Geeking...week 26

Haven't had my act together enough to participate in the last few Weekly Geeks. Still don't have my act together, but at least I managed to join in the fun this week. So, what did Dewey have in store for us this time:

It’s been awhile since we’ve done some serious WG bloghopping. So this week, let’s visit five other Weekly Geeks.

How to:

1. Using the WeeklyGeeks category here in my blog, find 5 Weekly Geeks you don’t know. The easiest way is probably to look at the Mr Linkies in my weekly Saturday posts.

2. Visit each of your 5 new blogpals and snoop around their blogs to find at least one thing you have in common.

3. In your blog, write a post, linking to your 5 new blogpals, about what you have in common with them.

4. Come back and sign Mr Linky.

5. As you run across other Weekly Geek posts (or deliberately seek them out) if you see anyone mentioned who has something in common with you, pay them a visit.

Here's the cool new blogs I happened upon:

Icedreams:
She loves Stephen King. Particularly his short stories. Me, too. Unfortunately she was disappointed in his new collection, Just After Sunset. Oh well, I'm still hoping Santa leaves me a copy under the tree this year.

Ali at Wordcopia:
She's a home schooling mom. Me, too. Well, actually I'm not just like her...she home schools all her kiddos, while I've got kiddos in public school and at home. I also relate to her "religion" which she describes as "Common sense and being open to all humankind." She attends a Unitarian Universalist church, which is something I've very much wanted to do for a long time, but my whole "I'm afraid of having to talk to people" thing holds me back.

Marina at Momma Writes About Books:
She obviously loves lists. Me, too.

Alyssa at The Shady Glade:
She belongs to Paperback Swap. And she loves crafts. Me, too. And me, too. As an aside, I just love the title of her blog.

Louise at Lou's Pages:
She just read Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner. Me, too. Well, I didn't just read it, but I read it a couple years ago. Only Jennifer Weiner book I've ever read. Possibly the only chick lit book I've ever read? She also just finished one of John Sandford's "Prey" books. I've read lots of those, but haven't read one in a while. Should remedy that.

geeking...week 18

This week's theme: catch up on something. Anything. We get to choose what it is we most need to catch up on in our own little bloggy worlds.

I have multiple things I could choose from, but I think I'm going to go with catching up with all the posts in reader. I just saw how swollen it was this morning after a few days away...amazing how fast that happens, isn't it?!! Anyway, my goal is to really catch up, not just skim through and mark read.

I'd also like to make sure I'm caught up with my reviews by the end of the week. Not that I'm really behind, or that I'm going to have all that many to write by then. But there will be a few, and I'd like to make sure I don't let them slide.

Well, I guess that doesn't sound like terribly difficult goals, but I'll be happy to finish them. It's shaping up to be a busy week around here with Max's birthday and Annie's first quarterly report to write up.

Good luck Weekly Geeks! May we all get caught up!

geeking...week 17, day 7

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
--Mother Teresa

geeking...week 17, day 6

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
--Charles Dickens

Oh yes, I love that one! And of course, it makes me want to add some good stuff...

*baking rolls from scratch (you know that whole domestic goddess-like feeling that comes from yeast and rolling pins)

*two apple trees and a pear tree dripping with ripe fruit

*sweet, supportive friends like Nymeth and Melissa and Trish

*a soft bundle of fur (a.k.a. cat) curled up in your lap as you read

*four phone calls in three hours from a daughter who obviously just likes to talk to you

*a clean bathroom (at least for the next few hours)

*this post by Bellezza!

