Monday Malarkey - Maybe things will get back to normal, now

Totally for fun:  A shot of Isabel sitting in the window on our snow day.  I thought the light behind her created a lovely, soft effect.  

Believe it or not, this is my first post since Kiddo returned to school from Christmas break.  Seriously, school is just beginning tomorrow! Hopefully, that means blogging and blog-hopping will get back to their regular pace.  We tagged along behind Kiddo, this weekend, to help him move back to Oxford with one brief stop in Water Valley, MS:

We went to The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery because Huzzybuns read about it in Food & Wine magazine.  It's the kind of place you go when you want food fresh from the farm and we emerged with cream, milk, freshly-baked bread and some gorgeous strawberries.  The milk was from Billy Ray's Farm.  This might not mean much to anyone who hasn't read the late Larry Brown, but Larry wrote a book of essays entitled Billy Ray's Farm.  At the time the book was published, Billy Ray was still working on fulfilling his farming dream.  It's been quite a while since I read the book but I loved it. I thought of Larry Brown as kind of an "Everyman Mississippi" and just walking out the door with a glass bottle of milk from his son's farm was a kick.

After stopping at Kiddo's apartment, we dashed off for what was intended to be a quick trip to Memphis that became a little bit of a nightmare.  Our first stop was no big deal, a road block to check validity of drivers' licenses.  Mine is all in order and the highway patrolman thanked me politely and said, "Drive carefully."  So, it was a pleasant road block, as road blocks go.  But, after we finished up at our destination (the Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma outlet stores), we had a little trouble getting out of Memphis.  Five patrol cars with flashing lights passed us and a million FedEx trucks that were stopped on the same route south (Memphis being a major distribution hub) before Huz decided perhaps The Wife was right and opted to go the long way around.

The other route, as it turned out, was also backed up but at least traffic was moving.  There was a point that we started to theorize about why everyone was trying to leave Memphis and nobody was succeeding. Had the plague arrived? Was the zombie apocalypse beginning? Did the ghost of Elvis head back to Mississippi?  At any rate, it was a long day but we arrived home safely with a new end table from the West Elm portion of the Pottery Barn outlet store and the next day I bought a lamp. So, now I have a nice, new reading corner.

It looks better with coffee on the coaster and a pile of books next to the lamp.  I tossed some change in the bowl and Isabel promptly showed up to check out the table and play with the coins.  This may have just become one of my all-time favorite cat photos:

You're probably wondering when I'll mention reading, at this point. Now is the time. As you can see from my sidebar, I'm way behind on reviewing. Again. Hopefully, not having family around will help me knock out some reviews, this week.  I've read 12 books, so far, in 2013 -- 16 if you count the 4 children's books I stopped to read as I was sorting through old children's books to purge.  January is always my best month and then the number I read per month tends to drop off until July or August -- always my low point because the heat makes everything slow down.  I'm currently reading The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin.  It's an ARC and the release date is February, so even though it was sent by a friend rather than the publisher, I thought it would be fun to read and review before everyone starts talking about it. 

Three books arrived, this week:

Well Wished by Franny Billingsley from Paperback Swap
Firefly Island by Lisa Wingate for tour
The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James for review

I am waiting on two other books, one for tour and one for my book group to share (I'm receiving quite a few copies and they've already all been claimed -- our group leader had to create a first-come, first-served list).  They seem to be taking their sweet time arriving and I confess I'm getting a little anxious about them.  One of them is due for tour in 9 days but it's not here yet.  The box of books for my book club will need to be distributed for February discussion.  I hope neither has been lost in the mail.  I'll let you know what happens.

UPDATE:  The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen has arrived!  Woot!  It's the book I'm to tour on the 29th.  

I missed the presidential inauguration, today, so I'm off to read a transcript of Obama's speech.  I've heard it was uplifting.  Happy Monday, MLK, Jr. Day and Inauguration Day!  Even if you're not from the U.S., at least one of those works.

©2013 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 Friday - What the Cat Saw

Yesterday, Izzy was fascinated with what happened outdoors.  So were the rest of us.

Snow!  It had completely melted, not long after noon, but we got 2"!  Excitement!

©2013 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.

The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley

Oh, boy.  This one is going to be rough.  I think I'll let a coffee mug interview me.  Sound good?  I haven't been interviewed in a while.

