a book, a short story, and a pile of tiny stories

First up, The Missing Girl by Norma Fox Mazer. This is the only book I've finished in the past couple weeks, and it was a while back that I actually finished it. I've been working my way through The Stand and catching up on my major backlog of scrapbooking magazines, but not getting much other reading done.

Anyway, The Missing Girl is the story of five sisters, Beauty, Mim, Stevie (born Faithful), Fancy, and Autumn. In a way I hesitate to call their family dysfunctional, but I do think it an appropriate label. The girls' parents are not alcoholics or drug addicts, they don't physical or sexually abuse the girls. But nor are they truly there for the girls. The father had an accident and badly injured his back. He has not been able to work since this accident, so money has been extremely tight. He has also pulled away from family life in many ways since the accident. And the mother, well, she seems unwilling to even try to deal with the stresses of their lives these days. So it is left to Beauty, at age 17, to take care of her sisters in many respects.

Life isn't easy for the girls, and something they don't know will soon make their lives so much worse. For there is a man, a sick, depraved man, who watches them. And eventually he kidnaps one of the girls. I won't spoil the story by telling you who he kidnaps or what happens from there. But I will say that while the kidnapping and what follows is the suspenseful part of the book, it's not what truly made this book so worthwhile. No, that was the girls themselves. They got under my skin. Each one, so unique, so human. Each one with their own strengths and weaknesses. And the way they related to one another. They felt so incredibly real, so human, that you couldn't help but get attached to them.

***

Now, a short story. Now, I fully admit that I have a hard time reviewing books. And I have an even harder time reviewing short stories. People like Nymeth and Stephanie and Carl make it look so easy. Whether it really is easy for them, I don't know, but they sure make it look effortless. Case in point, yesterday Nymeth reviewed a few stories, including one titled "The evolution of trickster stories among the dogs of North Park after the Change". She left me so intrigued that I had to immediately use the link she provided and go read the story myself. And now here I am, stuck trying to put into words my feelings about this story. It's the story of what happens in one particular park after the Change...the Change being an event which gave all domesticated animals the ability to speak in the languages we humans use. This story depends on all the stories within the story, and it is both this concept and the stories themselves which really fascinate. I've only recently really gained an appreciation for folklore, and this was just a treat. I'm having a hard time putting my feelings into words here, but "The evolution of trickster stories among the dogs of North Park after the Change" may well be the most original story I've ever read. Seriously. It's entertaining. It's sad. It's uniquely written. But most of all, it is thought-provoking. Extremely thought-provoking.

(I actually read another fabulous short story recently, but I can't seem to remember to ask Jean where it is going to be published. See, it was written by her son. And of course, she did tell me already, but my darn brain won't hand over the information. Hopefully, she'll read this and fill us all in, because I most definitely highly recommend it.)

***

And now for the tiny stories. For those of you who don't know, a tiny story is a story 100 words in length. Exactly 100 words. With no word repeated. It doesn't sound all that difficult to do, right? Wrong! It is soooo hard! Well, I guess I can only speak for myself. Maybe it comes much easier to some. But for me, well, it took hours upon hours to put together my tiny story. I would find a repeated word and have to rewrite sections. Then find another repeated word, and so on, and so on, and so on... Anyway, my effort paid off. During RIP II, Carl ran a tiny stories contest, featuring stories of the dark and creepy vein. And he posted the stories here at the beginning of RIP III. Now, I truly don't believe I deserved to win, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't totally thrilled about it! Beyond it just feeling really good, as many of you already know, Carl gives out the most amazing prize packages in all of blogland! Seriously, this guy is nothing if not generous! Thank you, Carl! And I highly recommend going over and reading everyone's stories...they are absolutely fabulous!!!

unofficially...

Yes, I've sworn off reading challenges except in a few special cases. But when I made this decision, I did qualify it with the "it's okay to unofficially participate" stipulation. So, here I am, already jumping on board a new challenge. But the Ban on Spending Book Challenge, hosted by the lovely J.Kaye, is a bit different. And I almost feel it a moral imperative that I join in (unofficially, of course). If not a moral imperative, certainly a financial one!