Yep, so many blessings.

geeking...week 17, day 5

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

(Or more precisely, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley.--Robert Burns)

I just had to pick that as my quote for today's Weekly Geek, because it simply seems to sum up my life these days. Seriously, I thought these week's challenge would be an easy one to follow through with even for a scatterbrain like me. And still I managed to blow it by forgetting to post yesterday.

geeking...week 17, day 3

Beauty constantly surrounds you and awaits your discovery, if you will only walk outside your busy life for a moment and open your eyes.
--Bradley Trevor Greive

geeking...week 17, day 2

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
--Albert Einstein

geeking...week 17

Been a while since I've had my act together enough to participate, but I hope I'm back on track now. I love this week's Weekly Geek theme: a quote a day. Each participant can choose if they want to be more specific than that or not. Not sure what direction, if any, I'll take. But here is today's:

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to this web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.
--Chief Seattle

geeking...week 9

And this week’s theme is Challenges.

1. If you participate in any challenges, get organized! Update your lists, post about any you haven’t mentioned, add links of reviews to your lists if you do that, go to the challenge blog if there is one and post there, etc.

2. If you don’t participate in any challenges, then join one! There’s a good selection of possibilities over on my right hand sidebar (scroll down) where I list those I participate in. There’s also A Novel Challenge, a blog that keeps track of all sorts of reading challenges.

3. Towards the end of the week, write a wrap-up post about getting your challenges organized OR if you’re joining your first challenge, post about that any time during the week. Once you have your post up, come back and sign Mr Linky with the link to the specific post, not just to your blog.

Ah yes, this week's challenge is much needed around these here parts! Which frankly, seems ridiculous, as I have a whole separate blog just for my challenge lists. The problem, however, is that this addiction/obsession/exercise in sheer lunacy is so overwhelming that even that blog isn't entirely solving the problem of keeping me organized. So, here, all in one post, I'm going to try to get down a list of all the books I still need to read, which challenge they're for, and the date the challenge ends. Sounds daunting. And while this will make for quite the boring post, it will hopefully serve as a great reference for me in the months to come.

---by June 30, 2008:
*Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut (Banned Books Challenge)
*The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (Banned Books Challenge)

This is also when The Book Awards Challenge ends, but I am writing that one off, as I still have seven books to go. No hope there, huh? I'm hoping to redeem myself with Book Award II.

---by July 14, 2008:
*Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume (Heart of a Child Reading Challenge)
*The Stand: Complete and Uncut by Stephen King (Heart of a Child Reading Challenge, End of the World Challenge, Chunkster Challenge, Decades '08 Challenge)

---by July 31, 2008:
*Stuart Little by E.B. White (Celebrate the Author Challenge, Initials Challenge)
*A Painted House by John Grisham (Well-Rounded Challenge, Southern Challenge)

---for the month of July 2008:
*as many books as I can get read (July Book Blowout)

---by August 1, 2008:
*The 6th Target by James Patterson (Numbers Challenge)
*Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (Numbers Challenge)

---by August 15, 2008:
*A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (Southern Reading Challenge, 1% Well-Read)
*The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (Southern Reading Challenge)

---by August 31, 2008:
*My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (Celebrate the Author Challenge)
*Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule (Well-Rounded Challenge, Non-Fiction Five, Suspense & Thriller Challenge, What's in a Name Challenge)

---by September 15, 2008:
*The Road by Cormac McCarthy (End of the World Challenge, Book Awards II)
*Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams (End of the World Challenge)

---by September 30, 2008:
*The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells (Novella Challenge, 1% Well-Read Challenge, Reading Full Circle Challenge, Decades '08 Challenge, Initials Challenge)
*Wolves of the Crescent Moon by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed (Novella Challenge)
*The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier (Novella Challenge)
*Gossamer by Lois Lowry (Novella Challenge, YA Reading Challenge)
*The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (Novella Challenge)
*New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers: Tales of Parasites and People by Robert S. Desowitz (Non-Fiction Five)
*Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan (Non-Fiction Five)
*The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright (Non-Fiction Five, Grapevine Challenge)
*The BFG by Roald Dahl (Celebrate the Author, Well-Rounded Challenge)

