Gaming Weekend

This weekend I hosted my book club and then spent the next two days at Geek Girl Con, a friendly commercial convention that celebrates women, girls, and kids who like to dress up, watch stuff, read stuff, write stuff, build stuff, talk about stuff, play games, or blow stuff up (well, do science).

My brother was demoing Steve Jackson Games in the basement, which gave me the social confidence to try out a lot of games, mostly from Playtest Northwest who had a bunch of game designers showing off their creations of tabletop games that played in under an hour. I also listened to several people talk about books, raising geek kids, and privacy/civil rights both online and in schools. And I went in early on Sunday to do science experiments such as Comet creation, boat building, owl pellet dissection, chemical chromatography, UV bracelet building, and secret messages to write at home.

Playtest Northwest amused themselves by giving games away, so I came home with three new boxes of games: . Also, I won gummi sharks while doing science. Basically, I won all the things, which was a good way to stay positive while surrounded by people, most of them strangers.


This week I finished four books, giving me a sense that I accomplished something in my life:

Lulu and the Brontosaurus, Judith Viorst. This book broke my reading slump, so I'm glad I finally went back to read these easy chapter books. I'm requesting another one right now. I like the humor and the pictures, and enjoy the easy way the author moves back and forth across the fourth wall. Recommended for early young readers.

Stone Mattress, Margaret Atwood. This is the first book I reading for my Library Quest; I finished the children's section before they rebuilt so I'm starting now in the adult area (Large Print). Atwood has a sharp eye for her characters emotions and self deceptions, and these stories center around aging and creation. A good first book for my Quest.

How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm, Mei-Ling Hopgood. Another mom who is reinventing parenthood from scratch takes a look at how other cultures differ in childrearing practices (relaxed bedtimes, work versus play expectations, etc.). I sometimes found her naiveté annoying -- she grabs a sling without grasping that there is a learning curve for both parent and child, and then whines when the child (previously tied in a stroller most of the time) had no concept of staying close to mom, while mom has no concept of making sure the toddler stays close. It takes a long time for her to notice that most things are integrated into a life, not separate blocks to swap out seamlessly. But I enjoyed the peek into different cultures, conveniently seen from an outsider from my own community.

Rogue Spy, Joanna Bourne. This was my book club pick, and my suggestion. To my delight, most people enjoyed it (my sister went and read the author's other books, a huge complement!) so I didn't feel like an idiot. We had a good time hanging out, talking about this book, other books, lifes, and pizza.

Bookmarks Moved in a few other books:

audio: Defender of Shannara: Druids Blade, Terry Brooks. We are starting with a damsel in distress story, starring the main character's idiot little sister. 

Breaking Point (started), C.J. Box. Our hero Joe balances crazy bureaucracy and loyalty to his community as a murder pushes differences to the (wait for it) BREAKING POINT.

Forged In Blood 2, Lindsay Buroker. I need to finish this as I really enjoy reading it but the library books and their due dates lure me away.

Runemarks, Joanne Harris. A perfect book to read at Geek Girl Con, since it stars a young girl making her way among superheroes the old gods.

The October Country, Ray Bradbury. I read this in between all the other books. Luckily it was one of the few cheerful stories about a winged man figuring out a way to fly again.

Bookjourney's "It's Monday" posts are coming back! but don't see this week's yet. I'll also sign in with Teach Mentor Texts since at least one and possibly four of these books could show up in a school library.

2015 Challenge Progress:

1. Reading My Library: Finished the first Large Print book and started the second. Moving along with the B's in audio books.
2. Where Am I Reading?: 34/51. Breaking Point will be a Wyoming book, and I've got a Hawaii option on the waiting shelf.
3. Award Winning Book Challenge: I have apparently stopped reviewing books. But I've ticked off many awards. 
4. Book Riot Read Harder: 23/24. I love it when two challenges collide -- Stone Mattress was a book of short stories! I still need an African author.
5. Alphabetically Inclined:  I V X  Z still missing. 22/26
6. Best of the Best 2012: 52/25.  I am stalled. Maybe time to go back?
7. Cybils 2014: Complete! I bought the last one as the libraries didn't seem to have it. WOOT!

Thank Heavens For Libraries

I actually went to the library about four times this week, although I only let myself check stuff out once. The printer went into a snit and now refuses to talk to any computer, which made the production of hard copy of homework difficult. So several nights saw me zipping off to the library just before closing time to bring home evidence of my kids' hard work. It's nice to know that the library has our back when technology goes wrong.

