Dream Day

  Go Hawks! That is what we Seattle football fans say when our team has reached the Superbowl, which I believe is a Thing. Do that sport thing with the ball that results in victory, Seahawks! I hope my terminology isn't too technical for my readers.

This is a good reading week for me, in that I finished several books I was dragging my eyeballs on, and am currently reading books that I like to read, as opposed to want to have read. I also treated myself to some picture books at the library, since I'm not browsing for books during my TBR TRIPLE DOG DARE.

I'll sign in at Book Journey and Teach Mentor Texts since I want to see what everyone else is reading this month. I managed to finish five whole books, plus a few picture books.

This week I've managed to finish:

• In Zanesville, Jo Ann Beard. This is an Alex Award winner, or a book marketed for adults that librarians think teens would like.
• Conspiracy, Lindsay Buroker. NOOK. Fun adventure story in fantasy world setting.
• Alabama Moon, Watt Key. Kidlit. Or maybe YA. Young boy comes out of the wilderness to clash with civilization in the form of social services.
• Unspoken, Sarah Rees Brennan. YA. I reread this so I can read Untold. This one went slow not because I didn't like reading it, but because I enjoy Brennan's prose so much that I like to savor it.
• The Templeton Twins Have an Idea, Ellis Weiner. Kidlit. A Reading-my-library pick that I chose because I know my younger son enjoyed it. I see why.

I also read some picture books (Benjamin Chaud, the library has your Cybils finalist book on order):

• Boy and Bot, Anne Dyckman. I liked the misunderstandings when they turned themselves off.
• It's Duffy Time, Audrey Wood. Any book that properly understands the importance of napping is good by me. I recommend this book to Angela in Sarah Rees Brennan's Unspoken.
• Sammy In the Sky, Barbara Walsh. Intimate pictures show how a girl reacts to the loss of her pet.
• Happy, Mies van Hout. This didn't resonate with me -- the painted words were hard to decipher which would put me off reading the book with a child. Also, fish expressions are odd.

What am I currently reading? Five books in my bag.

• Magic Rises, Ilona Andrews. Latest in the Kate Daniels series, so I'm expecting lots of combat, sexy were-lion mates, and maybe some vampires.
• Untold, Sarah Rees Brennan. YA. I'm finally getting to start this! Hooray!
• The Forbidden Rose, Joanna Bourne. Spymaster series romance about Doyle and young Hawk. Oh, and Maggie.
• The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemison. Book club book for online group. I have this on my NOOK for travel.
• Fierce Reads Anthology. NOOK. Short stories from Tor.com, mostly YA.
• Rotters, Daniel Kraus. Audio. Time for a father-son discussion of mysterious trips and spying on your old man.
• Developing Standards-Based Report Cards, Thomas R. Guskey & Jane M. Bailey. I found it! And the meeting changed topics anyway, so my homework was ignored.
• Radio Fifth Grade, Gordon Korman. The new teacher does not respect the radio.
• Out to Canaan, Jan Karon. The borrowed pickup truck has the engine of a Jaguar.
• Keep Me Forever, Rosemary Laurey. I like the progress of the rich gardener.
• A General Theory of Love, Thomas Lewis. How brain chemistry maps to emotions, especially affectionate ones.
• The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. The legend of Bath.
• How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card. The importance of consistency when using crazy stuff.

What's up next? I'm still concentrating on my home library, so I hope to get to The Second Spy, a Books of Elsewhere sequel.  I also have Catching Fire out, since I want to read it before the movie disappears.   If I finish Magic Rises I'll go on to The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan. And my friendly book club is doing Tarzan of the Apes. 

2014 Challenges:

1. TBR Triple Dog Dare: 3. Polished off two books on my NOOK. Well, one I have on both NOOK and paper, but still.
2. Cybils: 8/77. No change, but I did get two more kids to read the picture books.
3. Where Am I Reading? 6/51. I'm on track for this year, assuming I need 5 states a month.
4. What's In a Name?: 0/6. 
5. Reading My Library:  Finished Weiner's The Templeton Twins Have an Idea.
6. Best of the Best 2012: 48/25.  Dragging through Rotters. Looking forward to Lover's Dictionary.

Reading On the Inside

I firmly believe that my internal world affects my external responses. If I practice meanness or self-doubt or generosity in my head, I are more likely to act that way towards other people and situations in the real world. This is why I stopped playing Age of Empires on my computers when my kids were young; somehow I found myself reaching for a head-lopping sword when dealing with toddler squabbles.