---by October 31, 2008:
*Lexi's Tale by Johanna Hurwitz (Celebrate the Author)
*lost boy, lost girl by Peter Straub (Well-Rounded Challenge, Book Awards II)

---by November 1, 2008:
*Vanish by Tess Gerritsen (MMM '08, Suspense & Thriller Challenge)
*The Sisterhood by Michael Palmer (MMM '08)
*Shock by Robin Cook (MMM '08)

---by November 30, 2008:
*The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (Initials Challenge, Inklings Challenge)
*Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Grapevine Challenge)
*Larklight by Philip Reeve (Grapevine Challenge)
*Looking for Bobowicz by Daniel Manus Pinkwater (Celebrate the Author)
*The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks (Well-Rounded Challenge, 1% Well-Read)

---by December 20, 2008:
*Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi (Chunkster Challenge, Decades '08 Challenge)
*Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (Chunkster Challenge, Mythopoeic Challenge, Book Awards II)


---by December 31, 2008 (this is where things get really ugly):
*The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittney Ryan (Well-Rounded Challenge, YA Challenge)
*Ragweed by Avi (Celebrate the Author)
*"Lost Hearts" by M.R. James (Short Story Challenge)
*"The Sussex Vampire" by Arthur Conan Doyle (Short Story Challenge)
*"How 7 Went Mad" by Bram Stoker (Short Story Challenge)
*"The Signalman" by Charles Dickens (Short Story Challenge)
*"The Body-Snatcher" by Robert Louis Stevenson (Short Story Challenge)
*"The Boys of Goose Hill" by Charles de Lint (Short Story Challenge)
*"The Oakthing" by Gregory Maguire (Short Story Challenge)
*Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (Mythopoeic Challenge)
*Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer (Mythopoeic Challenge, YA Reading Challenge)
*Stardust by Neil Gaiman (Mythopoeic Challenge, YA Reading Challenge, Decades '08 Challenge)
*Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley (Mythopoeic Challenge)
*Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Mythopoeic Challenge)
*The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke (Mythopoeic Challenge)
*Light on Snow by Anita Shreve (What's in a Name Challenge)
*Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (What's in a Name Challenge, Decades '08 Challenge)
*Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King (What's in a Name Challenge)
*The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (What's in a Name Challenge)
*Death: The High Cost of Living by Neil Gaiman (Graphic Novel Challenge)
*We Are On Our Own: A Memoir by Miriam Katin (Graphic Novel Challenge)
*elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (YA Challenge)
*The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (YA Challenge)
*The Secret Hours by Scott Westerfield (YA Challenge, 1st in a Series Challenge)
*The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint (YA Challenge)
*The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (YA Challenge)
*Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA Challenge)
*The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (1st in a Series Challenge)
*Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen (1st in a Series Challenge)
*Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (1st in a Series Challenge)
*The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (1st in a Series Challenge)
*MayBird and the The Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson (1st in a Series Challenge)
*The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (1st in a Series Challenge)
*The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (1st in a Series Challenge)
*Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien (Inklings Challenge)
*The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis (Inklings Challenge)
*The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (Inklings Challenge)
*Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Decades '08 Challenge, Classics '08, 1% Well-Read Challenge)
*The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne (Decades '08 Challenge, Reading Full Circle Challenge)
*The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (Decades '08 Challenge, 1% Well-Read Challenge)
*The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle OR Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter (Decades '08 Challenge)
*All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (Decades '08 Challenge)
*And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (Decades '08 Challenge)
*A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith OR All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (Decades '08 Challenge)
*The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs (Reading Full Circle Challenge)
*Pandora's Clock by John J. Nance (Reading Full Circle Challenge, Suspense & Thriller Challenge)
*Pandora: New Tales of the Vampires by Anne Rice (Reading Full Circle Challenge)
*The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (Reading Full Circle Challenge)
*The Society of S by Susan Hubbard (Reading Full Circle Challenge)
*The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (Reading Full Circle Challenge)
*The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (Reading Full Circle Challenge)
*Blaze by Richard Bachman/Stephen King (Suspense & Thriller Challenge)
*Deep as the Marrow by F. Paul Wilson (Suspense & Thriller Challenge)
*Double Cross by James Patterson (Suspense & Thriller Challenge)
*Dracula by Bram Stoker (Classics '08, 1% Well-Read Challenge)
*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Classics '08, 1% Well-Read Challenge)
*Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (Classics '08)
*Walden by Henry David Thoreau (Classics '08, 1% Well-Read Challenge)
*The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Classics '08)