And since I'm adopting this unofficial status, I figure I can bend the rules a bit. The challenge is to make a list of books from your TBR piles that you must either read or admit that you're never going to read and pass them along to someone else. Before you are allowed to spend another cent more on additional books, this list must be dealt with. The bending of the rules part comes in here...I'm not going to make a list beforehand, as I've found that keeping to a strict list is what was taking some of the joy out of my reading life. Instead, I've decided to shoot for 20 books knocked off my TBR piles before spending any more money on books for myself. (Can't remember what the policy is on library books, but personally, I'm going with "I can get out library books, but they don't count towards the 20 books.") So, while I'm playing a little loose with the rules, I feel like I'm keeping with the essence of J.Kaye's challenge.

I have to admit that J.Kaye actually announced this challenge a couple weeks back, but I delayed joining in (even in this unofficial manner) because Rich and I were going to be enjoying a little getaway. And how do we choose to spend our evenings after a day of sight-seeing? Well, in a bookstore, of course! And with that on the horizon, I knew there was no way I could stick with the book buying ban. But that trip is behind us, and I have no excuse for further delay.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. I hope this doesn't get too painful! :)

I guess now would be a good time to award those blame points that have accumulated during the past few weeks, huh? (Since I'm leaving the library as an option for bringing books into the house, there will still be points to be awarded during this "trying time" but probably not as many as usually.) Anyway, what has made it in lately?



And well, frankly, several of these are simply not my fault!
*Shadow Cities by Robert Neuwirth...totally blame to Eva as I read about it in her sidebar and it sounded really interesting.
*A Long Way Gone by Ishmeal Beah...Kara's fault. At least, I hope I have this one right...she recommended it quite some time back, but I can't find the comment now. I figure even if I have the wrong book, it's still her fault because I thought it was this book. :)
*The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver...Jean is the guilty party. After reading
her review a few months back, I've picked this book up in the store several times but always set it back down. This time my willpower ran out.
*Insect Potpourri: Adventures in Entomology by Jean Ruth Adams...not pictured here because it was given to Rich and Annie, is Jimmy's fault. (Jimmy is J.Kaye's son. As if it's not bad enough that she's there tempting me with all these delicious reads, she's now got her kids in on the action!)
And finally, I bet you can all guess who is the most evil temptress of all, can't you? Yep, Nymeth...who made me bring three books home...
*Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland...irresistible review found here.
*Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo...even more irresistible review found here. (This one missed getting in the picture, as I forgot I had moved it to my RIP pile.)
*Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer...simply because she's mentioned this as one of her favorite books. (You know, she has such exquisite taste in books that I think I'd probably read the phone book if she recommended it!)

Whew. I think that now has The Blame Game up-to-date. For now.

Edited to add:
I was even worse than I thought the last few weeks. As I was putting away those books from the picture, I noticed another small pile of acquisitions. (Green Angel by Alice Hoffman, Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, and Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese)

this one means a lot

It's always so nice when someone gives you an award, isn't it? But this one, for some reason, is just really special to me, most especially coming from Nymeth. She is someone I've come to absolutely adore, as she is without question one of the nicest people on the planet. And I admit, I sometimes wonder if she thinks me quite the dork after some of the comments I leave her. You know, she said something in talking about this award that rang so true to me, and I imagine it does to a lot of others..."sometimes wondering if the comments I leave are too long, too short, too bland, too cheerful, not cheerful enough, irrelevant, annoying, etc." I try to tell myself when I'm commenting that as long as I'm sincere in what I say, that's the best I can do. If people think I'm an idiot, well so be it.

Anyway, I'm now to pass this award on to seven people. I know, only seven?!! Isn't that cruel? Because each and every comment is appreciated! Be they from someone who pops in once in a lifetime, once a week, or for every single boring post I write. But I will follow the rules and pick seven. Seven people, who when I click that "comments" link and see their names, I know my day will be a bit brighter. Brighter because they are always supportive, always have the sweetest things to say, always manage to put a smile on my face. Nymeth, Melody, Dawn, Chris, J.Kaye, Carl, and Eva.

