4 Middle Grade and YA Non-Fiction

2013, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Non-Fiction, Young Adult /

More catch up book blogging — Cybil blogging, to be specific.

Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon was the book I didn’t expect to love because how many times can you read about this topic and learn something new or find it fresh and interesting. Or maybe that’s just me because chemistry and bombs are not my thing. However, this was better than I expected — not so much for the spy factor, but for the inclusion of the race toward the bomb that was happening in the USSR and in Germany. That made it more interesting than just a straight how we got the bomb (and used it) sort of thing.

I really enjoyed the Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War. I mean really enjoyed it. Those poor kids. I cannot imagine how confused they, particularly the older ones and not the babies, were.

I liked Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 well enough. It was a little long but Moonbird himself is awesome. Which reminds me, I meant to see if there had been any more sightings since this book was written.

I’m not a big fan of books about the Titanic but I liked Titanic: Voices From the Disaster more than I expected to. It, too, was a little long but not so boring that I didn’t read it straight through.

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I’m Thankful For My Prius — Even If It Means I Don’t Get a Free Coffee

2 Comments / Daily Dose, Money Talks /

We usually get gas at the Navy base because gas is a good 20 cents a gallon cheaper and we’re out there anyway because a lot of things are cheaper at the Navy base. It’s a bit of a drive, with construction traffic and bad weather, but it’s worth it. Usually.

For the last several months they’ve done this thing where you get something free when you fill up — a fill up is 7 gallons or more — and I’ve never managed to put that much darn gas in my car so I’ve never gotten that free slurpee or cup of coffee. Darn it. I thought this week that was going to change.

Because last week we didn’t go to the Navy base at all, so we didn’t fill up the gas tank. It was still only at about a half tank but I figured it would be close… since I usually put in a little more than 3 gallons in every week and we skipped a week plus we had to do the whole O’Hare run a couple of times… surely I’d hit the 7 gallon mark…

Except I forgot they changed the promotion to $5 off of a $50 NEX purchase with a fill up of $25 or more. I still thought I might make it but I knew it would be close. And then I noticed the price of gas. It had dropped more than 20 cents since the last time I’d filled up there. Still, I thought, maybe this time… maybe this time I’ll get there.

Alas. No. $24.01.

Everything conspired against me. I swear.

Oh well. I’m still thankful for my Prius even if I never get a free drink or a coupon for the NEX.

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I’m Thankful for Amazon Prime

3 Comments / Daily Dose, Day to Day, Money Talks /

I remember when I first got Amazon Prime, I thought it was kind of silly and maybe a waste of money. Years later, it turns out it’s not.

Amazon ships quickly but they really really ship quickly with Amazon Prime. Sheesh.

I ordered a gift for JMP (or maybe for his dad?) yesterday at like 5:30pm – it was in the Lightning Deal box. The gift showed up today at about 1pm. How crazy is that?

With as much stuff as I order from Amazon every year, it totally pays for itself without even thinking about Amazon Prime movies we’ve watched via Roku.

Thank you Amazon Prime. You’re one of my favorite things.

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I Wish Buster Was As Thankful…

1 Comment / Animal Issues, Daily Dose, Day to Day, Family Funk, Pets /

I’ve learned to really appreciate baby gates and dog crates.

Skeeter learned pretty quickly that a closed baby gate meant she needed to stay behind the baby gate and she ended up not really needing to be crated when we weren’t home. She stays in the kitchen, behind the baby gates, and she’s good ’til we get back.

Lola jumped the baby gate within the first hour of being in our home but quickly learned that when the baby gates are closed, she needs to stay on the other side. She, unlike Skeeter, likes her crate and goes there when you tell her to or when anyone looks like he/she is going out/in the front door.

Buster has learned nothing. Not one thing. Except to go to his crate for breakfast/lunch/dinner or some other special treat he might get when we’re going to leave for awhile. He’s also learned how to open his crate and how to open the baby gates. And if he can’t open the baby gate, he just barrels through it.

I’m really thankful for the gates and the crates. I’d be more thankful if Buster appreciated them just a little more.

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The Storyteller

4 Comments / 2013, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Fiction /

I’m way behind on book blogging. Gah. I am afraid I’m never going to catch up … oh wait, I forgot I’m reading a book that I’m not really enjoying so it’s taking me a really long time, which should give me time to catch up on the books that I (mostly) enjoyed. All Cybils…

First, The Storyteller (on audio). I’m a Jodi Picoult fan except for the book she wrote with her daughter — that one, I did not love. This one… it’s YA but not very YA, if you ask me. Yes, Minka was a young girl when the war began and Anya, the parallel story character was also a young girl, and Sage was also fairly young but… this didn’t seem very YA to me. (Updated: Turns out it’s not YA. I ended up with the Picoult book that has the same title as a YA book I reserved. Total confusion ensued. NOT YA, which is good. I’m short a Cybil, which is not good.)

It also was very very depressing, as WWII books can be when they go into great detail about those who were at Auschwitz.

The ending, I saw coming — though knowing Picoult I expected her to try and double back and make it not be the twisted ending that I saw coming. Nope. It was, as I expected. Now I’m left wondering how Sage is going to deal with this for the rest of her life.

Typical Picoult book. If you like her, you’ll like this. If you don’t, then you will not.

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How Many People Are Thankful For Their Landlord?

1 Comment / Daily Dose, Day to Day /

Seriously.

I’ve rented a lot of houses in my lifetime, in a lot of different places, and I’ve never really liked my landlord much less LOVED my landlord until we found ourselves with Jerry.

The dude is awesome. Period. The end. Just awesome.

He fixes things quickly. He never gripes or moans about thinks that are broken. He doesn’t get mad when we come home with prairie dogs or an extra puppy (or three.)

He spent most of his yesterday getting rid of all of the leaves in our yard, driveway and sidewalks — just in time for the first snowfall.

The dude is just plain awesome. He’s pretty much the only thing I’ll miss when we leave here in 2 1/2 years.

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What Would I Do Without My Awesome Library?

2 Comments / Community Chest, Daily Dose, Library /

Seriously. What would I do? I cannot imagine what my life would be like if I didn’t have my library. I’ve read about 200 books already this year, from my library, and TW’s probably read twice that many. TW’s mom has probably also read twice that many. Yes, there was some crossover between the books I read and the books TW read but still… that’s hundreds and hundreds of books that we would never be able to afford to buy — even on Kindle.

I don’t know how people who don’t use their library manage. Do they really have that much money to spend on books? Or do they just not read? Both things kind of freak me out, ya know?

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I’m Thankful for Netflix and Dawson’s Creek

2 Comments / Movies & Television /

Seriously. Is there anything better than Netflix? I spent a very nice two days off of work watching Dawson’s Creek and working on JMP’s stocking — when Buster wasn’t ripping it out of my hands and racing toward the back door with it (or the thread or my scissors or the pattern, sigh.)

I’d almost forgotten how much I enjoyed the music in every episode. I’d almost forgotten all of that teen angst and how much I loved Michelle Williams even though I sure hated Jenn in the beginning. And now Andie and Jack have arrived to mix things up even more.

Thank goodness for Netflix. It was a great mini vacation at home with the Capeside kids.

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