Showing posts with label One Month's Reads (a list). Show all posts
Showing posts with label One Month's Reads (a list). Show all posts

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Everything I read in January

I reviewed all of the books I read in January so I've just linked to the full reviews.  This photo is a little hard to see because I can't lighten it without washing out the image of Unspeakable, but you should be able to click to enlarge it. January was a very good month with an eclectic mix of children's books (one of which was by a high school friend), a classic, a feminist work, some nonfiction including books about art, and one book from a banned list. 


January:



©2022 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.

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Thursday, May 01, 2014

April Reads in Review (2014) incl. a poetry month wrap-up

Wow, April flew by pretty quickly, didn't it?


April reads (with links to reviews, where applicable):

46. Itch Rocks - Simon Mayo
48. Tooth and Claw - Jim Arnosky
49. The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
50. Femininity - Susan Brownmiller
51. How to Lose a Lemur by Frann Preston-Gannon
55. The Other Typist - Suzanne Rindell
56. When the Cypress Whispers - Yvette Manessis Corporon
57. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
59. Poetry for Young People: African-American Poetry, ed. by A. Rampersad and M Blount
60. Birds of America (stories) - Lorrie Moore
61. Fidelity (poems) - Grace Paley

I'm quite happy with my April reading -- a little less thrilled with my reviewing rate but I did manage to catch up on all of the reviewing I needed to do for March. Only 5 of the books without links to reviews, above, are from publishers so hopefully I'll be finished with those, soon.  I actually have read more than 61 books, this year, but some of the children's books I still need to review are so shy on words that I didn't feel right listing them as books read. I might list them in May, just to create a convenient place to link back to them. 

 Itch Rocks, Tooth and Claw, How to Lose a Lemur, When the Cypress Whispers and The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry are the books I still need to review for publishers. I either liked or loved every single one.

 The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga is from my home library. It's a fascinating book about a man who is part of the servant class in India. He is able to get a better than average education and training to become a driver. But, even working for a fabulously wealthy man, he's still poor and very much aware of his place in society, so he decides he must take charge in order to lift himself out of the poverty chain. A strangely upbeat book with a sinister undercurrent, The White Tiger is a fascinating read. I really enjoyed it.  I don't think I'll review it separately, though. This is it.

 The same goes for Femininity by Susan Brownmiller and Birds of America by Lorrie Moore. Heck, I'll just do one paragraph for each:

Femininity is a book about how women are viewed, both by men and other women. It has sections on the body, hair, and clothing, among others. While parts of it were quite dated, it's still a terrific feminist read because it makes you think about what's changed, what hasn't and why.

Birds of America is Lorrie Moore's award winning collection of short stories and I was kind of stunned at how disappointing I found it.  She's a sharp writer with a witty sense of humor so you can't help but admire her clever sentences; but, I found it very difficult to relate to, like, or understand the characters in a way that made me feel like the stories were in some way meaningful or fulfilling. The final story is an exception. "Terrific Mother" is both painful and beautiful, the story of a woman who blames herself for a baby's death when the bench she's sitting on while holding her friend's baby breaks. I loved "Terrific Mother" because if was one of the few stories that ended with the ray of hope I always seek in short stories.

And a wrap-up of my reading for National Poetry Month:

 I read 4 poetry books: Ode to Childhood, Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost, Poetry for Young People: African American Poetry and Grace Paley's last volume of poetry (and final work), Fidelity. Of the 4 books, 3 were set aside at some point. So, while I already know myself to be a moody reader, this month I came to the realization that poetry can be even trickier when it comes to timing. And, incidentally, I loved them all. Naturally, there were some poems that meant more to me or which I liked more than others but in general I really loved the reading and came out of it thinking that I need to work harder at injecting more poetry into my reading life.  

 Fidelity by Grace Paley was given to me by my lovely daughter-in-law and I don't know if I'll bother reviewing it but I definitely recommend it. Since she was nearing the end of her life when she wrote the book, Paley's poetic reflections were a mixture of sadness for her losses, love of family, reflections on life and humorous looks at being old or being a writer. Fidelity is a lovely little book.

 I think there must be a Star Trek line or phrase that applies to every facet of life. This, for example, is about the distance to the bottom of my TBR pile:

At least, it feels that way. So, I'm back in catch-up mode and ignoring review requests. No idea how long that will last, this time.  How was your reading month?

