Fiona Friday and some news, bookish and otherwise

First, your Fiona fix:

And, the big news!

We have been house-hunting for about 2 years, now, and finally put in an offer on a house. It was accepted, yesterday! So, in the coming months we'll be doing all that yucky paperwork and forking over hard-earned money, then we'll paint a bit in the new house and start moving. It's going to be a slow process because our current home needs work to make it market-ready. I can't say how much moving will impact the blogging, but I'm guessing it'll just be a bit longer between posts. I'll still blog when I can and do my best to visit other bloggers if I have any spare time at all.

Recently walked in:

Jack's Book: An Oral Biography of Jack Kerouac by Gifford & Lee - a win from BookTrib

The Knights of Derbyshire by Marsha Altman - for review (OK, so I did give in once - otherwise, I'm not accepting review books)

Forbidden by Syrie & Ryan James - won from Alyce of At Home With Books

Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan - ARC sent by my lovely friend, Tammy

I've already finished Forbidden, which just arrived a few days ago. Will review when I have a moment. Happy Friday!

©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.

Now We Are Six

Trish very kindly reminded me it's my 6th bloggiversary, today, and Carrie has informed me that she told Trish. Thank you, Carrie and Trish! I'd forgotten, what with all the hullaballoo about houses and being buried in laundry and having to play with cats who literally holler at you because they are dying if you don't roll jingle balls (which, I must confess, I love).

I can't believe it's been six years. I'd get all mushy and melodramatic if I wasn't stressing about the counter-offer to our offer on that house and the fact that if I move I'll be leaving my gym, which is just the happiest place I've been the entire time I've lived in Mississippi.

So . . . could somebody just send me a Decision Fairy?

Also, cupcakes all around! Virtual confetti! Woots and Wahoos!

©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. Emailbookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Wahoo! Wednesday - combined with the Armchair BEA post of the day

For anyone new to my blog, Wahoo! Wednesday is just a day to count my blessings and talk about things that make me happy or good things that are happening in my life. It's a feature I came up with years ago, dropped for a while and have recently revived.

Let's start with the A-BEA business, though.

Today, we're supposed to talk about networking. When I read that, I went totally blank. And, then I read Alyce's post and realized I have, in fact, done some networking in a matter of speaking. Let's start with my interview of Simon Van Booy. I was writing for Estella's Revenge ezine when I read the Turtle Point Press version of Simon's wonderful book of short stories, The Secret Lives of People in Love. I was so blown away that I asked to interview him. And, then one thing led to another and I ended up meeting up with Simon in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Here's a reprint of my interview of Simon Van Booy in 2007.

While I was in town, I also met up with the fabulous Colleen Gleason, the author of a number of romance series books. At the time, I was really into her Victoria Gardella Vampire series. I can't seem to find my interview post, but here's a link to the photos I took of Colleen and Simon.

I don't do many interviews because I don't consider myself all that hot at coming up with insightful questions, but I've also chatted with and interviewed Patricia Wood, the author of the fabulous, Orange short-listed Lottery. I could have met up with Pat when I was in Hawaii but I neglected to tell her I was coming. Darn.

Last year, I finally met up with my first blogging buddy, the very awesome and totally perky Carrie of Care's Online Book Club. That's Carrie in Charleston, South Carolina, at right. She and a writer friend from my online writing group years stayed at a Bed & Breakfast and spent our days touring the town, riding boats, eating good food and chat-chat-chatting. It was absolutely wonderful -- actually, my first buddy trip, apart from writers' conferences.

In the fall, Carrie mentioned that Simon Van Booy was going to be speaking at the Boston Public Library and that led to another trip to hang out with Carrie, this time in Massachusetts. We drove in to Boston on a rainy day, had coffee with Simon and then attended his reading. That's Simon with Carrie, at left.

More recently, I managed to meet Alex George, author of A Good American. I already linked to my photo of the delightful Alex George at Lemuria Books, but here 'tis, in case you missed it.

Whew! Much more hanging out with bloggers and authors than I realized. I need to do more of that, definitely. Maybe a book festival in the future?

In other wahoo news:

We have placed an offer on a house! I am terrified but excited that we finally found something we're interested in. We won't hear back from the seller till tonight.

Book wahoos!

I'm reading slowly because we've been back and forth a lot (the house we're interested in is 30 miles away from our current home) but enjoying my reading. Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada is an amazing WWII novel. Hans Fallada is the pen name of a German who died in 1947 and the story is about the resistance in Germany. It's going to take me quite a while to finish it, since I'm not finding much reading time and it's over 600 pages long but it's definitely a fantastic read, which is a huge wahoo! I've had trouble finding books that really grab me, lately.

