Library Chicken

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Where Am I Reading 2014

This is my fourth year for BookJourney's Where Are You Reading? challenge, and it's probably my favorite challenge. I like the way I end up reading all sorts of crazy things, unlike challenges where I just gloat over all the things I'd read anyway (although those are fun too). And I even like my tradition of panicking at New Years and locking myself up in my room for the frantic final books.

This year I'll again add foreign books to the end of the list, and use the maps from World 66 to visually track my progress.

Alabama: Alabama Moon, Skin Heat
Alaska: Son of Neptune
Arizona: Thorn Fall
Arkansas: The Duggars: 20 and Counting!
California: Constellation Games, One Week Girlfriend, World After, Into the Forest
Colorado: The Education of Madeline, Affliction
Connecticut: Drink, Slay, Love
Delaware: Hawkes Harbor
Florida: Final Sail
Georgia: Life of Ty: Penguin Problems

Hawaii: Early Sunday Morning
Idaho: Thousand Pieces of Gold
Illinois: In Zanesville
Indiana: Fault In Our Stars
Iowa: Rotters
Kansas: 100 Cupboards, Skin Dive
Kentucky: The Sharing Knife: Horizon, Blood Sport
Louisiana: True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp
Maine: Navigating Early, The Water Castle, Mrs Pollifax Pursued, Touch Blue
Maryland: After I'm Gone

Massachusetts: Unsung Hero, Derik's Bane
Michigan: Autumn Bones
Minnesota: The Shadow Thieves, Undead and Unwed, War for the Oaks, Breadcrumbs
Mississippi: Love, Ruby Lavender, The Missing,
Missouri:
Montana: Those Who Wish Me Dead
Nebraska: Fangirl
Nevada: Skin Game
New Hampshire: The Gilda Stories
New Jersey: Dr Bird's Advice for Sad Poets

New Mexico: When Molly Was a Harvey Girl
New York: The Lover's Dictionary, Mirror Mirror, The New Kids, Welcome to the Ark, Hawkeye Comics, Old Men At Midnight, Archangel's Legion, Thankless in Death, The World Outside, Wood Sprites, Angel's Blood, Concealed in Death, Gregor the Overlander
North Carolina: Crow, Out to Canaan
North Dakota:
Ohio: The Floating Circus, Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library
Oklahoma: Paradise, The Goddess of Spring, The Gateway to Foo
Oregon: The Lord of Mountains, Indigo Springs
Pennsylvania: Who Stole Grandma's Million Dollar Pumpkin Pie?, The Summer of May, Love Stargirl,
Rhode Island: Blood Oranges, Black Duck, Death's Daughter
South Carolina: The Summer Girls

South Dakota:
Tennessee: Paperboy, March (Book 1), Girls of Atomic City
Texas: Midnight Crossroad, Clean Sweep, "The President Has Been Shot!"
Utah:
Vermont: A Part of the Sky
Virginia: The Raven Boys, Skin Tight, Dream Thieves, The Rithmatist
Washington: The Ghost's Grave, Night Broken, Demon Eyes
West Virginia:
Wisconsin:
Wyoming: Almost a Bride

Washington, D.C.:
*******

43/51

North America (non US): 2
Canada (Vancouver): Attitude, Ultra
Canada (Quebec): Horde
Canada: (New Brunswick) Midnight Tunnel
Haiti: Serafina's Promise

South America: 1
Peru: In Pursuit of Flight
Brazil: The Summer Prince

Europe: 10
Great Britain: The Arrangement, Dial-a-Ghost, Unspoken, The King's Name (sorta), Untold, Keep Me Forever, Monster on the Hill, The Unseen Guest, Broken Homes, A Kiss at Midnight, Rose, Midnight Riot, Rose and the Lost Princess, Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus, Mistress of the Art of Death, Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase, Black Butler 1 & 2, The Blue Remembered Hills, My Real Children, Bad Machinery, Golden Leopard
France: Forbidden Rose, Templar, Dark Triumph
Georgia: Magic Rises
Czech Republic: A Girl's Guide to Vampires
Ireland: The Prize in the Game, Nory Ryan's Song
Italy: The Great and Terrible Quest, Mrs Pollifax and the Second Thief
Greece: The Darkest Kiss
Germany: The Boy Who Dared
Poland: Prisoner B-3087
Spain: The Lions of al-Rassan