 ©2014 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.
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Looking backward and forward - July reads, new books and the usual malarkey/twaddle


I didn't write much about any of them, but I liked every single one. Absolute favorites were A Town Like Alice, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Johnson's Life of London and The Knights of Derbyshire. Links lead to my reviews, such as they are. Some are a mere paragraph.

Moving did get in the way of reading, a bit, but I'm extremely happy to have read 9 books. Book time served as my escape when I had time to rest a bit and it helped me recharge for the next round of packing, painting or cleaning.


Recently finished but not yet reviewed:

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Shadow Show, ed by Weller and Castle
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison
Enchanting Lily by Anjali Banerjee

I'm going to start cranking out those reviews, ASAP. Don't want to fall so far behind that I start forgetting what they were about.

Currently reading:

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian - will finish this one, today

Looking ahead to future reading:

I've received enough books to make the husband lift his eyebrows in the past few weeks . But, I've also donated 2 bags of books, have swapped a few and have 6 more full bags lined up by the front door (this is a combination of justification and "thank goodness because books are heavy things to move"). I neglected to mention at least one week's arrivals, so brace yourself.

Recent arrivals:

  • Rock Solid Faith Study Bible in NIV, "for teens" came from Zondervan, for review.
  • Undecorate by Christiane Lemieux - purchase
  • Paris in Color by Nichole Robertson - purchase
  • Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn - from Harper for review
  • The Cutting Season by Attica Locke - from Harper for review
  • Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon - from Harper for review
  • Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon - from Atria, I think via their annual giveaway during Book Expo America
  • Khatyn by Ales Adamovich - from Glagoslav Publishing for review
  • The Mirrored World by Debra Dean - from HarperCollins for review
  • Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower - purchase
  • The Stars Shine Bright by Sibella Giorello - from Thomas Nelson for tour
Some whys:

Rock Solid Faith Study Bible - because I love study Bibles and am always interested in the extra info, which doesn't necessarily agree from one edition to another.
Undecorate and Paris in Color (<---that one's Bellezza's fault) - because I need inspiration for dressing up the new house and a bit of an eyeball feast -- I really love design books. I don't want the interior of my new home to just look like "Same old stuff; new space".
The Stars Shine Bright - Love this mystery series and can't bear to miss a release.
The Mirrored World - I confess I requested the title because I loved her first book so much. I didn't even bother reading the description.
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned - was on my wish list along with several other books, all of which were short-listed for the Franklin O'Connor Award the year Simon Van Booy won (2009). I found this one at Off-Square Books in Oxford, MS, last week.

Oh, did I forget to tell you Kiddo and I drove to Oxford to wrap up some last-minute details before his big move? I was also sick with a summer cold, all week. It's lingering a bit, hence the lack of a Monday Malarkey or Tuesday Twaddle post.

Irritating book news:

Have you noticed Goodreads changed the "To Be Read" shelf to "Want to Read"? What do you think? My opinion can be summed up in one syllable: eck. "To Be Read" and "Want to Read" are two completely different concepts, in my humble opinion. If it's a TBR book, that means I already own a copy or am planning to chase one down as soon as possible. "Want to Read" is more a more wishy-washy kind of thing, in my mind. To me, it means I'm interested in a book but don't own it -- and who knows if I'll end up with a copy. I wish they'd just added a separate shelf instead of ditching "To Be Read".

Favorite headline and lead line from a news article, this week:

Nome resident opens fire on musk ox in defense of her dog

Authorities in Nome say it would be better for dog owners to fence their yards than rely on firepower now that large numbers of dog-hating musk oxen have taken up residence in and around the Western Alaska City.
--from the Anchorage Daily News
I don't know why; that just made me laugh.

Back with reviews as soon as I can find the time and muster the strength (or whenever I feel like it). :)

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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Tuesday, July 03, 2012

June Reads in Review and historical documents

I was flipping through my photo files, looking for a side-view mirror photo and came across the very first photo I took of Fiona, still in a cage at Petsmart:

See the little door between the two sections of her cage? She followed me from one side to the other and when I went behind the cages to hold her, snuggled right up to my neck. Of course she had to come home with me. :)

That was February of 2010, so she will be 3 years old in August.

On to the memory of my reads in the month of June, 2012:

76. Courage in Times of Disappointment - George Samuel

June was a slow reading month and I veered toward lighter reading material -- lots of children's books and YA -- because of all that paperwork mortgage companies now require (and then the beginnings of packing to move).

