Back Stage Stuff

I spent a lot of time least week getting the site into shape again. Here is a current list of things done and ideas pondered.

  1. I updated the 2012 Challenges page, the 2012 Books page and created a weekly meme page.
  2. I decided to work through some memes each week and spread the 30 day book meme out over 30 weeks.
  3. I thought about where I want to go with my blogging and how I could utilize my resources better.
  4. I also decided that even though I missed Bloggiesta this Spring.  I am still going to try and work my way through the Master List of Mini Challenges.

So there you go, ideas and accomplishments for my first week back.

Top Ten Favorite Book Quotes

Top Ten TuesdayIn honor Maurice Sendak I will be picking my top ten quotes from children’s books.

  1. “And Max, the king of all wild things, was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all.” – Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are)
  2. “Words can be worrisome, people complex, motives and manners unclear, grant her the wisdom to choose her path right, free from unkindness and fear.” - Neil Gaiman (Blueberry Girl)
  3. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” - Dr. Seuss (I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!)
  4. “Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
    Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
    Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
    And shared a conversation with the housefly
    in my bed.
    Once I heard and answered all the questions
    of the crickets,
    And joined the crying of each falling dying
    flake of snow,
    Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
    How did it go?
    How did it go?” – Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends)
  5. “Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.’Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’
    ‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” – Margery Williams Bianco (The Velveteen Rabbit)
  6. “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh)
  7. “Prince Ronald said, Elizabeth, your hair is all dirty. You are wearing an ugly paper bag. You don’t have any shoes on and you smell like a dragon’s ear. Come back and rescue me when you’re dressed like a real princess.
    Elizabeth said, Ronald, your hair is all nice. Your clothes are all pretty. You look like a nice guy, but guess what? You are a bum.
    They didn’t get married after all.” – Robert N. Munsch (The PaperBag Princess)
  8. “If you’ve been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you – you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if nothing was ever going to happen again.” – C.S. Lewis (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)
  9. “I always say, ‘Books beat boredom,’ said Amanda wisely.”  Mo Willems (Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator!)
  10. “He saw clearly how plain and simple – how narrow, even – it all was; but clearly, too, how much it all meant to him, and the special value of some such anchorage in one’s existence. He did not at all want to abandon the new life and its splendid spaces, to turn his back on sun and air and all they offered him and creep home and stay there; the upper world was all too strong, it called to him still, even down there, and he knew he must return to the larger stage. But it was good to think he had this to come back to, this place which was all his own, these things which were so glad to see him again and could always be counted upon for the same simple welcome.” – Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows)

And I Am Back

I submitted grades on Monday and have all summer to streamline reading, blogging, and teaching so that there will not be a disappearing act again come Fall.

So much to update and so much to talk about in the near future. I am way behind on my reading unless you want to count Intro to Sociology Textbooks.  If there were a challenge for that I would so be on top of it.  But since there is not, I will be updating my small list of 2012 Books and my Challenges Page over the next week.

One of the fun things coming up is Armchair BEA.  I am luck enough to be volunteering for the second year in a row. You can find the Armchair BEA 2012 Agenda here. So if like me you can’t make it to Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention in New York this June, come and hang out with other people who love books and blogging too.

So look for reviews, return of 50 Word Friday, and an update of my Pern challenge in the next few weeks.

Sadness

Unfortunately, my new job has kept me away.  It will continue to do so until at least the beginning of April possibility the beginning of May.  All contests and challenges are on hold until then. I am still reading and still anxious to review, I just need some breathing space. Thanks for understanding.

50 Word Friday (2/3/12)

Author: Holly Black

Summary:

Do you believe in faeries? Not the soft, gentle kind, but the sinister, feral kind – the ones that wreak havoc on everything in their path…Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother’s rock band, until an ominous attack forces them back to her childhood home. To the place where she used to see Faeries. They’re still there. But Kaye’s not a child anymore. This time she’s dragged into the thick of their dangerous, frightening world. A realm where black horses dwell beneath the sea, desperate to drown you…where the sinister Thistlewitch divines dark futures…and where beautiful faerie knights are driven to perform acts of brutal depravity for the love of their uncaring queens. Once there, Kaye finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms – a struggle that could end in her death…

Review:

Half faerie rocker teen + geeky gay boy + bad/good faerie love interestt + unseelie court intrigue = love.  I have a weak spot for faerie stories.  Holly Black hits all the right notes. Add that her fae are tricksy, amoral and view humans as playthings and I am in.

