Monday Malarkey - Books, Christmas Spirit, Cats in Trees

A little Christmas spirit for starters, today:

That's part of my mantle decoration.  

I had only received 2 books until today and then Kiddo came in bearing a stack of books.  He just happened to be outside when the mailman arrived.  

This week's arrivals:

• The Gods of Heavenly Punishment by Jennifer Cody Epstein from Norton for TLC Book Tour
• Brownie Groundhog and the Wintry Surprise by Susan Blackaby and Carmen Segovia - from Sterling Kids, for review (have already read this and I love it).
• The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen - from Bethany House for tour.  This one's an 8 1/2" x 11" bound ARC -- the early-early kind like what you get if you have a binding done at your local office supply store.  Haven't seen one of those in a long time!
• The Annotated Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, annotated by Rod Scher -- Rod is husband to Les of Prairie Horizons.  It's a stunning hardback (sent by the publisher).  I can't wait to read it!  
• Reached by Ally Condie - via Paperback Swap

I can't currently load photos to my computer ("full hard drive" again!!!!) or I'd take a shot of those. 

Last week's posts:

• The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason (review)
• Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (extremely gushy review)
• Fiona Friday - Comfy on the Couch (pic of Fiona)
• Labor Day by Joyce Maynard (review)

I'm currently about 5 reviews behind.  As soon as I finish my backlog, I'll probably shut down for the holidays, although there's no hurry.  Kiddo is home from school but working so I don't feel like I'm neglecting anyone.  

I am currently reading:

• The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure
• Ancient Egypt: Everyday Life in the Land of the Nile by Brier and Hobbs

Still haven't picked up the Calvino but I keep carrying it from room to room. I have the best of intentions.  I finished reading Jack Absolute by C. C. Humphreys and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, last week, and also read Brownie Groundhog and the Wintry Surprise pretty much the moment it arrived . . . in the rain . . . and the UPS guy didn't ring the doorbell.  I thought I had those guys trained!  Thank goodness for bubble-wrap envelopes.  

The cats have been holy terrors:

I have had to extract Isabel from the tree, at least twice.  We have a pre-lit artificial tree and I worry about those cords.  She's occasionally tried to bite them but when she hangs around the tree (only when it's lit, I've noticed) I'm always lurking . . . usually with the camera, of course, but also prepared to clap or use my stern voice.  If she ignores me, I reach for Izzy and she'll usually back away -- obviously not always or I wouldn't have had to pluck her from the tree at all.  Fiona has spent her time knocking rocks out of the fireplace and occasionally declaring herself Guardian of the Christmas Tree, which is actually helpful. She'll occasionally chase Isabel away.

That's all the malarkey I've got, for now.  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.

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.

Fiona Friday - Checkerstripes (and an update)

I have way too much fun with my favorite online photo editor.  This particular pose was exciting because we've never seen Fiona inside the little cubby in the kitty tree prior to this week.  Lucky me, I had a camera handy.

I added the checkered overlay at pixlr.com.  Love their pixlr-o-matic!

And the update:

Remember when this used to be a really active blog?  Hopefully, that will resume, soon. There was actually one day this week that I unpacked books in our home library for several hours and then I walked through the kitchen, glanced at the computer (which is currently in the breakfast nook, of all places) and thought, "Oh, yeah.  I haven't even looked to see if there are any blog comments since yesterday!"  Nor had I bothered to write anything for at least 3 days, at that point, but I went through a pretty intense bout of migraine/insomnia that basically shot 2 weeks of my life and left them metaphorically bleeding on the pavement.

Hopefully, things will pick up on Monday.  We have guests visiting, this weekend.  Woot!  I'm so happy to have room for guests to sleep, eat and sit!

Kiddo arrived fairly early and we met up with his girlfriend at Mississippi College to check out the college's book sale.  Ohmygosh.  It was wonderful!  I bought about a dozen books, one of which was by an author I've never found *anywhere*, although I've been looking (Elizabeth Taylor).  Here is my goat checking out the spoils:

Purchases in no particular order:

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain by Christopher Monger
A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor (!!!)
Kennedy by Theodore C. Sorensen (my dad went to school with "Ted")
The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker (second in the Regeneration series, very exciting find)
The Faithful Gardener by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Snowstorms in a Hot Climate by Sarah Dunant
Immoveable Feast by John Baxter
The Short Stories of Saki (H. H. Munro)
The Four Seasons: Japanese Haiku
1943: The Victory That Never Was by John Grigg
Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis
Bomber Country by Daniel Swift

I've gotten a few other books in the past 2 weeks and I'll list them in either a Monday Malarkey or Tuesday Twaddle post.