The only book I didn't write about at all was Courage in Times of Disappointment by George Samuel. This is not a time of disappointment for us, obviously, but it was one of those books that I started to read to see if I should get rid of it and I was swept up in the writing. The author starts out by telling a story about being kidnapped in Amsterdam by a cab driver and how he talked and prayed his way out of it. The book is by a small religious press so it's very heavily Christian. George Samuel is or was from India (the book is at least 10 years old) and it is absolutely amazing how much tragedy he lived through while still remaining positive. I really enjoyed Courage in Times of Disappointment; it's very uplifting.

The rest of the books were all decent to excellent. I'm not sure I can choose a favorite, although my two least-favorite books were Into the Free and Jasmine Nights. I loved all of the children's books, gobbled up the YA and enjoyed the action in Soft Target and Robopocalypse (which, by the way, does have some plot holes -- it's all about the action; please be aware that I'm less discriminating when I can't concentrate). Silver Sparrow was the most surprising. I had no idea a book about the daughters of a bigamist could be such a page-turner.

Links above don't necessarily lead to full reviews or even minis. In some cases I just wrote a paragraph about a finished book but I'm kind of impressed with myself for continuing to fit in blog posts, at this point, and if a paragraph is all I can get around to, cool. I'm happy.

One more dip into the historical files. Look how tiny Isabel was when she arrived, compared to her big sis!


©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Backwards glance - July, August & September Reads

Looking way the heck back, as in 3 months' worth of reads . . . with apologies. I've reviewed all but two of the books I read from July to September, but many of them were included in multiple-mini-review posts. So if you follow the link and find that I reviewed three or four books in the same post, that means there is not a full-length review, elsewhere. In one case, the same book was read twice and therefore both links lead to the same review.

Of the two I have not yet reviewed, one will be reviewed shortly and the other is unpublished (my friend Greg's book, Riding with No Hands).

July


July was not bad for a summer month! Favorites were The Summer of the Bear, Everything Beautiful Began After, The Help and Divergent. I really enjoyed When She Woke, Amazing and Extraordinary Facts: Great Britain and Gone. Avebury Avenues was very informative (but tourist-book length and most interesting to those who have visited or plan to visit Avebury Stone Circle in Wiltshire, England). Agonizing Love was pretty fun but you can't think about it too hard if you're a feminist or it'll make your head hurt. One Second After was decent in a post-apocalyptic horrifying way, but the characters all sounded alike and that drove me nuts. God Gave Us You is directed at a very narrow crowd. The Ghost of Greenwich Village is probably the one book I regret reading.

August


August was not bad for a month of few books. My two favorites would have to be Horoscopes for the Dead (poetry) and Inside Out (YA) but What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and Maman's Homesick Pie followed close on their favored heels. I always love the Grandma's Attic books and I liked The Girl Who Fell from the Sky. The two Blue Envelope books (both YA) were, I thought, disappointing in spite of the fact that I really like Maureen Johnson's unique turn of phrase. Pillow Talk was really very well written and not deserving of its fluffy pink cover, but the language in a couple portions offended me so greatly that it couldn't possibly end up a favorite. A little cleaned up and it would have been close to the top; the story is much deeper than I expected and Freya North is a very sharp writer.

September

104. The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister
109. Riding with No Hands - Gregory K. Moffatt, PhD

August shocked the heck out of me. Seriously. I thought with all the travel (two weddings and a trip to Boston) I'd get next to nothing read, but instead it turned out to be a solid reading month. Favorites were Everything Beautiful Began After (which I loved even more on the second reading), Learning to Bow, To the Moon and Back, The Oracle of Stamboul, The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, The Call and The Lost Wife. I'm disappointed with my ridiculously brief review of The Lost Wife. It deserved a better description. There were some minor problems but it was a very good book and I whipped through it, completely engrossed in the story. Haiku Mind (poetry/spirituality) was enjoyable but best taken in small doses and I enjoyed my friend's book, Riding with No Hands, but don't feel like I can say much about it, so . . . it goes in the generic very-good file. I'll review Ernestine Buckmeister, soon. Lord & Lady Spy had some great adventurous moments and I do think it would make a great series if the characters go on to do more spying and less arguing, but it wasn't my favorite book by Shana Galen.

My two disappointments were Juniper Berry and The Taste of Salt. Both started out good and then went downhill.

