Monday Malarkey - Arrivals, last week's posts, things I'm reading and other malarkey

Time for some malarkey and this seems like a good place to start. I need a head pot. Seriously, I do.

I just think a pot like that would look terrific on my living room shelf.  That's a museum pot made by a potter from the Mississippian culture, sometime between the years 1200-1500 A.D.  Is it cool, or what?

Only two books arrived, this week (progress on restraint!):

• This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash - from HarperCollins for review 
• These Wonderful Rumours! A Young Schoolteacher's Wartime Diaries by May Smith - purchased

Great covers on both, don't you think?  Also, note the sticker on the cover of These Wonderful Rumours.  I had no idea this year is Virago Press' 40th year. Wahoo for Virago Books and Happy Birthday to you, Virago!

Last week was a heavy posting week as I've been attempting to do some catch-up:

• October Reads in Review - 2013
• November Reads in Review - 2013
• Tuesday Twaddle - A happy holiday and some fun reading
• N0S4A2 by Joe Hill (review)
• Before I Die by Candy Chang (review)
• The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories 3 by HitRECord and Fiona Friday (review and grumpy cat pic)

Since last week's Tuesday Twaddle, I've only managed to finish one book, but it was a good one:

• The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook - This one is showing up on some "Best of 2013" lists and deservedly so, in my humble opinion.

I am currently reading:

• Jack Absolute by C. C. Humphreys - Swashbuckling fun but a bit bloody. Love the Hamlet-quoting Iroquois, Jack's friend Até.
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Yes, I'm just finally getting around to this one.  
• Another book I don't want to confess to reading till I get a bit farther because it's non-fiction and I'm such a pokey NF reader.

So what about that Calvino?

Sigh.  I keep looking at it and thinking, "Later, later."  But, I will tell you that while I was reading If On a Winter's Night a Traveler (before I hit overload), I found that it was inspiring me in the "giving me numerous writing ideas" sense, so I do plan to finish the book and I'll definitely save it for future rereads.  You should see the number of Post-its crammed into that book.  It's quite a sight.

In other news:

Friday was exciting as my delightful and incredibly-dapper author friend Simon Van Booy did a talk at TEDxBrooklyn.  The 2013 TEDxBrooklyn program was available for live streaming, so I got to see Simon's "How to Write a Book in 18 Minutes" and frantically took notes.  Of course, Simon was brilliant, as always.  What I wrote down is not entirely complete but hopefully the talk will show up in their video section eventually. I will undoubtedly need to make some corrections and/or additions to my notes and it's worth sharing so I'll let you know if/when it shows up. In the meantime, Simon's talk has me pondering my own writing, so I'm thrilled about that.

Also, last week I got my 5th Graze box:

In case you haven't heard of it, Graze is a healthy-snack subscription service and the per-shipment price is very reasonable. If you're looking for gift ideas for a college kid, I highly recommend getting your favorite university student a Graze subscription. After I got my first box and decided it's definitely a good deal, I got a second one for Kiddo.  He loves getting a parcel in the mail every two weeks (otherwise, he only receives bills). Kiddo told me he keeps one of the individually-wrapped snacks in his backpack for times when he can't make it to the cafeteria before it closes, which happens regularly on his busiest days.  I've got a couple friend codes remaining if anyone's interested in signing up.  Just write to my gmail account.

We're finally getting started on Christmas decorating.

While I was searching for some Victorian-style garlands that I bought in an after-Christmas sale last year, I came across a box with a label that made me laugh.  The box contains breakable items (I didn't bother looking inside to see exactly what kind of breakables because it was in an awkward place and, of course, I didn't want to end up breaking everything). On the outside of the box I wrote, "I will die if this box gets smashed." The contents of this box must be very important because elsewhere on the box it says, "Seriously, it will KILL ME if you damage this one." When I'm done decorating, I'm going to have to see what's inside that box . . . carefully, of course.

Happy Monday!

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Week in Review

This was a busy blogging week because the cats and I were all on our own, so I'm going to be kind and do a recap post.  

-- On Sunday, I spent the day on our patio, writing.  Birds, bees (not the nice European kind that are dying off, but the giant inch-long variety) and a lizard kept me company.  Isabel was irritated.  Writing with Friends is mostly photos, a montage of the wildlife that kept me company and a photo of Izzy looking grumpy.

-- Monday's Catch-Up Post included short reviews of The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie, Coventry by Helen Humphreys, Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans, Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, and Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

-- Monday Malarkey on Tuesday contained the usual malarkey: recent arrivals, some springy photos and -- well, this is unusual --a pic of the dog we dog-sat over the weekend.

-- On Wednesday I posted my review of Swimming at Night by Lucy Clarke.  Naturally there's a cat photo.  The girls are fascinated by something in the photo, but I don't know what because I was too busy snapping their portrait.

-- I posted my review of The India Fan by Victoria Holt on Thursday with -- get this -- no other material! No babble, no photos.  That happens maybe once in a blue moon.