---also by December 31, 2008 (even if I finish all of the above--yeah, right!--I will still also need to read for The A-Z Challenge:
*"J" title
*"O" title
*"U" title
*"X" title
*"Y" title
*"Z" title
*"I" author
*"Q" author
*"U" author
*"X" author
*"Y" author

---by February 28, 2009:
*Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (1% Well-Read Challenge)
*The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (1% Well-Read Challenge, Book Awards II)

---by June 1, 2009:
*The Calcutta Chromosome by Amitav Ghosh (Book Awards II)
*The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett (Book Awards II)
*Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (Book Awards II)
*The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Book Awards II)
*How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (Book Awards II)
*A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (Book Awards II)

---by December 3, 2009:
*40 more items, many of which will hopefully be filled in through other challenges (42 Challenge)

---by December 31, 2009:
*Sea Change by James Powlik (Suspense & Thriller Challenge)
*World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (Suspense & Thriller Challenge)
*Joyride by Jack Ketchum (Suspense & Thriller Challenge)
*Three Days to Never by Tim Powers (Suspense & Thriller Challenge)
*Trace by Patricia Cornwell (Suspense & Thriller Challenge)
*Testament by David Morrell (Suspense & Thriller Challenge)

Whew. Now that was one tedious, time-consuming, and most especially, depressing post! Yet I'm grateful to have done it, as I hope it will help keep me on a track a bit more.

And now, if you want to visit some people who not only sign up for truckloads of challenges, but also actually finish them, you might want to visit these fellow "Geeks"...

Wendy
Eva
Becky

Thanks for being such a wonderful hostess, Dewey!

Geeking...week 7

Assignment for Weekly Geeks: Photos.

I like it...I can combine it up with this week's Blame Game post and kill those idiomatic two birds.







So here's a pictorial look at the books I managed to drag into our home this week:



I've got a real problem, don't I? But it's not quite as bad as it looks. Honest. Because some of these are for homeschooling next school year. I can be forgiven those, right?

*Books 1 and 2 are the first two books in The Lighthouse Family series (The Storm and The Whale) by Cynthia Rylant. Got them from the library for this month's Celebrate the Author choice.

*Books 3 and 4 were pure impulse buys. Lottery by Patricia Wood and The Digital Plague by Jeff Somers. No one to blame.

*Books 5, 6, 7, and 8 all came from Paperback Swap. Night Shift by Stephen King, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, The Mousetrap and Other Plays by Agatha Christie, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. All are for homeschooling.

*Book 9. Bought it, but it's also for homeschooling. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

*Book 10. A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer. One point for Joy!

*Book 11. Again from Paperback Swap. The Folk of the Fringe by Orson Scott Card. One point for Chris!

*Book 12. Yet again from Paperback Swap. The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman. One point for Nymeth!

*Book 13. Library book. Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Second point this week for Nymeth! (She was kind enough to recommend it after I wrote that I didn't think The Rose and the Beast was quite appropriate for our fairly tales unit. Thanks, Nymeth!)

Book 14. Library book. The Sandman: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman. Third point this week for Nymeth! It was her review of The Sandman: Endless Nights that finally got me to place a hold on this one.

If I've figured correctly, Nymeth has now pulled into the lead! And you know, somehow I suspect that surprises no one...she's hell on many a person's wish list!

