We Need a Little Christmas

Well, my son paid for sneaking down to me last weekend to hang with his brother by having to spend this weekend with his dad and sisters. He doesn't mind that, but I miss him. Luckily my nephew stepped up by having his wisdom teeth out and needing some supervision. We played Minecraft a lot (he loves to watch me get eaten by various monsters) and also watched some movies, including one that involved me hooking up the old VCR and showing off technology he had no memory of. Aladdin is fun to watch even on a small screen.

I also did a bit of Christmas shopping. It's officially a no-presents year, but obviously the stockings have to be filled. Maybe I should stock up on coal?

On Tuesday I hosted the elementary book club with No Talking, which the kids and I both enjoyed. It did not inspire me to clam up, though. I took the nephew and Linda out to see Coco which I liked much more than I expected, and I also discovered the joys of the movie snack pack, where for a little more money I can get far less food, which is what I actually want. Perfect!

I didn't read very effectively this week, although I'm starting to wish I had finished more Cybils books. Currently Reading is creeping back up 24, but that includes some slow moving graphic novels and poetry that I don't really count.

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 that I'm going to sign up for. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed that I usually qualify for.  I'll go look to see what everyone else was reading at either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers.

This Week I started:



No Talking, Andrew Clements. This is for my elementary school book club.

A Promise of Fire, Amanda Bouchet. Another ancient Vaginal Fantasy book. The library is calling it home.

Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys. My next Cybils YA book. I have 30 days to read about 35 of them, although some are middle-grade.

Bright Candles, Nathaniel Benchley. I needed something set outside the US that was fast.

Dawn, Octavia Butler. For my Tuesday Book/Minecraft club.

Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson. A late read for my controversy book club -- I didn't finish in time.

I finished:


No Talking, Andrew Clements. I found the balance of tension and humor, adult and kid characters, and action vs reflection spot on, and most of the kids in the book club liked it as well. We talked about whether it was written for kids or adults, whether taking ideas from books was a good idea, and whether it would work in real life in the general and specific sense.

Bright Candles, Nathaniel Benchley. I remember liking this as a kid, and I still do. It seems to give a good sense of what the Danes were thinking and doing during the German occupation, from the ones determined to get along to the ones dedicated to fighting back. Some survive, some don't. There are a few women characters, but the focus is on the young man who narrates his involvement with the resistance.

Bitter Spirits, Jenn Bennett. A Vaginal Fantasy book. This was fine; I grew to enjoy the fast POVs where you see how each character viewed events, mostly colored through their various insecurities. The time period was solid, although the characters themselves seemed lightly placed in it; they could easily have slid into the modern world despite the 100 years lag. The magic seemed an odd addition mainly there to help the author over a few plot points or maybe to reach a paranormal audience; I think it might have been better off as a straight historical.

First Impressions, Nora Roberts. My audio Reading my Library Quest book. I have to say, if you find out that the person you fell in love with has a secret, and that secret is that rather than being penniless and unemployed, they are a rich owner of a business, that is not a reason to break up with them, especially if they haven't actually lied, just let you draw your own incorrect conclusions. So the last few tracks were more risible than suspenseful, but it was still a fun listen.

Make Me Stay, Jaci Burton. My current Reading My Library book stayed in Oklahoma, and gave a smooth story about two modern people who have great sex, fall in love, and adjust their careers and family expectations to marry. It was cosy enough.

I started 6 and finished 5. That's better than I thought I was doing. My currently-reading list is getting longer because I'm including some short fiction and poetry that I'm reading slowly even though they are basically picture books.

Picture Books



Mighty Jack, Ben Hatke. I'm definitely in the blurry line between picture book and book with this graphic novel, but I read it in one gulp so picture book it is. It's a Cybils middle grade graphic novel, and it's utterly delightful. Jack is struggling to live up to the responsibility of caring for his younger sister, but as unpaid bills in the background show us, his single mom is desperately trying to keep their house. The garden she plants is a bit challenging since the plants are magical, aggressive, and unexplained, but the girl down the street brings her Ren-faire swords to help out. It's funny, poignant, and I want the sequel.

Bookmarks moved in:



Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 26. Crazy AI still fears death. Also, Daav worries about the new clone bodies his deeply creepy frenemy has provided him with.

Great Pumpkin Suite, Melanie Hill. I only read a paragraph or so at a time, so no one has felt the power saw yet.

Rebel, Sherwood Smith & Rachel Manija Brown. I need to read at least far enough to know who or why there is a rebel.