October has been pretty good, so far, with 6 books finished! I can't seem to keep up with reviewing the way I used to and it's going to get worse for the rest of the month. But, then November should be normal, I hope. How many times have you heard that? Well, I'll do my best to crank out reviews of the books I've read, so far, although they will probably be brief reviews, for the most part. In a few days, I think I'm going to have to go on a blogging break. The cooler weather is motivating us into a cleaning frenzy, here, and I am truly enjoying seeing little spaces open up in my cluttered house. So, I have to keep rolling with it, while the urge lasts. I've even put myself on holiday at Paperback Swap, so that I won't have to spend time wrapping parcels and running to the post office, although I'm going to have to make several runs to the library to get all my donations hauled to the perpetual sale corner. Those bags of books are heavy!

How is your reading month going, so far?

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

June Reads in Review

Remember when I returned from England and I said I was hoping to write about my June reads within a few days? Well, that moment of insanity passed quickly. I was so terribly far behind (about 12 or 13 reviews' worth) that it took me a while to get to the point that I could post links to all my reviews.

Now, July is almost over and still I'm a smidgen behind, partly because I haven't been feeling tip-top (hence my absence, for the past few days). But, at least I'm done with June.

Your rear-view mirror view was taken from our rental Peugot as we traveled to Exmoor in England via a lovely, twisty scenic toll road. It was raining, as you can see, but the rain came and went. It was a very pleasant day trip. On to June's reads (with links to my reviews).

June Reads:


I liked everything I read in June, but there were some stand-outs and some that were just so-so reads. My top reads were You Know When the Men Are Gone, My Dear I Wanted to Tell You and The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus with The Art of Racing in the Rain a close fourth . . . and only because I've managed to forget some details from that one -- I loved it when I read it, but for some reason it just didn't stick in my mind as expected. All four of those are books I highly recommend. Oops, forgot one. Regeneration was another that I found gripping, horrifying and fascinating. All five books are highly recommended.

Other books I thought were excellent but which weren't necessarily books I'd gush about are After the Quake (well, maybe a little gushing; I was pretty impressed), Proust's Overcoat, and The Soldier's Wife.

My so-so reads were Lost in Shangri-La, The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady, Dog Tales and Casper the Commuting Cat. So-so meaning I liked them but didn't fall in love with any of those 4 books. In the case of both the pet books, there were entertaining moments and times I thought bad pet behavior was allowed because of cuteness. I get that. There are things I let my cats get away with that I probably shouldn't. But, I thought Casper's owner had an attitude about the indoor/outdoor cat concept that was disturbing and I remember thinking I just don't get the cuteness of bad dog behavior when I was reading Dog Tales. Either way, I liked all those books but they were not among my favorites.

There weren't any books that I strongly disliked, although I made it pretty clear what I disliked in my reviews. So far, nobody has succeeded at shutting me up and apparently y'all like it that I speak my mind.

I've finished several books but not felt up to reviewing, in the past week. I can't say when I'll get over that. Sometimes, when I don't feel like writing, I just walk away for a few days. Usually, I post a picture or two. I am in a mood, so just be happy I've been quiet.

I just finished reading Divergent by Veronica Roth, yesterday. It's a dystopian YA that I bought at the salvage store and started reading in the car. I stopped reading everything else till I finished it. That was one gripping read. I really enjoyed it.

Right now, I'm re-reading Simon Van Booy's Everything Beautiful Began After, this time with Post-its handy. Today, an ARC of When She Woke by Hilary Jordan just arrived in the mail from Algonquin and I am finding it unputdownable. Yes, unputdownable is a real word. I feel kind of awful about the fact that I'm unable to talk myself into waiting to read When She Woke, now that I've noticed the October release date on the spine. Eeks and oh, well. I haven't touched The Beekeeper's Lament in a week, but I'll get back to it.

I unexpectedly ended up back in physical therapy, yesterday. Great, just what I need -- having to drive 60 miles, twice a week, in addition to my intense exercise class and everything else that's going on in my life (so many Big Decisions are being dangled, right now). But, apparently, I need work on my neck. I was starting to get daily migraines, again, and last time I went for regular PT it did help reduce the frequency. It's just all so bloody time-consuming!!! I miss finding the time to write and visit other bloggers. On the plus side, my neck does feel better, today, and I've lost 3% of my body fat during the time I've been working out in my exercise class, The Next Level. I'm still a cow, but I'm a slightly more muscular bovine creature. So, maybe there's hope.