And finally, want to check out a few more Geek's pictures?

Alessandra has posted a photo of her dream rainbow bookshelves.

Chris showed us his latest acquisitions, as well as his TBR shelves.

Maree gave us a glance not only at her bookshelves, but also at a few of her kitties as well.

Geeking...Week 5

This week's Geek Assignment:

This week’s theme is once again one you could approach several ways. You might want to tell about the forms of storytelling (aside from books) you love. Maybe you enjoy TV shows, movies, music, narrative poetry, or Renay’s favorite, fanfiction. You could give us an overview of a type of storytelling, such as listing your favorite movies. Or you might pick a more specific story, one particular favorite. I just finished watching an episode of Lost, for example, so I could tell why I enjoy that series, or I could get more specific and focus on one character’s personal story. Some people might post youtubes of the songs whose stories they find brilliant, or some might share family bedtime stories. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

I was all set to skip this week. I just couldn't think of what I might possibly post about. I watch next to no TV. Though I enjoy movies, I rarely have time to watch them, and sure as heck couldn't talk intelligibly about them. I just didn't think I had anything to add.

But then it hit me...maybe I could talk about how I tell stories. Our family's stories. I realize that my family's stories will be of no interest to others, but I think they will be of immense value to my children. I am, of course, talking about scrapbooking. I don't have nearly as much time for scrapbooking as I did before I started homeschooling, but even so, I continue to write down "our stories" in journals and even here on my blog. And someday, when I do have more free time, I'll turn those stories into layouts.

Most of the stories I record are small ones. Sure, we have Christmas layouts and vacation layouts and birthday layouts, but the real treasures in my mind are the everyday stories. The "this is you now" type of stories. Like this one...



Or this one...



Or this one...



And yes, we even have a bookcase just to house "our stories"...

Geeking...week 4

I love this week's Weekly Geeks theme:

Choose a political or social issue that matters to you. Find several books addressing that issue; they don’t have to books you’ve read, just books you might like to read. Using images (of the book covers or whatever you feel illustrates your topic) present these books in your blog.

But I'm totally wimping out. Just like I've been wimping out with the meme Eva tagged me with a few weeks ago, in which I was to talk about the five issues that I care most about. I'm not wimping out because I don't care, but because I want so badly to be able to communicate eloquently about the things that I care so much about, the things that tend to cause my occasional insomnia. I worry that if I try to talk about such important issues, and do so poorly, it will do more harm than good. Really, Eva, I've spent hours trying to compose a post to answer the meme, to talk about the issues that matter to me. I actually only chose three because the first one was so many things rolled into one: 1. the state of the planet, from global warming to the loss of biodiversity to chemicals that cause endocrine disruption, etc., 2. poverty, and 3. giftedness (though I hate that term), from educational to emotional issues. But what I just wrote may be the closest thing to a post answering the meme that I'll ever get published.

Anyway, here's my cop-out post answer to this week's theme...

Books on my wish list on the subject of biodiversity loss:


The Diversity of Life by E.O. Wilson. This one's actually in my TBR pile, not my wish list. Anyway, it is supposed to one of the best books ever written on the subject of biodiversity and biodiversity loss.











The Root Causes Of Biodiversity Loss edited by Ian Johnson, Alexander Wood, Pamela Stedman-Edwards, and Johanna Mang. This book goes beyond the scientific reasons for biodiversity loss, such as pollution and habitat loss, and delves into the socio-economic reasons why people have chosen or are driven to degrade their environment.
















The Economic Value of Biodiversity by David Pearce and Dominic Moran. O.K., I admit it, I really don't have any burning desire to read this one, but I did think it was another interesting facet of the story.




The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth by E.O. Wilson. This book provides an interesting look at how disparate groups of people can come together and work for change.




















Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity by Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein. And finally, why it should matter even to those who couldn't care less about other species.