This matters with my reading as well. Sometimes I worry about the choices of the characters I'm reading; after all, since I read immersively, I'm spending time practicing whatever morality the author gives their characters; in the case of dark book or antiheroes that can teach me bad habits. This isn't really a worry, though, since I tend to engage and argue with characters as I read. But at a deeper level, the tone of a book affects my mood; reading a bunch of nihilistic literature at once depresses me.


This is one reason I like romance and mystery. Both are almost universally optimistic -- goodness will triumph, evil will fail. Mary Balogh's romance The Arrangement features a penniless woman and a blind gentleman, but I knew from the first page that they'd end up Happy Ever After. And from fairly early I figured out that this book belongs on the same shelf as Nora Roberts' Bride books -- there is almost no conflict. Occasionally the characters attempt to angst over a possible misunderstanding, but even they know that they are both decent people and cannot convince themselves to worry much, even if conventional books demand suspense. Instead it's a chance to spend relaxing time with two characters learning how to build their lives together, giving and receiving support as they establish their adult lives. Not the sort of thing I want to read all the time, but definitely a good choice when I want to reassure my subconscious that life can be good and people should be trusted.


On the other hand, reading Toni Morrison's Paradise is scarier; the women represented are strong, vibrant people, but the atmosphere is darker; things will not turn out well for almost everyone. Trust is not helpful. I think Morrison's book digs deeper into the reality of people; her viewpoint women convey much more complexity as they respond to big and small disasters and successes, but overall the weight of the sky waits to crush everything. I want to live my life as if I can trust the sky, so I think I'll make sure to sandwich each Paradise with several Arrangements. I like to stretch my mind and soul with books like Paradise, but I want to keep my instincts benevolent with books like The Arrangement.

What's In a Name?

The Seventh Annual What's In a Name? Challenge is hosted by The Worm Hole this year, in time-honored blogging pass-the-baton style. She gets to pick 5 or six categories, and then you try to match a book to each category during the year.

Charlie only put five books in the challenge this year, so I've taken it upon myself to impose my own sixth category. Charlie has kindly offered up a sixth category due to popular demand, so I have added it below. I'll still keep my extra category as a bonus-bonus. If I were more timely, she could impose this on everyone and then have a good source of inspiration for next year. Anyway, after you find a book, you add your review to the appropriate page.

My policy is to ignore the challenge until December and hope I get everything accidentally. Wish me luck!

1. A Reference to Time
1. Keep Me Forever, Marlene Darcy (3/14/14)
2. Goddess of Spring, P.C. Cast (3/20/14)
3. A Kiss at Midnight, Eloisa James (4/14/14)
4. One Week Girlfriend, Monica Murphy (4/1/14)
5. Old Men at Midnight, Chaim Potok (4/26/14)
6. Midnight Riots, Ben Aaronovitch (5/1/14)
7. Midnight Crossroad, Charlaine Harris (8/18/14)
2. A position of Royalty
1. The King's Name, Jo Walton (2/2/14)
2. Lord of Mountains, S.M. Stirlings (2/26/14)
3. Theodosia and the Last Pharaoh, R.L. Lafevers (7/29/14)
3. A number written in letters
1. The Second Spy, Jacqueline West (2/13/14)
2. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin (2/21/14)
3. Who Stole Grandma's Million-Dollar Pumpkin Pie?, Martha Freeman (2/28/14)
4. Thousand Pieces of Gold, Ruthanne Lum McCunn 3/7/14
4. A forename or names
1. Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughs (2/13/14)
2. Love, Ruby Lavender, Deborah Wiles (2/25/14)
3. The Dragon and the George, Gordon R. Dickson (3/13/14)
4. Georges, Alexandre Dumas (3/14/14)
5. Nory Ryan's Song, Patricia Reilly Giff (3/14/14)
6. The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez (7/9/14)
5. A type or element of weather
1. Archangel's Storm, Nalini Singh (8/2/14)
2. Skin Heat, Ava Gray (8/3/14)
6. A School Subject (Bonus Category)
1. Radio Fifth Grade, Gordon Korman 
2. The Human Division, John Scalzi 6/29/14

(Personal Choice): A shape (Circle of Friends, Cricket in Times Square)

1. Balanced on the Blade's Edge, Lindsay Buroker
2. Poems to Learn By Heart, ed. Caroline Kennedy
3. Heart of a Woman, Maya Angelou 6/8/14
4. Heart of Steel, Meljean Brooks 6/8/14
5. Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle, Dorothy Gilman

Hard Times At the Library

This is Week Three of the Triple Dog Dare, a time for resisting all new books, and I have only just begun to wail, gnash my teeth, and cry out to the heavens for relief. Of course, I still visit my library every week so I can rub fresh salt into my self-inflicted wounds (and so I can pick up the few holds still trickling in). I went in, I picked up my paltry hold choices, forced my put-upon younger son to bring me two CDs for car noise, and then gazed upon all the new books before reading a few picture books and leaving the building with a lightweight bag.

