Spring Reading Thing 2010

It's been a long while since I've participated in Katrina's reading challenges, but now that I'm a bit more settled in the new house and have that all-important library card.... Well, it's time to jump back in!

I am trying to avoid my tendency to put reading ahead of the other responsibilities in my life, hence my list is shorter than in times past. This also has to do with the fact that many of the books are library requests and I am not sure how long it will take to get them. The library here has a shorter check-out period than I've been accustomed to (2 vs. 3 weeks), so I may have to do the unusual (for me, at any rate) and renew some of them. I'm not sure of the rules here, but in previous libraries, renewing wasn't an option if someone else was waiting, so hopefully that won't be a problem. The online system back in CA actually showed me what my position in the holds list was, so I knew how many people were ahead of and behind me in the list; I don't have that luxury here, so I'm flying blind.

With all that out of the way, here's the list:

Books on hand

The Annotated Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery. This has been on my shelf for a good while now. 


The Wee Musketeers, Robert Bresloff. This is an Advanced Reader's Copy I received through LibraryThing. It's a kids' book and won't take long once I take the time to sit down with it. Looks like fun, and is right up Joel's alley. 

Not a Tame Lion, Bruce Edwards. Another book I've had for quite some time. I actually began this one, but it got misplaced in one of our moves and I found it again shelving books after this one. 


Shades of Blue, Karen Kingsbury. Technically not on hand, but will be arriving in the next week or so.

Books I'm waiting on

Girl Meets God, Lauren Winner. This book received a lot of buzz several years ago, but this will be my first chance to read it.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller. Having loved his previous books, I'm really looking forward to this one.

Take Three, Karen Kingsbury. Third in a series of four.

Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver. Light fiction... read an online review that sounded interesting.

Coral Moon, Brandilyn Collins. Another book I read a recent review of. I've read some of her work before. Light suspense, nothing heavy.

The Rise of the Black Wolf,  Derek Benz. This is second in a trilogy for young adults. Joel is currently reading the first (which I read a few years ago). I want to pre-read this one for him.

The Fall of the Templar, Derek Benz. Book three of the trilogy.

I'm also hoping to come across something good to read aloud with the kids. We have gotten out of the practice of reading aloud and I'd like to start again.

Help, I've fallen behind and I can't catch up!

At least that's how it feels. I have been wanting to post for what seems forever, but there just hasn't been a good time. Either that, or the body just wasn't willing. I'm fighting some kind of crud (I think I'm winning now) and also single-parenting this week. Brian is in Missouri visiting his mom and will be back after work on Friday.

I had to take Emily to the doctor yesterday. She called me from school and said she couldn't hear out of one ear and was dizzy. Turns out that ear had quite a bit of fluid build-up and was rather red as well. She's on high-dose Amoxil for 5 days (1 gram TID ... 3x a day for non-medical folks).

The kids and I went to see a free sneak preview of August Rush on Saturday. Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur and the Invisibles) shows his stuff again... His character travels the gamut of emotions in this film and Freddie makes it believable. I am wondering what kind of roles he'll be getting once he gets out of the child actor years. The music in the film is wonderful. Robin Williams was scary.... he played a Fagin-esque (how's that for a new word?) character who collected street kids in an abandoned theater and had them playing music on street corners to earn him money. Once you suspend belief and get past the whole idea of a mystical kind of ESP/awareness, it is much easier to enjoy the whole premise of the movie (young boy looking for the parents who never knew he existed).

I've managed to work on that reading challenge list some more. Just one book left to read from my original list (Barefoot). I really enjoyed How Starbucks Saved My Life... it was an easy read and just made so much sense. (And if you've ever wondered what it was like to work as a barista, you'll get a firsthand account.) Other books I've managed to get through are Split Ends, by Kristin Billerbeck, and The Oak Leaves. On the nightstand: Alaska Twilight, by Colleen Coble. For the carpool lane: The Book of Jane, Anne Dayton.

A chance to win and reading challenge update

New meme seen at Jenni's... First 3 people to comment and leave this promise on their blog will win a little something from me sometime in the next few months. Kind of a "pay it forward" thing, it seems. You'll need to give me your contact info (mailing address) if you are one of the first 3 (I'll check to make sure you've posted your pledge before notifying you and asking for an address)... so if anonymity is important, this giveaway isn't for you!

In other news, here's an update on the reading challenge. First, my original list:

1. Oceans Apart, Karen Kingsbury
2. Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe.
   
3. The 5-Minute Face, Carmindy.
   
4. When Faith Meets Fame, Guideposts.
   
5. Blameless: A Novel, Thom Lemmons.
   
6. Alpha Girls: Understanding the New American Girl and How She is Changing the World, Dan Kindlon. I actually gave up on this one. It was a total snoozer.
   
7. Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin', Paula Deen.
   
8. The Sleeping Doll, Jeffrey Deaver.
9. Sunrise, Karen Kingsbury.
   
10. Life's Healing Choices, John Baker.
11. It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff, Peter Walsh.
    
12. How Starbucks Saved My Life, Michael Gill.
13. Down River, John Hart.
14. The Other Mother, Gwendolen Gross.
15. Keeping the House, Ellen Baker.
16. Barefoot, Elin Hildebrand.
17. 74 Seaside Avenue, Debbie Macomber.
18. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold.
19. Still Summer, Jacquelyn Mitchard.
20. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards.

Books I've read not on the original list:

1. Abide With Me, Elizabeth Strout.
2. A Family in Full, Vanessa Del Fabbro.
   
3. Miss Invisible, Laura Jensen Walker.
   
4. The Next Thing on My List, Jill Smolinski.
   

Loved the last 2 books... definite recommendation from me. I'm currently working my way through The Oak Leaves, by Maureen Lang. It's my carpool read, so it's taking a little longer to get through than others. I may wind up bringing it in the house this weekend, since I'll be finishing up everything I have in the house to read. Oh wait... I have 2 of the books left on the original list waiting for pickup (unless I ran out of time on one.. ack). Maybe I can get to the library today to pick them up. I also have one impromptu book ready as well; the last book from the original list is still pending (I am number 3 in the holds list). I guess I will get a lot of extra books read waiting for that one!

No excuses

Yeah, yeah, yeah.... I know. No excuses here. I just haven't had a whole lot to say or a whole lot of time in which to say it. Now that Noah has started flag football, we have just one more thing on our plate. Actually, I guess that would be at least 2 more things, sometimes 3; one night of practice, plus 1 to 2 games a week (Thursday evenings and/or Saturday afternoons).

So to ease back into this posting thing, I'll go with something easy: an update on my fall reading challenge progress. I'll post the original list with the completed books in strikeout:

1. Oceans Apart, Karen Kingsbury
2. Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe.
   
3. The 5-Minute Face, Carmindy.
   
4. When Faith Meets Fame, Guideposts.
   
5. Blameless: A Novel, Thom Lemmons.
   
6. Alpha Girls: Understanding the New American Girl and How She is Changing the World, Dan Kindlon.
7. Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin', Paula Deen.
   
8. The Sleeping Doll, Jeffrey Deaver.
9. Sunrise, Karen Kingsbury.
   
10. Life's Healing Choices, John Baker.
11. It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff, Peter Walsh.
    
12. How Starbucks Saved My Life, Michael Gill.
13. Down River, John Hart.
14. The Other Mother, Gwendolen Gross.
15. Keeping the House, Ellen Baker.
16. Barefoot, Elin Hildebrand.
17. 74 Seaside Avenue, Debbie Macomber.
18. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold.
19. Still Summer, Jacquelyn Mitchard.
20. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards.

11 out of 20 books read so far. I am working on Alpha Girls right now. UGH. We'll see if I finish it. That's the one by my bed (it is good for getting into a sleeping mood, that's for sure). I have a new book not on my list in the van to read in the carpool line... Abide With Me, by Elizabeth Strout. Carrie recommended it, so I added it to my request list at the library and got it almost immediately. I just started it today during the kids' music lessons and am over halfway through it. I only have 3 other books on my list that are actually here at the house, plus 2 waiting to be picked up at the library. I guess I'm still in line for the other 4.

Oh, and before I forget... notice the header? I won it in the Dog Days of Summer giveaways back in the summer. The giver was a bit backed up and wasn't able to work on it till last week. It's a definite improvement over the one I improvised in Paint.

3 down, 17 to go

Well, I've finished the 2 Karen Kingsbury novels on my list. Those are almost always a quick read for me. I really liked them both. I'm not sure I've read one of hers I didn't like yet. I've also finished Blameless. That was one I had in the car with me this week. I've always wondered how folks could have more than one book going at a time, and I finally figured out a way it works for me. I keep one on my nightstand and one in the car; the latter one I read while I'm in the carpool line at Emily's school. Blameless was an easy read, not an extremely involved story. Think of it as an adaptation of Job for modern times. It was OK; I would actually have liked there to have been more to it.

On my nightstand now is Paula Deen's memoir. My exposure to Paula is pretty limited, as I do not watch The Food Network, so I've not seen her show. I did see her in Elizabethtown, though. And to my knowledge, I've only tasted one of her recipes.... that was just a couple of weeks ago at the ladies' breakfast at church (for inquiring minds, it was her Baked French Toast Casserole). So far, I am thoroughly enjoying this selection. It is delightfully written in southern dialect, complete with dropped g's on verbs ending in g, and colloquialisms that set me chuckling. The funniest thing about it is that Emily came in to talk to me last night after I'd been reading for a while and she stopped me in the middle of our conversation to ask, "Who have you been talking to? Your accent is back." I guess I don't have to actually hear southern to speak southern!