But Thursday I could go and roam around, and then put my hands in my pockets and only check out what was on the hold shelf. Then I forced my younger son to pick out two new music CDs for me to houseclean to

The hold shelf three good looking books:

The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson. This is the Sword and Laser pick for this month.

The Underground Abductor, Nathan Hale. My family book club just read a previous Hazardous Tales, which led to me noticing this one, so I ordered it up. It has been stolen by my eldest, but I'll get it back long before I finish the rest of the stuff I have started.

Dreams Underfood, Charles de Lint. Strongly recommended by a friend with good taste.


Kitty Wells and The Swon Brothers. I don't even know what genre these are. I hope they are good to clean the kitchen to.

I also put some books on my NOOK from the library:

Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy.
Gateway, Sharon Shinn.  Both of these have been on my TBR list for years.

I've currently got 42 things out from the library, including ebooks, music, books for me, and books for the kids. I'm clearly making better assessments of my time for reading, and anyway this is down from last week.

I finished the first Large Print book for my Library Quest (Margaret Atwood's Stone Mattress), and I started the next. I'm already on the B's!

I'll go sign in to Library Loot which is at  somewhere that I can't find at The Captive Reader this week to see what everyone else is getting.  Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. 

Runner's Remorse

I wish I were the kind of person who likes exercise. Every now and then I convince myself that I will become that person, and then I sign up for a 5K, and then I hate it. Repeat every few months.

This run was worth than usual, since I forgot my phone and had to run with only my thoughts for company. Worst morning ever. It took me all day Monday and a giant slice of ice cream cake to recover (my nephew was supposed to help with the cake, but he backed out at the last minute due to the presence of caramel).

I also never got settled into reading anything this week. I'd pick up books, push the bookmarks along a bit, and then wander off. I read a lot of fanfiction on my computer, but mostly I just moped.

This week I finished one whole book, plus an audio book which barely counts since I'd read the paper version before:

I started another one, just so my piles of currently reading would still look awful, and I went to the next audio book:

City of Stairs, Robert Bennett, which was the Sword and Laser pick a few months back.
The High Druid's Blade, Terry Brooks. From the next audio book shelf of the library, as part of my Library Quest to read something from every shelf.

Bookjourney's "It's Monday" posts are still on hiatus (although she's back to reading and blogging, hooray to her!) but I'll peek in at with Teach Mentor Texts although I didn't read any kid book.

2015 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2014: Complete! I bought the last one as the libraries didn't seem to have it. WOOT!
2. Where Am I Reading?: 34/51. I've now got three or four Missouri books. Humph.
3. Reading My Library: Woot -- my library reopened! Finished the 2nd audio book and started the third. 
4. Award Winning Book Challenge: I have apparently stopped reviewing books. But I've ticked off many awards. 
5. Book Riot Read Harder: 22/24. I still need an African author and a book of short stories.
6. Alphabetically Inclined:  I V X  Z still missing. 22/26
7. Best of the Best 2012: 52/25.  I am stalled. Maybe time to go back?

Pumpkin Season

I'm trying to exercise some restraint, since read-next book shelf is a bit overfull. So hopefully my time in the library will be short and sweet, as it was today. It didn't hurt that my son was waiting there for a pick up, and he was anxious to get home. Probably wanted to make sure he had time for all his homework or something.

I only had one book at the hold shelf, and then I choose the next audio book in my Reading-my-library Quest, because I learned that if you pick a popular audio book you have to listen to it really fast before you have to give it back. And then I talked my son into getting a book as well.

The hold shelf had a book for my Tuesday book Club, and the Quick Pick had the book that enticed my freshman:

Seven Wild Sisters: Charles De Lint. The Tuesday club is exploring different book genres (we've done SF, Romance, Western, and Horror), so this is our Fantasy pick for next week.

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline. If he likes it, maybe I'll try to read it as well.

Defenders of Shannara: The High Druid's Blade, Terry Brooks. I haven't read any Shannara books since I was a kid, and I have no idea if this is the middle of a series, but it should be a fun book to listen to while I run errants.

I also put some books on my NOOK from the library:

The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft. The Tuesday club is discussing this one this week.

Seven Wild Sisters. OK, so I wasn't sure which would come in first.

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, Dinaw Mengestu. This is the current KCLS reads book, so I want to read it.

I've currently got 44 things out from the library, including ebooks, music, books for me, and books for the kids. That's not too bad, right? Only one unfinished book is due next week, so maybe I'll keep on top of things...

I didn't actually finish any of my Library Quest books, but I probably will this week.

I'll go sign in to Library Loot which is at  Silly Little Mischief this week to see what everyone else is getting.  Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. 

Happy Birthday Alexander!