On the plus side, I'm actually managing to read and turn in more than I check out, which is a pleasant and unusual sensation for me.

Hawkeye 1: My Life As a Weapon, Matt Fraction. My library is so awesome. Just last week I worried that I wouldn't get this in time since I accidentally got the 2nd one first, but then my heroes delivered this to me. They are also the heroes of my older son, who found the second book a bit confusing without this context.

I technically also checked out a second book, but it was the last Steven Brust Vlad Taltos book and it's not for me but for older son. Also Pratchett's Dodgers on my e-reader, which is for younger son. That one is especially hard since I do want to read it, but I'm not even going to put it on my personal NOOK. Because discipline.

So that was it. Next week doesn't really look much better. But that's good! This is the plan! I'm excited to be a part of this plan! If I use a few more exclamation marks I might even convince myself!!! Curse you TBR Dare!

This means I now have 45 things out on my library cards, including ebooks. That's pretty good, considering how many really belong to my ungrateful children, don't you think?  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: THREE (Usually I reward myself by buying a book if my library total is less than my age, but since I can't actually buy anything right now I'm counting up these credits.)

Fun and Games Until Someone Loses an Emperor

A while ago my book club read Lindsey Buroker's Emperor's Edge book, a self-published little fantasy that was a lot of fun and managed to twist a few conventions along the way. Although not the kind of thing that endures a lot of plot scrutinizing, it does a good job of assembling distinctive people and throwing them into interesting situations, accompanied by snappy dialogue and clever ideas.

So I've slowly kept reading along, buying first the anthology of the first three books and then the fourth book, Conspiracy, where many of the plot strands start to weave back together. Sadly, my constant barrage of library books distracted me from Buroker's book; since I had paid for it I knew it wasn't going to vanish from my NOOK. But the TBR Triple Dog Dare has me reading the stuff I own, which is nice because I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't want to read it! And I'm glad I did, because this one may be my favorite of all. It has flying ships, a train hijacking, real character growth, a confrontation with the Emperor, and enough laugh-out-loud moments (mostly dialogue, but a few situational) that my older son finally demanded that I put the first books on his NOOK as well.

Which led to us noticing that he's misplaced the thing, but that's another story. Anyway, anyone looking for a fun fantasy series, with assassins, emperors, great female characters, and a little bit of magic, you might try these books. The first one's even free. As soon as my no-new-books season is over I'm going back for book five. Lately I've been reading a lot that I want to HAVE read rather than want to read; this book is definitely one where I enjoy the journey and hate to reach the last page.

Kidlit Tuesday: Pictures Books and Book Club

I brought cookies to my local elementary school for book club yesterday, and we had a fun half hour talking about Eva Ibbotson's Dial-A-Ghost. It was hugely popular, and I tried to talk the girls (we were all girls this month) into checking out some of her other books as well. I'm a big fan of Ibbotson's kidlit, YA, and adult books, so I always like hooking new readers. The book was so well liked it was almost hard to get a discussion going, since we all agreed about everything -- it was funny, the scary ghosts were nasty but not disturbing (although we decided that you should be careful if you read it aloud to a first grader or younger), and we all liked the balance of danger and resolution. I stuck in the idea of the definition of a main character -- who was the book about? And I also talked a little about plot structure, especially books with many little pieces that all come back at the end.

Sadly, that was the only kidlit I read last week.

While browsing at the library last Thursday and moaning at the self-imposed restrictions of the TBR Triple Dog Dare (no new books! The horror) I pulled down some of the pictures books from the library display shelves. This are sometimes new and sometimes just staff favorites.

Paul Meets Bernadette,  Rosy Lamb. A fish-eyed optimist populates the world for her gullible friend. My kids would have been utterly appalled at their confident errors, and I was left wondering if Paul was better off being delusionally happy with Bernadette or sane but lonely. If I see it next time I'm in there I will get the boys to read it. The pictures capture the world view and possibilities of the fish-eyed world delightfully.

What Is Part This, Part That?, Harriet Ziefert. This would be a great read-aloud with young children -- I can imagine my kids enjoying the riddle-like structure, especially with the participation of lifting flaps. I guess it's aimed at the talkative toddler/early preschooler.

Hide and Snake, Keith Baker. Actually, this looked very familiar. I bet I did read this with my kids during their tiny days. I'm a huge fan of Keith Baker -- his Who Is the Beast is one of my go-to baby gifts for new parents or family birthday parties. This book skipped the profound philosophical statement but kept beauty and simplicity that rewards careful observation and return visits.