Yeah, seven really wasn't enough.

a snippet of dinner conversation

Annie: I've decided that I want another job, along with being a vet, an author, and a wildlife photographer.

Me: Do tell.

Annie: I want to work for the CIA.

Max: I want to be a superhero when I grow up.

Rich: What about you Gray?

Gray: I want to be an evil clown.

--So, do you think we should be worrying? Or is he just getting into the spirit of the season?

enjoy reading and/or writing?

Now, I know nearly everyone who read that title answered with a resounding "YES"...am I right? Well, then do I have a fun site for you to check out. FieldReport. Yes, I was asked to check out this site for a blog tour and post about. Does that have anything to do with my thoroughly enthusiastic feelings about this site? NO. Trust me on this one, FieldReport is simply one of the coolest sites I've ever seen.

So, what exactly is it? I'm not sure how to categorize it, as I've never seen another site like it. You'll just have to bear with me as I try, probably ineptly, to explain a bit about it. Writers, both professional and otherwise, submit works of personal non-fiction. You know, the kind of writing that many of us bloggers do at least some of the time. Which is the reason for the blog tour--they are hoping to attract writers from the blogging world, as this is often the type of writing they already do. But why would someone want to submit their work? Well, I'm willing to bet that writers enjoy sharing their work and would appreciate honest feedback. But face it, cash prizes are a mighty nice incentive as well. Yep, cash prizes, including the The FieldReport Prize for Experiential Reporting (their grand prize) of $250,000. (No, that was not a typo!)

Of course, if you're of those people like me, who know that their talents lie in areas other than writing, you might feel this isn't a site for you. Before you jump to that conclusion, I strongly urge you to check it out. Because at the heart of the site is not simply the submission of these reports, it's also the reviewing. It wasn't mandatory that I sign up to participate in the blog tour, but I couldn't resist. I found myself getting caught up in story after story from the lives of real people. And don't be intimidated by the idea of "reviewing" the stories. It's not time consuming, and it doesn't involve writing a bunch of in-depth analysis. It merely means that you rate the piece on a sliding scale from 1 to 10. And you can also add a sentence or two of commentary.

And you know what, the site is free. You earn a review credit for each piece you read and rate. And if you would like to submit your own field report, it merely costs you 5 review credits. Pretty cool, huh?

Thank you, Dewey, for turning me on to this ultra-cool website!

good stuff

How could I have let so much time go by without reminding myself of all the good stuff a day can bring?!!

*the cool, crisp morning air signaling that fall is indeed on its way

*hanging a freshly laundered load of towels on the line to dry

*a mini peppermint patty

*the dulcet sounds of Annie's flute practice

*the smell of the fresh cut grass

*a sweet husband who not only cleaned the kitchen floor for me last night, but did the grocery shopping this morning

*the thrill of gathering up a nice big pile of creepy reads

*an abundance of little boy giggles as they dig together in the dirt

*the satisfaction of finally beginning a project that's been put off for too long

As they say, life is good.

first things first

Okay, I've been mighty sporadic in both my blog reading and blog posting lately. We really haven't been home much during the past few weeks, and during the days we have been home, there's been so many other things to get done. So I have lots of things to post about (none of which are terribly exciting)...but first I must get on with the really important stuff. Yep, Carl has made the announcement that has Annie and I feeling giddy again. A creepy sort of giddy, of course, as we're talking about the R.I.P. III Challenge.

Yes, I know that just in my previous post I talked about knocking off this whole challenge obsession. But I did also clearly state that I would NOT be giving up Carl's Challenges. No way on earth that will ever happen!

Carl has made it exceptionally easy to participate, with levels of "challenge" to suit everyone. You can even choose to read just one book, and still be part of the fun. And believe me, participating in Carl's challenges is nothing if not fun! Seriously, it's way more than a challenge...it's non-stop contests, interesting posts on related subjects, and a big sense of community.

Anyway, another thing Carl has done with this challenge is to continue with the idea of a "book pool" as opposed to a strict list. I really, really, really love this concept! You still get the delight of gathering up piles of books and reading everyone else's possible reads, but you don't feel hemmed in when it comes to the actual reading. Truly the "book pool" is a stroke of genius, if you ask me.