I'm really looking forward to reading everyone's posts for this week. I'm sure they'll be more enlightening than mine, and I'm sure my wish list will do a fair bit of growing!

Geeking...Week 3

Week 3 of Weekly Geeks challenges us to write a bit about our fond memories of the books of our childhood. To be perfectly honest, I hate admitting how little I remember of my childhood. When it comes to reading, I know that I was always a big reader. I remember in elementary school that we would participate in Read-a-Thons. I have no idea what we were raising money for, but I do remember how I loved filling up line after line and sheet after sheet with the book titles I'd read. But what books I read...I just couldn't tell you.

One of my old stand-bys was this set of books. The Children's Hour. Oh, how I loved these books. Each volume, loaded with tons and tons of stories, had a genre-like focus. One featured old-time favorites, one sports related stories, one science fiction, etc. I read some of the stories (like The Velveteen Rabbit) over and over, while some I never revisited. (I apologize...I know I posted this same photo not long ago, but it just seemed so appropriate for this week's topic.)



I also had a set of the Little House books, which Annie now owns, but I have to admit that I only ever read the first few...they just didn't do a lot for me. I never read any Nancy Drew, but I did love Trixie Beldon! I also remember reading lots of Encyclopedia Brown.

And then there was Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. I loved that book. I obsessed over that book. I'll bet I read it 20 times (that may be an exaggeration, but not by much). I have this book on my Heart of Child challenge list, so one of these days I will get around to reading it again...and surely will get quite a laugh out of it!

I also really loved From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler! Man, I spent hours daydreaming about hiding away and living in a museum.

As I got a little older, S.E. Hinton entertained me for hours. That Was Then, This Is Now. The Outsiders. Rumble Fish. Yep, read her books over and over, too.

And late in middle school, I discovered Stephen King. I had to read everything of his as it came out. Before high school was over, I'd read The Stand three times (and it remains my favorite book to this day).

The only other thing I can remember concerning books as a kid was the BookMobile. I lived for the days the BookMobile came! Unfortunately, you were only allowed to get out a couple books each time, and it only came around every couple weeks...but still, it was definitely a highlight!

Geeking...Week 2...part 1

Well, Dewey is back with week 2 of Weekly Geeks. This week's challenge is an idea borrowed from Darla at Books and Other Thoughts. I just discovered Darla's blog this past week as part of Weekly Geeks. I pretty much love everything about her blog, but this idea that Dewey picked up on is definitely quite brilliant. When Darla reviews a book, she invites others to send her links to other reviews of the same book, and she posts these along with her review. Great idea, huh?

And Dewey is now challenging us to do the same. I'm in. I already try to leave links to reviews that I've read, especially when it was the review that made me pick up the book in the first place. But this goes a step beyond, and should really end up giving everyone a very extensive network of reviews to use.

Dewey suggested several different ways we might go about it. I'm opting for just having people leave links in the comments, and then I will add these links to the body of my post. And as I'm already buried for the next several weeks with other things, I think I will just start doing this from today on, instead of trying to make it retroactive.

(Part 2, scheduled for later in the week, is where we are to come back and write a blurb about how this new review network is working out for us so far. Seems to me, it can't help but be a success.)

***edited to add***

Part 2:

Well, I feel lousy, but I just don't have much--o.k. I have nothing--to add as follow-up...haven't done a single review this week. And didn't read any reviews by fellow participants that I've reviewed in the past. But I have noticed the links starting to show up...how fun!

Geeking...Week 1

Loved, loved, loved Dewey's theme for kick-off week! *Visit at least 5 fellow participants that you don't already know.*

I decided to spread my joy out and visit someone new each day. Instead of just starting at the beginning or the end of the list, I just closed my eyes and raced mousie around and randomly clicked. System seemed to work...I found a bunch of great new blogs! (Of course, I'm guessing I would have found that no matter which Geeks I visited.)