Asia: 7
China: Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station, Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha, Boxers & Saints
Hong Kong: Mrs Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha
Tibet: We Are Not Eaten By Yaks
Thailand: Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle
Japan: Ouran High School Host Club 1
India: Archangel's Storm, The Marriage Bureau for Rich People
Turkey: Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant
Middle East (Qatar-ish): Alif the Unseen

Australia/Oceania:
New continent: Interrogation of Ashala Wolf

Africa: 7
Angola: Tarzan of the Apes
Egypt: Anubis Speaks, Heart of a Woman, Theodosia & the Last Pharaoh
Zambia: Mrs. Pollifax on Safari
Mauritius: Georges
Morocco:Garment of Shadows, Mrs Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish
Uganda: War Brothers: the Graphic Novel, Sharon McKay
South Africa: Cathedral of the Wild

Antarctica: 0

Outer Space: Defender (Kris Longknife 11), The Lost Stars: Perilous Shield, The Human Division, Perdition, The Martian, Cryoburn, Games of Command, Return of Zita the Spacegirl

Fantasy World: Conspiracy, Catching Fire, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Shadows, Robe of Skulls, Rump, The Dragon and the George, The Case of the Toxic Mutants, Balanced on the Blade's Edge, Crown of Renewal

I'm putting states I'm currently reading but haven't reviewed yet in italics, which will matter during the end game when I'm frantically searching for the last few.

≈

P.S. World 66 has a nifty map that tracks where you've been. I'm tracking where my books have been:

create your own personalized map of the USA or write about it on the open travel guide

And globally they offer three choices: Been There, Liked To Go, and Lived There. I mark the USA as Lived There (deep red), because that's where I live, and any country I've read a book in since I started tracking gets marked Liked To Go (grey). Books I read this year get ticked Been There (bright red). So I try to read books from all over, but now I can track which places I'm revisiting a lot (New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, Japan, for a few).

create your own visited country map or write about it on the open travel guide

Friday, January 10, 2014

Library Loot

This is the second week of the Triple Dog Challenge of refusing all new books. I'm still standing, despite my slacker son refusing to come into the library to police me. Something about wanting to sit in the car and read, I dunno. Anyway, I heroically resisted all the new books (well, I did peek at a few picture books, but I didn't check any out).

Luckily the hold shelf was full of some leftovers from last year, a book club selection, and the picture book Cybils finalists. So I left with a happily full book bag. Happily for my final checked-out count, my older son had returned a few pounds of books that he checked out on my card a few weeks ago (he has now caught up to Steven Brust in the Vlad Taltos world and is eagerly awaiting Hawk).

Sophie's Squash, Pat Miller. A vegetative hero -- tasty!
Open This Little Book, Jessie Klausmeier. I've actually read this already -- I'm a sucker for any picture book about books or reading, but I thought it would be more fair to read it again.
Mr Tiger Goes Wild, Peter Brown. From the cover, tiger must be planning on a colored cumber-bun or something.

Journey, Aaron Becker. I've seen this lauded on many blogs for the past few weeks.
If You Want To See a Whale, Julie Fogliano. Is it OK to capitalize the title?
Count the Monkeys, Mac Barnett. The most expansive looking of the lot.

Hawkeye 2: Little Hits, Matt Fraction. This was a bit of a miscalculation. I'm number 4 in line for the first in the series. I hope I get that before this has to go back!
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin. For my online book club. I actually have this out three times -- ebook, paper copy, and failed audio (can't get onto my mac).
The Lover's Dictionary, David Levithan. My next Best of the Best selection.

This means I now have 42 things out on my library cards, including ebooks. That's pretty good, considering the duplication, don't you think? By my rules, I qualify to buy a book, but of course, NO DICE because of the challenge. I'll save it up for when I need it. I'll go share my Library Loot at the event co-hosted by Claire from the Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief where all the library addicts compare their treasures.

Book credits banked: TWO

Monday, January 6, 2014

First 2014 Status

Well, I managed to finish all of my challenges last year, but I didn't manage even to post the status updates I actually wrote in the last half of December. So I'll include them with this month.

I'll sign in at Book Journey and Teach Mentor Texts since I want to see what everyone else is reading this month.

This year I've read:

The Arrangement, Mary Balogh. Gentle Regency romance with a poor woman and a blind guy. The author kept feeling guilty about the lack of conflict and trying to throw in some angst and misunderstanding, but the characters didn't really believe it.
Paperboy, Vince Vawter. Kidlit. A stuttering paperboy in civil-rights-era Memphis starts to grow in understanding of himself and the adults around him.
Navigating Early, Clare Vanderpool. Kidlit. Two grieving boys in Maine go on a river journey to learn about themselves with the aide of amazing coincidences.
Autumn Bones: Agent of Hel, Jacqueline Carey. SF. Second volume in a urban fantasy set in a Michigan tourist town. Met all my expectations, in a good way.

