August wrap-up

August made for a better reading month than July. Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of them reviewed as I just read them on vacation. Do hope to get some of them reviewed though, because they were just so damn good. Like Normal. And Affluenza. And The House With the Clock in Its Walls. And...

Read:

Fiction:
*The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (Classics '09, RYOB, homeschool)

YA fiction:
*The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci

Middle grade fiction:
*The House With the Clock in Its Walls--from The Best of John Bellairs--by John Bellairs

Fiction graphic novels:
*Janes in Love by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg (Graphic Novels extra, YA Challenge '09)
*Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale (Graphic Novels extra)
*Death: At Death's Door by Jill Thompson
*Out from Boneville--from Bone: One Volume Edition--by Jeff Smith
*The Great Cow Race--from Bone: One Volume Edition--by Jeff Smith
*Eyes of the Storm--from Bone: One Volume Edition--by Jeff Smith
*The Dragonslayer--from Bone: One Volume Edition--by Jeff Smith
*Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border--from Bone: One Volume Edition--by Jeff Smith
*Old Man's Cave--from Bone: One Volume Edition--by Jeff Smith

Non-fiction:
*College-Prep Homeschooling by David P. Byers, Ph.D. and Chandra Byers
*Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences by Kitty Burns Florey
*Normal by Amy Bloom
*Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John De Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas H. Naylor

Non-fiction graphic novels:
*Pedro and Me by Judd Winick (GLBT Challenge, Non-Fiction Five, Graphic Novels extra)
*A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld

Short stories:
*"Phantom Pain" by Lydia Peelle (100 Shots of Shorts)

Picture books:
*Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess
*The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
*The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean

Watched:

On TV:
*Project Runway
--"Welcome to Los Angeles!"
--"We Expect Fashion"

On DVD/Video:
*The Wire
--"Game Day"
--"The Cost"
--"The Hunt"
--"Cleaning Up"
*Masters of Science Fiction
--"A Clean Escape"
--"The Awakening"
--"Jerry Was a Man"

Created:

Scrapbook layouts:
(Forgive the crappy photo.)
























Crocheted:
One for my Mom. One for Annie. But I'm so in love with this little guy that I want to make one for everyone I know. :D

home again, home again

3,440 miles spread unevenly over 14 days. New friends, old friends, family that doubles as friends. Multitude of fun and minimum of hassle. Sorry it's over, yet happy to be home. Refreshed, yet exhausted.

More details to follow when I find my way out of all this unpacking and the mountains of dirty clothes.

Can't wait to see what you've all been up to! (But I'm really scared to check google reader.)

we interrupt this vacation...

to share this awesome photo of two of my favorite people:

Yes, we're in New Orleans!!!

And in case you're wondering, Chris is even sweeter in person!!!! Doesn't seem possible, does it...but I swear it's true!

we're off...

First thing tomorrow morning, we're hitting the pavement. Should be back in about two weeks. Hope everyone has a super fantastic, perfectly wonderful second half of August!!!!

See you soon, Renay, and even sooner, Chris, and soonest of all, Jean! I SO CAN'T WAIT, Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rapunzel's Revenge...random thoughts

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale (who are wife and husband), with artwork by Nathan Hale (who is no relation to the authors).

So, could this book be any more wonderful? I'm honestly not sure that it could. It charmed me completely!

*The story: Adventurous. Humorous. Delightful. Incredibly unique fractured fairy tale.

*The heroine: Believable. Endearing. Always strong, and it was wonderful watching the way she grew to believe it.

*Other characters: Jack--despite his thieving ways, it was impossible not to love him. Gothel--the perfect villian...so easy to hate. Multiple minor characters that I adored.

*The art: Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous.










(Just a taste.)

*Miscellaneous:
1.) Unsurprisingly, finding out Rapunzel's birth name warmed my heart.
2.) This book was from the library, but I definitely want to buy it for Gray for Christmas!
3.) Definitely a feel-good, but not saccharine sweet story.
4.) I've loved every book I've read by Shannon Hale, so why haven't I read more?!!

*Other opinions:
--Kailana at The Written World
--Shelley at ChainReading
--Becky at Becky's Book Reviews
--Puss Reboots
--Alison at So Many Books, So Little Time
--Robin at A Fondness for Reading
--RaiderGirl3 at An Adventure in Reading
(I'm sure I missed some. Feel free to leave a link in the comments if yours was one, and I'll add it to the list. Thanks.)

Janes in Love...random thoughts

Janes in Love by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg.