Here's how my week went:

Saturday:
The Biblio Brat. Yep, it was immediately confirmed what a fabulous idea Dewey had concocted. Day one of theme one...and I've already found a wonderful new blog to read!

I could tell from the very post I read that she has her priorities straight...she mentioned three of the major food groups (cheddar cheese, tart apples, and Hersheys bars!).

And I totally loved her ratings system!

Sunday:
Trish's Reading Nook. Okay, what could be better? I head to her blog and what do I immediately lay my eyes upon...pictures of her bookshelves! You just gotta love that, don't you?!!

She also has a bunch of book reviews I really want to get back over there to read as soon as I have a chance. You know, books I've been curious about, or ones I've been thinking about reading. (Because one's TBR pile can never be too big, can it?)

Monday:
Darla D. at Books and Other Thoughts. Well, if my visit over there is any indication, I think I am going to love, love, love her blog! It's not always easy to find books for my semi-reluctant reader (that would be Master Gray), but first post there netted me a good find for him. And from the looks of things, her reviews are going to be adding books to Annie's and my wish lists as well!

Tuesday:
Reader Rabbit. Two for the price of one here! A book blog written by sisters...isn't that cool? And the post that popped up when I headed over there had two for the price of one reviews, too! The Goose Girl and Enna Burning, which was fun since I just finished up Enna Burning as well.

Wednesday:
Natasha at Maw Books. Lots and lots and lots of great book reviews. Most recent post was a review of Sirens and Spies, a book I'd never heard of, but had me immediately intrigued. Already checked our library for it, because even I don't get around to reading it, I can tell it's one Annie would love.

I also noticed she's currently reading Horns & Wrinkles, as am I. Anxious to see what she has to say about it. I haven't gotten far yet, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it!

***

Okay, I was going to keep this going through Friday, but everyone else seems to have their posts up already and it's making me feel like such a slacker that I guess I'll just go ahead and put this up. Thanks Dewey! I think this has been a great first week!

a couple of plugs

*My sweet friend Melissa is starting a new website, Root and Sprout. It's set to have a June 1st launch date. Here's a brief bit of what she has to say about it:

“Here at Root and Sprout, we believe the connection between parent and child is what’s most important, and it’s a relationship that grows through mutual love and respect. With gentle, hands-on parenting, we can give our children the necessary roots to help them sprout.

Root and Sprout is a place for moms and dads to come for practical information, stories, and advice about being a parent and raising kids. You will also find helpful tips, family-friendly activities, and more . . . all submitted by people who support the Root and Sprout way of life.“

She is looking for people who would like to submit articles. To people like me, the idea of writing an article for a website sounds way too daunting, but she swears one shouldn't feel that way...that if you can write a blog post, you can write an article for the website. It's supposed to be by parents, for parents. If you're interested in more info, pop on over here.

*If you haven't yet read Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer, well, here's the perfect opportunity...it's the featured book for May in Becky's on-line book club. I read the book a couple months ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I know I'd be joining in on this one with Becky if I hadn't already read it.

*I know I already wrote a post about Dewey's fabulous new idea, Weekly Geeks. But if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, you really should. Week One's Theme is up. And it's never to late to sign up to join in the fun!

how does she do it?!!

Okay, Dewey has pulled the wool over my eyes for far too long. But I've finally figured it out...she is THE Book Blogging Super Woman! (Wish she'd post a pic of herself in full costume.)

Not only does she read in the neighborhood of a gazillion books a year, write truckloads of fabulous reviews, host multiple reading challenges, participate and complete even more reading challenges, run the Bookworms Carnival, host the Read-a-thon (all this on top of busy life of working, mothering, and wifing)...but now she's come up with another fabulous idea...Weekly Geeks!

I'm feeling ill-equipped to explain it myself (after all, I just said "wifing" and that can't possibly be a word, can it?). So I seriously suggest you go check this out for yourself...it sounds like great fun!