Wahooey read #2 just arrived in the mail: Forbidden by Syrie James & Ryan M. James. It's a nice, light paranormal YA that I won from Alyce. Loving it, so far!

The other books in my sidebar are languishing but they're both excellent and I hope to get back to them soon. I need more hours in my day!

Crazy cat wahoos:

When I saw Isabel squeezing herself under the dresser, I grabbed my camera. I had no idea what drew her there, but I always try to capture the cat antics. So, I got a shot of her working her way into this 3" high opening. She has feather bones and is quite thin. There's no way Fiona could possibly do this.

It turned out Isabel had located a jingle ball. She batted it around beneath the dresser for a time and then grabbed it in her teeth and brought it out to play with. So cute!!

What wahooey things are happening in your world?

©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. Emailbookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Armchair BEA, post #2 - Besties

Today's Armchair BEA assignment is to write about some favorite books we've read this year and books being promoted at BEA that we're excited about. I did mention some of my favorites in yesterday's post, but I've read so many terrific books that it won't be difficult to add to that list.

A Good American by Alex George is beautifully written, an immigrant story that pretty much everyone in America can relate to, in some way, with emphasis on music and food. Bonus: Alex George is a terrific guy. I got to meet him when he came through our area and he is absolutely charming.

On the Beach by Nevil Shute is a classic post-apocalyptic tale in which the entire earth's inhabitants are about to be wiped out. Most of them are already dead. The book explores how people might spend their remaining days in such a case and it is every bit as fascinating and relevant today as it was when it was written.

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan is a YA set in outer space. Two space ships have been sent from a dying earth to colonize a new planet, one ahead of the other. But, the first ship drops behind and its inhabitants attack the second ship and snatch all the young females. Absolutely gripping. I have been bouncing on my toes in anticipation of the second book in the series, which my friend Tammy is going to send me.

And, what about titles being promoted at BEA? I must confess I have no idea what's being promoted, apart from one particular title that a squillion people have mentioned on either Twitter or their blogs, which just happens to be a book I'm eagerly anticipating:

The Twelve by Justin Cronin, sequel to The Passage. I gobbled down The Passage in a surprisingly short time (for me) and then proceeded to have all-night, frequent-waking, tossing, turning nightmares. That was one bizarre experience, let me tell you. But, I loved the book, in spite of the nightmares and the wait has been excruciating. If I could get my mitts on an ARC of this one, I think I would have kittens. Or, maybe I'd just bring home another kitten. Don't tell Izzy and Fi I said that.

©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. Emailbookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Armchair BEA Intro

For those who are unfamiliar with Armchair BEA, it is an event for those who are not attending Book Expo America in New York City.

This is Day 1 of BEA and Armchair BEA; and, today is self-interview day. We're to answer five questions from the list in this post.

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Who are you? How long have you been blogging? How did you get into blogging?

I call myself "Bookfool" but my real-world name is Nancy. I'm a transplanted Oklahoman, living in Mississippi -- 1 husband, 2 grown boys (one married and out in the working world; one in college) and 2 cats. My 6th bloggiversary is actually this week. I began blogging on June 6, 2006 and it's all Andi's fault. As I recall, it took her at least a year to convince me to blog because I figured a "weblog" was just an online diary and I'd end up talking to myself. Boy, was I surprised when people started to show up and comment!

2. What are you currently reading or what is your favorite book so far in 2012?

You can see what I'm reading by glancing at my sidebar. I'm terrible at picking a single favorite. A few of my top reads:

Little Princes by Conor Grennan

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West

Further Interpretations of Real-Life Events by Kevin Moffett

Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

All Woman and Springtime by Brandon W. Jones

Light on the Concrete by Lucas Hunt

Pure by Julianna Baggott

M*A*S*H by Richard Hooker

3. What is your favorite feature on your blog?

I like Fiona Friday -- my weekly post with a photo or two of one (or both) of my cats -- because it gives me an excuse to take lots of pictures of the felines. And, I really love the occasional "self-interview" in place of the standard book review. Those are always tremendously fun to write.

4. Which is your favorite post that you've written that you want everyone to read?

Probably this one: Between the Storms and Reading Aussie Books on a Mississippi Sofa. It's a good example of my natural writing style, which is completely goofball. Unfortunately, that's also true of my fiction.

5. Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?

Since I started blogging? I can't think of any major changes. I have overindulged and burned out in the past, a couple of times so in recent years I've tried to read a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction to keep myself from burning out on any particular genre, again. I did come close to burning out on historical fiction, last year. But, I opted to take a break from them and it did help. Now, I'm careful not to read too many historical titles in a row.

That's all for now! Hope to meet as many other participants as humanly possible!!

©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.

Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson

Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson

Copyright 2012

Touchstone Books - Historical Fiction/WWII/Romance

416 pp.