Top Ten Tuesday (1/31/12)

Book Club Books

  1. The Road – After I read this book I spent months walking around asking the question.  Well, it is the question which is all spoiler-y but it is “The Question.” I spend a evening summarizing the book so I could ask “the question” at our family 4th of July gathering. And then spent 2 hours talking about book no one else had read yet.  So I think I book club could work with this one.
  2. Water for Elephants – A beautiful story or love and redemption and dreams.  The first circus book on this because with stories like these the cliché about running away to join the circus is making a come back.
  3. The Glass Castle – My old book club made up of members of my mom club read this.  I think it interested us because of the West Virginia connection.  But it is more than that.  When is unconventional bad? When is enough not enough? How do you deal with shame and embarrassment?
  4. Room – This one is touchy.  You need to be sure that you are not going to trigger someone with this read.  Also I think that this one belongs in a book with friends not a impersonal library club.
  5. The Secret Life of Bees – A fabulous story for all women about woman and their power.
  6. Wicked – And who does not like a great back story.
  7. One Thousand White Women – This was the first book club book I ever read.  Intriguing idea to leave it all behind and become part of the Brides for Indians program. What makes this viable choice?
  8. The Handmaid’s Tale – I guess I assume that book clubs are for and about woman.  Looking at my list the majority of stories focus on woman and their struggles.
  9. Pope Joan/The Red Tent – History and Her-story
  10. The Night Circus – Oh please let me run away and join this circus.  I would love to talk to some who love this book and someone who does not. 

50 Word Friday (1/27/12)

Author: Jim Butcher

Summary:

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only practicing professional wizard, should be happy that business is pretty good for a change. But he also knows that whenever things are going good, the only way left for them to go is bad. Way bad.
Recent examples: A duel with the lethal champion of the Red Court, who must kill Harry to end the war between vampires and wizards, Hit men using Harry for target practice, The missing Shroud of Turin, and the possible involvement of Chicago’s most feared mob boss, A handless and headless corpse the Chicago police need identified.
Not to mention the return of Harry’s ex-girlfriend Susan, who’s still struggling with her semi-vampiric nature, and who seems to have a new man in her life.
Some days, it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. No matter how much you’re charging.

Review:
Harry Dresden, I do love you. Is it because you are the very best snarky, wise-ass wizard out there? Or is it because world weary as you are you never give up fighting the good fight? Or is it merely the swoon inducing dulcet tones of James Marsters? Umm, Yes!

Work and Blogging

I started a new job.  It is the same type of job I use to have but it is a new school and, for now, a new age group.  When I left teaching 10 years ago, I never thought I would be back but back I am.  Without reference books, notes, or PowerPoints,  having given all of them up years ago, I am walking in blind.  Each lecture is from the ground up. It is exhausting.  All of that is an explanation to the light posting both in substance and in amount. I will be working on at least three posts a week. Mostly they will be meme like until I can get a handle on this teaching gig.

Coming up tomorrow 50 Word Friday, which is turning out to be more difficult than expected.  It is making me really think about the words I choose and what I want people to know about a book. Also next week, my monthly summary of reads and challenges.

 

Top 10 Tuesday (1/24/12)

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is a freebie…meaning YOU pick whatever topic your heart desires! Did you miss a topic you wanted to participate in or have a really specific topic that will probably never be a general Top Ten Tuesday topic? This week is for YOU!

I choose the same topic as Jamie; “The Best Historical Fiction Books.” So here they are in chronological order.

  1. The Red Tent (BCE) – This and Pope Joan are probably the first “adult” historical novels I ever read.  It set a pretty high bar for others.

    Told in Dinah’s voice, Anita Diamant imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood–the world of the red tent. It begins with the story of the mothers–Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah–the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through childhood, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah’s story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate connection with the past.

  2. Pope Joan (850s) – Still one of my favorite books regardless of genre or categories.

    For a thousand years her existence has been denied. She is the legend that will not die–Pope Joan, the ninth-century woman who disguised herself as a man and rose to become the only female ever to sit on the throne of St. Peter. Now in this riveting novel, Donna Woolfolk Cross paints a sweeping portrait of an unforgettable heroine who struggles against restrictions her soul cannot accept.
    Brilliant and talented, young Joan rebels against medieval social strictures forbidding women to learn. When her brother is brutally killed during a Viking attack, Joan takes up his cloak–and his identity–and enters the monastery of Fulda. As Brother John Anglicus, Joan distinguishes herself as a great scholar and healer. Eventually, she is drawn to Rome, where she becomes enmeshed in a dangerous web of love, passion, and politics. Triumphing over appalling odds, she finally attains the highest office in Christendom–wielding a power greater than any woman before or since. But such power always comes at a price . . .