Currently reading:

The Longest Way Home by Andrew McCarthy (travel memoir - excellent, so far), The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro (fiction - just started and I'm enjoying it very much).  Occasionally, I'll dip in and read another chapter of Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure.  I've finished watching the program on YouTube and only occasionally remember I'm reading it.  It's the kind of book you can just pick up when you feel like it, so no big deal that I'm so forgetful.

Wishing everyone a fabulous weekend!

©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.

Just dropping by . . .

I'm still on a bloggy break until the kiddo returns to school (next week, I assume) but I thought I'd pop in and tell you about some of the books I've read while I've been on my holiday break:

1. Among the Imposters by Margaret Peterson Haddix - The second in a series about a dystopian world in which families are limited to 2 children. 3rd children, known as "Shadow Children" are hidden. In this second installment, shadow child Luke takes on the identity of a deceased child and attends a school where things are not quite what they seem. I enjoyed this one much more than the first, Among the Hidden.

2. Beyond the Night by Joss Ware - A romance set in a future world (post-disaster) with zombies, drug lords and a surprising connection to the past. A small band of men caught in a cave during the disaster have apparently hibernated for 50 years and must learn to live in a new and dangerous world. I don't have the book handy, but it focuses on a particular couple and is heavy on romance but has some interesting twists. Not your typical zombie book. This book will be released January 10.

3. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket - A book I happened across while cleaning and decided I might as well read before I donate it, The Reptile Room is the second in the "Unfortunate Events" series. The children are put in care of a delightful uncle who is a herpetologist but the fun eventually ends and the uncle dies. Darn.

4. Schooled by Gordon Korman - I actually finished this one before I went on break, but I haven't reviewed it, so I plunked it onto the stack. It's about a teenager who has been raised in isolation by his hippie grandmother, homeschooled all his life, and when his grandmother is injured he has to go to a real school for the first time in his life. He's made class president in order to put him in a tight spot but it turns out he's so innocent and guileless that he manages to become popular. Loved this upbeat, funny YA story.

5. Spellbinder by Helen Stringer - A British YA about a young girl who lives with the ghosts of her dead parents. When the doors between the Land of the Living and the Land of the Dead close and her parents (and all but one ghost in the world) disappear, Belladonna must figure out what exactly is going on in order to save the world and resume her everyday life. She has a little help from an Edwardian ghost named Elsie and a classmate named Steve.

6. A Circle of Souls by Preetham Grandhi - A young girl is brought to the emergency room after a dream leads to not only walking in her sleep but dangerously sleep-climbing in a place where she could have easily fallen to her death. Meanwhile, another young girl has been brutally murdered. When the psychiatrist in charge of the sleepwalking girl's care realizes her dreams are actually psychic images sent by the murdered girl, he connects with an agent in charge of the murder to help her solve it. Absolutely the most gripping book I've read in ages, beautifully written and surprisingly believable for the subject matter.

I've also finished reading How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, the story of a young girl who goes to England to visit her cousins and then war breaks out. I am currently immersed in Custer Survivor by John Koster and Mr. Darcy's Great Escape by Marsha Altman. I'll tell you about the books I've bought over the holiday (I donated 39 and then went shopping . . . sigh) when I return. I'm just looking at the school calendar and it is truly confusing with all the tiny colored squares but it looks like school resumes on Friday, January 7th. I don't think I'll stay away from the computer quite that long. Kiddo will probably forgive me for posting, some time next week. We shall see.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays. Happy New Year, a bit early!!

The Sum of His Syndromes by K. B. Dixon and a bunch of malarkey (it *is* Monday, after all)

The Sum of His Syndromes by K. B. Dixon
Copyright 2009
Academy Chicago Publishers
126 pages

Sometimes the monotony of good ole common sense can simply flatten you. You can nod yes for just so long before somewhere deep inside you fall asleep.

There are times when I no longer know what it is I'm thinking. I mean, sometimes I get caught up in one of those regressive loops--thinking of myself as someone who is thinking of himself thinking of himself. Other times it's just a spooky white noise.

Dave Linden once got kicked in the head by a fireman. He deserved it.

This week Dr. C is suggesting some sort of compromise approach to what we are calling my issues. We should be "eclectic." I told him that while I'm frequently in favor of such approaches in this case it was something I could see right through. It was nothing more than chemistry in reason's clothing.

Paul Maynard once touched a porpoise.

David is a depressed man who hates his job, is falling in love with a girl named Kate but pretty sure her friend Lisa is going to talk Kate back to her senses and he'll lose her, is on his third psychiatrist (Dr. C) and has one close friend who is pretty strange, himself. David fights the idea of medicating his syndromes into submission. He's not exactly a people person and he takes notes in the sixth-floor men's room because he knows nobody will bother him there.