Saba Tarcan has been singing since she was a small girl. Now 23, Saba has decided to do her part in the war effort. While singing at a hospital, she meets a handsome fighter pilot, Dom Benson. Both are immediately smitten with each other, but Saba is determined leave Wales; her Turkish father objects to Saba singing in public. She joins Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) and is sent to join a troupe of entertainers in North Africa, just as she's getting to know Dom.

Recovered from burns received when his plane was shot down, Dom returns to flying and gets a friend to pull strings so that he can serve in the same area as Saba. Communication is complicated by war, yet Saba continues to invade Dom's thoughts. When they finally manage to meet up, Saba and Dom are determined to get together. But Saba has been recruited to do work for the British Secret Service and can't always explain her absences, sparking jealousy and bitter feelings of rejection in Dom.

Meanwhile, North Africa is heating up; soon, the Nazis are expected to invade Alexandria. Will the secrets they must keep from each other tear them apart or can Saba and Dom stay alive long enough to solidify their relationship?

What I loved about Jasmine Nights:

I'm a sucker for books that are set during WWII, so I particularly enjoyed the glimpses into the time period, learning about ENSA and finding that entertainers were, in fact, used as spies during WWII. I don't think I've ever read any other WWII stories told from the viewpoint of an entertainer.

The details of the sights, sounds, smells and the hardships of living in the desert were what I found most engaging about Jasmine Nights.

What I disliked about Jasmine Nights:

The f-word was dropped at least half a dozen times in Jasmine Nights. I felt like the book lost a bit of authenticity in that regard. Sure, soldiers swore. The acronyms FUBAR and SNAFU both originated during WWII. But, that particular vulgarity was not flung about so casually at the time. Saba's use of the word (and, I think in one case, Dom used the word in her presence) really threw me. Women were less likely to swear, back then, and men tended to water down their speech in the presence of women and children.

Otherwise, the only thing I really disliked about Jasmine Nights was that it leaned toward romance and I thought the hero was a bit of a sap. I can't say I ever really felt much for the heroine, either. Oh, and occasionally I had trouble figuring out what was happening. But, only a few scenes confused me.

Wait, I thought of something else! But, part of it is spoilery. The unspoilery bit: LOTS of sex and no mention of protection but no pregnancy (although the sex is not overly graphic). That's a big no-no in my book. There either needs to be some mention of protection or consequences . . . sex amongst the young and fertile isn't realistic otherwise, is it? The spoilery bit will be thrown in at the bottom of this post, after the asterisks. See below***

The bottom line:

Recommended particularly to those who like a slightly longer, more detailed and character-driven/romantic book. There's not a great deal of action. I expected a bit more danger/close calls with the spying. Jasmine Nights was slower-paced and more romance-focused than anticipated. I gave Jasmine Nights an above-average rating of 3.5/5 at Goodreads. I liked it but didn't love it and I'm not entirely certain I would have finished the book if it didn't happen to be a book I was sent for review. The author definitely needs to work on tightening up her writing, in my humble opinion.

Pic of the day (taken in Oxford, MS), a sunflower to match the yellow edging on the cover of Jasmine Nights:

I keep forgetting to add my cover thoughts . . . again:

I don't know why writing cover thoughts keeps slipping my mind, but I love the cover of Jasmine Nights. The only thing that looks a little off to me is the length of Saba's hair. The model's coloring is right and I love the blend of her colorful dress (although I can't say whether or not it's right for the decade) and the gorgeous city background. Definitely an eye-catching cover.

***SPOILER WARNING!***

There was a scene I found particularly confusing because it appears that Saba was raped -- but I wasn't entirely certain, possibly because the character was trying to convince herself that it didn't happen. Again, no consequences, but worse than the consensual sex because there didn't seem to be any big emotional ramifications. I know several women who have been raped. Two of them attempted suicide; one succeeded. The other has channeled her anger in a very positive way, thank goodness. Rape should never, ever be glossed over. It has heavy emotional repercussions.

©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.

Fiona Caturday - I think I can, I think I can. And, some other nonsense.

Isabel is a positive thinker.

We've just returned from a couple nights in Oxford, Mississippi, where Kiddo attended orientation at the University of Mississippi. While Kiddo was off doing his thing, Huzzybuns and I looked at apartments and condos because the dorms are full and Kiddo needs a place to live. Naturally, we went to Square Books:

And, Off-Square Books (the secondhand and remainders store):

I did not come out of without buying something. Figures. I got two books:

New Orleans, Mon Amour by Andrei Codrescu

Rather Die Fighting (a WWII memoir) by Frank Blaichman

Mamasita, the Off-Square Books store cat was not present. I was worried about her because I know she's been around a few years. So, I asked where she was. I think I was holding my breath, actually, but she's okay. Mamasita occasionally wonders out the door and around the town square and she just went a bit too far, a couple times. She is "on vacation" being an indoor cat for her safety. Whew!

