The Password to Larkspur Lane

1 Comment / 2010, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Classics, Nancy Drew Challenge /

Look, more evidence that I did snack while reading Nancy Drew (my mother seems to believe that I did not – err she would be wrong, lol.)  Some sort of foodie goo with fuzzy pink hair attached. My bedroom was pink and green (because my grandmother swore that pink and green went together and I believed every word she ever said, which is another story.) I vaguely recall some fuzzy pink pillow was on my bed and I’m pretty sure this pink fuzz is pillow related.

Anyway – The Password to Larkspur Lane – finished it, laughed when Bess said “I don’t want to meet any kidnappers” and George said “Don’t be such a snob!” Umm so you’re a snob if you don’t want to meet kidnappers? Hah. Who knew? Call me a snob because kidnappers are not high on my list of people to mee either.

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Odd and the Frost Giants

1 Comment / 2010, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Favorites, Fiction /

First, Neil Gaiman books should be listened to on audio, right before bed. If we listened to Odd and the Frost Giants when I was tired, his voice threatened to put me to sleep. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a boring voice – it’s a good bedtime story voice. Next, you should know that this is a super short book – a plus in my opinion. Two cds (on audio) – nice. No chance of this one being overdue at the library.

Now, about the story – nicely written, nicely told. I liked Odd. I liked Loki and Thor and Odin and Freya AND the Frost Giant, whose name we do not know because he didn’t tell us. Everyone should read (or listen) to this one.  

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Nancy’s Mysterious Letter

2010, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Classics, Nancy Drew Challenge /

Some observations from Nancy’s Mysterious Letter:

-In my experience, growing up in the 60s and 70s, there were very few dilapidated bridges. (No mom, the Grace bridge wasn’t dilapidated.) So how come there are so many in Nancy’s world?

-People say the world is smaller now, because of the internets. Those folks didn’t read Nancy Drew books in the 60s, did they?

-Mail delivery seems to have gotten significantly slower. A letter from London was stolen. A replacement letter showed up less two days later. Regular mail, not Fedex or even UPS. How is that possible? I can’t get mail delivered from across town that quickly.

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The Madame Curie Complex

2 Comments / 2010, Books in Bed, Dewey's Readathon, Favorites, Feminism, Non-Fiction /

It was awesome to meet Julie Des Jardins (Jory’s sister and Joy’s daughter) last year at BlogHer 09. I’d heard an awful lot about her and seen a lot of photos of her and her children. It was fun to take her photo with Mrs Potato Head. And it was interesting to hear her talk about her book, The Madame Curie Complex.

I’m not a science nerd but is that because when I was a kid, I was discouraged from pursuing math and science interests? Possible but as with any nature over nurture question, impossible to know for sure.  I didn’t know exactly what Julie was going to write or who she’d include in her pages but any book that talks about invisible women is my kind of book.

When my signed review copy arrived (thanks Julie!) I was thrilled by the names of the women I saw inside. I have always been interested in Marie Curie, haven’t we all?  I’m a huge Roslind Franklin fan, (Watson, Crick and Wilkins… ugh, don’t even get me started… I think I almost drove off of the road the day I discovered The Rosalind Franklin College right next to the Great Lakes Naval Station.)  And, I remember wanting to do a report about Lillian Gilbreth way back when and not being able to find enough information, all I could find was stuff about Frank.

I was really looking forward to reading it but work and kids and life in general kept me from diving in. (Imagine Lillian Gilbreth or Marie Curie making those kinds of excuses…hah.) I decided the Readathon would be the perfect time to sit down with it but I planned poorly and didn’t start it until very late in the Readathon day. I struggled with the intro, though it started beautifully, and ended up putting it down in favor of Nancy Drew – hoping to revitalize a bit. It worked because when I picked it back up, I was hooked – exhausted but hooked.

We’ve all heard the reasons why women didn’t enter (or achieve) in math and science, Julie’s book digs in differently. As she placed these women into historical context, right next to their male counterparts, I found myself thinking about the stories I already knew – in a different way.

The pieces about Gilbreth, the Manhattan project, and the “computers” in Astronomy were fascinating – I suspect I’ll go back and re-read those sections again. I’ve also never been very interested in the Trimates – the primate studies of Fossey,  Galdikas and Goodall- but after reading about them in The Madame Curie Complex, I’ve begun to regret that. I might just end up with a book or two about Primatology – particularly Galdikas and Fossey.  Thanks Julie!

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The Clue in the Diary

2010, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Classics, Dewey's Readathon, Favorites, Nancy Drew Challenge /

The last book I finished for the Dewey Readathon was The Clue in the Diary. The most interesting thing(s) about this one were related to Ned. He was “introduced” in this book. He and Nancy met when Foxy Felix’s house blew up and from that moment on Ned became a wee bit stalkerish – he just kept turning up. Someone should have warned her about that boy, no matter how cute or smart he might be. An oddity though is that in a book I read, earlier in the series, Helen teased Nancy about Ned… (maybe in the Mystery at Lilac Inn?), but how would that be possible if Nancy hadn’t met him yet? Oops.

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Mid-Event Survey

4 Comments / 2010, Books in Bed, Daily Dose, Dewey's Readathon /

1.What are you reading right now?  — I’m reading The Madame Curie Complex and The Clue in the Diary – both are slow going, I’m tired.

2. How many books have you read so far? –I’ve finished 4 1/3 (the third, finishing a book I’d started before the Readathon began)

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? – The Madame Curie Complex.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? – Not special, I just had to convince myself that it was ok to skip work for a day.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? – Not really. My mom called and chatted for awhile and Wilma the prairie dog has been a bit distracting at times. But, nothing long or ongoing or really troublesome.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? – Just how much I’m enjoying it. I mean really really enjoying it. I needed a day off. And it’s been years since I spent a day in bed with books.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? – Hmmm can I give you suggestions once it’s over? I need to think about this and the books are calling me back to them.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? – I’d have less nonfiction (though the nonfiction I’ve chosen has been excellent) and more salty snacks. Heh.

9. Are you getting tired yet? – Yep, I am. I had some Thai food and got up to walk around to try and stretch out a bit and get invigorated.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? – I planned to avoid my office computer all day and stick with just my iPhone and iPad to surf and update. But, I quickly realized that getting out of bed… walking to the office… sitting in a different environment were actually helpful. Everytime I take a break and use the office computer, I feel more ready to get back to my bed and my books. I’m not sure will find this useful but it’s been good for me and I was surprised by it.

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