But, I still feel like this . . .

And, I don't look nearly as cute as Fiona when I'm lying around.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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Friday, June 10, 2011

May Reads in Review - 2011 and Fiona Friday (starring Izzy)

Technically speaking, at a mere 10 books, May was my worst reading month of 2011, so far. And, I actually strayed from my purpose a bit, continuing on with several books that weren't doing it for me. But, it also just happens to have been a month during which I discovered two new favorites. So . . . on balance, not a bad month, after all.

May Reads (with links to reviews):


My absolute favorites, this month, were Fire Season and Chime, two books I loved so much that I already know they'll make my annual favorites list. Charleston Mysteries was a great combination of guide book (with a walking tour past spooky places in Charleston, SC) and history. When a Dragon Moves In is creative fun for preschoolers with great illustrations and a cute story that can easily lead into a nice little conversation about imagination and honesty.

The mental_floss Genius Instruction Manual was fun but it certainly didn't turn me into a genius. Darn. I enjoyed it, though. Everything I've read by the mental_floss crew has been entertaining, often very humorous. And, you can't lose if John Green is one of the people on the author team.

The Making of a Rogue was the third in an adventurous and romantic series that I love. Although it's a series book, it should stand alone fine. Charleston is Burning! is a fascinating look at 200 years of fire and firefighting history in a town where common sense apparently did not rule, early on, and major conflagrations were needlessly common.

That leaves the three books that didn't thrill my heart. The Lightkeeper's Ball was entertaining but way too far-fetched for my taste. Skinny taught me that I simply don't like reading about eating disorders (particularly binge-eating). There were things I liked about French Milk but it didn't charm me the way I'd hoped.

Those three disappointments gave me a good knock on the head. I've been working hard at trying to continue only with books that really suck me in so that I don't waste valuable reading time. I don't know why I opted to slack up on my goal to read only books I like or love in May, but I'm back to ditching books that don't grab me within the first 30-50 pages and, so far, June has been a fabulous reading month.

I have not been able to find my camera to upload the kitty pics I've taken this week, so you get an older shot (but not that much older -- maybe two weeks old) of Miss Isabel resting on a washcloth.

I was sorting laundry, you see. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!


©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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Monday, May 09, 2011

April Reads in Review (2011)

Time to look back on another joyful reading month!! Plus, another thing to look back on . . .
May is going to totally suck after April; I'm certain of it. How can you possibly beat two Sarah Addison Allen books in one month?

While The Goose Girl probably would have to be my top book if I picked just one, I think it's really a 4-way tie between The Goose Girl, The Winter Ghosts, The Peach Keeper and The Girl Who Chased the Moon. Even that feels unfair. Astoundingly (given the past few wonderful months), I loved almost everything I read, again!!! One exception: True Courage by Steve Farrar. I liked it but didn't love it.

A Wonder Book [for Girls and Boys] by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Winter Ghosts were the two books that probably surprised me the most. I loved the graceful writing in both and, although The Winter Ghosts was slow-paced, in the end I found the story has continued to haunt me. Pun intended.

On Maggie's Watch was a bit surprising, too, fun and light but with an unexpected depth. Pictures of You -- while I didn't love the ending, I couldn't put the book down and that made it a winner. I could relate to the emotions and found it so gripping that Caroline Leavitt had some serious sleep-deprivation to account for, after I finished.

I read four children's books, this month. Loved them all: Grandma's Attic, More Stories from Grandma's Attic, Quiet Bunny's Many Colors and Kat, Incorrigible.

That leaves one book of poetry and a travel memoir. Both were enjoyable in different ways. I particularly appreciated the notes on each author and poem included in The Best American Poetry, 2009, because they helped me understand a little about poetry that had never clicked. Radio Shangri-La was fascinating chiefly for the armchair travel and learning experience. Incidentally, the author of Radio Shangri-La is trying to raise funds to build libraries in Bhutan.

Summary: Squeeee! Great month! Happy reader!!

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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Saturday, April 23, 2011

March Reads in Review, 2011

If you look real hard, you can see why I used a firetruck for my March Reads in Review post. Unfortunately, the print is tinier than expected. For those who can't see the itty-bitty print, I took the sign at the bottom of the truck that says "STAY BACK 500 FT." and changed it to "LOOK BACK 1 MONTH". I didn't want to use another cat or rear-view mirror photo, you see. I know . . . silly. But, fun. I never have managed to outgrow my love of firetrucks.