Fall into Reading

It's that time again! The kids and I just made a library run yesterday, so the books I got then will be part of the list; I'll also add the books that are in my "request hold" list.

1. Oceans Apart, Karen Kingsbury
2. Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe. This is one Emily is reading in her Advanced English class. When her teacher described it to us at Back-to-School Night, I decided I wanted to read it.
3. The 5-Minute Face, Carmindy. Talk about "fluff." But after watching her on "What Not to Wear," I'm interested in what she has to say.
4. When Faith Meets Fame, Guideposts.
   
5. Blameless: A Novel, Thom Lemmons. This is a guy whose family I went to church with up until I got married. (He was there too... it's just that he was a bit older than I was, so I didn't have much interaction with him.) I've wanted to read one of his books and just happened upon it while browsing the "new books" shelf yesterday.
6. Alpha Girls: Understanding the New American Girl and How She is Changing the World, Dan Kindlon.
7. Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin', Paula Deen.
   
8. The Sleeping Doll, Jeffrey Deaver.
9. Sunrise, Karen Kingsbury. This is the first book in her new series. I actually got to read the second one first, as it became available sooner.
   
10. Life's Healing Choices, John Baker.

Those are the ones I have right now. I actually finished #1 on the list yesterday. I read during lunch and while in carpool, and after getting home from Christmas choir practice last night. (It made me forget about the season premiere of Heroes. Guess I will have to watch it online!) Still on my hold list:

1. It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff, Peter Walsh. This is the guy from TLC's Clean Sweep show.
2. How Starbucks Saved My Life, Michael Gill.
3. Down River, John Hart.
4. The Other Mother, Gwendolen Gross.
5. Keeping the House, Ellen Baker.
6. Barefoot, Elin Hildebrand.
7. 74 Seaside Avenue, Debbie Macomber.
8. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold.
9. Still Summer, Jacquelyn Mitchard.
10. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards.

I think this is a much more doable list than the one I had in the spring. I am sure I will wind up with much more fiction on it as I run across new things, but these are the ones I am currently planning on reading.

Spring Reading ReCap

It being the first day of summer, Katrina at Calapidder Days has asked for our recaps on the Spring Reading Thing. My original list found here.

• What was the best book you read this spring? I cannot choose... loved all of the Karen Kingsbury I read and picking a favorite is near impossible.
• What book could you have done without? Definitely Lisey's Story. Stephen King just does nothing for me any more. I don't know if it's because I've changed, or he has. But I thought that book was utter crap.
  
• Did you try out a new author this spring? If so, which one, and will you be reading that author again? I tried a few... Judy Baer and Lisa Samson. Actually, I had read one of Lisa's books before and didn't like it, but kept hearing too many good things about her books not to try her again. I will probably read both of these authors again, although with Lisa's books, I will probably be able to tell by reading the jacket whether or not the book is a "fit" with me.
  
• If there were books you didn't finish, tell us why. Did you run out of time? Realize those books weren't worth it? I didn't finish 2 of my non-fiction items, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, and Not a Tame Lion. Honestly, it was a lack of discipline on my part; I just kept grabbing the fiction. Call me an escapist.
  
• Did you come across a book or two on other participants' lists that you're planning to add to your own to-be-read pile? Which ones? Uh... heck yes! I added them during the challenge, in fact. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander is one. And Gardenias for Breakfast by Robin Jones Gunn.
  
• What did you learn -- about anything -- through this challenge? Maybe you learned something about yourself or your reading style, maybe you learned not to pick so many nonfiction books for a challenge, maybe you learned something from a book you read. Whatever it is, share! I learned that reading nonfiction is easiest for me when I have someone to talk about it with. Otherwise, I am all about the story, baby! I will definitely not put so many non-fiction on my list next time. Therefore, I underestimated the # of books I could have on my list. I read a couple dozen more than I had planned on.
  
• What was the best part of the Spring Reading Thing? I liked seeing who else was into the same authors or subjects. And getting to read reviews... just fed my book addiction.
• Would you be interested in participating in another reading challenge this fall? You bet your sweet bippy!
  
• Any other thoughts, impressions, or comments. I had a blast participating and hope that next time I write more actual reviews of the books I read. I tend to read so fast that I don't have time to write a review before I'm on to the next one.
  

Just stuff

Lots of random things bumping around in the old grey matter today. I figure why fight it? So hang on: this is going to be a mish-mash of topics.