It's always a bit hard to talk about a sequel, isn't it? Or that could just be me, I suppose. But Janes in Love pretty much picks up where The Plain Janes left off. We're still following the exploits of P.L.A.I.N. (People Loving Art In Neighborhoods), a group of somewhat misfit high school students who perpetrate "art installations" in their town.

As I sat reading this last evening, Rich interrupted and said, "That sounds like quite the amusing book." Until then, I hadn't realized how often it had me giggling. And yes, humor does play a part. But really this book is so much more than that. It's about so many things, really. Dealing with fear. Taking chances. Following your dreams. The difference that art, and creativity, and beauty can make. Falling in love. Sticking with those you love. And friendship. The ups, the downs, and real gift that friendship is.

The thing about having a good, true friend is that it's ok if you cry so hard that snot runs down your face. Because their arms are strong and their heartbeat is loud...and you can be your smallest and ugliest in front of them.

I loved this book! I'm tempted to say that I enjoyed it even more than the first, but I'm not sure that's quite true. I think it might be truer to say that I loved the first book even more than I did previously because of this one. Honestly, I think you need to read both. They really belong together.

*****
For more opinions:
--Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings (The Plain Janes)
--Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings (Janes in Love)
--Dewey at The Hidden Side of a Leaf (The Plain Janes)
--Eva at A Striped Armchair (The Plain Janes)
--Amanda at Zen Leaf (The Plain Janes)
--Amanda at Zen Leaf (Janes in Love)
--Susan at You Can Never Have Too Many Books (The Plain Janes and Janes in Love)
--Kailana at The Written World (The Plain Janes)
--Lenore at Presenting Lenore (The Plain Janes)
--Alison at So Many Books, So Little Time (The Plain Janes)
--Alison at So Many Books, So Little Time (Janes in Love)
(If I missed your review, please feel free to leave a link in the comments and I'll add it here. Thanks.)

The Jungle...random thoughts (very random)

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

*I first read this in high school. Didn't remember it all, but definitely remembered the gist. I believe that love it, hate it, or fall somewhere in between, once you read it, parts of it will always stay with you.

*Many will probably think I'm cruel for making Annie read this for school this year, as I know many complain that they were forced to read it in school, but it honestly is such an amazing, if horrifying, look at the U.S. during the early 1900s. I just spent weeks putting together a unit on this period of time, using multiple videos, non-fiction books, etc....and all of it, to varying degrees appears in The Jungle. As part of our study of 20th century U.S. history, we will be reading various works of fiction. I think that seeing history through literature is incredibly valuable. And there is no denying that this book allows one to vicariously live history through its pages.

*There was extreme racism in parts of this book. Part of the times? Sure. Still despicable.

*Personally, I think the first three-quarters of the book is much more interesting than the final chapters. The end is where Sinclair really got up on his socialist pulpit. And it's not that I personally have a problem with socialism (how many enemies did I just make for admitting that?), but reading page after page after page of socialist speeches just ended up boring me nearly to tears. I definitely found the portions more directly about Jurgis and his family far more compelling.

*I thought the way Sinclair sort of beat the reader down throughout the first three-quarters of the book was brilliant. Not pleasant, mind you. But, and maybe it's just me, I couldn't help but feel that he was wearing me down, sucking the life out of me, in just the same way that, as poor immigrants in the early 1900s, the life was being sucked out of Jurgis and his family. At the beginning of the book, there were scattered beautiful, tender moments. But those moments became fewer and fewer until they ceased to exist at all. It had a truly powerful effect on me.

*Probably goes without saying, but yeah, I was definitely grateful to be a vegetarian while reading this.

*And for some much less "random" looks at The Jungle:
--Inkweaver Reviews
--Charley at Bending Bookshelf
--Lauren at Wading Through 1001 Books
(Okay, so I actually couldn't find that many. I'm guessing there are more out there, so if you've reviewed it, feel free to leave a link in the comments and I'll add it here.)

*sigh*

How many days in a row can I write "catch up on blog reading" on my to-do list and still fail to accomplish it? I'm obviously shooting for a record. :(

blame update

Man, the old to-do list is out of hand this week. But what did I expect...no one ever said that preparing a family of five for a two week road trip wouldn't take some work. One of those tasks, of course, is packing my books. Nothing like tackling the fun jobs first, huh? :D Only problem is that that means I have to update my recent acquisitions and point the finger at those at fault first. Since I'm currently feeling this pathetic mix of lazy and overwhelmed, I'm just going to make this short and sweet. Well, as short as is possible with this ridiculous pile of books, that is. And I apologize for the lousy photo (that whole lazy thing again).

