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?

Sonny's House of Spies...random thoughts

Sonny's House of Spies by George Ella Lyon.

First off, just let me say that I adored this book. Absolutely adored it. This is one of those times that I wish I rated books, just so I could give this one top marks. A big thank you to Medbie, for it was her wonderful review which brought it to my attention.

Sonny's House of Spies is essentially a coming of age story, set in rural Alabama in the 1950s. We first meet Sonny at age nine, when his father walks out on the family. But most of the book takes place four years later. Sonny's older sister, Loretta, is as smart as she is smart-mouthed. And his younger brother, Deaton, was too young when their father left them to even remember him. So in many ways, Sonny feels alone in his quest to understand what happened, and alone in his loyalty to his long-lost father.

There is so much going on in this book, but I don't want to give anything away. Family relations, racism, religion, homophobia...all that and much more.

But what is it that I loved so much about this book?

Maybe top of the list, comes the writing. I felt myself transplanted to the South with every page I read. I'm willing to bet I could turn to nearly any page in the book and find a passage worthy of sharing, but I'll just share a few:

We sat right up front, of course. And it was hot, hot, hot. All the windows had been propped open, but it was one of those afternoons when the air lay on top of you like a big cat, and no waving of cardboard Jesus-at-the-door fans could make it get up and move.

You get people in your house and give them food and it's hard to get them out. This crowd stayed till five-thirty and when they finally left even the furniture looked tired.

My head hurt, my stomach felt all pinched up, and my heart was pumping dread instead of blood.

Many a time this book brought a smile to my face. Once it had me nearly rolling on the floor with laughter. And twice the tears rolled as hard as that laughter did.

But in addition to the writing and the story itself, there are the characters. Oh, how I love the characters in this book. Especially Sonny. And Loretta. And Mamby. The people in this book, the likable and unlikable both, just feel so real.

This book is housed in the young adult section in our library. And while I feel it is entirely appropriate for those readers, I also think it's one of those books that can only bring you more as an adult. Truly a sweet, heart-breaking, wonderful book.


*****

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

Medbie at Medb's Montage

*****

Read for:

The Southern Reading Challenge. (Though it wasn't one of my original choices. Bad me.)

what's the point in trying to resist?!!

Today marks the end of The Twisted Fairy Tale Challenge. I got 2 of my 4 books read. To celebrate my success at completing half my reads (hey, I'm trying to be one of those glass-half-full people here!), I've decided to join two new challenges!

Okay, okay, I am so full of crap...I didn't join to celebrate...I just couldn't stop myself. It's a compulsion. The good news is that I know I'm not alone.

First up, I joined the 1% Well Read Challenge. From the moment I first heard about this one, thoughts of it stalked me. I couldn't get it out of my head. The only way I could get some peace was to just join it. It was shocking to see how few of the books I'd actually read, only about 25 of them. Yes, my head is hanging in shame. There were many, many books on the list I wanted to read (and many, many I have no intention of ever reading). But I told myself the only way I could join is if we had enough of them already in our house that I wouldn't have to buy them. Well, that didn't turn out to be a stumbling block...we had somewhere around 30 of them that I hadn't read yet. So here's the list I made to choose from (wanted to leave a little wiggle room):

*Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
*The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
*The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
*The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
*Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
*Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
*The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
*The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
*Dracula by Bram Stoker
*The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
*The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
*Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
*Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
*Walden by Henry David Thoreau
*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

And yes, it is a tad embarrassing admitting I've never read those books. Oh well. I never did claim to be sophisticated now, did I?

And new challenge #2: The Southern Reading Challenge. I kept telling myself, "NO. NO. NO." Seems I don't listen to myself very well, huh?

But look at my reasoning...1) Maggie is such a sweet hostess, 2) I really, really enjoyed this challenge last summer, and 3) you all were tempting me too much with your lists! I didn't stand a chance, did I?

Here's what I'll be attempting (nice qualifier, huh?) to read:
*A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
*Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (Yes, I realize that Mr. Berendt isn't from the South, but Maggie gave me the o.k. for this one.)
*A Painted House by John Grisham (I didn't really want to read another John Grisham book for this year's challenge, but since I already owned it and since it sounds a bit different from others of his I've read, I decided it would have to do.)