WARNING:  I've tried to keep this interview as spoiler-free as possible, but if you want this book to be totally surprising or plan to read The Promise of Stardust right away, I'd advise you to skip down to the bottom line.  Sometimes I screw up and give things away, in spite of good intentions.  This part's probably not a spoiler:

Coffee Mug:  What is The Promise of Stardust about?

Bookfool:  The Promise of Stardust is about a moral dilemma -- to remove from life support or not?  When neurologist Matt Beaulieu is called to the emergency room after his wife Elle has fallen and hit her head, he knows immediately that she is never coming back; she is brain dead.  Elle's mother was obviously in terrible pain, even when comatose, as she lay slowly dying, and Elle has always made it clear to friends and family that she absolutely does not want to be kept alive in a comatose state.

BUT . . . Here's where it starts to get potentially spoilery.  Skip this bit if you're nervous that I'll say something I shouldn't!  I'll let you know when it's safe to come out from under the table.

CM:  Why does Matt choose to leave Elle on life support?  What's the dilemma?

BF:  Elle is pregnant; without pregnancy, there would be no question about how to proceed. Matt understands his wife's instructions but knowing, as a neurologist, that she is brain dead and can feel no pain, he feels that she would want to be kept alive to give her unborn child a chance.  She's had numerous miscarriages and one stillbirth.  The chances that her body will continue to function till delivery are stacked against the baby's survival.  And, yet, Elle desperately wanted a baby, so Matt believes it's important to attempt to keep her alive long enough to deliver.

CM:  So . . . okay.  Matt is the husband.  What's the problem?

BF:  Just about everyone disagrees with Matt.  His mother, her brother, Matt's family, Elle's former boyfriend . . . everyone but Elle's father.  And, Matt's mother takes legal action to have her removed from life support.  Matt's mother is in possession of Elle's advanced medical directive.  But, is it still valid?  Does Matt have any say in what happens to his unborn child?

CM:  What makes this book resonate with you, as a reader?

BF:  My father died of the latent effects of a head injury and was removed from life support.  I can relate to this kind of tragedy.

CM:  Whose side were you on?

BF:  I thought Elle would want to be kept alive, but only because of her unborn child and her lack of pain.  It does enter into the bounds of the whole "personhood" controversy, about which I have mixed feelings.

CM:  Are you going to tell us how the court case and/or dilemma was resolved?

BF:  Of course not!  You really have to read the book, yourself.  Even if you're a coffee mug, I suggest bringing tissues along to the reading of this book.

END WARNING!  It's safe to emerge from your closet, or whatever.  The rest is just my opinion.

CM:  The bottom line?

BF:  Highly recommended.  I loved The Promise of Stardust.  It is a thought-provoking book worth talking about.  The dilemma is obviously a controversial one in many ways, but . . . I wanted to talk to someone about it.  I think it would make a terrific book club read.

CM:  What book do you recommend reading in tandem with The Promise of Stardust if you're in the mood to generate a really noisy discussion?

BF:  When She Woke by Hillary Jordan would be a great book to discuss with The Promise of Stardust -- that is, if your reading group can handle controversy.  My group is very enthusiastic and sometimes they'll just holler right over each other.  I don't know what would happen with the abortion/life support topic, but I think it would be interesting to pair the two books for discussion.

CM:  Dude.

BF:  Sweet.

CM:  I have to go, now.  I have coffee duty.  But, speaking of mugs . . . shall I pose?

BF:  Another time, but thanks for the offer.  I think a photo of someone mugging for the camera sounds ideal:

©2013 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.

Recent Arrivals at the Home of a Book Glutton

Since I took a lengthy holiday break and I have a tendency to move my books from room to room, I've got a couple photos of arrivals and I'll just list the rest of the books that have arrived -- those I can remember, that is.  

Top to bottom:

Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick - Unsolicited from Algonquin Books (read and reviewed in 2012)
Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick - from Sourcebooks for review
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres - library sale purchase
A Rather Lovely Inheritance by C. A. Belmond - library sale purchase
Three Came Home by Agnes Newton Keith - library sale purchase
Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd - from TLC Tours for review
Fly Now! by Joanne Gernstein London - library sale purchase

Here's a shot of the cover of Heading Out to Wonderful (paperback release).  What do you think?  I love the paperback cover!

