Belated Wahoos, July in Review, Pat's News and The UFO

Welcome to the Wahoo! for Things That Aren't Dead Issue! Because we've had a drought, this year, almost nothing in the garden survived and the critters are not as easy to spot. But, a few things are alive and I think they're worth celebrating.

#1 Wahoo! for my little moss rose (note that she's surrounded by some yucky brown stuff, yet still perseveres):

We interrupt this wahooful post for an exciting bit of information about Patricia Wood that should have been announced last week:

Lottery has been declared a semifinalist for the 2007 Cabell First Novelist Award! Wahoo for Pat!!! Note that she is in good company. The Ocean in the Closet was another of my my 2007 favorites and I'm sure most of you recognize at least a few more great titles.

#2 - Wahoo! for undead tomatoes. No, silly, they're not vampire tomatoes -- although they've got an odd, fang-like protrusion at the bottom. We won't theorize about that, right now.

The Emergency Wahoo Broadcast System sirens are going off, again. What now? Oh, another important announcement! The August issue of Estella's Revenge is available for your reading pleasure! Well, that is definitely important. We now return to our regularly scheduled wahoos.

#3 - Wahoo! for these hardy little ladies (impatiens)! They're sickly (note the spots on the leaves), but alive. Alive is good.

#4 - Wahoo! for the hydrangea that I had already mentally buried! It's back! There's not much there, and it probably won't bloom for a while, but . . . again . . . alive is good.


And, finally -- July Reading in Review:

1. In the Clearing - Robert Frost - Some annoying rhyme and rhythm, a few bits that made me laugh out loud, a little spiritual epiphany and one truly funny, opinionated free verse. Worth reading.

2. At Home in Mitford - Jan Karon - A fun romp around the village of Mitford with Father Tim, friends, neighbors and one hilarious, irreverent little sort-of-adopted boy.

3. The Questory of Root Karbunkulus - Kamilla Reid - Fun fantasy; a few too many creatures and some lame dialogue mixed in with some excellent weirdness and plucky adventure.

4. Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery - Can't believe I waited so long. Excellent! Canadian! Must read more!

5. Life as We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer - World ends, people die, winter is miserable. The writing was duller than expected but the storyline fascinated me. I love this kind of "what if?"

6. The Rabbit and the Snowman - Sally O. Lee - Pretty picture book with a story that I thought was sort of silly. But, Debi's kids loved the story and hated the illustrations. So there, grownups!

7. Legerdemain - James J. Heaphey - Real-life spy adventures set in 1950's Morocco. Loved it!

8. Will Storr vs. the Supernatural - Will Storr - Things that go bump in the night and breathe loudly nearby convince Will of their existence. Loads of fun daylight reading.

9. Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella - Amnesia's never been so fun.

10. What if . . . ? - Steven N. Lee - Taut action and suspense that didn't quite pull together but still made for thought-provoking reading.

11. Washington's Lady - Nancy Moser - Fictionalized account of Martha Washington's life. Loved it!

12. Queen of Babble - Meg Cabot - Fun character's jaunt to England and France to find romance, lose it, and find it again. But, she should have mentioned Zingerman's, since Lizzie was "from Ann Arbor". It's just not right not to mention Zingerman's.

13. Unnamed YA galley - Ouch. It's hard not to tell.

14. Down to a Sunless Sea - Mathias B. Freese - Thought-provoking, difficult reading (and kind of depressing) but worth the time. Should have gone on medication, first.

That's it! 14 books - 3803 pages worth. As of the end of July, I'd read 76 books - 18,702 pages. Not bad for a poky reader who had a couple of really awful months.

And, now, the answer to the UFO question . . . what was that weird black and white and red thing? Several of you are going to say, "I knew it!" The UFO was a red-headed woodpecker. Here he is, before he took flight:

Once you realize how vivid they are in flight, they're quite easy to spot in their natural habitat. Very wahooey. I love watching these guys. They're so pretty they almost don't look real.

One final wahoo: Wahoo! for surviving another year with Huzzybuns (and vice versa . . . not getting kicked out, or anything to that effect). Yesterday was our anniversary. 26 years without any serious spouse-inflicted injuries on either side! Would you believe I married at the age of 3? Pretending to be 29 gets harder every year.

Wishing you many wahoos!

Bookfool, 29 and then some