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



Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

2017 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2016!  54/107-ish. Finished Mighty Jack. Working on Salt to the Sea and several poetry books.
2. Reading My Library: Finished First Impressions for my next audio, and set up Whose Body. Completed Make Me Stay and pulled up The Last Neanderthal.
3. Where Am I Reading?: 38/51. I think that's right. And my Oklahoma book is definitely in Oklahoma now, as opposed to just probably set there.

Happy Thanksgiving, aka Family Togetherness

Happy Turkey Day! My son came home and there was much rejoicing. Actually my boys spend Thanksgiving Day itself with their dad, because despite the fact that he doesn't really celebrate it he doesn't want his sons to spend to major holidays with me, but before and after he hung out with me.

I made a pretty turkey that was moist and delicious, and my sister made a zillion side dishes that I filled up on. It's a good family group, plus a few extras to make the holiday even better. We substituted Uno for Apples to Apples for our after dinner pre-pie game, which was fun if not quite as conducive to congeniality and lazy lounging.

I didn't really read much this week, although I've got two library books coming due and a pile of Cybils reading to finish. Oh well, it is what it is. Currently Reading has wavered and wriggled and returned to 23, but that includes some slow moving graphic novels that I don't really count.

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 but I'm late so probably won't sign up.. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed. I'll go look to see what everyone else was reading at either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers.

This Week I started:



When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi. Many recommendations and the library had it out.

Black Butler, Vol 10, Yana Toboso. Notice the substitute butler on the cover.

Bitter Spirits, Jenn Bennett. A Vaginal Fantasy book. I am months behind on these.

I finished:



A Study in Charlotte, Brittany Cavallaro. A Cybils YA book. The drug use, while completely appropriate for a retelling of a Holmes & Watson story, made it hard for me to like this book, and the police stupidity also didn't help. In the end I liked both characters, but I wish it were possible for Watson to have a friendship with a girl without forcing a romance.

Black Butler, Vol 10, Yana Toboso. I enjoyed this one, despite still being unable to tell the rather large cast of characters apart. I knew the ones that would recur, so I just lumped the others together. And since I guessed the (well-telegraphed) twist, I felt all clever. I'll order the next one up from my library soonish.

When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi.  Well, that was as well-written as I had heard, and just as sad as I expected. When his wife got pregnant I knew it was just about all over, because I knew (from the introduction? Somehow) that he was dangerously weak during his wife's labor.  A good book for realizing how much of your life has slipped away unnoticed and unused.

I started 3 and finished 3. That's better than I thought I was doing.

Bookmarks moved in:



Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 25. My favorite strand right now is the ones with people dealing with a new AI who is a little bit unbalanced with a tendency to react lethally in inappropriate situations.

Great Pumpkin Suite, Melanie Hill. I creep ahead towards the mutilation part.

First Impressions, Nora Roberts. 4/6. My audio Reading my Library Quest book. Maryland again! Now that Vance is getting laid he's turning out to be a nice guy. A bit bossy, but has potential.

Make Me Stay, Jaci Burton. My current Reading My Library book, it's is stuck in Oklahoma, which is good, but I'm not that invested in the relationship, which is not ideal in a romance book.

Rebel, Sherwood Smith & Rachel Manija Brown. Their beach cautionary signs need some improvement, but it's a fun way to get estranged siblings to work together.

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



Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

2017 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2016!  53/107-ish. Working through elementary Graphic Novels and also back at the YAs. I'm not looking likely to finish by the end of the year.
2. Reading My Library: Working on First Impressions for my next audio, and made a little progress Make Me Stay from the top of the next bookcase.
3. Where Am I Reading?: 36/51. But I think that number is wrong -- it should be 37.

Energy Has Left the Building

I restarted Family Book club, which we hold with another family. This is especially important now that my family has shrunk to two people. It was a bit of a cheat, as I only made everyone else read the table of contents of NurtureShock, but it was still fun because we had kids and teens and parents to argue about the points. Everyone had fun (and sushi) and now claim they are going to actually read the next book.

I also drove up to Kirkland for a friend's inaugural Feminist Book Club. I had read the book months ago so couldn't add much to the point but it was fun anyway. And I enjoyed World Language Night at the high school, although my sons made a good choice in picking Latin in terms of musicality and performance. I texted at my older son throughout, so we all felt companionable.

Reading wise, I'm facing the end of the year and the fact that most of my challenges are half done. I picked up a pile of YA and am pretending I'm going to read them, as well as the next pile of Reading My Library books. Currently Reading has wavered and wriggled and returned to 21.