The Sum of His Syndromes is written entirely in little soundbites like those quoted above. It's a quirky little book, rather plotless. There's never any kind of resolution to the separate storylines embedded within the protagonist's offbeat observations, and yet there's something oddly appealing about it. The writing is idiosyncratic but intelligent, sometimes funny, frequently thought-provoking. The quote on the cover says this:

This is the kind of book where we see a bit of ourselves and grimace--but keep reading.
--A. M. Homes

That summarizes The Sum of His Syndromes pretty well. I think most everyone will feel a little familiarity with some aspect of David's life; there's something we can all relate to in this book. I had a grand time reading The Sum of His Syndromes.

4/5 - Bizarre fun in the form of snippets: observations about bits of conversation overheard, thoughts about the protagonist's everyday life at work, on dates, with his best friend, at the psychiatrist's office. I would have liked a bit of resolution--the book simply ends without wrapping up anything at all. But, The Sum of His Syndromes is uniquely entertaining and I'd love to read more by this author.

Woe betide the woman who turns down an author's offer to review and discovers she loves his writing. I'll just have to order Mr. Dixon's other books, later on. I'm still purging like crazy, donating tons to the local library. Children's books are always, always gone by the time I return to donate more -- whether fiction or nonfiction. It's interesting to see what quickly disappears and what lingers in the library basement, waiting for a new home.

Today, the weather sucks. That's good, really good. I finished reading Schooled by Gordon Korman -- a YA novel that I began reading in the hope that it would break last week's reading slump. Victory! It worked! So, I moved on to Mass Casualties by Spc Michael Anthony, a tour book I'll review soon. After I closed Mass Casualties, I started reading Extras by Scott Westerfeld. I knew this book left Tally Youngblood and her story behind, but it was still a bit of an adjustment. I'm enjoying Extras; it's just very different from the rest of the Uglies series.

During the weekend, I managed to finish the first of two stories in Angels at Christmas by Debbie Macomber. It was the usual sweet, light Macomber story with the three crazy angels: Shirley, Goodness and Mercy. At the moment, I don't feel like reading the second story and am unsure which Christmas book I'll attempt next. I have a couple that simply weren't grabbing me, but then nothing was really grabbing me, last week, so I'll just see try again and see what clicks. Devil's Cub wasn't even capturing me -- and it's by Georgette Heyer! If I can't get into Devil's Cub, it will be the first Georgette Heyer book I've ever set aside. And, I'll be freaked out, but I'll probably get over it.

I just removed Can God Be Trusted? from my sidebar for the same reason. It's just not keeping my attention. Every now and then, I have to totally shake up my reading material because I'll balance 5 or 6 books and all of a sudden none of them appeal to me. It's the weirdest thing. That may happen, soon but, at the moment, at least Extras and Look Who's Laughing are keeping my attention. Look Who's Laughing is a book I bought when our local Bible Factory Outlet went out of business, about 3 years ago and yet another book that I "just happened across" while cleaning to make room for the treadmill we ordered as a Christmas gift to ourselves (see sidebar about the message from God).

I'm afraid to look at my Google Reader. But, I visited a couple of Blogger blogs, today, and had no trouble commenting. Have I missed anything wonderful? I hate doing mass deletes, but sometimes readers are a pain. They taunt you with all the posts you're not getting around to reading. I refuse to kill myself over a lack of proper blog-hopping, so I did a mass delete to ease my mind. Right now, making space and purging, home repair and updating are my priorities. My brain is full. I anticipate taking off a couple of weeks, soon, and then after the holidays things should get back to normal.

Have you read anything unbearably wonderful, lately? Share a title and author with me. I still want to know what you're reading and loving. Skip the ones you hated. I'm fine with just the good stuff.

Happy Malarkey Monday!

Bookfool, getting into the Christmas spirit a wee bit late

NaNoWriMo Update, such as it is, and What I'm Reading

I've been working on a book review that's a real head-banger (hard to decide what to say because there's so much to talk about!!) and because I had no focus whatsoever, today, I decided to toddle over to see if New Orleans Chris had posted anything about his NaNoWriMo progress. Sure enough, Chris is chugging right along. I had a super first day of Nano, in spite of the fact that I've always been nervous about the story I chose to work on -- which I've been mulling for something on the order of 4 or 5 years -- but I started late and still managed to crank out over 5,000 words.

