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.

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!

they're here...

I didn't quite manage to summon up the willpower that Chris did when it came to Book Closeouts kids/YA book sale. At the moment, wallowing in the utter loveliness of my new book pile, I'm okay with that. (That may change when I have to actually find somewhere to house them.)

Look at all this incredible reading I have to look forward to:



And yes, some of it comes with blame attached.

*Echo and
*Psyche in a Dress by Francesca Lia Block (To date, I've only read one of her books, but I loved it. Love the way she writes. Am so looking forward to reading Dangerous Angels and Girl Goddess #9, which are already on my shelves. Now I'm looking forward to these ones, too. :D )
*Cupid by Julius Lester (Another mythic retelling involving Psyche. Was fascinated that this was written by Julius Lester. I read his To Be a Slave. Such an incredible and powerful book. This one is obviously extremely different in style and subject.)
*Hauntings and other Tales of Danger, Love, and Sometimes Loss by Betsy Hearne (This one has been on my wish list a long time. Ever since reading this review at Estella's Revenge. Point for Andi.)
*The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci (Becky's review totally sold me on this one. And of course, I needed it for the Printz Project anyway.)
*After by Francine Prose and
*The Book of Lies by James Moloney (I honestly know nothing about either of these, except that the descriptions were too intriguing for me to resist.)
*The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler (Been interested in this one since I first heard of it, but it was Dewey's interview review that sealed the deal. Again, it doesn't hurt that it will count for the Printz Project.)
*I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (Nymeth's review is totally at fault for this one. But somehow I didn't realize this was considered a YA book.)
*Define "Normal" by Julie Anne Peters and
*The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson (I added both of these to my wish list when I searching out possible reads for Amanda's GLBT Challenge. So looking forward to both of these.)
*The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling (I was so excited when I learned of this book through Shanra's review...I love Coyote and Anansi and the like. No resisting this one.)
*The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld (I'm going to pretend that I didn't buy this for me. Actually, I don't need to pretend. I did buy it for Rich, because he loved Peeps--this is the sequel--so much. Who cares that I will eventually read it, too.)
*Black Juice by Margo Lanagan (Okay, despite the fact that Nymeth hasn't actually reviewed this book yet, I'm still pinning the blame for this one on her. The love she expresses for Lanagan's writing made it impossible not to pick this one up. Hey, and yet again, the Printz Project.)
*Gothic! Ten Original Dark Tales edited by Deborah Noyes (Includes stories by authors such as Neil Gaiman and Garth Nix...like I could say "no.")
*A Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages (Do you ever get little fixations? I've this one going for the last several months about some of the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project. Not so much the actual science...as much as I love science, physics is like a foreign language to me...but more the scientists, etc. I think it started with a video Annie and I watched called, "Einstein's Letter." Anyway, this YA book is set in 1943 at Los Alamos. Anyway, I'm looking forward to this one, and if it's good, I might just use it for our "history through literature" unit in school this year.)
*The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish by Neil Gaiman. (Didn't already own it. No further explanation necessary.)
*Meow: Cat Stories from Around the World by Jane Yolen (This is actually one of the books I ordered for Max. But I'm sooooo very much looking forward to reading this one with him that I just had to include it in my list.)

mishmash Monday

Hmmm...where to begin...

Many thanks to our lovely hostesses, Eva and Alessandra.










Quirkology: How We Discover the Big Truths in Small Things by Richard Wiseman.

I read about this one at the site where reviews for the Science Challenge are posted, but I can't really award a point, because I don't actually know who wrote it. Just sounds like a very fun read.





The Sandman: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman.

Couldn't believe it was actually there. :)










...I never saw another butterfly...: Children's Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1944 edited by Hana Volavkova.

I'm sure many tears will be shed reading this one.







Cat, What Is That? by Tony Johnston.

Bet you can guess why I picked this one up, huh? Yep, a read for Maxidoodle and me. Wish I could have found a bigger image of this one...the paintings are so beautiful!

I realize that's not a huge pile of library loot. Yet still I'm going to try to cut back for a while. I keep finding myself not able to read the books I'm eagerly wanting to read from my TBR shelves because I'm always feeling the pressure of "due dates" for all my library acquisitions. We'll see how it goes though...as we go to the library every week for school. And I'm not exactly known for my wealth of willpower.

*****

Okay, and what purchases entered my home in the previous week? The answer should have been "none" as I'd put myself on a book buying fast. But see, I also started a battle with the scale. And fighting both these battles at once was just too much for this weary old lady. So I bought a couple books...

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld.

I HATE this cover, but it was the only one they had. Anyway, after Nymeth's review, I knew it was only a matter of time. I was able to "rationalize" a bit though, saying I was sort of buying it for Rich. Sounds like one he's going to love...in fact, he started reading it last night. Point for Nymeth!




River Secrets by Shannon Hale.

Man, I really HATE this cover, too. But what are you gonna do, huh? Anyway, it seems like I waited forever for this to come out in paperback, and by the time it did, it had sort of fallen off my radar. But I saw it the other night, and I tried to resist...





*****

Okay, so what else is new? I already admitted that I joined Becky's It's the End of the World Challenge. Guess I should now 'fess up...I joined her Elizabeth Scott Challenge, too. Excuses: a. I have one of her books that I've really been wanting to read anyway, b. I can use these books for other challenges, and c. come on, it's Becky hosting!

*****

And finally, the sweet and lovely J.Kaye is now hosting It's Monday. What Are You Reading?.

Books I read last week:

*American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
*The Sandman: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman





Books I'm currently reading and am determined to finish this week:

*House of Stone by Christina Lamb
*Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese
*The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
*What If We Do Nothing? Poverty by Cath Senker

Books I'm currently reading but won't finish this week:

*Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader
*The Scientists by John Gribbin
*Looking for Bobowicz by Daniel Pinkwater

Books I hope to start this week:

*Cat, What Is That? by Tony Johnston
*Lives of the Artists by Kathleen Krull
*The Dead & The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
*Summer for the Gods by Edward J. Larson