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 and I'm signing up there. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed, and my Cybils reading qualifies me. I'll go look to see what everyone else was reading at either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers.

This Week I started:



Rag and Bone, KJ Charles. I almost missed this one, confusing it with the short story that introduced the characters.

A Study in Charlotte, Brittany Cavallaro. A Cybils YA book. I'm running very late with my Cybils reading this year.

Rebel, Sherwood Smith & Rachel Manija Brown. The third book in this series.

Make Me Stay, Jaci Burton. My next Reading My Library book.

I finished:



Nothing to Lose, Lee Child. Definitely set in Colorado. I found the woman who briefly holds Reacher's interest utterly incomprehensible, but that isn't unusual in these books. A standard version of these stories, nothing out of the ordinary.

Jackdaw, K J Charles. I like rereading the parts after they get away, but the parts where there is the betrayal and the prison and the sadness, those aren't as much fun. But it was fun to spot the guys from Rag and Bone as they passed in the hall.

Rag and Bone, KJ Charles. Just as I was congratulating myself on reading all of Charles's books, I realized that I had skipped this one because I confused it with the short story that introduced the characters. It's another chance to see Crane and Day from the terrified view of other practitioners, as well as a few glimpses of the Jackdaw pair, but it also concentrates on its own characters of a Cornish man who attracts bad mentors and a Black paper collector with firm values.

The Keeper of the Mist, Rachel Neumeier. The next Cybils YA book. This was an entertaining fantasy, with an innovative magic system that was explained mostly by the confusing of the people trying to deal with their new talents after the previous generation botched both the use and the transfer of key positions. I found the tacked-on romance at the end a sad letdown that pulled energy out of the ending, but in general it was a fun read.

Expendable, James Alan Gardner.  For my Tuesday BookClub, which is also now a Minecraft club. I'm not actually supposed to finish this until next week, but I was hoping for some ideas for stuff to build that ties in with the book. The egg collection was easy, as was the statue of Oar, but I'm not sure what to do next. An underwater dome city? Oh, I enjoyed it as SF as well, although Festina is not good with men. This reread I noticed she was a child of 23, so I'm more tolerant.

I started 4 and finished 5. That's better than I thought I was doing.

I Gave Up On:


Strangers in Their Own Land, Arlie Hochschild. I started this too late and the library wants it back, and I don't want to cram it because I have to work at compassion. Some people make it hard. When a man describes how charitable he is by referencing how his family works to provide gifts for needy families through a giving tree, and then casually mentions that they throw out requests for shoes if the sizes are too big, because they might be going to adults, I need to put down the book and try to imagine people who have never encountered any teenaged boys. People who are also so determined that an undeserving person not receive charity that they are willing to let unnumbered children also miss out just in case. Wow.

Picture Books and Short Stories:


Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln, Kate DiCamillo. The last Cybils early chapter book, with an entertaining protagonist of an elderly woman making a brief break for independence, which luckily turns out well as she learns about comedy, candy, and creativity before being welcomed back into her family with more respect. I like the idea of kids identifying with the aged.

"Remnant, " KJ Charles and Jordan Hawke. Two magical crime-fighting couples that meet and annoy each other. Since I think I have now actually finished Charles maybe I'll try the co-author of this story to see what they are up to over in America.

Guess Who, Haiku, Deanna Caswell. Cybils poetry book. I can see this working as a picture book, or even as an aid in explaining what haiku is, but it doesn't really satisfy my "read some poems" itch.

Bookmarks moved in:



Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 25. Daav is back. He's suspicious, as well he should be.

Great Pumpkin Suite, Melanie Hill. The kids, unsupervised, play with sharp tools.

First Impressions, Nora Roberts. 4/6. My audio Reading my Library Quest book. Maryland again! Vance must be incredibly hot because otherwise it's hard to see what Shane sees in him. Well, as the listener I know he's rich so she's probably OK.

Virtues of War, Bennett Coles. I have a feeling this strike team is going to have some problems.

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



Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

2017 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2016!  51/107-ish. Working through elementary Graphic Novels and also back at the YAs. I'm not looking likely to finish by the end of the year.
2. Reading My Library: Working on First Impressions for my next audio, and started Make Me Stay from the top of the next bookcase.
3. Where Am I Reading?: 36/51. I'm reading a much more solid Oklahoma, and a Cybils book is set in Connecticut.