And, another stack:

Top to bottom:

Tributary by Barbara K. Richardson - from swap with friends
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt - from swap with friends
The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin - sent by my delightful friend Paula
Portrait of a Turkish Family by Irfan Orga - purchased for an F2F group meeting that I'll miss . . . oh, well
The Bronte Sisters by Catherine Reef - from swap with friends
Things We Couldn't Say by Diet Eman and James Schaap - purchased for F2F group read
Day After Night by Anita Diamant - from swap with friends

Not pictured (will review those I've already finished, ASAP):

Firefly Island by Lisa Wingate (just arrived, today) - from Bethany House for tour (link leads to Publisher's Weekly review)
Coventry by Helen Humphreys - from swap with friends, already read
An Unexpected Angel by Janet H. Halling - drawing win from Holly at 2 Kids and Tired Books, already read
The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie - purchased after reading Jenclair's enthusiastic review, already read
Wall and Piece by Banksy - gift to self for Christmas, already read
The India Fan by Victoria Holt - from Sourcebooks for review
Titanic Remembered: The Unsinkable Ship and Halifax by Alan Ruffman - via Paperback Swap, already read

I hope that's everything!

©2013 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 Folk Keeper by F. Billingsley, Poison Study by M. Snyder and The Garden of Happy Endings by B. O'Neal

Once again, these are mini reviews of books that came from my personal library.

The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley was my last book read in 2012.  After reading the neurotic cat humor book that I found somewhat less than humorous, I felt like I needed to quickly read something I loved to end my year.  I figured that The Folk Keeper was a good bet, since Chime by Franny Billingsley was one of my favorite books in 2011.  

The style in both books is very similar; both are fantasy and in both cases, Billingsley doles out clues slowly and sparingly so that it takes a while to figure out where you are and what's going on . . . but in a good way.  You know how sometimes it can be terribly frustrating to have an author keep too many secrets from you, but at other times it feels more like a mystery is slowly unfolding and it's more of an adventure?  The Folk Keeper was the latter.

I am so impressed with Franny Billingsley.  The Folk Keeper is a middle-reader about a girl masquerading as a boy to get the job of Folk Keeper -- a person who keeps the harmful Folk at bay.  Taken from the foundling home by a dying Lord, she is transported to a manor where she will continue her job as Folk Keeper in the cellar.  But, there are new dangers near the seaside and there is much that Corin/Corinna doesn't know about herself.  Scary and original enough to compete with a Gaiman, with a bit of magic and even a tiny touch of romance.

Highly recommended - a dark, mysterious, atmospheric book, beautifully written and deliciously creepy.  The Folk Keeper was the perfect read to end 2012 and would make an absolutely wonderful read for the annual R.I.P. Challenge.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder is actually Kiddo's book.  I noticed Snyder has a more recent series and since Kiddo has read two of her series and enjoyed them, I bought him the two newer titles for Christmas then asked if I could read one.  Instead, Kiddo shoved Poison Study into my hands.  Here's what Isabel has to say about Poison Study:

1222222222222222222222

Obviously, she missed some key discussion points.  Poison Study is about Yelena, a woman who is reprieved from a death sentence for murder when there's an opening for the job of food taster to the Commander of Ixia.  Not only must Yelena take her chances with the potential for poisoning (because there is no escape), she must also keep her eyes out for the people who want to kill her for the murder she committed.  Plus, she's got a little bit of a magic problem -- a touch of magic in a place where magical ability alone is a death sentence -- and she's haunted by the ghost of the man she killed, a very nasty man who deserved to die.  Just so you know Yelena is a cool chick.

There were things I disliked about the world of Poison Study, but once I became accustomed to it I loved the story, even though I thought it bore some similarities to the only Snyder novels I've read: Inside Out and Outside In.  A super-tough heroine who sometimes doubts her own strengths and abilities and gets beat up quite a bit, plus a very evil bad guy and at least one character who is not what he or she seems were the common denominators I recognized.  Regardless, I loved Poison Study and actually had a little trouble switching gears when I picked up the next book.  Poison Study was my first read in 2013.

Highly recommended - A very entertaining read with numerous dilemmas, a touch of magic and an action-heavy plot.

The Garden of Happy Endings by Barbara O'Neal is a book I won in a drawing, last year, after a friend's gushy recommendation just happened to coincide with a blog drawing.