So, September is closing up, bringing a cartload of birthdays -- Happy Birthday FirstBorn! and Happy Birthday, Youngest Brother!

I've also completed my Cybils Reading Challenge, and they haven't even opened up nominations for next year. This is a personal record for me. Reading the longest books first definitely makes this easier. Now I just have to go through and vote my slate and then see how far apart I am from all the Cybils judges.

I've settled into a new library routine based off the river library rather than the hill library, and I've even restarted my Reading-the-Library Quest. My kids are in school (they are enrolled in the Seattle School District, so this is a fairly new development) and all is right with the world.

This week I finished

Dory Fantasmagory, by Abby Hanlon -- Cybils Finalist
Sword of Rhiannon, Leigh Bracket - Sword & Laser bookclub
The Sackett Brand, Louis L'Amour - Tuesday bookclub
Ice Cream Shop, Jennifer Morris -- Cybils Finalist

I started:

Dead Ice, Laurell K Hamilton -- from my TBR list
Stone Mattress, Margaret Atwood -- Part of my Reading-My-Library Quest
Plague of Doves, Louise Erdrich -- For my 50 States challenge. Finally reading a book I own!

Bookjourney's "It's Monday" posts are still on hiatus (although she's back to reading and blogging, hooray to her!) but I'll check in with Teach Mentor Texts since I have a few kidlit books.

2015 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2014: Complete! I bought the last one as the libraries didn't seem to have it. WOOT!
2. Where Am I Reading?: 34/51.  I already had a South Carolina, but I definitely need the North Dakota book I started this week. I've got a Maine book on deck.
3. Reading My Library: Woot -- my library reopened! Finished the first audio book and started the second. Also started reading the Large Print book by Margaret Atwood.
4. Award Winning Book Challenge: I have apparently stopped reviewing books. But I've ticked off many awards. 
5. Book Riot Read Harder: 22/24. I still need an African author and a book of short stories.
6. Alphabetically Inclined:  I V X  Z still missing. 22/26
7. Best of the Best 2012: 52/25.  I am stalled. Maybe time to go back?

Library Reopens! River Runs Under It Is Back!

My favorite downtown Renton library has finally reopened! Now the river flows under the stacks of books once again!

I'm not sure how I feel about all the changes. My instinct is to resist all change, so it takes me a while to get used to anything new. So I'm still sniffing around, deciding if I like the new reading area (lots of magazines, but maybe not enough Quick Picks?), children's section (good view of the river, but maybe too open for larger families with many kids to chase after), and shelves (are there enough of them? Would there ever be enough?). But at least I can restart my Library Quest -- to read a book from every shelf.  I've got a bunch of Large Print books ready to go, and I'm even grabbing the audio books which are the first section after the children's area.

It's actually been a few weeks, so I'm back to my more usual pattern of book picking. This week I got a small haul, the books from the hold shelf and then some music to houseclean to:

1. The Sackett Brand, Louis L'Amour, for my Tuesday night book club.
2. The Way Into Chaos, Harry Connolly. He's one of my favorite authors and I own this on NOOK but I prefer paper copies sometimes.
3. She Looks So Perfect
4. Les Miserables 
5. The Very Best of Harry Belafonte

I've currently got 41 things out from the library, including ebooks, music, books for me, and books for the kids. That's not too bad, right? Only one unfinished book is due next week, so maybe I'll keep on top of things...

I'll go sign in to Library Loot which is at The Captive Reader  this week to see what everyone else is getting.  Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. 

Summer Reading List (Backwards, of course)

Well, the good news is that I got a lot of reading done this summer. The bad news is that I never went near this blog. I'm sure you all were bereft without hearing what books I've paged through. Fear not -- I kept a summer reading log!

My summer goal of reading a book each day ends tomorrow. I made it, but I counted everything I read, which included picture books. I've starred children's books, and double starred books I think of as picture books (which range from actual picture books to easy chapter books) because I don't count those in my reading totals for the year.

This week I read a pile of easy reads:

• Book Clubbed, Lorna Barrett. Cosy murder mystery set in New Hampshire. I really liked the relationship between the two sisters.
• Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones. A reread for family book club. I love this book.
• The Meaning of Maggie, Megan Jean Sovern. Cybils middle grade fiction.
• The Family Fortune, Laure Horowitz. For my Friday book club -- an interesting take on Jane Austin's Persuasion, but felt rather distant.
• A Bride's Story Vol 3, Kaoru Mori. Now my older son is also into these.
• The Perfect Match, Kristan Higgins. Contemporary romance with arranged marriage, which is a trope I find I enjoy. The baby-hunger was annoying portrayed through chattering ovaries.
• The Freedom Summer Murders, Don Mitchell. Cybils nonfiction about murders and racism.
• The Port Chicago 50, Steve Sheinkin. Cybils nonfiction about negligence and racism.
• Obsession in Death, J.D. Robb. Solid entry in the Eve & Roarke saga.