This morning . . . ugh. I suspected something was wrong around 4,000 words, yesterday, so I was kind of hesitant when some of my Twitter buddies congratulated me on my first-day word count. At 6,000 I knew it was a dead end but tried to zig when I probably should have zagged in order to fix things. At 6,400, I stopped.

My beloved, half-blind kitty has been in an outdoorsy mood, so I abandoned the computer and spent most of the afternoon on the porch with her. On the porch, I broke open A Novel Idea: Best Advice on Writing Inspirational Fiction (<----link to bn.com, for a change of pace). Okay, let me just say this, first: If you are trying to write a novel of any kind at all, this book will be helpful. Inspiration is the theme, but there's some fantastic writing advice that has already helped me and which applies to all genres; it's just excellent, general information. I don't know if it'll save my fat Nano butt from doom, but we'll see.

While I'm not calling my story "inspirational," it definitely has some Christian elements and I've fretted so much because it's almost a burden being handed a story like this in a dream. It has built-in conflict -- huge, ridiculous, wonderful conflict -- and I have the option to make my heroine completely miserable, push her to the brink, nearly ruin her life and then . . . pull her back. That's good, right?

The problem, I discovered from reading the first chapter (by Angela Hunt) is that I didn't begin my story in media res, "in the middle of the action". I was nowhere near the inciting incident (not the big disaster, but the story starter); I was way back in the build-up to the inciting incident, which needs to be presumed rather than written because it is too freaking boring to read.

So, like Chris on his first day, I was thinking #Nanofail. At the regular time (only darker - stupid Daylight Savings Time), my husband walked in the door and he said, "You can't quit," when I told him That was it. I blew it. I replied that I can do anything I darn well please because it's my choice and he said, "You. Can. Not. Stop." Well, huh. Not sure where that came from, but I've spent the evening reading and snoozing and pondering. We'll see what happens, tomorrow.

Bookwise:

You'd think I'd slow down on my reading because of Nano, but no . . . I've actually picked up and started several books. I finished Pretties and started The Knife of Never Letting Go. I'm not sure what I think of The Knife of Never Letting Go, at this point, except that I think hearing a dog's thoughts can be pretty hilarious.

Of course, I started A Novel Idea -- the promo material says, "All of the proceeds go to Media Associates International, an international organization whose goal is to help fledging (I presume they mean "fledgling") writers and publishers produce Christian literature that is culturally relevant." Cool.

I've also read the intro and first chapter of The Church of Facebook by Jesse Rice and I am loving this book even more than I'd imagined. The author is a psychologist and he begins the book with a discussion about connectivity -- why people and monkeys and other critters need each other -- by describing an experiment with baby monkeys and a wire-monkey mother versus a soft, fake mother. Fascinating stuff. I only stopped after the first chapter because I'm in a group that is going to discuss the book and I don't want to move beyond the discussion points.

Hubby has made a salad from How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking by Michael Psilakis and neither of us liked the dressing but the salad was so good that I asked for seconds. And, I am not a big salad eater; it's that good - with roasted almonds and dried fruit, mmm. This is truly a stunning book, by the way, with pictures of not only the recipes but everyday life in Greece.


And, I'm reading a book in PDF, which is very unusual for me, but I chatted with the author and his book sounded so fantastic that I told him I'm willing to make an exception: How to Lower Your Cholesterol With French Gourmet Cooking by Alain Braux (<-----Amazon link that does not benefit me because I'm too lazy).

My husband sat down to read part of it off the screen. He is by far the pickiest person I've ever met, when it comes to cookbooks so it was surprising, to say the least, when he said, "I'm sold." Whoa. He read aloud (another thing he never does) Alain's opinion on fresh-caught versus farm-raised salmon, an opinion with which we already strongly agreed.

The recipes look fabulous at a glance and what little I've read of the text has been pretty amazing. We'll try some recipes, soon, and report back to you.

All right. I've gotten my babble fix over with. I guess I'll be up early to give Nano a second attempt, tomorrow. Cross your fingers, say your prayers and send positive thoughts, please!!!

Happy Writing to those who are also Nanoing and Happy Reading to everyone else!!

Bookfool, not particularly jazzed but willing to give it a second go

Winner of the YA drawing

Bookfool just tripped over to Random.org and Mr. Random pulled #2 out of the hat. The winner of three YA books is:

Debs (Debi in New Jersey)

Congratulations, Debi! I'll email you shortly.

In other news:

I haven't finished any books. I'm tired and sore from walking and doing those ucky squat things. The cat is sleeping on my bed (I'm pretty sure she has the right idea) and I'm sort of behind on a couple of tour books. But, I hope to finish them soon.