In The Garden of Happy Endings, minister Elsa's world is rocked when a young girl from her church is murdered.  Unable to help her church family through their grief because she is having her own crisis of faith, Elsa leaves Seattle to spend time with her sister, Tamsin, and her former fiancee, Joaquin (aka, "Father Jack") in Pueblo, Colorado.

In Pueblo, Elsa stays busy helping build a neighborhood garden and serving in Father Jack's soup kitchen while helping her sister through a crisis of her own.  There are a lot of personal crises in The Garden of Happy Endings, some really scary trouble with gang members, a few poignant moments with parishioners and a bit of a romance.

I liked The Garden of Happy Endings but I didn't love it and I can't quite put a finger on why. There was just something about the writing style that bothered me a bit, I suppose, or perhaps it was a little too predictable.  Regardless, The Garden of Happy Endings is an engrossing story that explores some deep topics and which contains a surprising amount of conflict of both the internal and external varieties -- stuff happens, in other words, and yet there is a nice balance of darkness and light.  While the book addresses God and faith, it's not a preachy book.

Recommended - A nice, light read about life, love and faith that is very difficult to put down. I'd recommend The Garden of Happy Endings for beach reading.

In other news:

• We went to Les Miserables for the second time, this weekend, and loved it just as much on the second viewing as the first.  I really, really need to read the book.  But, mostly I just walk past my copy and sigh.  
• I read about a study in which diet soda was implicated for causing higher incidences of depression in regular drinkers.  Huh.  In the same study, they found that regular coffee drinking reduces depression.  So, I bought a coffee maker.  I need all the help I can get. 
• I've photographed some recent arrivals but a "book box" has just arrived at my house, so I've got a few more to snap.  I'm in an online group that holds group swaps, you see.  We just pass a box around.  Each person removes a few books and replaces those removed with an equal or greater number of books -- usually ARCs, but not always.  Fun!
• Isabel got her shots recently.  She weighs 9.1 pounds.  That makes her the smallest cat I have ever been owned by.  I was wondering if Vans (she's a rescue and obviously not a breed but a distant relative of the long-haired Turkish Van) are unusually intelligent because she is also the smartest cat I've ever owned. So I read up a bit and, sure enough, she fits the description perfectly.  Vans love water, are very energetic explorers, play hard and sleep hard, are people cats and are fiercely intelligent.  One of Isabel's favorite games keeps me running to change her water frequently.  She likes to drop her dry cereal in the water bowl, just so she can fish it back out.  
•  It's cold and rainy, perfect reading weather. Happy Monday!

©2013 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 Friday: Ever get the feeling your sister is up to something?

©2013 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.

Minis! Lucy by Ellen Feldman, How to Live with a Neurotic Cat by S. Baker and Letter from New York by Helene Hanff

One of my goals for 2013 (which I haven't bothered to write about -- just don't feel like writing down my goals, this year) is to attempt to keep my reviews short so I won't spend so much time online. Boy, did I fail on that count with House of Earth!  But, I feel a little more comfortable with brevity when I read off my own shelves, for some reason, so the following are mini reviews of books from my own shelves.

Lucy by Ellen Feldman is a fictionalized account of the love affair between Lucy Mercer and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  I must have had my head in the mud because I'd never heard of Lucy Mercer till recently but I love reading about Roosevelt and my interest was piqued when my friend Paula read Lucy.  She very kindly sent me her copy (so it wasn't on my shelf for long).  

I was terribly impressed with Lucy.  It's told from Lucy's point of view and is quite believable for historical fiction about real-life characters in my opinion, possibly at least in part because the author took her time describing how the relationship developed.  But, the writing also was very well done.  I've read two books by Ellen Feldman, now, and I found Lucy much more sharply drawn, the characters very well-rounded.  There were only a couple moments when I thought she drove home a point a little too fiercely and pulled me out of the story.

The author's note describes her use of letters and other documents and all indications lead to the thought that she did a rocking fine job of research.  Highly recommended.  Lucy was published in 2003 by W. W. Norton & Co. 

How to Live with a Neurotic Cat by Stephen Baker is supposed to be humorous, but it didn't play on my own cats' idiosyncracies. I think we can all agree that they're pretty unusual animals.  They're extremely active, even though they're now 4 and 3 years old, and they come running when I call them by name (unless they're deep in the midst of a nap).  They have been trained to use cardboard and carpet-covered cat scratching surfaces, so they don't rip into the furniture.  And, in the book there was absolutely nothing about cats knocking things off dressers.  Isabel is big into "Knock It Off the Dresser," (usually around 4:00 AM) "Knock it Into the Bathtub" and other similar games.  

