Books in Bed

Home Girl

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, From the Stacks Challenge, Non-Fiction, Women /

I received a free review copy of Home Girl ages, and ages, and ages ago. While we were still in Florida. TW read it while we were still in Florida which caused much discussion of payday loan stores and beeper stores and high end shoe stores in Chicago and its suburbs. I believe the reason we are not living on Dempster in Evanston is directly related to a payday loan store, a beeper store and this particular book.

So thanks for that, Judith Matloff. (I can’t decide if I mean that thank you seriously or sarcastically. I often wished we lived over there… but am also often very glad that we do not.)

But, since Judith Matloff and her husband are obviously INSANE, I don’t think she cares one way or another whether I blame her for my current living location. I mean really. She must be insane. I don’t think the level of her insanity really hit me until she brought her baby home (oops, spoiler – sorry) to the muchachos… in all of the time they were renovating and dealing with the business, she never seemed to have second thoughts about living there with this potential child she was daydreaming about. That’s the only part of this story that troubled me.

They left Russia because they wanted to have a family – where there was anesthesia and she wasn’t putting her life or her kids’ life in danger – yet throughout all of that madness, she doesn’t mention having second thoughts due to the possible danger to the child she hoped to have. She mentions it later, 200 pages or so later. Weird.

The rest of the book… loved it. I was thrilled to read it. And thank goodness I did read it… it helped me realize that no matter how cool and interesting and fun I might THINK buying a rundown house in a depressed area of Chicago might be… it is so, so, so not something I really am cut out for.

I do wonder what happened to Clarence and Miguel, though.

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Skeletons at the Feast

2009, Books in Bed, Fiction /

It took me three days to get through the prologue of Skeletons at the Feast and I was ready to give up – several times. (Really troubling for me since I am a Chris Bohjalian fan.) TW heard me griping about how SLOWWWWWWWW and BORINGGGGGGGGG it was, grabbed the book out of my hand and said “Oh that was really good, keep reading.” So I did.

And it was.

I was either really really tired (probably) or the prologue was just a little slow (ok a lot slow) but sticking with it was worth it. I’ve even taken back my vow to never read another Nazi Germany book again (which is what I kept saying during the prologue.)

Good characters. Bohjalian writes solid women characters and I like that and the guys weren’t too shabby either. Nice little ending, too.

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My Cybils Challenge

1 Comment / 2009, Books in Bed, Cybil Challenge /

I enjoyed the Printz Award Challenge so much that I really wanted to do another YA/Kids type of reading challenge. Sassymonkey suggested a Cybils Challenge so I’m going to give it a go. It might be a little challenging to read all of the finalists but let’s see how I do.

Easy Readers
Houndsley and Catina and the Quiet Time (1/10/9)
I Love My New Toy (1/25/9)
I Will Surprise My Friend (2/16/9)
Maybelle Goes to Tea (2/16/9)
Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig (2/16/9)

Fantasy & Science Fiction
Cabinet of Wonders (1/17/9)
Graveyard Book (2/2/9)
Lamplighter (5/28/9)
Magic Thief (2/16/9)
Savvy (3/9/9)
Airman 6/3/9)
A Curse as Dark as Gold (9/3/9)
Explosionist (9/15/9)
Graceling (8/9/9)
The Hunger Games (4/20/9)
Wake (9/16/9)

Fiction Picture Books
Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek (1/10/9)
Big Bad Bunny (1/25/9)
Chester’s Back (2/16/9)
How to Heal a Broken Wing (3/10/9)
Katie Loves the Kittens (3/28/9)
The Sea Serpent and Me (3/28/9)
Visitor for Bear (3/28/9)
Wabi Sabi (3/28/9)

Graphic Novels
Chiggers (1/17/9)
Into the Volcano (1/25/9)
Jellaby (2/2/9)
Rapunzel’s Revenge (2/16/9)
The Savage (2/16/9)
There’s a Wolf at the Door (2/28/9)
Emiko Superstar (3/10/9)
Kin: Good Neighbors (4/12/9)
Life Sucks (4/12/9)
Three Shadows (3/4/9)
Skim (2/16/9)

Middle Grade Fiction
Alvin Ho (1/10/9)
Diamond Willow (2/5/9)
Every Soul a Star (2/19/9)
Shooting the Moon (5/24/9)
The London Eye Mystery (5/21/9)

Non-Fiction MG/YA
Planets: A New View of the Solar System (1/10/9)
Ain’t Nothing But a Man (1/25/9)
Body Drama (read this last year)
King George (9/4/9)
Lincoln Through the Lens (8/30/9)
Swords (8/30/9)
The Year We Disappeared (9/24/9)
We are the Ship (8/30/9)

Non-Fiction Picture Books
A River of Words (1/10/9)
Astronaut Handbook (1/25/9)
Duel! (3/3/9)
Fabulous Fishes (5/24/9)
Nic Bishop Frogs (5/24/9)
Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw (5/15/9)
Wangari’s Trees of Peace (5/15/9)