I'm halfway through Never Say Diet by Chantel Hobbs. It's part memoir, part "how-to" and I'm finding it a pretty quick, enjoyable read. I just need more reading time. I hope to finish Never Say Diet before the end of the week.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be a First Wild free chapter day. The featured book is Grace for the Afflicted by Dr. Matthew S. Stanford. The moment it arrived, I sat down and read a portion of the book that I'd call the most relevant to me because of an acquaintance, and it was soooo good. Grace for the Afflicted describes different mental illnesses and what the Bible says about them. The section I read is absolutely perfect. The author outlines the symptoms of the condition and how it's treated, shares a couple of examples from his experience with patients who have that illness, and then tells the story of a character in the Bible who suffered from the condition. The chapter is written with compassion and is extremely encouraging. The author even tells you how best to behave around someone with that particular illness. Wow. Excellent, excellent book. I'll do a full review when I finish it.

Thursday, I'll review Recovering Me, Discovering Joy by Vivian Eisenecher, another book that has a bookmark sticking out of its mid-section, which just means I need to shut up and focus.

Oh, no. There's more! I am also still yearning to spend some time with The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter . . . thinking maybe I should work on writing shorter sentences if I want to hunker down with Charlie. Not to mention that awesome Canadian book, The Coasts of Canada by Lesley Choyce, which I haven't managed to touch since the day my son had his wisdom teeth extracted. I keep thinking, "I need a very long, very quiet stretch." Snort. Like that's going to ever happen.

I took a walk in our National Military Park after the Inauguration, today. The photo above was snapped in the park last year, but it seems apropos for Inauguration Day.

Since I'm rather booked, this week, my current plan is to post about my next 100,000-hit drawing on Friday.

All of this meticulous planning strikes me as somewhat surprising. If you'd told me a year ago that I would have my life so carefully scheduled in January of 2009, I'd have called you something akin to "nuts". I'm actually relishing the sensation of knowing what's coming up next. Weird. I mean, that is just so not me. I guess it just goes to show you that my college speech teacher was correct when she described Irrational Assumption #4: Things Don't Change.

Off to read because even scheduled reading has not dampened the joy of bibliophilia.

Bookfool with calendar and pen

All sorts of random babble, including an award and kiddo funnies

I wait two days to post, again, and look what happens. Amy at The Sleepy Reader endowed me with the Butterfly Award. Then, so did April of Cafe of Dreams.

Thank you, Amy and April! I don't pass on awards because I discovered early on that I feel guilty passing up anyone at all, when awards are doled out. I love all my blogger friends! Yes, I'm a spoil sport.

In other news:

I totally forgot to share how I acquired my copy of Fifteen Minutes of Shame by Lisa Daily -- which I loved but did not review because it wasn't an ARC and I was really into that business about staying away from the computer as much as humanly possible over the holiday break (which, incidentally, has not ended for us because of the inane new transitioning-to-year-round school schedule). It was so easy and fun acquiring a copy. I signed up for the Dishing up Books 24/8 mailing list and let Falise know my top 3 reads from 2008. Check the Blue Plate Specials page for details.

Favorite word verifications of the day, with my fake definitions:

Hermisto - a young, Spanish hermit

Aleatort - a type of civil wrong specifically effecting women with the name Alea

Not great, but that's the best I can come up with. I'm not succeeding at keeping up with my Google Reader/blog-hopping, but I'll keep trying -- sporadically, 'cause of the balance thing.

Kiddo got his wisdom teeth out, yesterday. I got to sit on a nice, plush leather couch while he got his teeth removed. There, I read 30 pages of The Coasts of Canada by Lesley Choyce, in spite of the fact that they were piping in an unspeakably awful FM radio station (pop music that included Amy Grant's most annoying song, "Baby, Baby" and Cher . . . need I say more?). I love music but that particular station drove me bazonkers.

After that nice stretch of reading joy, the dental dictators then moved me to a hard, folding chair to wait for Kiddo to wake up. He awakened briefly and totally pissed off, then he started to lift his head up and down, up and down. I said, "What are you doing?" Kiddo replied, (wait for it, wait for it) . . .

"Thit-upth."

He went back to sleep and they really wanted to get rid of him but wouldn't send him home sleepy, so I had to sit on that miserable chair in the semi-darkness, uncomfortable and without enough light to read. Eventually, I got sick of the piped-in music, peeled back the electric blanket and stomped my feet to wake him up. On the way to the car, he giggled once -- just once! -- "A-heh-heh."