Last year (last two weeks of December) I finished:

All the Possibilities, Nora Roberts. Romance. Set in Washington, D.C., for my 50 states challenge.
Heaven and Earth, Nora Roberts. Romance & SF. Earth was a brownish-color for my color challenge.
Unspoken Fear, Hunter Morgan. Thriller. Set in Delaware for the 50 states challenge.
Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen, and Candy Stripe Nurses: Roger Corman: King of the B Movie, Chris Nashawaty. Non-fiction. Stripes finished off the Color challenge.
Hidden in Plain View: A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad, Jackeline L. Tobin. Non-fiction. South Carolina for my 50-states challenge.
The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family, Josh Hanagarne. Non-fiction. Utah.
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less, Terry Ryan. Non-fiction. Ohio. Are we seeing a pattern here?
Coyote Autumn, Bill Wallace. Kidlit. Reading-My-Library book. Set in Oklahoma, which jumped it up the queue.
After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse, Charlaine Harris. SF. Cute.
Calculated in Death, J.D. Robb. SF & Thriller. As expected.
I'm With Stupid, Geoff Herbach. YA. NOOK. Wisconsin.
The Storyteller, Antonia Michaelis. YA. Cybils. Last Cybils finalist. I didn't like it -- too grim.
Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?, Louise Rennison. YA. Audio. Best-of-the-Best list that had my high schooler guffawing.
Outside Providence, Peter Farrelly. YA? I have no idea what the audience was. Rhode Island.
Wyoming Bold, Diana Palmer. Romance. Wyoming. Ahem.
Seed No Evil, Kate Collins. Cosy Mystery set in Indiana. Fun.
At Large and At Small, Ann Fadiman. Essays that I've been meaning to read. I love Fadiman's writing.
Snow in Summer, Jane Yolen. YA. West Virginia, but anything by Yolen is a treat.

What am I currently reading? My book bag has some essays by Fadiman, a cozy mystery in Indiana, the latest paperback In Death book, and my NOOK.

Unspoken, Sarah Rees Brennan. I'm finally free to read Untold, her latest book, but I want to reread the first book so everything is fresh in my mind. Also, it's fun seeing the stuff she seeds early know that I know what it will grow into.
Paradise, Toni Morrison. I lost this! I was reading it, and then I walked out the door, and now it's gone! Could be in the car, could be on top the fridge. I have put out a bounty.
Revenant Eve, Sherwood Smith. I've lost this too! I picked it up after losing Paradise, and then I put it down somewhere. I really hope that somewhere was not the Pacific Science Center.
In Janesville, Jo Ann Beard. The next book in the Best-of-the-Best list, from the Alex picks, books published for adults that kids might like. I am not enjoying this list very much; this book is rather dull and occasionally rises to annoying. I think it's too close to home to be interesting, but not spot-on with my memories so I'm not nostalgic about it.
Conspiracy, Lindsay Burokers. NOOK. Finally getting to read this -- dirigibles and train robbery -- good times.
Rotters, Daniel Kraus. Audio. The back of this book tells me grave-digging will be involved. This lowers my enthusiasm about listening to it. At least I don't expect zombies.
Developing Standards-Based Report Cards, Thomas R. Guskey & Jane M. Bailey. I really should just finish this -- the last session roamed all over the book.
Radio Fifth Grade, Gordon Korman. The new teacher does not respect the radio.
Out to Canaan, Jan Karon. The adopted son is home from college, and cranky.
Keep Me Forever, Rosemary Laurey. I like the progress of the rich gardener.
A General Theory of Love, Thomas Lewis. Some false notes about autism.
The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. Pickwick is defiant, and goes to Bath. I snore.
How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card. I like his definitions of science fiction.

What's up next? I'm trying to concentrate on my physical TBR pile, especially since I've started the Triple Dog Dare, but a few library books are demanding to be returned so I also have to clear those out. I'm really looking forward to Sarah Rees Brennan's Untold, and after that The Second Spy, Books of Elsewhere 3 by Jacqueline West. I've got Alabama Moon next in my library pile, and then Magic Rises, although I'm really hoping to find the missing books Paradise and Revenant Eve so I can polish those off first.