-- Then, I forgot it was Friday and posted a review of The Pope's Last Crusade by Peter Eisner, with a photo of a cardinal -- you know, the kind with feathers.

-- By the time I realized it was Friday, I was already working on my review of Poison by Bridget Zinn, so I tossed in a Fiona Friday photo (of Isabel) and posted a second time.

I've just begun streaming Island at War.  Some moments are so intense that I have turned off the volume.

And, now I'm going to take off a week or so from blogging.  I'm on about page 300 of Elizabeth Chadwick's Shadows and Strongholds.  Husband is due to arrive home from the UK some time today; but, his first plane got a late start and we're expecting more inclement weather so it's likely he'll be delayed (and I'll get to sneak in a little reading time).  Have a terrific weekend and week!  Happy Reading!

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Saturday Summary - a little more than a week in review

Since I returned from my refreshing vacation-slash-family-get-together in Colorado, it sure seems like I've done an awful lot of posting and it occurred to me that a weekly summary post might be a nice idea for the sake of overwhelmed readers. I'm going to go as far back as my first post-vacation review and summarize a little under 10 days' worth.

Here's what's been happening at Bookfoolery:

1. On Thursday the 1st of July, I reviewed the new HarperPerennial edition of The Secret Lives of People in Love by Simon Van Booy and posted a photo of the cabin we rented in the mountains. As expected, I gushed over Simon's writing. I can't help myself.

2. On Friday, the 2nd of July, I reviewed A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware and listed all the books that arrived (some of which sat on our doorstep for who knows how long -- apparently we did not choose a trustworthy person to watch our doorstep, this time around).

3. Later in the day came the reliable Fiona Friday post: Fi vs. the Blinds.

4. Monday, July 5, I reviewed A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Campbell. I jumped the gun a bit as it was released on Tuesday, but what's a day but 24 hours, right? In case you're wondering, I found the book nearly impossible to put down. Also included in this post are a photo of a lovely husky and my favorite Pathetic Home-Driveway Fireworks photo.

5. On Tuesday, the 6th of July, I reviewed The All American Jump & Jive Jig, a children's book that I actually got to read to a child! Squeee! Included is a bonus photograph of my niece's boyfriend reading the book.

6. Wednesday, July 7 was a scheduled tour day. I posted a sneak peek and review of Boyfriends, Burritos and An Ocean of Trouble by Nancy Rue. To be honest, I hate the sneak peek posts, which are a required part of FirstWild tours. I read them, sometimes, at other blogs. But, they almost never draw any commentary and I think most people prefer to read my thoughts, so I only post them because I must. I may remove the sneak peek (aka, free chapter) now that the obligation is over, but the review will stay put.

7. Also on Wednesday was the 20th anniversary of my father's death. After I'd done my touring duty, I wrote a small, late-night tribute to my father and included a Wahoo! Wednesday photo, since I really don't do that often enough.

8. Thursday - nothing. I declared it a reading and email catch-up day.

9. Fiona Friday! - Fiona was baaaaad, this week, but I decided I'll save up naughty cat photos for a special day. Instead, this week you got two Fionas for the price of one, twice. And, now you know what mirrored closet doors are for. Cat photography. Is there any other reason?

Books I finished, this week:

1. Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter - the third in the Gallagher Girls young adult spy series. Funny but with a slightly pensive (almost sad, at times) tone. I still loved it. Kiddo and I enjoy this series.

2. Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas - A lovely tale of friendship, shared grief and quilting in the Colorado mountains during the Great Depression.

3. The Case of the Crooked Carnival by Michele Torrey - A middle reader that I highly recommend for anyone and everyone. Great interconnected stories based on real science, plus some experiments you can do at home.

Books I still need to review:

1. The Passage by Justin Cronin - Oh, look how the first month of publication flew by! And, the buzz hasn't faded one bit, has it? I didn't mean to wait quite this long, but no worries; this book has stuck like fly paper on my mind. I'll still have plenty to say (but will try not to burden you with a 3-page report).

2. Emma by Jane Austen - Good old Jane. I love Jane. Yes, this book has stuck with me, as well.

Other things I need to post about:

1. The A & E version of Emma, starring that chick who likes to go commando. I read that tidbit in a gossip magazine. Oh, what is her name? Well, it was wonderful and I finished it after July 1, so it counts for the Everything Austen II challenge and probably will end up in a separate post.

2. My monthly reads in review for June. June sucked in some ways (quantity - possibly because I was diagnosed as anemic, which means everyone suddenly wants tons of your iron-poor blood) and was meh in others (lots of average books) but was a three-chunkster month (Wahoo!) and two of the books I read were wunderbar (Emma, The Passage) so I've decided it all averages out as a decent month.

That's it for the week. Time to move forward! Preferably not with many-thousand-foot drop-offs nearby and lengthy traffic delays.

Happy Reading!