It took two of us to guide him to the car. But, when we got home, I said I'd go put my bags inside and come back for him. Kiddo said, with uncharacteristic venom, "I CAN WALK!" and stomped to the front porch. Off to the futon to sleep, the cat curled up on his legs in drugged-human warmth heaven. I woke him up to ask if he wanted some jell-o and pills or just more sleep, after a time. He held up 3 fingers. I said, "I don't understand 3 fingers. What's that mean?" He held up 3 fingers, again. I asked if that meant "Option 3: Go away and leave me alone??" Nod, nod.

Husband says, "So, he wouldn't be a fun drunk?" I think not.

Eventually, Kiddo rolled over and the cat literally went flying backwards off the futon, all wide-eyed, trying to hang onto the comforter with the claws. It did not work -- the comforter went part way with her, she skidded down the end of the futon and plopped on the floor, then shook herself off and casually got a drink of water because cats, as all people who are owned by them know, refuse to admit that they're embarrassed.

I've now finished my third book of the year, We're In This Boat Together by Camille F. Bishop, Ph.D. I'll try to get the review of that book, as well as my review of I Choose to Be Happy by Missy Jenkins, ASAP. Don't want to fall too far behind because I'm supposed to be working on balance, you know!!

At the moment, I'm getting "internal error" messages from Blogger and unable to update my sidebar to reflect the new books I've added to my current reads, but in addition to the 2 Civil War books (one fiction, one social history) and The Coasts of Canada (which is amazing history, not the slightest bit dry), I'm reading Written in Blood by Sheila Lowe. I haven't recently sat down with Alpine Americas by Olaf Soot, but I've read and immersed myself in the mountainy beauty of about the first 50 pages and can tell you it's simply breathtaking and written from a slightly different perpective than I expected. I hope to finish that and review it, later this week.

I was also planning to upload a photo of my cat eating her veggies (monkey grass, outside) but Blogger hates me and gave me yet another "internal error" message, so pardon the lack of lovely illustrations. At least you've got that nice butterfly to enjoy. Back soon with reviews!

A Post-Thanksgiving Cocktail of Books and Cats and Other Fine Things

First, you get the Freaky, Big-Eyed Cat Photo because, frankly, I think this picture is hilarious:

That's our Miss Spooky, sitting on a dining table chair at Eldest Son's apartment in Memphis, where the entire family -- cat included -- spent Thanksgiving. Spooky does have gorgeous, big green eyes . . . but I think it's the angle that makes this photo look so wild. I took that shot with my phone camera.

From Turkeygate by Craig Medred -- I love the opening line of this article:

"Is this a strange country or what?"

After reading about people trampling each other for bargains (honestly, nothing is worth trampling a person, in my humble opinion), the availability of Christmas ornaments made from reindeer droppings, and a woman who blogs about nothing but Brian Williams' ties, I'm inclined to agree.

I hardly read a thing . . .

Thanksgiving was a reading wash, although I had one sleepless night during which I began to gobble up Fear in North Carolina: The Civil War Journals and Letters of the Henry Family, Compiled and Edited by Karen L. Clinard and Richard Russell. How's that for a mouthful of title? I am absolutely loving it. Cornelia Henry had a wonderful matter-of-fact journal writing style, so one minute you're reading about her sewing projects, the weather, what a great man she married (although a bit soft-hearted) or what kind of illnesses are going around the area and the next minute you're reading about which states have seceded from the Union, followed by a remark about a troublesome drunkard or the joys of motherhood. Cornelia's journals are a pleasant hodge-podge and the book itself is loads of fun because it includes scads of other info -- documents like the Old Mr. Henry's will and photos of the family, copies of advertisements from the time period (1861-1868), etc.

Also, because I apparently overloaded on sad reading material, I have begun to read an incredibly funny book called Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte, the story of how Tarte went from city-dwelling, pet-free life to country life with a startling menagerie. Ah, just the right amount of levity to get the squeaking, rusty brain cogs rotating, again.

We went to the Memphis Zoo and everyone became bored with my incessant photo-snapping, including the tigers:

Yawwwn. Finally, even God became dismayed and sent rain around the same time Eldest left to avoid going into a coma. I did try to warn him that I'm not fun to hang out with because I take a million photos, but nobody believes me till they experience the pain of standing around waiting for me to move on to the next exhibit.

Many thanks to Eldest and Girlfriend for the delicious meal and to Eldest's Girlfriend for allowing me to paw through her sack of used books. I came home with two books and she didn't get a thing, although I have a bag full that I would have brought along with me if we'd had just a tiny bit more room in the car. Note to S: Just ask if I mention anything you're dying to read.

Still reading:

Hurricane of Independence by Tony Williams - but I haven't touched it in a week. I hope to get back to it, tomorrow. Because the hurricane was tragic, this book was one of the two I felt that I needed to set aside for a few days, but I'm enjoying it.