My March Reads (with links to my reviews):


March was a super month! While I only read a dozen books, I liked or loved every single one of them. This is my goal in 2011 -- to at least like every book I read and love the rest. I've had several Did Not Finish books (recently, not just in March) that I'll describe in another post.

My absolute favorite read in March was Home to Woefield. An ebullient, likable heroine combined with an uplifting theme and a bunch of wacky characters, a compelling storyline, lots of laughs . . . an all-around terrific combination, in my opinion, made the book an easy favorite. I absolutely loved Home to Woefield.

Staying at Daisy's and It Happened One Bite were also delightful, happy reads, as is the children's book, The Butt Book. Christian the Lion was also full of smiles, a tender story about the lion of YouTube fame for the middle-reader crowd.

Besides Christian, The Mental Floss History of the United States was my only other nonfiction read. Massively entertaining and easily digestible, I enjoyed it so much that I spaced the reading out over about 3 months before deciding I probably ought to wrap it up.

I enjoyed the companion YA titles If I Stay and Where She Went. I'd heard If I Stay is "tragic" but I was pleased that it had an uplifting ending and liked the fact that it wasn't intended to spawn a second book so it was nicely wrapped up. Where She Went is similarly emotional and uplifting.

Between Shades of Gray is even more heart-rending, a YA about Lithuanians who were transported to Siberia by Stalin. Harsh as it is, the book is a great addition to WWII fiction and I especially loved the strength and grace of the young heroine's mother. Another very emotional read is The Mountains Bow Down, a mystery set on a cruise ship to Alaska. I'm not a big fan of mysteries, but I love this particular series for its very human heroine and endings that I have not yet come even vaguely close to figuring out before I get to them.

My two most surprising reads of the month were Strangers and Cutting for Stone. I avoided Cutting for Stone for quite some time and was stunned how much I enjoyed it and how engrossing it was. Strangers was fascinating because I've never read an Asian ghost story and was surprised by the cultural difference between Asian and Western tales about apparitions.

Since April is in its final week, I need to crank out a few reviews, this week, and try to get myself caught up. So far, I think I've tied March at a dozen reads, but I'm on the verge of finishing The Winter Ghosts and I'm sure I'll squeeze something else in before the month ends. How is your reading going, this month?

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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Monday, March 07, 2011

February Reads in Review - 2011

February was yummy. Lick, lick. It's true that I just said that because I wanted to use the photo above, but it was a decent month.

Incidentally, I hope this blog doesn't seem to be turning into the All Izzy, All the Time Channel. She's just so darn cute that I'm having a blast photographing Isabel. Fiona is still every bit as charming and lovely but Izzy is the one who is currently into everything and practically omnipresent (she's a little needy), so she's the kitty who tends to be handy for photography. I hope you'll pardon me for the onslaught of Izzy pics.

February Reads (with links to my reviews):


13 books, about 3,000 pages. It looks like I went super light on the reading, this month, with a little romance, a little non-fiction (nothing intense), a couple children's books and some very fun young adult reads. In fact, I'm kind of craving a little depth and thinking I may dive into a classic, soon. I've got The Phantom of the Opera sitting at my bedside and some historical fiction chunksters on the agenda.

Back to February: I really liked most everything I read, but How to Ditch Your Fairy, Moonface, The Procrastination Equation and My Love, My Enemy were my favorites. High Points and Lows was a really interesting perspective on faith that I couldn't always relate to, but I adored the author's down-to-earth thoughts, so it was an almost favorite, way up there in the enjoyment level. Gone was an excellent wrap-up to a series I've enjoyed. Overall, I'm happy with February.

How is your reading and blogging year going, so far?

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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Sunday, February 06, 2011

January Reads in Review (2011) and how the goals are going, thus far

I couldn't find a rear-view mirror photo I haven't already used, so you get Isabel looking behind her little fur self at who knows what. Not sure if I've used this photo in the past.

January was a pretty good month, both reading- and blogging-wise. I reviewed absolutely everything completed except the one book I shouldn't have read (but it was crying out to me!!): Wither by Lauren DeStefano. I'll review Wither closer to its release date.

Most importantly, I enjoyed my reading. There were a few books that didn't thrill me, but none that I felt were complete and utter wastes of time. At least 5 of the books I read clocked in at under 100 pages, so my average page count was low but I crave variety and don't really care so much about quantity as quality. In other words, it's all good. I could stand to let go of a little more commitment guilt, but I'm happy.