My pool begins with the following:

*The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason (yes, maybe this will be the time that I actually give this well-loved book a go)
*The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
*Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
*Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo
*The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
*We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
*Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge
*Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
*The Thirteen Tale by Diane Setterfield
*Witch-Hunt by Marc Aronson
*Dracula by Bram Stoker
*Lost Boy, Lost Girl by Peter Straub
*The Society of S by Susan Hubbard
*The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker
*Daphne du Maurier's Classics of the Macabre

Edited to add:
(After reading a few other lists, I just had to go to the shelves and pull out a few more choices.)
*Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
*From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
*Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest by Matt Haig
*The Homecoming by Ray Bradbury
*Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
*Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub
*The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
*The Witches by Roald Dahl




(P.S. I'm choosing Peril the First--four books.)

I'm with you, Chris!

We arrived home from a mini-vacation to Ithaca on Monday evening. We're off again tomorrow morning. Been hectic, all these mini-vacations. Packing, unpacking, laundry, repacking, trying to fit in school and lesson planning on the days we're home. So, I decided to just sit down for a few minutes and try to catch up with a couple of friends. Though I know it's hopeless to even dream of catching up with all the blogs I really want to. :(
(In fact, I'll probably have to do another "click all as read" maneuver by the time we get back from our next trip...though I really hate that idea.)

Anyway, having just read Chris's "...Not Adhering..." post, I thought I'd just jump on the bandwagon. I've been contemplating this idea for the past few weeks, too. I just have such a love/hate relationship with reading challenges! It's just so fun putting together possible lists and filling in lists with the books you get read. Seriously, I LOVE that part...not much excites me like making a good old list, after all. But the pressure. Ugh. I've gotten to the point where I've not let myself read something I really want to read just because it doesn't fit into a challenge. Talk about ridiculous!

So I quit. Sort of. And mostly.

For the sort of part, I just mean that I "officially" quit. But I'm still going to fill in books on my lists at my reading challenge blog when they fit. Maybe I'll even finish a challenge or two, but without the stress. And I'm still going to "unofficially" join new challenges that sound fun, too. I won't actually sign up...I'll just keep track for fun.

And as for the mostly part, there are a few I'm going to stick with. Annie's, of course. And Carl's...no way am I missing out on RIP or Once Upon a Time! And I'm also going to stick with Bellezza's Japanese Lit Challenge and Becky's 42 Challenge since I joined those blogs. And I'm going to stick with Becky's Celebrate the Author Challenge, because those books are all read-alouds with the boys, and they've loved being part of a challenge.

So thank you, Chris, for the courage to come clean! I've got to say, it feels mighty liberating, doesn't it?

will I ever catch up?

Probably not. Behind on everything...school, reading, blog reading, cleaning, book reviews...

This is my "catch up" blog post. A quick mish mash of everything.

*The Southern Reading Challenge. Ended yesterday. I only read one of three books. But hey, it was a really good one!

*Never did write my final review for the Numbers Challenge. (A challenge I actually did finish on time...woohoo.) So here's the mini version:

The 6th Target by James Patterson.

Sixth book in the Women's Murder Club series. Typical James Patterson. Quick moving. Those short chapters that I love so much. Not the best in the series. While there was still some suspense, it was a tad predictable. Maybe it was just my mood or maybe my tastes are just changing, but I'm still kind of thinking that his recent books just don't live up to his earlier ones.

*Also have a couple of kids' book reviews to do. Again we'll go with the short and sweet version:

Little Bit & Big Byte by Craig T. Feigh.

Picture book with a computer theme. Pretty cute. Awesome, vibrant artwork. Lots of computer terminology thrown in, but not in a way overwhelming to a little one. Good message about careful use of the internet, but not written in a scary way. Boys both enjoyed it.

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett.

This was our August read for the Celebrate the Author Challenge. Fairly cute, funny story. The boys enjoyed it. I usually don't enjoy books written at this level...you know that level between picture books and longer chapter books...but this one caught me by surprise. Certainly not among my favorites in children's literature, but enjoyable nonetheless.

