Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Tuesday Twaddle


I just had an epiphany, this week.  When I mention books that have "walked in" (aka, arrivals), it never occurs to me to mention e-books.  I purchased one e-book and downloaded one for tour, but I probably will continue to forget to mention them because you can't stack e-books in a convenient location to remind yourself what you acquired.  This week, I will definitely mention them.

New arrivals, the past week:

Lola's Secret by Monica McInerney - e-book for TLC tour, requested because it's a Christmas book and I'm reading as many as I can to help me come up with decent suggestions for my F2F group's December meeting.
Jamie Oliver's Great Britain by Jamie Oliver - also for TLC tour
When It Happens to You by Molly Ringwald - from Harper It for review
Among the Missing by Dan Chaon - purchased at my local secondhand bookstore . . . which, unfortunately, was a pretty big disappointment, otherwise.
Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn - e-book purchased because I felt like a quick, creepy read.
11/22/63 by Stephen King - an impulse purchase

General Twaddle About My Week:

  • This week I discovered I was definitely not meant to be a librarian.  I've been shelving my books by category, as we unpack.  I've got at least the following categories and then some:  YA, history, historical fiction, WWII (both NF and F, mixed together), short stories, poetry, classics, sci-fi, science, travel and travel memoirs (but I have an entire separate shelf dedicated to books about France and/or set in Paris and an entire shelf of memoirs), psychology, law, Christian/inspirational/spiritual, writing, literature studies, writing reference, books about reading or with bookish subject matter, "potentially fluffy" and "I'm not sure how to categorize this".  
  • We don't necessarily have to go to the big city to do city-related errands.  There is a tiny town we can go to, instead. I drove there to do some banking and scout out the courthouse, this week.  I'm familiar with the town but I hadn't paid much attention to the courthouse.  It's beautiful!  You can park to the side, where there is a row of towering pecan trees and an iron fence covered in lichen.  
  • It is acting like autumn, although our leaves are not yet turning.  We're enjoying the cool air and have begun taking daily walks through our neighborhood.  It's truly exciting to finally live in a subdivision with sidewalks in a city with leash laws that are enforced!
  • The photo of squash at the top of this post was taken at a produce stand we love.  We've only been there a few times, in the past, but it's been a favorite place since we discovered it on the way to a swim meet.  We're thrilled to be 30 miles closer to one of our old favorite haunts!

Random conversation with husband:

Me:  "I was thinking maybe we could make a pumpkin man.  You know, like a snowman but with 3 pumpkins stacked on top of each other, instead of balls of snow?"
Husband:  "Nancy, this is a nice neighborhood."
Me:  "But, we don't have snow, so . . ."
Husband:  ". . . "

Reading update:

I have been an ADD reader, this week.  I set aside the books I was reading last week and started 11/22/63 practically the moment I brought it home.  But, I haven't gotten far because I keep picking up other books.  I read the first story in Miracle and Other Stories by Connie Willis, this weekend (loved it).  And, then I downloaded my creepy e-book, Wait Till Helen Comes, and read that at once.  I finished Lola's Secret (a November tour book) and read maybe 25 pages of Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure.  I can't remember if I finished The Lifeboat this past week or the week before, but it kept my attention long enough to complete.  That's saying something, I suppose.  I also read Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory.

Blogging:

I've been bad, haven't I?


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23 comments:

  1. I thought you still lived in the same place - just in a different house.

    I have my books arranged in a super secret system that no one can understand but me, and some days I can't understand it myself! I really need to redo my bookshelves.

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    1. Nope, we moved 30 miles east. We're in more of a bedroom community, now. I'm a little homesick but much happier with the house we live in.

      LOL I'm not sure anyone else would understand my system. It's a little complex and I'll probably end up rearranging several times before I'm happy.

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  2. I am glad that you are getting your shelves organized! I am going to moving some furniture around, and will have to do some of that myself. And also, I think the pumpkin man sounds amazing! I totally want to see pictures if you do that!

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    1. Husband won't let me make a pumpkin man! Seriously! But, Kiddo's girlfriend is going to carve our biggest pumpkin, for us. I'm a pumpkin-carving failure so I'm very happy that she asked if she could carve one for our new front porch. I guess the other two will just sit around looking pumpkiny. :)

      It's both fun and exhausting organizing the shelves. It'll be most exciting when I'm finished, I think!

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  3. I have my books classified as Fiction, Non-Fiction, Classics, and YA. Oh, and then the ones I've read all together and in no order at all.

    Hmmm, a couple Halloweens ago my boss was very excited about his pumpkin man...who was mooning his audience (pumpkins as the moon...). I wasn't sure what the appropriate response was. :)

    Glad you're feeling a little bit more settled.

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    1. Wow, I would never have thought to organize that simply! I have so many books and such a wide variety of subject matter that I feel like I need to categorize them. But, what a job I've set myself up for!

      Was that a dressed pumpkin man? I've seen the kind that do the mooning thing (clothed like a scarecrow) but I've never seen one that imitated a snowman. Unfortunately, Huz is absolutely not going to let me try that and I'm too busy unpacking to worry about ignoring him and just doing my own thing, this year.

      Thanks! I'll feel even more settled if we ever manage to buy a sofa. LOL Seriously, we don't have one!

