2015

Housewitch

2015, Books in Bed, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Women /

I wasn’t sure what to read but remembered TW said Housewitch was surprisingly good. So, that seemed like a good choice.

A few chapters in and I thought I’d made a bad choice and that TW had gotten this book confused with something else. It was fine but not “surprisingly good” — turns out, I just needed to wait a tiny bit longer because before I knew it, I’d stayed up until after midnight to finish it. Couldn’t put it down.

I’m not even really sure why I couldn’t put it down. It was just surprisingly good. Maybe it was a spell on the book or something…

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Small Green Roofs

2015, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

Last month I decided I wanted a green roof on my chicken coop, the chicken coop I don’t have right now. I spent some time surfing pinterest for green roof chicken coops for inspiration. And just about the time I’d moved on from actively thinking about green roof chicken coops, Small Green Roofs appeared on the non-fiction new arrival shelf at the library. It was a sign. Clearly.

I read it. Skimmed it, really. It was not inspirational. It was a bit intimidating. Also, there’s a lot of math involved and a lot of science, too. I obviously knew you couldn’t just throw soil and plants on a roof and that was it. I understood you’d need to think about the weight on the roof and waterproofing. I also had a vague understanding that there are special soil thingies for green roofs. And this book talks about all of that — and a lot more, in a very overwhelming way.

I didn’t hate the book. I didn’t love the book. I’m glad I read the first two chapters and skimmed the rest. I still want a green roof chicken coop and I shall have one, someday!

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New York In a Dozen Dishes

2015, Books in Bed, cookbooks, Non-Fiction /

I totally impulse picked New York In a Dozen Dishes because, duh, #BlogHer15 is in New York. And also because I like New York pizza.

The book was interesting – a look at 12 dishes, their history and their history in New York. Bonus for including restaurant suggestions and a recipe for each one. There’s quite a bit I wouldn’t eat (brains, chowder, blech) but all of the chapters were interesting. And, I have a weird craving for a black & white cookie and I don’t really like black & white cookies.

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2 Cybils YA Fiction

2015, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Fiction, Young Adult /

I’ll Give You the Sun started slowly and the chapters are really long but I got hooked really quickly and could not put it down. I love both twins and the other kids and adults in the book. Great characters. Well done, well done.

We listened to Noggin on audio and enjoyed this one, too. Poor kid. Seriously. I cannot imagine. I even mostly liked the ending, though for awhile there I was afraid it was going to be stupid. I should have known better, obviously. That whole Travis and Cate thing… gah. Also, I’ve decided I wouldn’t opt for having my head cryogenically frozen. Nope. Not doing it.

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Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood

2015, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Fiction, Young Adult /

I wasn’t sure about Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood. I was either going to love it or hate it, and I was pretty sure it would be the latter. Turns out, I loved it.

It’s a quick read and it didn’t take more than a few pages for me to fall in love with Abby and her mom and her grandparents and her friends. It took me longer to fall in love with Abby’s dad, but that’s to be expected.

I did a lot of talking out loud to the book. I gasped when Abby talked to the reporters towards the end. TW was confused by my vocal engagement with the book. I couldn’t help it, I felt compelled to talk to or commiserate with Abby.

Who would have guessed?

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At the Water’s Edge

2015, Books in Bed, Fiction, Women /

I don’t know if At The Water’s Edge started slowly or if I was just tired but I had a really hard time getting through the first third of the book. I pretty much hated all of the characters in the beginning. I obviously didn’t end up loving the guys but at least I started to care about the story once they made their way to Scotland got settled in there.

After that, I really enjoyed it and ended up staying awake way too late last night to finish it.

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Four Non-Fictions

2015, Art, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

I couldn’t decide what to read last week so I reached for some non-fiction and then I just kept reaching for the non-fiction. I do that, quite a bit — in case you hadn’t noticed.

Materially Crafted wasn’t bad. Not great but not bad, either. I enjoyed it but I don’t think there’s anything in it I plan to do or make. It’s a nice reference if you don’t know much about some basic craft materials.

Oh Joy!: 100 Whimsical Projects to Create and Give Joy was fun. Lots of pretty pictures and color but not a lot of meaty projects.

The Alternative Jukebox was awesome. All the music, all the reasons why various bands and musicians were “alternative.” I got sucked down a Kurt Cobain hole and then I got sucked into listening to BBC 6 Music. What an awesome radio show. I love it.

Next, Art, Inc. No, I’m not planning on ditching my day job for a career in art. I grabbed the book from the shelf because I like Lisa Congdon and I thought it sounded interesting. It was interesting. I’m glad I read it.

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Reading In June

2015, Books in Bed, Reading /

Woah. July snuck up on me and weirdly enough, I don’t have a feeling about how I did with reading in June. I always go back and look at the books I blogged and my goodreads but I usually have some idea of how I did. I can barely remember what I read last month. Rough, rough month. So let’s see…

I read a total of 23 books. Not a bad month, particularly since I quit two books. (One on audio that was long and dry and the audio jumped and confused us and it was a mess, so we quit. And, one that was non-fiction that I couldn’t bring myself to finish.)

7 were YA
4 were children’s fiction and 2 of those were from my stacks.
4 audios! That’s pretty awesome right there (particularly since I listened to Marie Kondo over and over lol)
12 non-fiction. Oh, all the non-fiction, I remember now.
8 were Cybils.

Good month of reading, even if I didn’t actually remember what I read until I looked back over the month.

July will probably not be such a good month. Conference time = no reading for me.

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