  3. The Name of the Rose (1327) – Not an easy read but completely fascinating.

    In 1327, Brother William of Baskerville is sent to investigate a wealthy Italian abbey whose monks are suspected of heresy. When his mission is overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths patterned on the book of Revelation, Brother William turns detective, following the trail of a conspiracy that brings him face-to-face with the abbey’s labyrinthine secrets, the subversive effects of laughter, and the medieval Inquisition. Caught in a power struggle between the emperor he serves and the pope who rules the Church, Brother William comes to see that what is at stake is larger than any mere political dispute–that his investigation is being blocked by those who fear imagination, curiosity, and the power of ideas.

  4. The Other Boleyn Girl (16th Century) – Rekindled a love of Tudor England.  And resulted in huge, HUGE fabric bills as I now do Tudor historical reenactment.

    When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family’s ambitious plots as the king’s interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.

  5. Outlander (18th Century and 1945) – Fun, easy, tome.  I read this and all of the sequels until the last one.  Too much time in between to remember the sprawling story.

    The year is 1945. Claire Randall is traveling with her husband when she touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is hurled back in time to a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord 1743. Catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, she soon realizes that an alliance with James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, might be the only way to survive. Thus begins a work of unrivaled storytelling that has become a modern classic.

  6. The Drowned Maiden’s Hair (1909) – Lovely YA title.  Orphans and Spiritualism and Ghosts, oh my.

    Maud Flynn is known at the orphanage for her impertinence. So when the charming Miss Hyacinth chooses her to take home, the girl is pleased but baffled, until it becomes clear that she’s needed to help stage elaborate séances for bereaved patrons. As Maud is drawn deeper into the deception, playing her role as a “secret child,” she is torn between her need to please and her growing conscience —- until a shocking betrayal shows just how heartless her so-called guardians are. Filled with fascinating details of turn-of-the-century spiritualism and page-turning suspense, this lively novel features a feisty heroine whom readers will not soon forget.

  7. Trinity (1922-1923) – The horrible stories of the Irish Struggle made personal and approachable.

    The “terrible beauty” that is Ireland comes alive in this mighty epic that re-creates that Emerald’s Isle’s fierce struggle for independence. Trinity is a saga of glories and defeats, triumphs and tragedies, lived by a young Catholic rebel and the beautiful and valiant Protestant girl who defied her heritage to join him.  Leon Uris has painted a masterful portrait of a beleaguered people divided by religion and wealth–impoverished Catholic peasants pitted against a Protestant aristocracy wielding power over life and death.

  8. Water for Elephants (The Great Depression) – There are not enough words to tell you how much I loved this story. Seedy underbellies and shimmering circus life and a love story.  Or is it two love stories.

    Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski’s ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.

  9. King Rat (WWII) – I had to read this for high school.  I have never reread it and it was easily one of the first I thought of for this list.  Yup, it had an impact.

    The time is World War II. The place is a brutal prison camp deep in Japanese-occupied territory. Here, within the seething mass of humanity, one man, an American corporal, seeks dominance over both captives and captors alike. His weapons are human courage, unblinking understanding of human weaknesses, and total willingness to exploit every opportunity to enlarge his power and corrupt or destroy anyone who stands in his path.

  10. The Poisonwood Bible (1959) – Kingsolver’s best book.  The dissolution of an American missionary family in the middle of African beauty.

    The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

Fifty Word Friday (1/20/12)

Author: Jim C. Hines

Summary:

What would happen if an author went back to the darker themes of the original fairy tales for his plots, and then crossed the Disney princesses with Charlie’s Angels? What’s delivered is The Stepsister Scheme—a whole new take on what happened to Cinderella and her prince after the wedding. And with Jim C. Hines penning the tale readers can bet it won’t be “and they lived happily ever after.”

Review:

I wanted to love this book. Friends, whose opinions, I value love this book. But I didn’t. I liked it. It was interesting, but it was not love. Having said that, I love the author. His blog is fabulous. His humor is great. So I will read The Mermaid’s Madness.

 

As an aside, should you want to search for this book on Amazon.com with your children in the room, I recommend a narrower search than “stepsister.” That term alone leads to some very trigger inducing titles which one would not want to explain to their wee ones.

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