I read How to Live with a Neurotic Cat because it's been on my shelves for eons and it's short.  I figured it would be a good book to read quickly and donate.  A friend of mine who has more cats than I do loved How to Live with a Neurotic Cat.  I gave it 2 stars and had to quickly gobble down another short book to cleanse my palette, I disliked it so much.  But, like I said, I think that's got something to do with the fact that my cats are so unique. They're really both more dog than cat, in many ways.  

I love this review of How to Live with a Neurotic Cat at Cinamaetcetera. I think it's a little more fair than what I have to say about the book, a 1985 publication of Gramercy Books (a Random House imprint).  Heh, told you it's been around a while, although I think mine was a reprint and didn't linger that long.

I got my copy of Letter from New York by Helene Hanff after reading 84, Charing Cross Road.  It took a while to acquire this book and another title of hers, since I opted to get them via Paperback Swap, and then probably at least 2-3 years for me to get around to reading Letter from New York.

As you can see from the subtitle at the bottom, "Letter from New York" was a radio spot on the BBC Woman's Hour Broadcasts during which Helene spoke about life in New York.  I think it was broadcast monthly, although I neglected to take notes.  Letter from New York is a collection of all of the writings she could find from her days in radio.  A few went missing.

I absolutely loved this book.  Her writings were just stories from everyday life and, as such, painted an intriguing capsule portrait of life in New York City in the 1970s.  Over the 6 years of her writings, things changed.  A garden that was abandoned for lack of funds was brought back to life by volunteer effort, Christmas concerts that had been free for decades began to cost money, dogs died and new ones were adopted.  Helene Hanff was dog crazy and I absolutely love her stories about the dogs in her building.  Letter from New York is, like her better-known 84, Charing Cross Road, the kind of book that you close thinking, "I'll want to return to this world, some time in the future." 

Highly recommended.  A pleasant afternoon or evening read, quick enough to zip through but enjoyable enough to savor.

And, since I've admitted I'm old because I very well could have bought that neurotic cat book in 1985, although I'm almost positive I didn't, a peek into ancient history . . . 

That's a photo I found tucked into my baby book, during the holiday break.  I am on the right, kissing big sis goodbye on her first day of "big girl school".  I don't have to confess the year, but you can probably figure it out or at least come close.  I was 4 years old; she was 6.  It always irritated her that I was never that far behind her in height.  And, of course, I had great hair.  Haha.  

©2013 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.

House of Earth by Woody Guthrie

I'm back!  First a review . . . 

One year.  And what is a year?  A Year is something that can be added on, but it can never be taken away.  Yes, added on, earmarked and tagged, counted in signs of dollars and cents, wrote down the income column and across the page with names, and photos can be taken of faces and clipped onto the papers, and the prints of the new baby's feet can be stamped on the papers of the birth, and the print of the thumb going back to work can be stamped onto the papers to say it is a good place to work.  And a year is work.  A year is that nervous craving to do your good job and draw down your good pay, and to join your good union.

And a year of work is three hundred and sixty-four, or five, or six days of the run, the hurry, the walking, the bouncing, and the jumping up and down, the arguments, fights, the liquor brawls, hangovers, headaches, and all.  Work takes in all climates, all things, all rooms, all furrows, all streets, all sidewalks, and all the shoes that tramp on them.  The whirl and roll of planets do not make a year a year, nor the breath of the trifling wind, changing from cold to hot, forming steam back into ice.  Oceans of waters that flow down from the tops of the Smokies and roll in the sea, they help some to make a year a year, but they don't make the year.

--from pp. 101-102 of House of Earth (Uncorrected Proof - some changes may be made to the final print version)

House of Earth by Woody Guthrie is a February 2013 release from Harper, so I jumped the gun a bit by reading it in December.  But I'm from Oklahoma, we claim Woody, and I was reading a book about the Dust Bowl at the time (although I didn't finish it) so I really, really wanted to read a novel set during the Dust Bowl.

As it turned out, I had a terrible time getting into House of Earth and, in fact, fell asleep reading it every day for about a week.  Had I not made it to the final section of the book (and I did consider abandoning House of Earth numerous times), I would have missed the best part.