*The Joy of Spooking: Fiendish Deeds by P.J. Bracegirdle. No points...just sounded like a fantastic one to read with the boys.

*The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine by Somaly Mam. No points...after reading the blurb on the back, there was no way I could not buy it.

*Fearless Girls, Wise Women, & Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World edited by Kathleen Ragan. Again no points...again just couldn't resist.

*A Circle of Souls by Preetham Grandhi. Point for Chris. See, I'd stopped accepting books for review, but this one sounded so good that I hadn't deleted the e-mail about it yet. Then I saw Chris got it, and I mentioned that fact. He urged me to accept it...thus he's going to have to suck up the point for it. ;)

*A Soul in a Bottle by Tim Powers. Another point for Chris. I've had this on my wish list since his review. Then he went and joined PaperbackSwap and listed it...of course, I scarfed it right up. Oooh, and what a beautiful little book it is!

*True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff. Also got this one from Chris on PaperbackSwap. But I guess I can't get away with laying a point on him for it. Picked it up for the Printz Project.

*If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson. Point for Susan. Picked this up from PaperbackSwap, 1.) so I could read it before its sequel which I'd checked out from the library and 2.) because it's on Susan's "unofficial list of great YA by or about women of color."

*Trapped! Cages of Mind and Body edited by Lois Duncan. No point. Impulse pick up from PaperbackSwap.

*The First Part Last by Angela Johnson. Another point for Susan. Yep, another from her list. Yep, another from PaperbackSwap.

Hmmm...I'd really like to deny existence of these next five. Because they came from BookCloseouts YA sale. Yep, I went back again, even after that massive haul I made the first time around. I know, I know, I should really be ashamed of myself. My intentions were good though...I only went to pick up a few more presents for Annie and Gray. And five more for myself really isn't that bad, is it?

*Shooter by Walter Dean Myers. No point. I'm really excited to finally read something by him.

*Sexy by Joyce Carol Oates. No point. Just sounded really good.

*Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins. No point. But it is for the Printz Project.

*The Stones of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston. Point for Eva. Of course. :D One of these days I'll get a hold of the first one so I can actually start reading them.

*Monsters Are Afraid of the Moon by Marjane Satrapi. No point. Oh, I am so excited to read this with the Maxidoodle! Which means you can guess what kind of animals are in it, huh?

*The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. Point for Nymeth. Like she could ever come out of blame session unscathed. ;) Another PaperbackSwap acquisition.

And finally, there's another bargain pile. These all came from Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller. Many of them of for school, so I don't feel the need to claim any personal responsibility for those.

*Postwar America: A Student Companion by Harvard Sitkoff. No point. For school.

*American 1908 by Jim Rasenberger. No point. For school.

*The Biodiversity Crisis: Losing What Counts edited by Michael J. Novecek. No point. For school, though I definitely would have bought this one anyway.

*Now and Forever by Ray Bradbury. No point. Like resisting Ray Bradbury is even possible.

*Virgin: The Untouched History by Hanne Blank. Another point for Nymeth. My, oh my, oh my...what are we going to do with her?!!

*Watchmen by Alan Moore. No point. Though I honestly could hand out a half a dozen. This is one of those that really felt like a group effort. ;)

*Water: The Drop of Life by Peter Swanson. No point. For school.

Pedro and Me...random thoughts (and then some rambling)

Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned by Judd Winick.

Pedro, being Pedro Zamora. Me, being Judd Winick. Both of whom appeared on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco. I have to admit, I've never watched a ton of MTV. (Factoid which proclaims my ancientness: MTV didn't even exist until I was a senior in high school.) And I never watched much more than a very occasional episode of The Real World. Until that year, 1994. I still by no means watched every episode, but something about that year drew me in far more than any other season. That something was Pedro. I honestly cannot imagine that anyone who watched didn't fall in love with Pedro. Pedro Zamora was special.

And this book is special. It's a story of friendship. Of courage. Of incredible giving. In graphic novel form, Judd Winick brings Pedro back to life and shares with readers the undeniable gift he was to this world. The book begins with chapters about Judd's and about Pedro's childhoods...two childhood's that could not have been much different. Judd was born and raised in a middle-class family on Long Island, New York. Pedro was born in Cuba. At the age of eight, his family boarded a boat and came to the U.S. Well, part of his family did...at the last minute, passage was denied to his five oldest siblings. And this was not the only tragedy of his young life. But you can read about it all yourself, and I strongly recommend you do read this book!