We ate at Taylor Grocery, which some of you may have heard me (and, more importantly, Alton Brown) mention in the past. They cook melt-in-your-mouth catfish:

Fortunately, we went on Friday. They're going to be closed on Sunday:

In case you can't read the sign, it says: "We will be closed Sunday nite to watch Eli beat the Patriots AGAIN. Sorry."

We had a terrific time (and I'm tempted to move to Oxford with Kiddo; it's such a

great place). But, we're happy to be home. :)

©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.

5 Months Worth of Reading - Because I've completely forgotten to do monthly recaps, this year

A little bird told me it's almost June. Shock! Where does the time go? I haven't done a single "looking back" monthly update, this year, so I've decided to just throw five months' worth at you. If I've reviewed a book or at least mentioned it, there is a link to my review, below.

January

1. The Ballad of Gregoire Darcy - Marsha Altman

2. Hal Spacejock - Simon Haynes

3. Time for a Hug - Gershator, Green & Walker

4. Little Princes - Conor Grennan

5. Good Evening, Mrs. Craven - Mollie Panter-Downes

6. The Photo Album - K. B. Dixon

7. A Good American - Alex George

8. The Pocket Therapist - Therese Borchard

9. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes

10. Armageddon in Retrospect - Kurt Vonnegut

11. Empire of the Summer Moon - S. C. Gwynne

12. The Painted Veil - W. Somerset Maugham

13. 501 Minutes to Christ - Poe Ballantine

14. Cinder - Marissa Meyer

15. Paranormal - Raymond Moody, M.D.

February

16. Passage - Connie Willis

17. Rose: My Years in Service - Rosina Harrison

18. We're With Nobody - Alan Huffman & Michael Rejebian

19. The World of Downton Abbey - Jessica Fellowes

20. The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet - Reif Larsen

21. On the Beach - Nevil Shute

22. The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac - Kris D'Agostino

23. Fairy Tale Interrupted - RoseMarie Terenzio

24. Paris, My Sweet - Amy Thomas

25. The Return of the Soldier - Rebecca West

26. Eloise - Kay Thompson

27. Corrie ten Boom's Prison Letters

28. Cruising Attitude - Heather Poole

29. Silly Frilly Grandma Tillie by Jacobs & Jewett

March

30. Peace is Every Step - Thich Nhat Hanh

31. Don't Let the Turkeys Get You Down - Sandra Boynton

32. By the Light of the Silvery Moon - Tricia Goyer

33. Red and Yellow's Noisy Night - Josh Selig

34. Before the Poison - Peter Robinson

35. Living Buddha, Living Christ - Thich Naht Hanh

36. The Word Collector - Sonja Wimmer

37. Further Interpretations of Real-Life Events - Kevin Moffett

38. The Land of Decoration - Grace McCleen

39. Kitty Cornered - Bob Tarte

40. Fever - Lauren DeStefano

41. Operation Heartbreak - Duff Cooper

42. Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms - Lissa Evans

43. Mariana - Susanna Kearsley

April

44. Bloom - Kelle Hampton

45. Being Lara - Lola Jaye

46. The Shoemaker's Wife - Adriana Trigiani

47. Bawk & Roll - Sauer & Santat

48. Pobble's Way - Van Booy & Edelson

49. Light on the Concrete - Lucas Hunt

50. Paris in Love - Eloisa James

51. More Like Her - Liza Palmer

52. The Coldest Night - Robert Olmstead

53. Butterfly's Child - Angela Davis-Gardner

54. All Woman and Springtime - Brandon W. Jones

55. The Cove - Ron Rash

56. I Always, Always Get My Way - Krasnesky & Parkins

57. The Uninvited Guests - Sadie Jones

58. M*A*S*H - Richard Hooker

May

59. The Paper Garden - Molly Peacock

60. The School of Essential Ingredients - Erica Bauermeister

61. A Wedding in Haiti - Julia Alvarez

62. The Lola Quartet - Emily St. John Mandel

63. Pure - Julianna Baggott

64. Two Wars - Nate Self

65. The London Eye Mystery - Siobhan Dowd

66. The Queen: A Life in Brief - Robert Lacey

67. Next to Love - Ellen Feldman

68. The Reconstructionist - Nick Arvin

69. Cupcake Diaries: Mia's Baker's Dozen - Coco Simon

70. Forgotten Country - Catherine Chung

71. Heading Out to Wonderful - Robert Goolrick

72. Glow - Amy Kathleen Ryan

Those I didn't review:

Don't Let the Turkeys Get You Down by Sandra Boynton is an older book that I read intending to buzz through it then donate. Not only is it hilarious but it also happens to contain a lot of cultural references that make your eyes boggle a bit. Oh, yes, remember when computers were HUGE and everyone had a phone with a cord that attached to the wall? I'm sure it'll be doubly fun, 10 years years from now. #getridofFAIL

Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh is all about accepting each others' religions and living in peace. I loved it, but I wasn't sure what to say about the book and since it was a loaner borrowed from one of the ladies at the gym, I gave it back without pulling out any quotations.