In the beginning, Tike and Ella May Hamlin muse about their dream to buy a parcel of land on which to farm and build an adobe house, even while having sex -- for about 32 pages or so.  And, then pretty much all they talk about is the farm, their dreams, work that needs to be done and sex, sex, sex.  There is one point when Tike shouts at the house and you get the initial hint that this moment is not about the house alone but an expression of his frustration at being stuck in a dead-end cycle of poverty, living as a sharecropper and renting a falling-down house from a wealthy man who is not about to sell a workable piece of land and lose his regular income.  

I confess I may not have caught the meaning at that point, if not for the introductory notes, although eventually the symbolism is clarified.  At any rate, Ella May is happy, even though she's taken a major step down in the world by marrying Tike; and, later you'll find out why.

The first 2/3 or so of House of Earth is so buried in Tike's sexual urges and Ella May's cutesy responses that I found it difficult to see through to the purpose of the story.  But, in the final section a year has passed.  Ella May is bursting with child.  It's winter and Ella May is fiercely determined to make a new life for the family.  Now, sharecropping is no longer a tolerable inconvenience but a danger for her coming child, who will have to live with dust and wind coming through the walls.  That fine dust from ruined fields caused a kind of pneumonia that could kill.

During the final section of House of Earth, it seemed to me that all the symbolism buried earlier in the book went from fuzzy to overt and I could look back at the story and understand how the adobe house Tike wanted to build not only represented their dreams but the concept of self-sufficiency as a basic tenet of life that all people deserve to attain with hard work.

However, Tike was so very, very irritating that I gave the book an average rating at Goodreads, even though I felt like House of Earth was deeply meaningful, in the end.  The huge amount of sex talk was exhausting.  No wonder I kept falling asleep.  Maybe all that sex and sex talk was a parallel to the concept of the desire to give birth to the dream of owning their own home and land, growing things on it, etc.?  

At any rate, I was so startled by the clarity of the final section and how it pulled everything together that I considered giving the book a high rating on that basis alone. And, you can see from the quote above that House of Earth definitely had its moments. But, I decided in hindsight it would be crazy to highly recommend a book that fell into the sedative category till the final 40 pages.

3/5 - Recommended only to people who can tolerate lengthy sex scenes and appreciate symbolism.  Boring to me, till the final section, which pretty much knocked my socks off.  There is little about the Dust Bowl, itself; it is a setting -- maybe even an allegorical character, nature as the force of poverty, both unrelenting.  There's a lot of merit to House of Earth but too much that I detested about it.  One more fun quote:

". . . Ahhh. Ding bust this dad-ratted old dod-rotted radio to the south pole and back, anyhow!"

p. 110

In other news:

• I planned on staying on Holiday Blogging Break till Kiddo goes back to school but he still has a full two weeks before classes begin and my sidebar was getting a little on the heavy side with 11 books read since I wrapped up posting in 2012.  So, here I am.
• When Blogger forced the new interface on us (no, I still don't love it, although there are some features that are definite improvements) they narrowed the colors available for highlighting text.  I'd noticed that, but this is the first time I've gone looking for brown and realized there are no brown shades at all.  The color I used to highlight House of Earth is as brown as it gets, that nasty yellow ochre the darkest shade of yellow available.  Yeeeuck.
• I'm reading The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley (another February release, from WilliamMorrow) and I think it might be a good one for group discussion if you don't mind getting into controversial territory.  I'll likely finish that, tonight.  Can't seem to put it down.
• I've had no luck loading videos at YouTube, recently (I get an error message, every time) but I have a tremendously fun video of Isabel watching the Christmas train go round and round the tree, batting at it and occasionally going around the tree in the opposite direction to watch it coming toward her.  She was utterly fascinated with the train. Trust me, you'd love it.  
• I've bought and received a few books during my break (and have a big sack ready to donate).  I'll try to gather the new arrivals for a portrait, soon.  Usually, I have a specific shelf for incoming books but it's just become The Cookbook Shelf.  My husband has an affinity for Very Fat Cookbooks.  I shall have to adapt.

How is 2013 going for you, so far?

©2013 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.