My elementary school book club is reading Eva Ibbotson's Dial a Ghost, and then my adult book club is reading Tarzan of the Apes. Vaginal Fantasy is doing The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin, and I'd like to read along.

2013 Challenges:

Cybils: 74/74. Finished! I've started this year's list.
Where Am I Reading?: 51/51. Hard work and dedication in December paid off. I shall resolve once more not to leave it to the last minute next year -- I'm definitely doing this again.
Crazy Quilt Colors: 9/9. Earth and stripes gave me brown and patterns.

2014 Challenges

TBR Triple Dog Dare: So far so good, although I haven't actually read anything. I would have finished that Paradise book if it hadn't secreted itself somewhere.
Cybils: 3/77. I've ordered up the fiction picture books from the library.
Reading My Library: Three done: Coyote Autumn, The Paperboy, and Navigating Early.
Best of the Best 2012: 46/25. Started In Zanesville but so far I'm not enjoying it.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Raising the Stakes On the Impossible

I've tried twice, and failed twice, but this year is going to be my year! At least I hope so, since I gather that CB, the host of the TBR Triple Dog Dare is retiring after this year. That's the excuse for recklessly breezing past Triple Dare to go straight for the high-stakes Triple DOG Dare, a dare to refrain from buying or obtaining new books for the first three months of the year. Several of those months have the legal maximum of 31 days, you know.

I've already walked past (well, was dragged by my nephew past) an enticing street library, and made a solo trip to the library where I checked out my holds and shut down my library card before looking over the QuickPicks for adults and children. So far so good. I feel strong! (The fact that I'm writing this on the 2nd day of the year is not lost to me, but I'm getting my morale up.)

Also luckily for me, you can set your own exceptions. So I can reserve anything I need for the Cybils Finalist Challenge, although to stay in the spirit of things I'm going to concentrate on picture books for the first few months. I'll also keep rotating a book from my TBR list and from the 2012 Best of the Best Lists in my reading piles. And my Reading My Library Quest continues, but I'm about to move into non-fiction picture books so again that works with the spirit of things. I think I actually own most of the next few book club books, but again those would be exemptions.

Paradise, Toni Morrison
Conspiracy, Lindsey Buroker
Unspoken, Sarah Rees Brennan. OK, this is a bit of a cheat since it's a reread, but I read part on my NOOK, and that's an old, unread TBR book.
Forbidden Rose, Joanna Bourne
Untold, Sarah Rees Brennan
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
The King's Name, Jo Walton
The Second Spy, Jacqueline West
Fierce Reads Anthology (Tor.com) NOOK
Attitude, Robin Stevenson
Shadows, Robin McKinley
Almost a Bride, Patricia McLinn NOOK
Who Stole Grandma's Million Dollar Pumpkin Pie, Martha Freeman
The Robe of Skulls, Vivian France
The Prize in the Game, Jo Walton
Welcome to the Ark, Stephanie Tolan
Thousand Pieces of Gold, Ruthanne Lum McCunn
Love Bites (My Sister the Vampire), Sienna Mercer
The Dragon and the George, Gordon R. Dickson
Keep Me Forever, Marlene Darcy
Nory Ryan's Song, Patricia Reilly Giff
The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater

These don't really count because they are rereads, but rereads of books I own:

Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughs
Return of Tarzan Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Great and Terrible Quest, Margaret Lovett

I MADE IT !!!!! I MADE IT!!! SUCCESS!!! VICTORY!!! HOOOOOORAY!!!!!!

Friday, January 3, 2014

New Year, New Loot

My library list is still recovering from my challenge-busting blitz last month, especially since any book I particularly liked I put aside to offer my kids. Also, one kid got a NOOK, so I had to feed that a bit. But now things are going to straighten up around here, because, as I announce on Saturday, I have commenced the TRIPLE DOG DARE of not getting new books until April 1st. Stuff on the hold shelf doesn't count, of course. That would be rude.

That's why I could come home with two new books from the library (and three 3 CDs for the car):

Hawkes Harbor, S.E. Hinton. This is clearly a late-arriving book for the geography challenge, chosen for its setting in Delaware. But I'm interested to see what later Hinton looks like, and I'm guessing Delaware will be a tough state again this year, so Yay!
Constellation Games, Leonard Richardson. If I meet him at Foolscap this year I want to be confident discussing his book.