Waiting for Daybreak by Kathryn Cushman - A very quick read, which I will probably finish tonight, Waiting for Daybreak tells the story of a pharmacist whose life was dramatically altered by a single error (this one's fiction). Now, working at a new job in her hometown and trying to help her parents pay for her mother's expensive experimental cancer treatment, Paige faces an entirely new set of dilemmas. I love Kathryn Cushman's writing style.

The Pages in Between by Erin Einhorn - Another I haven't touched in a week, but plan to get back to reading, very soon.

Grit for the Oyster - Still loving the uplifting messages in this book. Even though I'm not currently writing for publication, I've found that this book is very inspiring and I've finally begun to think, "Maybe I can get back to writing the way I used to." I highly recommend this book for Christian writers who need encouragement.

Hawk to Patrolman ratio:

Vicksburg to Memphis - 31 : 2
Memphis to Vicksburg - 34 : 0

Wow, not a single patrolman. I was shocked, especially given the weather on the drive home and the fact that a lot of people were driving with serious lead feet. Here's what we ran into on the return trip:

That's another phone photo. I'm just as obsessive with the phone camera as I am with the SLR. You should see my Pop Art (a photo of a soft drink cup with a straw jutting out to the side -- well, I think it's cool).

Off to bed with me. Nighty-night!

Bookishly Speaking

I know . . . this is supposed to be a book blog. I should occasionally mention books, right? Here's what I've recently finished and am currently reading:

Just finished:

Album of the Damned by Paul Garson -

That's Album of the Damned by Paul Garson - sorry about the funky blogger spacing dysfunction - A coffee-table sized picture book (with plenty of very informative text) that shows Nazis in their daily lives -- smiling, laughing, horsing around, the kids wearing military uniform bits, etc. I'll be reviewing this one for Estella's Revenge and will post a link when it's available.

For the Love of St. Nick by Garasamo Maccagnone - A very short Christmas story about two little boys who pray for the safe return of their father from a secret mission during the Vietnam War. I need to check and see to whom this book is directed (adults? children?) because I couldn't get a grip on that, but I loved the story and plan to review it ASAP.

Now reading:

Flight to St. Antony by Tony Blackman - An aviation mystery set on an island in the Caribbean. The hero is an insurance investigator who has been sent to determine the reason a plane was forced to ditch just miles from the airport in St. Antony. At this point, the Cockpit Voice Recorder has mysteriously disappeared. I'm really enjoying this, so far. The dialogue is a little flat, but the mystery is so interesting that it's still mesmerizing. I set it aside for a few days, so I'm only about 1/3 of the way through -- hoping to finish, this weekend.

Hurricane of Independence: The Untold Story of the Deadly Storm at the Deciding Moment of the American Revolution by Tony Williams - Not too far into this one, but I'm finding that at times I'm engrossed and at other times he totally loses me and I have to reread a few paragraphs to unravel details.

The Pages in Between by Erin Einhorn - The author's tale of her search to unravel her mother's history as a small Jewish child who was sheltered in Poland during WWII. This is particularly relevant to me because I just read Album of the Damned and have been recently reminded of how few Polish Jews survived the Holocaust. I'm not far into this one, but the first chapter had me all choked up. It's emotional.

Just walked in the door, today:

Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Sharon Lathan - Another Pride & Prejudice spin-off. This will be my second. The first was such fun that I'm doing some serious finger-crossing that I'll be able to handle a completely different version of "The Darcys, after the wedding."

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Bookfool, who will be very busy cleaning and purging . . . again

Monday Malarkey, including a reading update

We went to Biloxi (on the Gulf Coast in Mississippi), this weekend, for a swim meet. Did you miss me? Well, thanks. I missed you, too -- I didn't have the time to blog-hop. That tiny print says, "Flew the coop, this weekend. Which one looks like me?" Just telling you, in case you can't read it. I messed with my own photo at dumpr.net, because I don't have a photo program with that nifty sketch feature.

I'll tell you more about our trip, later, and you'll get to see some pictures because Booklogged has tagged me for a photo meme. Today I just feel like writing a malarkey post. I will say, though, that this was the first time we've been to the Gulf Coast since about 5 years pre-Katrina and the difference is utterly beyond belief. I'd heard plenty about the scope of destruction from friends, but seeing the empty spaces where so much had been built up on the shore . . . and mile after mile after mile of empty foundations. There's just really no way to describe how much is gone and how shocking the difference.