Power Ranger Weekend

  This week I've been avoiding all the books I'm reading, with the result that I've read almost nothing! I sure got a lot of sudoko played, though. And I sorted some of my pictures -- my kids were awful cute when they were babies. I mean, they are still cute now that they are teenagers, but it's a different kind of cute.

I did kick-start my Cybils reading by getting 6 of the picture books and sharing them with my resident elementary school friend, who then selected the best of the bunch. So that was book-oriented fun. In between reading, we watched twenty or so episodes of Power Rangers: Jungle Fury, which is hitting a good blend of silly for me and action-packed for him. Also, it's filmed in New Zealand, so that's cosy for me.

I'll sign in at Book Journey and Teach Mentor Texts since I want to see what everyone else is reading this month. I managed to finish one adult book and one kid book, plus a lot of picture books.

This week I've managed to finish:

• Dial-a-Ghost, Eva Ibbotson. This is for my elementary school book club.
• Paradise, Toni Morrison. This is the book I avoided so hard; I knew from the start it would end badly so I dragged my eyelids for the last sections. And then it was much more upbeat than I expected! It did go much faster after I found it in the shoe caddy, where it temporarily vacationed.

I also read some picture books (Benjamin Chaud, the library has your Cybils finalist book on order):

• Count the Monkeys, Mac Barnett. Colorful, energetic Cybils finalist.
• If You Want to See a Whale, Julie Fogliano. Thoughtful, quiet Cybils finalist.
• Journey, Aaron Becker. Imaginative, surprising Cybils finalist.
• Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, Peter Brown. THERE WAS NUDITY. It was hilarious how appalled my test reader was. I did point out that my cats were almost as naked. Cybils finalist.
• Open This Little Book, Jesse Klausmeier. I reread, since I grab any book-related picture book. Cybils finalist.
• Sophie's Squash, Pat Zietlow Miller. What a delightful child Sophie was. Cybils finalist.
• Paul Meets Bernadette,  Rosy Lamb. On my library's temptations shelf. I did not think Bernadette was a good influence on Paul.
• What Is Part This, Part That?, Harriet Ziefert. This would have been fun to read with kids.
• Hide and Snake, Keith Baker. Another book I would have delighted to read with my youngest.

What am I currently reading?  In my book bag is In Janesville, staring at me trying to guilt me into finishing it, my NOOK which will I hope will hold its charge for two days, Unspoken, which will break my heart probably by Wednesday, and The Forbidden Rose because I can count on a romance to have a happy ending. 

• Unspoken, Sarah Rees Brennan. OK, as I read this I remember the heartbreak at the end. I'm now at the happy middle, right before things start going to pieces in a wheelbarrow. So I'm avoiding it too!
• In Janesville, Jo Ann Beard. Still not liking it much -- the parts that ring true are the parts of my childhood I don't really want to revisit, and the rest is just kids being unpleasant. My kids are not that nasty -- did I just get lucky?
• Conspiracy, Lindsay Burokers. NOOK. I'm enjoying this, but my NOOK's power is getting flaky.
• Revenant Eve, Sherwood Smith. I found it (under my bed), but then the library called it home. This is very sad. My son says rechecking it out would not violate the no-new-books rule, since it's not a new book. Hmm. I think he just wants a cookie, but it's a persuasive argument. So maybe I'm reading it?
• Rotters, Daniel Kraus. Audio. Still not enthusiastic. The grave-digging will apparently not be a fun bonding thing to do with his dad.
• Developing Standards-Based Report Cards, Thomas R. Guskey & Jane M. Bailey. I've lost this book. This is getting to be a trend. And a pity, since I have to be an expert on it by Thursday.
• Radio Fifth Grade, Gordon Korman. The new teacher does not respect the radio.
• Out to Canaan, Jan Karon. The borrowed pickup truck has the engine of a Jaguar.
• 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. I'm really looking forward to Sarah Rees Brennan's Untold, but first I have to get up the courage to reread the ending of Unspoken.  I've got Alabama Moon next in my library pile, and then Magic Rises. I picked The Forbidden Rose out of my unread bookcase to ensure I have a paperback to carry around.

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

2014 Challenges

1. TBR Triple Dog Dare: 1. I finished a book! Also, I bought some books from the school book fair, but I left them in the car because it's not fair to the library fund that their fundraiser falls during my challenge. So it didn't count.
2. Cybils: 8/77. I've got 6/7 of the fiction picture books, but I'll pause there to inflict them on all available children.
3. Where Am I Reading? 4/51. See -- no problem!
4. Reading My Library:  Pause. I still have two waiting for me.
5. Best of the Best 2012: 46/25.  Continued In Zanesville but still not enjoying it. Also dragging through Rotters.