This means I now have 43 things out on my library cards, including ebooks. By my rules, I qualify to buy a book, but of course, NO DICE because of the challenge. I'll save it up for when I need it. I'll go share my Library Loot at the event co-hosted by Claire from the Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief where all the library addicts compare their treasures.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Thursday Round-up: Genre Books

I read a pile of books in the final days of last year (and the start of this one) and while I still have that New Year energy I'm going to try to give some quick responses. Genre books are comfort reads for me because I know where the station stops are, so I can relax into the story a bit more. It's a bit of a tribute to Nora Roberts that I read three of her books this month without getting tired of her.

Autumn Bones, Jacqueline Carey. I enjoyed this lightweight second book in the Agents of Hel series, which chronicles a busy few weeks in the life of Daisy, part time file clerk and part time mediator between the eldrich and the mundane in a small Michigan tourist town that happens to contain the reborn lands of Hel, Norse goddess. Daisy doesn't take herself too seriously, and worries as much about her love life as she does about various crises with ghosts and ghouls and fairies (well, an apocalypse will focus her mind, but those don't last long). A few dangling threads indicate that the series hopes to continue, and while I won't batter down book stores to get the next, I won't dodge it very hard either.

All the Possibilities, Nora Roberts. I asked my sister for a fast book that takes place in Washington D.C. and she came over to my house with this romance. It's a nice read from a few decades ago (1985), where she is a bohemian potter and he's a blossoming senator, and the main barrier to their happy-ever-after is her fear of loving a politician. It's a very reasonable fear, as she watched her father get gunned down during his campaign for president, but luckily her brother reassures that she'll still feel bad if Alan gets shot even if they don't get married, so why not be happy until then? That's the kind of logic I like to see in a romance.

Book Cover

Heaven and Earth, Nora Roberts. This was a last-minute fill-in for my Colors challenge (I needed a shade of brown) so I went hunting in my sister's library. It's the middle story about three witches on a Massachusetts island, and the clumsy but brilliant (and buff) paranormal scientist who loves one of them. Probably because of the recent J.D. Robb I read, I enjoyed seeing tough cop Eve appear as tough cop Ripley, with her psychologist friend Myra phoning in a lot of the comforting talk of the witchy sister-in-law. Again, a fun read that didn't hold many surprises.

After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse, Charlaine Harris. Since my biggest complaint with the last Sookie book was how much of it seemed to be there just to give closure on some of the minor characters, I approve of this efficient way of handling this. And I enjoyed the alphabet pictures throughout. It's definitely only a book for completests.

Calculated in Death, J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts). Not too gruesome, which is honestly the first thing I peek at with these books. Eve and Roarke get to stomp around being awesome and connecting with each other (good job catching the toddler football-style, Eve!) but I've pretty much forgotten the whole thing already.

Wyoming Bold, Diana Palmer. I picked this up as a possible Wyoming book (keen eyes I have). It did a few annoying things, for example slut-shaming ("Oh, I hope you don't mind that I don't sleep around like a tramp -- I know it's what people expect" "Not at all, little lady -- you keep yourself pure for me. I'll bring any experience we need to this bedchamber"). And the throw-away excuse that the bad guy started using drugs at the end to explain his sudden dive off the stupid cliff, which included him raving to his hostages "I can quit anytime I want!" had me giggling a bit. But it wasn't painful to finish.

Seed No Evil, Kate Collins. A cosy mystery I picked up for my geography challenge (this one takes place in Indiana). Although it's well into the double digits, I didn't mind picking up the threads in the middle; the main characters were identified and while I could tell that had backstory it didn't bother me that I didn't know everything. The balance between the relationship stuff and the mystery was handled well, even if I found the legal stuff around dealing with minors a bit unlikely.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2013 Cybils Finalist Challenge!

The Cybils are here! The Cybils are here! Just in time too, since it's only a few days since I finished reading last year's list and discovered how closely I matched up with the judges' final verdicts (answer, not very well, although I approved of almost all the finalists). Anyway, time to start this years quest to read through all the choices.

This year the categories are separated by age, rather than by topic, and I officially approve of changing Science Fiction & Fantasy to Speculative Fiction, since I like to call it all SF anyway. Again I'm moving Book Apps to the bottom since I don't really have any way of obtaining them, so I don't count it against myself if I don't read them. Also, I'm attempting to leave the links as is, so that clicking on them leads to Amazon and I hope money for the Cybils.

Books I've read are highlighted in yellow.

Elementary & Middle Grade

Fiction Picture Books DONE