Books Read in 2012

This is a temporary post that will be supplanted by a permanent post linked in my sidebar, eventually.  I thought you'd just like to see what I read in 2012.  I've highlighted books that really stand out in my memory in bold lettering.  Most are among my favorites but I decided just to highlight the stories that really stuck to my ribs, whether fiction or nonfiction, books for the young or old or everyone in-between.  Some made me laugh and a couple made me cry.  Links lead to reviews or, sometimes, just a paragraph within other text, about the book listed.

2012 Reads:

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

June

73. Jasmine Nights - Julia Gregson

74. Forbidden - Syrie & Ryan James

75. Spark - Amy Kathleen Ryan

76. Courage in Times of Disappointment - George Samuel

77. Alone in Berlin - Hans Fallada 

78. Silver Sparrow - Tayari Jones 

79. Into the Free - Julie Cantrell

80. Soft Target - Stephen Leather

81. Poopendous! - Bennett & Moran

82. I Need My Monster - Noll & McWilliam

83. Victricia Malicia, Book-Loving Buccaneer - Clickard & Meyers

84. Robopocalypse - Daniel H. Wilson

July

85. Kaytek the Wizard - Janusz Korczak

86. This Year You Write Your Novel - Walter Mosley 

87. Truth Be Told - Larry King

88. Johnson's Life of London - Boris Johnson

89. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce

90. The Bond - Wayne Pacelle

91. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

92. The Knights of Derbyshire - Marsha Altman

93. Dreaming in English - Laura Fitzgerald

August

94. The Aleppo Codex - Matti Friedman

95. The Prisoner of Heaven - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

96. Shadow Show - ed. by Weller and Castle

97. The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving - Jonathan Evison

98. Enchanting Lily - Anjali Banerjee

99. The Sandcastle Girls - Chris Bohjalian

100. The Stars Shine Bright - Sibella Giorello

101. Miss Buncle's Book - D. E. Stevenson

102. Who's Looking at You? - Stephane Fratelli

103. Tushes and Tails - Stephane Frattelli

September

104. The Lost Button - Irene Rozdubudko

105. Circling the Waggins - C. A. Wulff

106. A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway

107. The Paris Wife - Paula McLain

108. Hemingway's Wife - Erica Robuck

109. The Exceptions - David Cristofano

110. A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas

111. Puff the Magic Dragon - Yarrow, Lipton and Puybaret

112. Being Frank - Earnhardt & Castellani

113. The Lifeboat - Charlotte Rogan

October

114. Will You Be My Friend? - Gyo Fujikawa

115. A Christmas Memory - Truman Capote

116. Lola's Secret - Monica McInerney

117. Wait Till Helen Comes - Mary Downing Hahn

118. The Man Who Never Was - Ewen Montagu

119. Ned Kelly and the City of the Bees - Thomas Keneally

120. 11/22/63 - Stephen King

121. Miracle & Other Christmas Stories - Connie Willis

122. When it Happens to You - Molly Ringwald

123. The Four Seasons: Japanese Haiku

124. The Longest Way Home - Andrew McCarthy

November

125. The Faithful Gardener - Clarissa Pinkola Estes

126. Moranthology - Caitlin Moran

127. Flight Behavior - Barbara Kingsolver

128. Miss Buncle Married - D. E. Stevenson

129. The Dark Unwinding - Sharon Cameron

130. The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas - Julia Romp

131. Aesop's Fables - illustrated by Charles Santore

132. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - Barbara Robinson

133. The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories 2 - HitRecord

134. Stable in Bethlehem - Hulme and Andreasen

135. Christmas Magic - Hall and Mendez

136. The Great Christmas Crisis - K. Norman and J. Ho

137. A Pirate's Twelve Days of Christmas - P. Yates and S. Serra

138. Outside In - Maria V. Snyder

December

139. The Walnut Tree - Charles Todd

140. A Walk in the Park - Jill Mansell

141. Comet's Tale - S. Wolf & L. Parma

142. Underground - Haruki Murakami

143. Bad Cat - Jim Edgar

144. The 13 Clocks - James Thurber

145. Spot the Animals - Illustrated by Steve Jenkins

146. 1-2-3 Dinosaurs Bite! - Illustrated by Steve Jenkins

147. House of Earth - Woody Guthrie

148. News from Heaven - Jennifer Haigh

149. Lucy - Ellen Feldman

150. Letter from New York - Helene Hanff

151. How to Live with a Neurotic Cat - Stephen Baker

152. The Folk Keeper - Franny Billingsley

©2013 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.