. The bad guys have made their move. Moves. But no one expected a telepathic tree cat and his CLAWS of DEATH. Honor loses a few body parts but is back in action!
The Dispossessed, Ursula Le Guin. Wow, this is a great book. I shall give it to my son when I'm done.
Picture Books:
What a Wonderful Word, Nicola Edwards. Delightful book of great words from various languages. A few of my favorites that I hope to incorporate: Verschlimmbessering, gluggavedor, cafuna. Any guesses what they mean?
Whose Boat Is This Boat, Staff of Steve Colbert's show. Or Donald Trump. Just some of the sillier tweets from Trump's visit to a hurricane-wrecked community.
Have a Look, Says Book, Richard Jackson. A book by a bibliophile, for bibliophiles. I think it mostly works to affirm the joys of reading, not entice new converts.
Palate Cleansers
These books I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.
A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.
Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception, Wendelin Van Draanen. Poor Sammy is not only dealing with an art shop mystery, but with complicated love stories from both her grandmother and her classmates.
Change of Heart, Norah McClintock.
Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Alan Burgess. Our main character has made it to China!
Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. I'm currently reading about Venn diagrams and other ways to test and improve reading comprehension.
4 comments:
Yay for Ursula K. Le Guin. Do you have a favorite of hers?
Honestly my favorite tends to be whatever I've most recently reread. I loved the Earthsea trilogy, even liked the follow ups, read all the other teen stuff, loved Left Hand of Darkness and the Dispossessed, really want to reread Always Coming Home... She's one of the authors that is great to read at ten, at twenty, and again at 50.
I reread Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy last year and have a couple of others here I want to read again, including this one. I'm with you the the most recent tends to be my favourite.
I really hope you enjoy They Both Die At the End. That was one I remember being unable to put down until I knew the conclusion. Because WHO actually tells you what happens at the end, right? And Cyteen is completely new to me, although I see this started long ago. It sounds intriguing so I'll have to see if we have this series locally. I've always struggled with reading more than one book at a time, but this year I've tried to juggle two (and even up to three, as long as they don't have similar storylines). My problem is two-fold in that I'm worried about forgetting elements of the story and also I become so engrossed that I just have to finish the book in a couple sittings. LOL Thanks for all the shares, Beth!
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