And the artwork, oh my! Done by Ruth Crisman Gannett. Absolutely gorgeous! She did the cover, which I adore, but she also did the incredible black and white drawings that are scattered throughout the book. This dragon is probably my least favorite of the drawings in the book, but it was the only example I could find. Still you can see the absolute charm in her work.
















*We had a marvelous time on our mini-vacation! One of the highlights was finally getting to meet my incredibly cool cousin-in-law, Jean. (Unfortunately, the boys were in rare form...and not on the "good" end of the spectrum...during our time in Gettysburg, but hopefully Jean has recovered by now!) Anyway, here's a picture of Rich and Jean. Notice the big smiles, as they exit the microbrewery that was right next to our hotel.
























*Rich conquers the bucking seahorse on the playground in Gettysburg.
























*And some photos from the battlefield and cemetery...











































































































































*The Philadelphia Insectarium was somewhat of a disappointment. I just expected bigger and more exciting. But still we had fun.












































































*And just a shot of Rich and his Mom that I really like.

















*Okay, I think that about gets me caught up with posting. We're off again in the morning for a few days, so I'll be all the more behind on my blog reading. Oh well, that's what summer's are for, right?

some blame and some babble

I'm doling out those blame points a little early this week, because we're heading out of Dodge in the morning. Off to Gettysburg to get in that "field trip" we had to cancel earlier this summer. But postponing this visit turned out to be a great thing, because now I'm getting to meet Jean, my wonderful cousin-in-law! She's going to drive up and meet us in Gettysburg. Needless to say, we're all more than a tad excited! Rich and Jean haven't seen each other in 30-ish years.

From there we're headed over to see Rich's mom, and visit the Philadelphia Insectarium. And if all goes as planned we'll be home Wednesday evening to regroup before our next outing.

I'm almost ashamed to admit how many books I brought into this house this week. I am getting out of hand! Anyway, here's what made their way in this week:

*from the library:
Genocide: The Systematic Killing of a People by Linda Jacobs Altman (impulse--no points)
Naked in Baghdad by Anne Garrels (impulse--no points)

*from B&N:
The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey by Salman Rushdie (impulse--no points)
What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn (impulse--no points)
Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go by Dale E. Basye (impulse--no points)
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson (blame point awarded to Maggie)

*from Amazon used:
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal by Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro (impulse--no points)

*from Amazon:
50 Reasons to Buy Fair Trade by Miles Litvinoff and John Madeley (homeschooling--no points)
Lost on Planet China by Maarten Troost (Rich's birthday--no points)
Evolution Man: Or, How I Ate My Father by Roy Lewis (Rich's birthday--blame point for Medbie, I knew as soon as I read her review that I had to get this one for Rich)

And there's more blame to be had soon, as I requested a few more from the library. And have more on the way from Amazon. I must be stopped!

The Killer Angels...random thoughts

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara.

Truth be told, I did not want to read this book. I made myself read it, because I wanted Annie to read it for homeschooling. Why was I so afraid of it? I think I feared it was going to be very dry, and full of talk of weapons and tactics and strategy. I honestly don't mind reading about war, but I get really bogged down when a book starts getting into all the minutia of a particular battle. I don't know squat about weapons, and my eyes tend to glaze over if book goes into too much detail on that front. But there most definitely are some unbelievably fabulous books with the theme of war, both fiction and non-fiction. And you know what...I discovered this is most definitely one of them! (By the way, had I realized before I started reading it, that this was the book that the movie Gettysburg was based on, I wouldn't have had any reservations at all. Love that movie!)

Anyway, it's not that this book doesn't mention weapons and tactics and strategy, but those things are not the focus of the book. Nor is the focus of the book the causes of the American Civil War. It's not that these things are ignored, they're simply not the backbone of this book. No, this book is about people. About the individuals, the officers involved in the Battle of Gettysburg.

Michael Shaara writes in a letter to the reader:

You may find it a different story from the one you learned in school. There have been many versions of that battle and that war. I have therefore avoided historical opinions and gone back primarily to the words of the men themselves, their letters and other documents.