My January Reads (with links to reviews, if applicable):


Thoughts on the first month's blogging and reading goals:

My goals for the year are deliberately fluid so I've decided to look back (when I remember) at the end of the month to evaluate how they're going and whether I need to make changes.

1. Continue to blog but in more of a swoop and dash way, no more editing myself to death - This one was a failure. I spent less time in front of the computer, but I still edited and pinched and prodded and changed -- often updating a review half a dozen times. I need to work harder at lightening up on the self-editing in February.

2. Google reader must die - Success! I had to work at breaking the habit of going to my Google Reader, at first, but I've updated my sidebar little by little, throughout the month, and I'm sticking to reciprocal and old-friends visits. This is saving me a massive amount of time and I'll definitely keep it up.

3. Read what I love; love what I read - So-so. I did continue reading a couple of books out of the sense of obligation, but not many. And, as I said before, I didn't feel like anything I finished was a complete waste of time. But life is short and my ideal is to really like or love every book I read. I'll keep working on it.

4. No challenges/Mix it up (plenty of my own books mixed in with ARCs) - I chose to limit myself to my own One Shelf at a Time self-challenge (and possibly the RIP, in the fall) and I did stick to that. There have been some temptations, but I haven't yet signed up for any outside challenges. I've read 2 books from Shelf #1 and some others from my TBRs, which I think made for a nice mix of old and new. 2 down, 19 to go on my One Shelf at a Time challenge! Good start, I think.

Off to ignore the Super Bowl. Yes, I'm such a nerd that I'm going to go to my room to read, instead. Football simply does not do a thing for me. Happy Super Bowl Sunday to the Americans!

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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Saturday, January 01, 2011

December Reads in Review 2010 and other nonsense


Happy New Year, everybody! I'm still pondering my reading and blogging goals for 2011 (I'll try to get those written down before July), so you get a meditative cat photo and also a photo that says to me, "2011: The Year of Strange Juxtapositions," even though I snapped that shot in 2010. I painted the kitty in the background, incidentally, but not the grapes on the other side of Fiona's head.

Here are my December 2010 Reads, with links to reviews, if applicable:

150. Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
154. Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
156. Let it Snow by Johnson, Green & Myracle
157. Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright

I just finished my first book of the year, this afternoon, after moving furniture and books and shifting the furniture again, then moving more books and basically freaking the cats out so thoroughly that they haven't said much for the past 4 hours. Poor things. They spent Christmas Day shredding tissue and arguing about who it belonged to. "My tissue, mine, mine!"

I'll post my full list of 2010 reads, tomorrow, and it may take me some time but I do plan to do an annual wrap-up. I have my own little format that I've used since I began blogging and I'll stick with that old thing. And, I'll review Kasey to the Rescue by Ellen Rogers, somewhere in there. One of my goals will be to keep up with reviews in 2011!!!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve! We had some of the nasty weather that traveled across the mid-section of the U.S., so 2010 went out with a roar of thunder and pouring rain. Fortunately, there was no severe damage in our immediate area but I did consider throttling the weather radio after about the 6th warning (it's obnoxiously loud). Although we definitely didn't get the worst of that storm, the heavy rainfall served as an excellent reminder that we need to hire someone to work on our drainage. We were pretty sure we were going to float away, for a while there.

I read this wonderful quote on Facebook and love it so much I'll use to close:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

- Neil Gaiman


©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

November Reads in Review, 2010

I decided to skip the usual rear-view mirror pic, this month. The above photo is from the drive to Kiddo's college campus. Obviously, I mucked with it, lightening the sky and the trees (because I don't yet have a fancy program that allows me to only highlight certain areas) and made the color crazy-bold with tons of saturation. It's a beautiful drive, but I like mucking with photos.

November was a pretty terrific reading month. I finished the Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong and read two of the books in the Wake series by Lisa McMann. I'll buy the third book when it's released in paperback. I read an old favorite historical fic, Desiree, and found a new author I love in that same genre, Susanna Kearsley. I was totally blown away by the skill and depth of Lauren Oliver's writing in Before I Fall and once again enthralled by the readings gathered by Simon Van Booy in Why We Need Love. And, I read a lot of Christmas books, both for children and adults.

November Reads in Review (with links to reviews):
















©2010 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
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