Anyway . . . I'm impressed with how beautiful the Mississippi Gulf Coast looks, how clean it is and what's being done with limited funds. Tree stumps are being carved into incredible sculptures (didn't photograph them -- will go back soon, I hope). Palms have been replanted. The beach is mostly cleaned up and regularly combed. It's beautiful. Really, it's so pleasant to be able to see and walk on the beach, again. It had been buried by commerce and the last time we went to Biloxi, we left in disgust, convinced we'd never go back. Well, shucks, here . . . just look:

That huge vasty nothingness was crowded with buildings. You could hardly see the water, just a few years ago. Unbelievable. I'm glad it's back, but I feel deeply for the folks who were uprooted and haven't been able to return.

Overheard: "I read it real slowly because I've never been much of a reader. I'm athletic and I've always kept real busy."

Question: What is it about non-readers that makes them think they're busier than us? I do most of my reading at night, because that's the only time I can squeeze it in (usually -- there've been a couple of glorious weather days that have drawn Bookfool and Cat to the porch, recently). My sister talks about being too busy to read as if it's a badge of honor. I don't get that.

Reading update:

Homeland Insecurity: How Washington Politicians Have Made America Less Safe by Turchie and Puckett -- 2/3 of the way through. I hoped to finish the book, tonight, but instead I've been running back and forth between computer and son, checking to make sure he's getting that 2-page nutrition report written. I'm as ignorant about politics as I am about history, so I've had to take this one slowly. But, man . . . fascinating stuff and a totally, completely different story about the FBI and corruption than you'll ever hear from politicians or the news. I think every American should read this book. We all need to have a big talk about the subject matter. It's important.

To Catch the Lightning by Alan Cheuse - Historical fiction about Edward Curtis, the photographer who is famous for his photos of Native Americans. I'm about 1/2-way through with this book and I've formulated some strong opinions, which I'll share when I review it. It's a breezy read, for the most part, but a chunkster. I hope to finish it, soon. "Soon" being a relative term.

Creepers by Joanne Dahme - A YA story about a teenager who feels compelled to solve the mystery of the ivy growing rampantly on her new home and the unexplained disappearance of a young girl's body from the nearby cemetery. Finished in Biloxi -- will review it, soon! Most important: It was not nightmare inducing (I'm prone to nightmares).

The Dharma King by B. G. Stroh - Set aside because I had too many books going, a while back, but not because I wasn't enjoying the book. I'm finding it gripping. This is a short thriller set in Tibet (at least, so far). I'm on Chapter 10 -- not far into it, but enough to know that I'd really like to set aside a few hours to finish.

10:30 PM and I haven't read a single page because I want to have uninterrupted reading time. Maybe tomorrow. What are you reading?

Oh, eck, falling behind!

Busy week . . . can't sit still long enough to stop flapping the wings.


First things first . . . I forgot to link up to the latest issue of Estella's Revenge, so here you go. Just in case you missed it. Can't let that happen.

Kiddo is off for "intercession", this week (not good . . . very not good for my son, since he is a night owl and school breaks tend to throw his sleep schedule totally out of whack), so I've been avoiding the computer a little in order to try to keep him awake during the daylight hours, read a little, spend some time with the kid while I've got him. I actually really like my teenager and enjoy spending time with him. So, I'm now officially behind on blogging. I've finished Occasional Therapy for your Midlife Years and Sarah's Key. Reviews forthcoming, but I'm not sure when.

Here's what I'm reading:

The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser -- set in Atlanta during the 1960s. Mary Swan Middleton must solve a mystery and deal with grief after a tragic plane crash. At this point, she's started helping her family's maid serve poor people meals in a primarily black part of town. But, after befriending a young black man she has discovered the true horror of racial prejudice.

Operation Blue Light: My Secret Life Among Psychic Spies by Philip Chabot -- A surprisingly gripping memoir about a man whose psychic abilities were exploited by the government, in the 1960s. Having trouble putting this sucker down.

Random Passage by Bernice Morgan -- Historical fiction about a family that is forced to pack up and sail to Newfoundland after one of the brothers of the family, Ned, steals from his boss, a man who employs almost the entire family and owns most of their hometown. I'm reading this one for the Canadian reading challenge and it is almost unbearably wonderful, as in "I need time to stand still, so I can sit in a big, fat chair and indulge in this book."

The Lost Diary of Don Juan by Douglas Carlton Abrams - Seriously, Bookfool is reading a fictional account of Don Juan. It's not nasty or graphic, but it's also not totally grabbing me.

Sorry about the lack of wahoos. I forgot it was Wednesday, yesterday. I'll try to remember, next week, promise.

Next post will be the giveaway. And, then I'm going to go read because this day is pretty much shot.