Instead of reviewing The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel (which I liked but didn't love) the author will be dropping in to do a guest review, sometime in the near future.

I'm pretty sure I've reviewed everything else except I Always, Always Get My Way, which I mentioned briefly and took out of my sidebar but still intend to review. I've only got 2 or 3 children's books that I need to review. I may save them and have a Children's Day. We shall see. I'm completely unpredictable, let's face it.

I've read a lot of terrific books, this year, but May was not my best month because I finished quite a few that I probably should have given up on. My favorites were the two YA books, Pure and Glow, The London Eye Mystery, The Queen and Next to Love. Two Wars is excellent but the ending was a bit of a let-down as I wanted to know more about the after-effects of the deadly battle on the author. The Paper Garden and A Wedding in Haiti were both fascinating and I liked The Reconstructionist because it was so very different. The rest were so-so. The only book I finished that I really, really wish I hadn't read at all was Forgotten Country.

At the moment, I'm really enjoying my reading, though, so hopefully June will be a terrific reading month. I shall try to make it so.

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

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan and week-off chatter

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan is the first in a young adult series of books about two ships launched from a dying Earth to create a new settlement on another planet. The New Horizon was launched before the Empyrean and should be far ahead of the Empyrean. But, when the New Horizon draws near to the Empyrean, a fierce battle takes place and all the young females from the Empyrean are taken to the New Horizon. Many of the adults are killed but some pursue the New Horizon and the rest must risk their lives to restart the Empyrean's damaged engines.

Waverly and Kieran, at a mere 15 and 16 years old, were already considering marriage. Fertility is reduced in outer space and the sooner they have children, the better. Now separated, Waverly has been told the Empyrean was destroyed, Kieran, her mother and all but the "rescued" girls dead. But she suspects the captain of the New Horizon is not telling the truth. How will Waverly find the adults, if they're still living? What do the people of the New Horizon want from them? Will they be able to escape or is there even a ship to run home to?

While Waverly is unraveling the puzzle of her imprisonment on the New Horizon, Kieran must deal with the horrors of being left behind. With all the remaining adults risking their lives, the job of running the ship falls to the eldest of the boys. But, Seth (who also has a thing for Waverly) wants to be in charge and will do anything he can to sabotage Kieran. When Seth's games become dangerous, will Kieran survive?

Wow. What a fun book. While Ryan's writing is a bit rough around the edges, Glow is such an exciting, plot-heavy adventure that imperfection doesn't matter. The story is so massively entertaining that writing flaws fade into the background. I'm looking forward to reading the second book, Spark, which Tammy just reviewed.

Andi recently wrote about story versus writing and I think Glow is an excellent example of why I personally feel that the story tends to win. I love a book that's well-written, but if the story isn't there, beautiful writing is not enough.

Alyce didn't like Glow at all. Her review is excellent. I have to agree that there were some oddities to the casting (read her description of Seth - he and Kieran are definitely odd characters in their contrasts) but I enjoyed the adventurous aspect of the story so I tried to ignore those character flaws and just enjoy myself.

Tammy sent me her ARC of Glow. Many thanks, Tammy! My recent reading rut was threatening to drag me into a slump but Glow saved me. I highly recommend this book. The writing isn't brilliant, but the plotting is excellent. Definitely a grabber.

Week-off report:

I had a lot of busy-busy things that I had to do, last week, none of which were all that thrilling so I guess the excitement of the week involved moving furniture. In my continued quest to bring more light into our living area (which is dark thanks to the shade of our humongous old oak trees), I decided to move some bookshelves from the living/dining room to the office. Isabel and Fiona both had fun playing on the shelves before I refilled them.

Unfortunately, we managed to scratch the hardwood flooring in the office, in spite of using sliders, so we had a few delays. First, the run to the hardware store to get sliders to protect the flooring. Then, another run to get markers to repair the scratches. And, then we decided it wouldn't hurt to get a little carpet runner to protect the flooring from future damage.

