Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Last Month of 2020! What Else Could Go Wrong?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
Well, I haven't gone to bed yet, and I think it's still Monday somewhere. This has been a very short week for me, since I got my last blog out on Thursday or so last week.

I'm trying to do my running again, although my son has not been as aggressively training me. Of course, he's also in the thick of exams, so I guess his excuse is mildly valid. He did come with me on my monthly 5K, although he didn't stay back with me; he ran his and then sat in the car and read, possibly school related stuff. I puffed along at a slower pace, and then have managed to continue working through Runkeeper's Couch to 5K program. 

We've just about finished all the Thanksgiving leftovers, which is good because botulism would probably be a concern soon. It's now time to start baking for Christmas! I went to Costco today and stocked up on essentials such as butter and chocolate chips. I also managed to cook in my new Instapot. So far I'm just using it as a crock pot, but there are many recipes I could now try... I made Crockpot Falafel, which is fairly popular, and then I had to make my own pita bread to put them in because Safeway was out. This Pandemic is hard, my friends, but at least I've now learned to make my own pocket pitas. 

I'm not very excited about Christmas in general since we aren't going anywhere and no one is coming here (well, my kids are coming home but that's mostly involuntary). The boy who's already home and I spend about 30 minutes a day getting ready -- so far we've put up the outside lights and moved all the furniture around so we can put up a tree. The tradition is to put up the super cheap fake tree unless we are staying home for Christmas (most of the time we go to Utah), but this year is tough. We're home so we should splurge on a real tree, but we are sad and uninspired because this is the first Christmas we aren't spending with Grandma and the cousins since my oldest was born. So we just swept the floor and put off deciding a few more days.



I am surrounded by Cybils books and need to read about three books a day for the rest of the year. Also, I am falling far behind on my tiny reviews. I just finished last week's, so this week's is not ready yet. I will update this post when I can.

My currently reading is again a frightening 27.

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. Ditto for the children's lit version at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers. I will be eligible there for the next month for sure!


Started

Poisoned Water: How the Citizens of Flint, Michigan, Fought for Their Lives and Warned the NationOutlaw: The Legend of Robin HoodFor Which We Stand: How Our Government Works and Why It Matters
Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box
Becoming Muhammad AliSucker Punch (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #27)



Poisoned Water, Candy J. Cooper. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood, Tony Lee. Cybils finalist.

For Which We Stand, Jeff Foster. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Lifting As We Climb, Evette Dionne. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Citizenship, Race, and the Law, Duchess Harris. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Guardians of Liberty, Linda Barrett Osborne. 2020 Cybils nominee.

John Lewis, Duchess Harris. 2020 Cybils nominee.

March Fong Eu, Duchess Harris. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Becoming Kid Quixote, Stephen Staff & Sarah Sierra. 2020 Cybils nominee. 

The Cat I Never Named, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess & Laura L. Sullivan. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Becoming Muhammad Ali, James Paterson. 2020 Cybils nominee. Audio.

Sucker Punch, Laurell K. Hamilton. A book that is as far from a 2020 nonfiction nominee as it is possible to get. 

The Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears, Duchess Harris. 2020 Cybils nominee.


Completed

Women Win the Vote!: 19 for the 19th AmendmentPoisoned Water: How the Citizens of Flint, Michigan, Fought for Their Lives and Warned the NationWolf Rebel (SWAT, #10)For Which We Stand: How Our Government Works and Why It Matters
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)
Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box



Women Win the Vote, Nancy B. Kennedy. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Poisoned Water, Candy J. Cooper. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Wolf Rebel, Paige Tyler. Substitute for my Library Quest: Action/Thriller bag. I think the current pandemic is the wrong time for me to be sympathetic to a character who declares "I can't be ruled by fear" as she admits to having a psychic condition that makes her prone to murderous fits where she attacks everyone around her, so she refuses company as she drives off to hang out with a child who is feeling sad about her parents' divorce. Because dealing with a problem is just cowardly, and all the people (children) who die will agree that their deaths were better than the protagonist having to modify her behavior in any way due to something outside her control. Gosh. Other than that, it was an OK paranormal with a few twists on the werewolf story and at least an awareness that some people might disapprove of a boyfriend who had recently left a group of terrorists dedicated to murdering you and all your friends. 

For Which We Stand, Jeff Foster. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling. This was fun -- they did a good job getting people to read and editing the shared reads. For the last chapter they had several families read -- even the little kids got to read some pages. This is a really good read-aloud in general, and having a bunch of great actors do the reading didn't hurt at all. But the free version goes away at the end of the year, so if you want it, listen now!.

Citizenship, Race, and the Law, Duchess Harris. 2020 Cybils nominee.

John Lewis, Duchess Harris. 2020 Cybils nominee.

March Fong Eu, Duchess Harris. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Lifting As We Climb, Evette Dionne. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Guardians of Liberty, Linda Barrett Osborne. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Becoming Kid Quixote, Stephen Staff & Sarah Sierra. 2020 Cybils nominee. 

The Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears, Duchess Harris. 2020 Cybils nominee.


Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Uncompromising Honor (Honor Harrington, #14)Black Leopard, Red WolfA Long Time Until NowChildren of Time (Children of Time #1)
The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. HeinleinThe LuminariesSomeplace to Be Flying (Newford, #8)
The Bone Witch (The Bone Witch, #1)The Bourne Supremacy (Jason Bourne, #2)Return of the Thief (The Queen's Thief, #6)
A Lady's Code of Misconduct (Rules for the Reckless, #5)The Wine-Dark Sea (Aubrey & Maturin #16)An Extraordinary Union (The Loyal League, #1)The Dark Lord Clementine


Still ridiculous but a little less so? But I'm honestly planning to finish most of these before my next birthday.

Uncompromising Honor 41/??, David Weber. Baen Free Radio Hour's serial. This is a long battle, and traditionally I skim the battle bits. This one will probably not be done by my birthday, but as I'm listening to a serial that's not my fault.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James. Sword and Laser pick. 

A Long Time Until Now, Michael Z Williamson. 

Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky. I made a tiny bit of progress.

The Pleasant Profession of Robert A Heinlein, Farah Mendelson. Hugo finalist. 

The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton. 

Someplace To Be Flying, Charles de Lint. 

The Bone Witch, Rin Chupeco. Probably on top of the pile right now.

The Bourne Supremacy, Robert Ludlum. 

Return of the Thief, Megan Whalen Turner. 

A Lady's Code of Misconduct, Meredith Duran. 

The Wine-Dark Sea, Patrick O'Brien. My Tuesday book club book. 

An Extraordinary Union, Alyssa Cole. I did not finish this in time for book club. The others were not enthusiastic; they all prefer her contemporary books. 

The Dark Lord Clementine, Sarah Jean Horwitz. Cybils finalist and book club pick.

Picture Books / Short Stories:

Women in Biology | A Science Book For Kids! (Science Wide Open 1)This Is How I GrowEverything Awesome About Sharks and Other Underwater Creatures!Who Will It Be?: How Evolution Connects Us All
Cityscape: Where Science and Art MeetI Am a PromiseCan a Tree Be Blue?
Thanks to Frances Perkins: Fighter for Workers' RightsDream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip FreelonUnderground: Subway Systems Around the WorldPretty Tricky - The Sneaky Ways Plants Survive

Women In Biology, Mary Wissinger. 2020 Cybils nominee.

This Is How I Grow, Dia L. Michels. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Everything Awesome About Sharks and Other Underwater Creatures, Mike Lowery. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Who Will It Be?, Paola Vitale. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Cityscape: Where Science and Art Meet, April Pulley Sayre. 2020 Cybils nominee.

I Am A Promise, Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Can a Tree Be Blue, Audrey Sauble. 2020 Cybils nominee.

ABC: What An Informed Voter You'll Be, Modern Kid Press. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Thanks to Frances Perkins, Deborah Hopkinson. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon, Kelly Starling Lyons. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Underground, Uijung Kim. 2020 Cybils nominee.

Pretty Tricky, Etta Kaner. 2020 Cybils nominee. 

I will try to get my Cybils post up so I can remind myself of what I thought about all these.


Palate Cleansers

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

The Educated Child: A Parents Guide from Preschool Through Eighth GradeWool (Wool, #1)Sorcerer to the Crown (Sorcerer Royal, #1)Under the Eye of the StormReading and Learning to Read


The Educated Child, William Bennett. How to evaluate a school and see if it is functional. I'm not sure these authors really know much about education so I don't think their advice will help much.

Wool, Hugh Howey. 
Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho.

Under the Eye of the Storm, John Hersey. I believe Hersey that this is how men were, but it still seems alien to me.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. Dealing with gifted children in the classroom.

Reading Challenges
  1. Cybils 2017. None. I just need 3 YA books to be done. But YA is hard. 
  2. Cybils 2018. None.
  3. Cybils 2019. Working on The Dark Lord Clementine, a middle grade fantasy.
  4. Early Cybils: Started Robin Hood, a graphic novel from 2009? Somewhere therabouts.
  5. Reading My Library. Finished the action adventure one. 
  6. Ten to Try. At 9/10. I'm STILL working on the last one. 
  7. Where Am I Reading: 31/51 states. 27 Countries. 
  8. Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge.  I'm done.

Plans

I'm putting this at the end because I suspect it's complete fiction, but I feel I should attempt some structure.

I am reading: 
  • Book I own: Return of the Thief. Next: No idea. Especially since I keep avoiding this one.
  • Library Book: Bone Witch. Next: The Bride book.
  • Ebook I own: An Extraordinary Union.  Up Next: Probably a T. Kingfisher.
  • Library Ebook: You Too? Next: Games of Deception
  • Book Club Book: The Dark Lord Clementine. Next: ??
  • Tuesday Book Club Book: Wine Dark Sea. Next/also: Somewhere To Be Flying until we pick something.
  • Review Book: None. Up Next: Not sure.
  • Hugo Book: The Pleasant Profession of Robert A Heinlein. Next: Joanna Russ.



1 comment:

Linda B said...

I actually looked up a few of your MANY books listed, titles I hadn't know before. Thanks for that! I've been a Round 1 Cybils Judge & know it can be overwhelming, especially in December! Hope you find the time to do all you wish, and no matter the challenges, have a Merry Christmas. This crazy year will make stories to tell for a long time coming. Thanks for taking the time to share!