Poetry
America at War (1/10/9)
Honeybee (1/25/9)
Imaginary Menagerie (2/28/9)
More than Friends (3/10/9)
On the Farm (3/10/9)

Young Adult Fiction
Audrey Wait! (1/16/9)
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landeau-Banks (2/5/9)
I Know It’s Over (2/7/9)
Jellicoe Road (3/7/9)
Sweethearts (5/24/9)
Ten Cents a Dance (9/13/9)
Thaw (7/21/9)

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From the Stacks Challenge – 2009

2 Comments / 2009, Books in Bed, From the Stacks Challenge /

Since last year’s FtSC was such a success, I think I’ll give it a try again this year. All through the day, I’ll be wandering through my bookshelves, selecting books I have not read – from every color of my book rainbow. My goal is 12 books this year.

Black:
Home Girl (1/10/9)
The Shape of Snakes (10/28/9)

White:
Eccentric Neighborhoods (11/9/9)

Red:
Four Sisters of Hofei (11/23/9)
A Family Christmas (11/25/9)

Orange:
Ellen in Bloom (11/4/9)

Brown:
Quickening (11/7/9)

Yellow:
Tathea (11/14/9)

Green:
Kabul Beauty School (8/1/9)
The Devil in the Junior League (2/15/9)

Blue:
Quaker Summer (7/16/9)

Purple:
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters (1/27/9)

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The Worst Noel

2 Comments / 2009, Books in Bed, Don't Read This, Non-Fiction, short stories /

Sassymonkey was right about Let It Snow but not so much right about The Worst Noel. I was pretty darn bored all the way through it – and TW didn’t even bother to read it all.

The only interesting thing I can say about this one is that I’ve decided I really do not like Anne Patchett which is too bad since I really liked Bel Canto. (Did I read the Magician’s Assistant? Have I read Run? Heck, I dunno anymore.)

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2008 in Books

2 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed /

Even if I had the time to do a full year in review, I wouldn’t. I don’t think I could bring myself to look back or think back. I lived it once, I don’t particularly want to relive it, ya know? The year in books, though, that’s something else entirely.

* I read a total of 137 books. (I was hoping I’d finish one more before the day was over but I’m tired so I don’t think that will happen, if it does – I’ll strike out in the morning.)

* 18 non-fiction (ouch, how did that happen?), 50 YA (wow, I thought it was more!), 27 queer.

* I added 54 to my “favorites” tag and 8 to my “don’t read this” tag.

* 13 ere sequels to other books I’d read.

* I finished both the Printz Award Challenge and the From the Stacks Challenge. Yay me. Yay challenges. Yay I’m doing two just like this for 2009.

I think I need to add an “audiobooks” tag for next year, I don’t know why I haven’t added it before. Weird and kind of dumb.

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Websterisms

2008, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

I plucked Websterisms off of the “just back” shelf mostly because I thought TW would like it. She’s a big fan of the Webster. But, she turned up her nose at it. Weird.

I thought it would be a quick read during the crazy days leading up to Christmas so I put it on my nightstand ahead of some of the other novels waiting for me. It wasn’t a quick read, not in the beginning, but it was pretty interesting.

Once I got to the actual “dictionary”, I skimmed. Flipped the pages and read the definitions that popped out at me. Read the sidebar notes, stuff like that. This is the kind of book you just want sitting on your shelf so you can pick it up and choose a word just when you want to choose a word. Reading dictionaries all the way through is too much dictionary for me.

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Let It Snow

1 Comment / 2008, Books in Bed, Fiction, Young Adult /

OK, sassymonkey was right. I had to read Let It Snow and not because John Green and Lauren Myracle are two of the writers. I had to read it because there’s nothing better than Waffle House, cheerleaders and a LOT of snow. OK that snow thing, I could do without that and would love a Florida version of this holiday book. You hear that Green, Myracle and Johnson – get right on that. kthnxbai.

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Loose Girl

2008, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction, Women /

I don’t have much to say about Loose Girl. It was depressing. It reminded me of another book I read and can’t remember the name of. Same sort of thing – girl gets addicted to X, almost destroys her life, gets her life back on track – also an memoir.

That’s probably all I have to say – except that it’s too bad there are so damn many of these kinds of memoirs written by women. Is there a male equivalent memoir? If there is, could someone give me the name of the book, please.

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Cycler

2008, Books in Bed, Fiction, Queer, Young Adult /

Cycler is the weirdest YA book I’ve ever read. Weird and oddly compelling. I’m surprised at how much I’m interested in reading the sequel, particularly after the first chapter I wanted to throw the book across the room. I mean, please.

It’s a Dr Jekyl/Mrs Hyde – Teen Wolf sort of thing. Jack is seriously into the teen boy sex thing and there’s the whole bisexual issue. As Liz says it’s really trashy and it’s done just right – after you get past the first chapter and just let yourself go with it.

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