After all that, I reorganized the books and set aside about 20 to donate. Most of what I keep on those particular shelves is nonfiction: reference books, gardening, photography, design, history, writing, etc. I was surprised to find that the biggest category is design. I have loads of books on interior and exterior design (including a book on historical fabrics and wallpaper, Jamie Durie's The Outdoor Room, etc.), architecture, painting, stained glass. You wouldn't know it from looking at the interior of my house; apparently I'm a bit of a dreamer.

In the evenings, we indulged in a Superhero Movie Weekend. After seeing The Avengers in the theater, we were all in the mood to watch a few more superhero movies. We watched Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America. Of the three, Thor was the surprise favorite, Iron Man 2 the biggest disappointment. Captain America was fun but more in the classic comic book vein (which isn't really my thing) with a nasty villain and a sci-fi bent. We watched one movie each night. It was nice to relax together after working on the house, something we really don't do often, anymore.

Kiddo needed a "professional grade" photo to send to the university for his ID and that turned out to be a barrel of laughs, too. Out of about 30 photos I snapped, his eyes were only open in 2 or 3. He has such a quick blink reflex that I eventually had to quit using flash. It was honestly hilarious. We laughed so hard we all had tears streaming down our faces. My favorite photo is one I snapped as Kiddo was laughing and wiping an eye. So cute. I have been forbidden to share his photo on the blog or I would.

Only two books have arrived in the past two weeks. I'm reading one of them: Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson. The other book is A Genius for Deception by Nicholas Rankin, subtitled "How Cunning Helped the British Win Two World Wars." I got it from Paperback Swap.

One wahoo for the day: Fiona just reached up and batted my indoor wind chimes. Isabel gives them a whack, occasionally, but this is the first time I've seen Fiona swipe at them. She was a little more tentative than Izzy. It's terribly cute to see a cat swat wind chimes, but it happens so fast that I still have not managed to photograph that moment.

Gotta go. Wishing you many wahoos!

©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.

More minis: The Reconstructionist by Nick Arvin, Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung, Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick

The Reconstructionist by Nick Arvin is a truly unusual novel and I think that is one of the things I enjoyed about it. Ellis Barstow and his brother Christopher used to run to the intersection near their house when they heard a crash, to gawk at the sight as young boys will do. Years later, Christopher died at that same intersection.

As a mechanical engineer, Ellis has taken a job in an automotive factory. He's adrift, not particularly happy with his job but unsure what to do. Then, he sees Christopher's former girlfriend. Always captivated by Heather, Ellis follows her home and then drives on. Eventually, he finds a way to run into her again. When he does, she tells him her husband is looking for help. John Boggs works as a "reconstructionist", using engineering to determine how an accident occurred and testifying at lawsuits as an expert witness.

Ellis finds the job oddly satisfying and he has a comfortable friendship with Boggs. But, he also begins an affair with Heather that eventually results in Boggs taking a suicidal, cross-country trip. Ellis follows him. Will Boggs survive his self-destructive road trip? What's more important to Ellis, friendship or love? What really happened when Christopher was killed?

I absolutely loved Boggs. The witty dialogue between Ellis and Boggs drew me into the book, the questions about what would happen kept me there. And, I also loved the use of physics and math to determine how an accident occurred. The reconstruction process is utterly fascinating, plus, I'm accustomed to the way engineers talk and think, so I found The Reconstructionist an oddly comforting read for one so disturbing. It's a sad story, but not without hope. Not what I would call a "thriller," as I've seen it described, but more of a psychological exploration of accidents and how they effect people. The author has worked as a reconstructionist and it shows. This book has the ring of truth. I would avoid reading it if you've suffered a traumatic car accident loss, but otherwise I recommend The Reconstructionist. Just don't expect fast pacing.

The Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung is a book I really should have abandoned, but for some reason I just kept on plugging away. I think it was one of those cases in which the writing was comfortably paced and I was hoping things would improve, but really . . . it's just a bummer.

Janie's sister has disappeared, their father has cancer and even when they manage to briefly track Hannah down, she doesn't respond to their calls or emails. As a youngster, Janie was told that every generation of her Korean-American family has lost a daughter and she must watch out for her sister. Now, her grandmother's prediction appears to be coming true.

When their father finds that the best chance of extending his life is a treatment only available in Korea, Janie and Hannah's parents pack up and move to their home country, leaving Janie in charge of finding Hannah.

Janie and Hannah have a terrible relationship. Bummer. Their dad is terminal. Double bummer. Nobody in the family is willing or able to really share details of life, either past or present. Triple bummer. The whole family is a communication train wreck and, of course, cancer books just make me insane. Nicely written but depressing and I just cannot bear a book in which people don't ever bother to answer each other's questions. My friend Paula enjoyed this book and shared her copy with me. I just didn't enjoy Forgotten Country at all. I'm not even certain who to recommend it to.

Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick has not yet been released, so I'm a little hesitant to review it but I want to go ahead and clear my sidebar. Don't worry, though: it's a June release. Not a long wait!