Spring Reading Challenge update: Still working on those last few non-fiction selections on my list. I'm about 1/2-way through Yancey's Prayer book (replacement for Where God Was Born), and more than 1/2-way through Lucado's Facing Your Giants. Same with How to Read the Bible... and Not a Tame Lion. The non-fiction is kicking my rear, I guess. But I did finish the fiction list and have added about a dozen more titles to the read column (since my last update, where I added 9 titles)... unfortunately, I returned many of them to the library without recording the titles; ones I can remember off the top of my head are Gardenias for Breakfast, and Private Justice & Shadow of Doubt (2 Teri Blackstock novels). Books I have here at the house that I've finished are 2 more Blackstock books, Line of Duty and Trial by Fire, Lisa Samson's Club Sandwich (I think my favorite of hers so far), Judy Baer's The Whitney Chronicles, and Confessions of a Super Mom (Melanie Hauser).

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The free concert last Saturday night was pretty good. We didn't bring lawn chairs to sit on the ball field and didn't want to stand up in front of the stage, so we made ourselves comfortable in the stands for the show. Lincoln Brewster was definitely better than Todd Agnew, but I enjoyed listening to the things Todd had to say in between songs. (I really think Todd's music is best enjoyed by listening to a studio version rather than live... there were lots of times he just didn't sound like he was quite where he should have been vocally.) Things got started later than they were supposed to and the kids got restless, so we ended up leaving before Todd finished.

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Joel has now moved up to the next level in his gymnastics class. I had promised him a uniform once he moved up, so we got that yesterday afternoon. Maybe I can get a picture of him in it today. Because he moved up, I had to switch days for gymnastics; He and Halle's classes run concurrently now so that we are at the gym for 1 hour on Tuesdays instead of 1 1/2 hours on Mondays.

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So now I've been to two different ladies' functions for church, the breakfast a week or so ago and a "Ladies' Afternoon Out" this past Sunday afternoon. There were a few more at the breakfast than at the last function, but a few of the same people were at each. Plus Brian and I attended a newcomer's class Sunday afternoon/evening, where we were able to meet some more couples, one of which is another homeschooling military family. It really looks like we will be able to be involved as much as we want/need to here.

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More book stuff: I've been lucky to be on the receiving end of some giveaways on other blogs lately. Lara just sent me one of the few Francine Rivers books I haven't read yet, Unshaken. And I was the lucky winner of one of Camy's weekly giveaways, Too Good to Be True, by Trish Perry. And then a few days ago, Carrie drew my name for a giveaway she was sponsoring and I'm looking forward to receiving The List, by Robert Whitlow, from her. I guess I will stop whining that I never win anything now!

Spring reading update

Since my last update, I'm still working my way through my original list; of the 9 books on my fiction list, I've read all but one and just began the last... The Ultimate Gift. But I've also read a bunch not on the list:

• The Church Ladies, Lisa Samson
• The Living End, Lisa Samson
• Halfway to Forever, Karen Kingsbury
• A Moment of Weakness, Karen Kingsbury
• Gideon's Gift, Karen Kingsbury
• Maggie's Miracle, Karen Kingsbury
• A Thousand Tomorrows, Karen Kingsbury
• Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
• Home for the Holidays, Meredith Efken
  

As far as my non-fiction list, I'm a couple of chapters into the Yancey book on Prayer, and maybe halfway through How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. I have the Lucado book (Facing Your Giants) from the library and will start it as soon as I finish the Yancey book.

The kids and I gave up on The Twenty-One Balloons ... just way too much extraneous material to hold their attention. We're about 6 chapters into The Apprentice now.

Spring into Reading

It's my first foray into the reading challenges at Callapidder Days!

I've never kept track of what I've read before, so this should be interesting. I'm wondering if my list is even long enough. Thankfully, there are only 3 on the list that I don't already have here at the house. I hope I am able to find them.

Fiction:

• Lisey's Story, Stephen King
• The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
• Fame, Karen Kingsbury
• Forgiven, Karen Kingsbury
• Found, Karen Kingsbury
• Family, Karen Kingsbury
• Forever, Karen Kingsbury
• The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield
• The Ultimate Gift, Jim Stovall

Nonfiction:

• Where God Was Born, Bruce Feiler
• Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation, Sarah Cunningham
• Facing Your Giants, Max Lucado
• How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, Fee and Stuart
• Not a Tame Lion, Bruce Edwards

With the kids:

• The Twenty-One Balloons, William Pene du Bois
• The Apprentice, Pilar Molina Llorente
• The Little Riders, Margaretha Shemin
• A Little Princess, Francis Hodgson Burnett (hoping the boys can sit for this one!)
• And the Word Came With Power, Joanne Shetler