The rest of the book focuses on their lives once they arrive at the house in San Francisco, where they will spend six months getting to know one another, and growing to love one another in a powerful and beautiful friendship. I love so much that Judd didn't paint himself out to be some sort of "perfect" guy without fears and doubts. I appreciated his honesty about the fact that he was nervous and unsure when he found his roommate was HIV positive. In his own words:

Of course I'd be fine. I'm liberal boy and had decided that I was okay with this. Problem? Not me. I'm okay with this.

I'm informed. I subscribe to both Rolling Stone and Spin. I've seen An Early Frost and Philadelphia. The very special episodes of Thirtysomething.

I'm okay.

Well, I wasn't okay. In truth, I was terribly uninformed; but no AIDS hotline or doctor could begin to tell me what I was going to learn in the next six months.

Pedro learned he was HIV positive at age 17. He died at age 22. How many lives he saved in between those two events, I can't say. But I'm guessing it was many. Because after the initial shock and denial, Pedro spent his time educating people. And that is what led him to apply to be on The Real World in the first place...what a better way to reach millions of people all at once. And he did reach millions. He touched the lives of countless people. And of course he touched the life of Judd Winick and his other housemates in a very profound way. This is that story. It's no surprise that it's heartbreaking. But ultimately, it's a book brimming with love.

*****

I have a point of blame (a.k.a. thanks) to award for this one. Part of our health education this school year is going to focus on the human stories of HIV/AIDS, and I had this book on a list of possible reads. After reading Amanda's review, I knew this one would definitely be one of the books we would end up reading.

I do have other points to pass out as well. I really need to get on that. As well as trying to catch up on my blog reading. I'm sooooooo far behind. :( Since we're heading out on vacation in a week, I've been trying to get a bazillion things done. Especially for school...it seems like the new school year is barreling down upon me at tremendous speed.

But I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about our trip!!!! Not only are we going to get to see Jean again (giddyness abounds!) and finally meet her guys...not only are we going to get to spend a couple days with some wonderful friends that we haven't seen in a few years...but guess what...I get to actually meet, in person, two of the most amazing bloggers, two of the most amazing people period, I've ever had the privilege of calling "friend." We're heading to New Orleans...and I'm sure you all can guess who's going to be our own personal tour guide! Of course, we'll be hanging out with Chris!!! At least until he gets sick of us. ;) And as if that isn't already the treat of a lifetime, I then get to meet Renay!!! I'm so hoping some of her sheer awesomeness will rub off on me! You know, I'm somewhat surprised I'm managing to get anything done around here, because I am so overwhelmingly excited about this trip I can hardly think about anything else! Ana, you know what could make this trip even better...if you flew over here and went with us!!! We have room in the car...I'm so not kidding!!! And Eva, are you sure you and your mom can't make it?!! Of course, I really do understand, but man, did I have my hopes up!!!

Okay, before I hurt anyone with the overuse of exclamation points (though certainly you can see the necessity of such punctuation), I suppose I'd better sign off here. Hope you all are having a fantabulous weekend!

because every special occasion should involve books

Thank you all so much for the lovely anniversary wishes! We had a fairly uneventful, but relaxing day. Which, of course, involved books. :) We headed out to B&N during the afternoon. Each of us grabbed a huge pile of reading materials to look through and then headed to the cafe. The kids sat at one table drinking juice and reading, while Rich and I sat at another drinking coffee and perusing. For some reason, it just felt so utterly decadent to be whiling away a couple hours doing nothing productive. And of course, we couldn't escape without buying books. All of us. We may just need professional help. Of course, Rich had given me a gift card for our anniversary, and to not spend it would have been just plain rude, don't you think? ;)

I love the wonderful little assortment of books I got, and believe it or not, I don't have a single point of blame to award. (Never fear though, I've received quite a pile of books in the last week, some that do have points attached...but I'll save those for another post.) Anyway, here's what I bought:

Elf Realm: The Low Road by Daniel Kirk. I should probably be embarrassed to admit that I've never heard of this one before, as it was published last year. But when I saw it, I was helpless to resist. It not only sounds like a very fun read, but it's full of beautiful full-page pencil drawings. Done by the author.







Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science by Richard Preston. I've been wanting this book since it came out last year. Finally just broke down and bought it. No idea why I am fascinated by this kind of stuff, but I am. Annie on the other hand, picked up this book and after reading a bit, stated, "You know, maybe I don't want to work for the CDC after all."