Robert Goolrick had a runaway hit with A Reliable Wife (<---my review, in self-interview form). I liked the writing but was not enamored of the storyline. However, since I liked Goolrick's writing and the story sounded intriguing, I've been looking forward to reading Heading Out to Wonderful.

Set in the years just after WWII, Heading Out to Wonderful tells the story of Charlie Beale, a butcher who decides to settle in a small town called Brownsburg, nestled in a beautiful Virginia valley. There, he falls in love with the wife of the town's richest man, a beautiful blonde from a poor rural family in the area outside Brownsburg. A movie buff, Sylvan has an unusual accent that she's picked up from years of listening to radio serials and a stunning wardrobe that the local seamstress has created for her.

You know the romance is doomed. But, what about Sam, the child who is caught in the middle of their affair? Will the odd entanglement ruin young Sam for life? What will happen when Charlie and Sylvan's affair is discovered? Will Sylvan save herself and throw Charlie to the proverbial wolves? Will the people of Brownsburg forgive them?

Ack. So many questions with horrible answers. I loved the writing, once again, but the story just made me want to kick the author in the shins, I'm sorry to say. Smooth, understated, gentle, beautiful writing is marred by weirdness and violence. I think a lot of people will love Heading Out to Wonderful. I hoped I would, but the involvement of Sam and the ending were terribly uncomfortable and jarring. I don't think Robert Goolrick is the author for me. One caveat: Heading Out to Wonderful isn't as graphic/erotic as A Reliable Wife. However, the descriptions of butchering can be pretty detailed and if you find the killing of animals for meat upsetting, definitely avoid reading this title.

©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.

Mini reviews - The Queen by Robert Lacey, Mia's Baker's Dozen by Coco Simon, Next to Love by Ellen Feldman

It's mini review time! I will write only mini reviews till I've caught up.

The Queen: A Life in Brief by Robert Lacey is a book written by a biographer who has written a large number of books about royalty. At a mere 166 pages, the author gives readers a comfortably brief overview of Queen Elizabeth II's life and 60-year reign. The Queen contains excerpts from some of Lacey's other books, as well as some updated material, and was written especially for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.

I think I can pretty safely say I knew next to nothing about Queen Elizabeth and her family and I'm happy not to have read a book that went into greater depth of detail. While I found the queen herself admirable in many ways and particularly enjoyed reading that her marriage was a true love story, Prince Charles pretty much made me want to heave. I had no idea he was such a naughty boy. During the actual Princess Diana years (when they were occurring, that is), I must admit I was more captivated by her wardrobe than the drama of the royal family and the many affairs. There is a single line in the book that I consider offensive and unnecessary, but otherwise The Queen is very nicely written.

Recommended to those who want to learn about the last 80 years or so of the British Monarchy in brief but are not interested in tremendous detail. If you're looking for a more comprehensive biography, check the page lengths of Lacey's books. He's written quite a few and The Queen: A Life in Brief is the shortest. The Queen was the perfect blend for me and also contains a surprisingly nice variety of photographs for such a small book.

Mia's Baker's Dozen by Coco Simon is one of the books in the Cupcake Diaries series, for ages 8 and up, about a group of young girls who have a small business selling cupcakes. I won my copy in a Twitter drawing, which I entered because I like to regress, now and then.

Mia's parents speak Spanish and so does Mia, but she has never learned to read or write Spanish. When she's enrolled in an advanced Spanish class and has difficulty, Mia's embarrassed to admit that she needs help. She is also thrown out of kilter by the changes in her life, now that her parents have divorced and her mother is remarried.

Mia's Baker's Dozen is very simplistically written. It was fun reading about Mia's challenges and friendships and how she solves her problems. I'm pretty sure I would have gobbled a series like this happily, as a young girl, and definitely recommend this title to youngsters in the right age range. It's nice, clean fun. Reading the book made me want to go play in the kitchen.

Next to Love by Ellen Feldman tells the stories of three women, friends from a young age who are all left behind when their men go off to fight in WWII. The story is based on one small town's loss of a large number of its young men in a single battle. Two of the women are widowed; one is not, but the surviving husband returns with a permanent injury and post-traumatic stress.

Next to Love follows the three women from before WWII to the Sixties and is packed with the love, loss, temptation, danger, violence, prejudice and other challenges of life for women during the time period.

I really enjoyed Next to Love because the relationships and challenges seemed very realistic to me, but there were a couple things I disliked about the book. Chiefly, I disliked the first-person narrative and jumpiness. I liked the fact that the author chose to portray each of the women from her own viewpoint, but instead of going from one character to another and showing how each reacted at a particular time, for example, there would be three scenes from Babe's perspective that take place from September of 1944 to July of 1946 and then you jump back to September of 1944 to view Grace's perspective. And, then the same thing is done all over again with Millie. Jarring.