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  4. I actually am having a heck of a time keeping up with blogs lately so don't worry, I don't mind you not posting everyday. ;) I think your pumpkin man is awesome! :) And, yeah, shelving my category is not fun, is it?

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    1. Yeah, I'm maybe getting one day a week to go blog-hopping, myself. Blogging . . . argh. I don't have time!!! But, I need to get the children's books reviewed. Thanks, I'm glad you like my pumpkin man idea! Maybe next year.

      Shelving by category is a royal pain!!!

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  5. Mine are organized by fiction (very broad-should have sub-categories) my nonfiction goes into WWI or II, Yoga, Psychology/Neuroscience, and miscellaneous. Mostly, however, on the floor, table, etc.

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    1. I get you on the table and floor problem. I'm trying to fit most of my books into one room. I'm not sure it's possible, but I'm going to do my best to make it work.

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  6. Pumpkin men can be tastefully done - I think the key is to use small pumpkins that are in themselves cute (we've used different colors before and put the little pumpkin man on our front step). The other key is to make sure that they get dumped in the trash the minute they start to sag, seep or smell. :)

    Good luck with your book organization! I love doing that sort of thing!

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    1. Cute pumpkins. got it. Next year I'll overrule the husband. This year, I've got Kiddo's girlfriend carving a big one. That'll do nicely. She's very creative so it'll be fun to have her fix up our pumpkin!

      Oh, yeah. They do rot quickly once you've cut into them, here. Our warm climate is not well suited to jack-o-lanterns!

      Thanks! It's a big job but I love going through all the books. I'm going to need the scaffold for those high shelves, I fear.

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  7. 11/22/63 is one I want to listen to on audio. My library doesn't seem to have it on audio, at least not to download, so I'll keep checking. I also want to listen to Under the Dome. Have you read that one?

    I finally got all the books up off the floor in my office! I gave a huge bagful of unread ARCs to a friend (who was thrilled!) and boxed up a bunch that I want to read, but will wait until I read some from my shelves. I also painted an old grungy 2-shelf bookcase and put it in the guest room to store my unread memoirs and travel essays. I can't wait to "shop" those shelves for something to read! :) Good luck with getting all your books in one room. Mine are in the living room, dining room, office, guest room, bedroom and basement. Ack!! ;)

    And, I'm right there with you on getting a new couch. We've had ours since 1992. I love it, but so does Annie-dog. It's really looking grungy and the cushions are pretty squished. I think I'll hold off a few more years, though... It's either that or get something in leather that I can wipe down. After five years, I'm not going to tell the dog she can't get up on the couch. :)

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    1. I thought about trying 11/22/63 on audio, but I am soooo not an audio person. I attempted to listen to my absolute favorite book on audio and kinda hated it. Need to mention that, sometime, in a post. My friend John told me, "You need to get the book," when we talked about 11/22/63. I can't remember why. I was thinking about getting it in e-book form because it's so fat but he said, "No, don't do that." Probably because it has photos?

      Oooh, I'm sure that was a great surprise for your friend! I've been going through books for at least 3 years, now, slowly culling. It's hard because at some point I obviously wanted to read every single one of them. But, taste changes and the ones I'm least interested in have to go. We did have books in every room except the bathrooms and even on a shelf over the garage door. I don't know if they'll all fit in the library and den, but I'm going to do my best to try to fit them all!!!

      We don't actually have a couch . . . at all. We had a sleeper sofa for maybe 18 years and a spring broke. I didn't like it, anyway, so D. fixed the spring and we donated it. We've been using a futon, ever since. Now, it's in the library and we just have a smattering of mismatched chairs in our den. Gotta do something about that. We've thought about leather. Not sure if that would mix with claws but we have leather chairs that have survived. Still . . . not sure. The cats *will* climb on the couch. They're kinda spoiled. :)

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  8. Loving the twaddle. I totally think you could get away with a pumpkin man in your 'hood. Tooootally. And I'm glad you're enjoying the area, finding yourself closer to things you enjoy. Hugs my friend!

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    1. I'll challenge the husband about pumpkin men, next year. This year, I'm really too busy, anyway. :) Thanks! I really do love my new area. Oddly, I'm a little homesick for the old. But, we're close enough that I still go back plenty. I visited with former neighbors when I had to go to town to deal with some bills that didn't show up, last week. Very fun1

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  9. Anonymous12:15 AM

    I listened to all but the last 100 pages of 11/22/63. It was awesome! I read the last bit, because I didn't want to wait til the next day to finish the audio (I only do audio in the car or at the gym).

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    1. I'm such a slow reader that I'm bogged down in the middle of 11/22/63 and decided to take a break from it over the weekend. I read two short books and now I'm ready to go back. I'm glad you found it so exciting that you had to finish reading instead of waiting for audio time. That gives me hope!

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  10. I'm sorry to hear the Chaon book didn't work out. Await Your Reply was a favorite of mine although I didn't care for his more recent book of short stories.

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    1. It was the secondhand bookstore that was a disappointment! I haven't read Await Your Reply, yet, but I have a feeling I'll like it. I loved his short story in Shadow Show and have been planning to read more of his work.

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  11. Why would it matter if it is a NICE neighborhood?! pumpkin man sounds cool.

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    1. There's no accounting for crazy spouses and their idea of tacky vs. cool. I'm on the cool side, obviously. ;)

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