Bookjourney's "It's Monday" posts are still on hiatus (although she's back to reading and blogging, hooray to her!) but I'll check in with Teach Mentor Texts since I have a pile of kidlit books.

2015 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2014: 76/81. I'm waiting on the hot books of the year to appear on my hold shelf, and there's one book my libraries don't have. Hmm.
2. Where Am I Reading?: 34/51.  Knocked off New Hampshire, am reading a South Carolina, and have requested what I hope is a Delaware book.
3. Award Winning Book Challenge: I have apparently stopped reviewing books. But I've ticked off many awards. 
4. Book Riot Read Harder: 22/24. I still need an African author and a book of short stories.
5. Alphabetically Inclined:  I V X  Z still missing. 22/26
6. Best of the Best 2012: 52/25.  I am stalled. Maybe time to go back?
7. Reading My Library: Woot -- my library reopened! I'm currently reading an audio book, since with the new construction that's the first thing after children's books. I think I'll pick up the next text book, although I'm trying to decide if I can skip Big Print books, since I find them unpleasant to read.

Summer Reading:

June:

19: Hunt For the Hydra *
20: MaddAddam
21: Forged in Blood 1
22: About that Night
23: A Matter for Men
24: Yonder Comes the Other End of Time
25: Bless Her Dead Little Heart
26: Chasing Cheetahs **
27: Feathers: Not Just for Flying **
28: When Lunch Fights Back **
29: The Case of the Vanishing Little Brown Bats: A Scientific Mystery **
30: Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain **

July

1: Handle With Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey **
2: Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation **
3: Wyrd Sisters
4: Dragon Prince
5: Hex Hall
6: Big Nate Strikes Again **
7: The Return of Santa Paws *
8: Santa Paws to the Rescue *
9: Mouse Called Wolf  *
10: Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood *
11: Avatar: The Last Airbender: 6 **
12: Bird Lake Moon *
13: The Winner's Curse
14: Avatar: The Lost Scrolls: Earth **
15: Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights
16: Bone 1: Out From Boneville *
17: The Last Holiday Concert *
18: Code Talker
19: Sea Without a Shore
20: Curtsies and Conspiracies
21: All Four Stars *
22: His At Night
23: Popular
24: Half a Life
25: Strange Fruit
26: Castle Hangnail *
27: In Real Life 
28: Rapunzel's Revenge *
29: Codex Born
30: LumberJanes 
31: The Luck Uglies *

August

1: Beyond Magenta
2: To This Day **
3: End of Days
4: Peacemaker
5: Brimsby's Hats **
6: Shh! We have a Plan **
7: The Easter Cat **
8: Royal Airs 
9: Girl and the Bicycle **
10: Knight-napped *
11: Shadow Hero 
12: Through the Woods
13: Over Sea Under Stone *
14: Waistcoats and Weaponry
15: Bride's Story Vol 2 
16: The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
17: Too Dangerous For a Lady
18: The Harlem Hellfighters
19: Bird and Squirrel On Ice **
20: Hidden **
21: Gaijin: American Prisoner of War **
22: Nickel Bay Nick *
23: Ballad **
24: Half/Life: Jew-ish Tales From Interfaith Homes
25: My Friend Dahmer
26: Being Mortal
27: Paddington At Large *
28: Wrong Way Around Magic *
29: Big Nate on a Roll *
30: Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist
31: Jinx's Fire *

September
1: Dumbest Idea Ever
2: The Just City
3: Ice Dogs *
4: The Martian
5: Lulu and the Rabbit Next Door **
6:  Violet Mackerel's Possible Friend **
7: Extraordinary Warren: A Superchicken **
8: Okay, Andy! **

Extras: Lulu's Mysterious Mission **, Clara and Clem Under the Sea **, Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey**, My New Friend Is So Fun**, Inch and Roly and the Sunny Day Scare **, The Chicken Squad: The First Misadventure**, Shadowshaper, Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake **, The Lion Who Stole My Arm**, Family Romanov, Obsession in Death, Port Chicago 50, Freedom Summer Murders, Perfect Match, Bride's Story 3, The Family Fortune, The Meaning of Maggie *, Howl's Moving Castle, Book Clubbed, Mrs Pollifax Unveiled, Penric's Demon, Year of Reading Dangerously, El Deafo*