On the plus side, Next to Love has the ring of a book that has been exceptionally well researched. The sense of time and place throughout the book is both believable and occasionally even reminded me of things my parents mentioned. Definitely recommended for those who enjoy WWII novels and women's fiction.

More minis forthcoming.

©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.

Wordless cat photos from my week off

©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.

Time off - which usually doesn't mean much

I have been having a terrible time convincing myself to sit down and blog, this week, and whenever that happens I consider jumping ship (but I've just ended up slowing the boat). Is that poster perfect, or what? Instead of jumping ship, I'm going to try to make every minute count by stepping away. Often, the moment I say I'm going to take time off, the pressure is lifted and I start writing up a storm. Weird, but true. We'll see what happens.

Before I do, though . . . an update and some miscellaneous jazz:

I am about 245 pages into The Reconstructionist by Nick Arvin. It's an oddly captivating book that I think I'm going to have a bear of a time describing. The protagonist is a mechanical engineer. I've been around engineers for so long that I get the way they think, so I'm enjoying that particular point-of-view. I think it's partly the weird relationships and not knowing how they'll end up, partly the math and the descriptions of how the "reconstructionists" go about reconstructing accident scenes that I find compelling. At any rate, it's an interesting book and I will probably finish it tonight.

I'm also reading Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman, a psychology/self-help book about turning yourself into an optimist (you probably figured that out from the title, right?) that is pretty fascinating. I considered skipping the introductory part and jumping right into the how-to, but decided not to and I'm glad I didn't. There's a self-test that was really quite interesting. I tested hubby, as well. I haven't added an image of the book to my sidebar because I have a tendency to stall on self-help books but . . . well, that was an interesting statement. The whole point of the book is not to tell yourself things like, "I tend to stall on self-help books," and learn, for example, to expect to finish. More on that, later.

Last but not least, I've started Play These Games by Heather Swain. Even though I misread the information about the book and expected something totally different, it's a book about making your own games for rainy days and such, which is something I can really get behind. As a kid, I used to do a lot of what is now referred to as "repurposing" -- making games, toys, desk shelves, etc. out of simple things like boxes, pipe cleaners, foil, paper . . . you name it. So, I'm hoping I'll find a few things to do, just for a change of pace. Besides how-to instructions, there are some terrific nerdy factoids thrown in. It's a really fun book.

The miscellaneous jazz:

I read Baby Shark's High Plains Redemption by Robert Fate (<---my review) in 2008. I can't believe it's been 3 1/2 years since I read it! I still remember several particularly vivid scenes. Anyway, Robert Fate's Baby Shark books are now available as e-books and Baby Shark is free for Kindle till the 22nd of May. I highly recommend grabbing a copy.

Kiddo will need to learn to cook a bit more (he's not afraid of the kitchen) because there's no room in the dorms at the university he'll be attending in the fall and that means he'll have to live in an apartment or rental house. So, we bought him a crock pot and I went hunting for crock pot recipes at a few favorite bloggers' websites. I failed miserably, but ended up looking for a recipe similar to a favorite restaurant pasta dish and found this:

Creamy Shrimp Artichoke Fettucine (there's no image available, so this link takes you directly to the print version)

Husband whipped it up in nothing flat and it was every bit as good as the restaurant recipe.

Feel free to share if you have any easy, delicious crock pot recipes. We have not used a crock pot in eons, so we have none.

The trouble with using available light when photographing cats (hand-held) is that they really like to move. But, I managed to snap a few nice images of Fi on a bright green background. I thought the green really brought out the color of her eyes:

Can you tell I've been in a super-close-up cat photography mood, lately?

Meanwhile, I started wondering what had become of Isabel when she disappeared for a nap, tonight. I like to know where my cats are hanging out because they have a tendency to end up in odd places like linen closets, but this is where I found her:

The cat carrier has been sitting out between vet visits for a couple of weeks and I just hadn't still haven't put it away, yet. Oddly, in spite of its association with a horrible place, both cats have been in and out of it the whole time it's been sitting in the living room. Dark, cocoon-like places are always favored retreats for cats but it still surprised me to find Isabel happily sleeping inside the carrier.

That's all for now! I'll be back when I return. I never know whether it'll be a day or two weeks, when I take time off, but I do tend to walk away from the computer as thoroughly as possible. So, don't freak out if it takes me a while to approve comments and/or reply to them. I will at least drop in daily and I often approve messages from my iPad but don't respond till I get to the computer (since my wonderful, hard-shell iPad case with full-size keyboard broke).

Happy Reading!

©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.