Science Under Siege: Defending Science, Exposing Pseudoscience edited by Kendrick Frazier. This is a collection of essays, divided into three main sections: Science and Skeptical Inquiry, Critical Inquiry and Public Controversies, and Understanding Pseudoscience, Investigating Claims. So many of the essays sounds incredibly good...can't wait to dive in!







How to Be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith. Another book I've wanted since it first came out last year. I absolutely love her! And her books. She's just so inspiring. I have Living Out Loud: Activities to Fuel a Creative Life, and the wonderful, oh-so-creative herself, Jean, bought me Wreck This Journal for Christmas. I hate admitting that I've spent far too little time nurturing creativity the past few years. If this book doesn't help, it will be solely my fault, not the fault of this lovely book.



Ah yes, I'm so very happy with my lovely new pile. :D


I'm also happy with the reading I did last evening. I imagine you're quite sick of my bitching about how I can't seem to finish a book. I've been laboring through these same 7 very long, slow books for far too long. And while I'm enjoying every one of them, I just feel so bogged down by them. So last night, I decided to just push them all aside. Instead I grabbed Blueberry Girl, The Day I Swapped My dad for Two Goldfish, and The Wolves in the Walls off the shelf. Now, we all know that Neil Gaiman is a freakin' genius, but I feel I have to say it anyway! This was the most relaxing little bout of reading I've had in a long time!

I've read Blueberry Girl several times before. And I read it a couple more times last night. I think I could read it several times every day and still never tire of it. And still get those tears of sweetness and joy in my eyes with each reading. As much as I've enjoyed everything I've read of his thus far, this may well be my favorite book of all. As if the words are not perfection enough, Charles Vess adds the most beautiful drawings. It's perfection times two.


This was the first I'd read either of the other two, however. Both of which are wonderful. Both of which are delightfully silly. Both of which are filled with Dave McKean's incredible art. Both of which have cameos by the Queen of Melanesia. And both of which I positively adored!

good stuff...the Rich version

Excuse me for being all mushy this morning...but today is our 19th wedding anniversary, and I feel pretty damn blessed!

*There is no way on Earth I could even imagine being married to someone more supportive than Rich. Seriously, supportive in every thing I do.

*He is so not afraid of embarrassing himself, which allows us to be incredibly goofy. (Much to Annie's chagrin.)

*While he may entertain thoughts of slipping arsenic in my coffee for posting this picture of him, he would never actually follow through.








*He LOVES reading, and accumulating books! So very convenient for me, as I never have to make excuses.

*As much as I hate the fact that I got fat, he couldn't care less. He really couldn't. He tells me all the time how beautiful I am. His rose-colored glasses are obviously very thick!

*He does so many things to make me happy...everything from keeping the car filled with gas because I don't like to do it to bringing me little treats to cleaning the shower because I'm swamped with other work to saying totally awesome things like this:

"Since we're heading as far Memphis on vacation, maybe we should just haul off and go meet Chris in New Orleans. Who knows when we'll be down South again."

*He is such an incredible Daddy to our monkeys. So extremely involved. Not only is that wonderful for them, but it truly makes being a Mommy so much easier.

Happy Anniversary, Rich! I love you more than I can say! (And I apologize about the photo, but it was the most recent one I had. Besides, you look pretty darn good in my book.)

July wrap-up

What an unproductive month. No clue why. No excuses. Hoping August will be better, but I make no guarantees...my energy seems wrapped up in preparing for school, working on the house, and just spending time with the family. Don't even feel like blogging.

Read:

Young Adult Fiction:
*Nation by Terry Pratchett (Printz Project, YA '09, RYOB, Herding Cats 2, Dewey's Books, 999)

Middle Grade Fiction:
*The Garden of Eve by K.L. Going (RYOB)

Folktale/Fairy Tale Collection:
*The Golden Phoenix: Eight French-Canadian Fairy Tales by Marius Barbeau, retold by Michael Hornyansky

Middle Grade Non-Fiction:
*A History of Us: An Age of Extremes by Joy Hakim (for homeschool)

Short Stories:
*"Repair Kit" by Stephen Baxter (100 Shots of Shorts, 42 Challenge)


Watched:

On TV:

On DVD/Video:
*Stand by Me (for fun)
*Tightrope (for fun)
*Dirty Harry (for fun)
*Harper's Island (for fun)
--"Gasp"
--"Sigh"
*The Wire (for fun)
--"One Arrest"
--"Lessons"


Created:

Cards:
















































Scrapbook layouts:

















































































(second view just to show where journaling is hidden)