And the story that emerged from his efforts is a powerful one. As I read, I wasn't judging the men as "right" or "wrong" as is so easy to do when you're reading about war. No, I was too busy admiring these men, for their bravery, for their loyalty, not necessarily to a cause but to the men who served beneath them, for their sheer and honest humanness. These were men being torn apart by this war. In some cases, men forced to fight against their dearest friends. Men knowing they must follow orders, despite knowing the disaster that lie ahead.

Highly recommend it.

*****

If you have reviewed this book, feel free to leave a link in the comments and I'll add it here. Thanks.

*****

Read for:

Homeschooling.


Book Awards II. (Pulitzer Prize 1975)

quick question

Well, a lovely gentleman was here and fixed our internet. And it seems to be working just fine. Except for one thing...I can't get Dewey's blog to load. Has anyone else been having problems with it? It's driving me crazy. I miss you, Dewey!

the joys of summer

One of the things this family will miss most when summer fades into fall is the abundance of inexpensive (relatively speaking, that is) fresh fruit! As the kids and I were eating our lunch today, Gray asked me why I only put four kinds of fruit in our salad.


I suppose I could have "embellished" a bit and told him I didn't want to overwhelm our tastebuds, but I was honest and told him that I got lazy. He said, "Well, we could have had a lot more kinds in there if not for that lazy streak. Let's make a list."

Make a list. Yep, he's my boy for sure! (I even had to forgive him the "lazy streak" remark when he brought up making a list!)

So, here's the list of fresh fruits in our house at this moment:
--cantaloupe
--honeydew
--watermelon
--green grapes
--cherries
--blueberries
--strawberries
--apples (both Granny Smiths and some red kind)
--clementines
--nectarines
--plums
And the ones most people call vegetables:
--tomatoes
--cherry tomatoes
--green peppers
--yellow peppers
--cucumbers

Yes, we do love our fruit. Rich and I still smile when we think back to when Gray was in kindergarten. Each kiddo had to write a sentence about what they were thankful for and, of course, draw a picture to go with it. When you walked down the hall outside Gray's classroom, you got to view lots of "I'm thankful for my family."s, a couple "I'm thankful for my dog.", an "I'm thankful for TV.", and Gray's "I'm thankful for fruit."

Yep, me too, sweetheart.

The Two Towers...random thoughts

First of all, I just have to say thank you to you all for the incredibly sweet comments you left yesterday! I was literally left in tears over all your kind words! There are still times when this whole blogging thing just totally amazes me...how I can feel so close to people I've never even met. How people I've never laid my eyes on can bring me such joy. How I can consider people whom I will probably never see face-to-face real, true friends. Yep, it still boggles my mind at times. Anyway, thank you!

So, about this book...

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien.

What really can I say about it? You know, how exactly do you go about reviewing a book that nearly everyone on the planet has already read? A book that is so adored and treasured. I'm at a loss. Truly. But I feel like I "should" say something since I've used it as a challenge read. So, I'll just throw out a few thoughts and call it good.

I think I mentioned (but I'm too lazy to actually go look) when I finished The Fellowship of the Ring, that I had come to think of my reading time spent with these books as a "gift to myself". That's really what it is. I know it's taken me forever to read The Two Towers, but the reason isn't because I didn't enjoy reading it or that it didn't hold my interest. Quite the opposite, in fact. I wanted to savor the experience. So I refused to pick it up for a minute here, and five minutes there like I do with most books. That's just how most of my reading is fit into my days. But this wasn't a book I picked up as I stirred the spaghetti sauce or waited on hold "for the next available customer service representative". No, I saved this for those rare times when I could curl up and know that I could read uninterrupted. Sometimes that meant I went for a couple weeks without picking it up, but I was always carried immediately right back into Middle Earth as soon as I opened the pages again.

This is one (well, by one, I actually mean the trilogy) of those rare books, that so gracefully takes you away from your own life and transports you to its own world. You don't just imagine you're there...you ARE there. I have to admit, in some ways, I didn't love this second book as much as the first. It's just that I enjoyed the story in the first better; I loved when they were still all together. But then again, with the second book, I was for some reason more able to enjoy Tolkien's extremely beautiful writing. I know some people think he can really babble on at times, and I think that notion is what kept me from reading these books for so long. But if what he's doing is babbling, I say babble on! His rich descriptions are one of the reasons I think I can so easily "live in" this story.

It was dreary and wearisome. Cold clammy winter still held sway in this forsaken country. The only green was the scum of livid weed on the dark greasy surfaces of the sullen waters. Dead grasses and rotting reeds loomed up in the mists like ragged shadows of long-forgotten summers.

You not only see it, but you feel it and you smell it and you can even nearly taste the air, can't you?

Every step was reluctant, and time seemed to slow its pace, so that between the raising of a foot and the setting of it down minutes of loathing passed.

I literally felt my body shrink up in fear and dread as I read this. Seriously, could he have worded that any more perfectly? I think not.

Oh man, it's me who is beginning to babble now, isn't it? Only I don't do it with such skill and grace and beauty, so I'll just shut up now.

*****

If you've reviewed this, please feel free to leave a link in the comments and I'll post it here. Please! These books obviously deserve better than my rambling.

*****

Read for:

Pure and utter enjoyment!

Inklings Challenge.

Numbers Challenge.

Initials Challenge.

a bittersweet day

I know I've posted before about what a bittersweet day August 4th is, so I won't go into it all again.

But I did just want to say, "Happy Anniversary, Rich! Never once in these 18 years of marriage have I doubted the fact that I am the luckiest woman in the world! I love you!"

And to Casey, "We miss you, sweet little one! And we love you dearly!"

more blame

Again I'm a day late in assigning blame, and I can't even blame the internet, as they came a day early and fixed everything. Took the nice gentleman nearly two hours (turns out there were multiple problems), but everything seems to be working splendidly now. Anyway, I swore to myself when I was writing last week's "blame post" that I wouldn't need to write a post this week, because I absolutely, positively, under no circumstances was going to bring any new books into this house. I started out full of resolve. I spent over an hour at the library on Monday, and didn't bring home a single book. But then forces conspired against me...forces by the names of Nymeth and Stephanie. First I read Nymeth's review of Pedro Paramo, and then I read Stephanie's review of Jamaica Inn...all resistance is immediately vanquished. Add to that a second trip to the library, and well, I really stood no chance, did I?

Unfortunately for me, the library didn't have Pedro Paramo. They did however have a copy of Jamaica Inn. But when I arrived at the shelf to retrieve it, I saw Daphne du Maurier's Classics of the Macabre, and decided to pick it up instead. Short stories just sounded "right" at that particular moment. Stephanie still receives a point on this one, because, well frankly, it's all her fault that book came home with me!

Then, as I was walking around looking for Annie, my eyes landed upon The Missing Girl by Norma Fox Mazer. I tried to stop my arm from reaching out to pluck it off the shelf, but J.Kaye's review was screaming in my head. Resistance was futile. Point for J.Kaye.

And then, as we're heading up to check out, what catches my eye on the "new fiction" shelves...Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. I've known ever since I first read Maggie's review that she would eventually earn a point for this one, but I honestly had no intention of picking up it up at this point. (Face it Debra Anne--you have NO self control!) Point for Maggie.

Okay, I suppose that I should now make one final admission and wipe the slate clean. I convinced Rich that we needed to hit B&N (Ha! Like it takes any convincing to get him there!) See, I really, really, really wanted to get my hands on Pedro Paramo. But alas, Nymeth is going to have to wait to earn her point, as they didn't have it in stock. :( Of course, I didn't come home empty-handed...total impulse buy of The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa.

please stay on, please stay on, please stay on...

Our internet has totally flaked. Going on and off constantly. Someone's supposed to come check it out Monday. I've managed to read a few blogs during it's "on" moments, but frankly, it's more frustrating than it's worth. And I'm not even going to attempt to write any reviews with it acting this way. And I do actually have 2 to write, because I finished The Two Towers last night and The 6th Target a few minutes ago. Which means that I finished The Numbers Challenge just in the nick of time (thanks to fact that Callista extended the deadline). Hooray me for actually finishing one!