Graphics

Edited 12/30/10: Finished!! Graphic Novels are just really not my thing, but I did complete this challenge and it wasn't too difficult. The only one that I read and did not like was French Milk--just didn't connect with it. I am mulling around whether or not to sign up again for 2011. I probably will because I did not get around to reading the ones I really wanted to read: Maus, Maus 2, Wonderland and Rapunzel's Revenge.


I have had my eye on this challenge for a while and decided to take the plunge and join. Graphic Novels are a new genre to me--I read a couple of them last year to mixed reviews. I think if I could just find the right books for me, this genre could be fun.

This year the challenge is being hosted by Nymeth from things mean a lot and Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made On. The challenge page can be found here!



So - rules and guidelines:

• The challenge starts on January 1st 2010 and ends on December 31st (but we don't mind you starting early.)
• You don't have to make a list beforehand (but you can, of course! Lists are great because they give ideas to people who aren't sure what to read. And if you do make one, don't feel forced to stick to it!)
• We simplified the levels of participation: you can be a Beginner (3 Comics or Graphic Novels), Intermediate (3-10) or an Expert (10+). You're more than free to adjust your level of participation after the challenge has begun.
• There will be mini-challenges! Look for a post with more info on that soon.
• Overlaps with other challenges are totally fine.

I am aiming for the intermediate level with my tentative list as follows:

1. Wonderland by Tommy Kovac
2. Ethel and Earnest by Raymond Briggs
3. Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale
4. To Dance: a Ballerina's Graphic Novel by Siegel and Siegel--finished
5. Maus 1 by Art Spiegelman
6. The Arrival by Shaun Tan-finished
7. French Milk-finished

Extra: Thumbelina, Cinderella, The Emperor's New Clothes (graphic novel fairy tales--geared for young readers)--all 3 finished

When you wish upon a star...

...dreams really do come true!



I am back!! Merry Christmas (late) and Happy New Year! I am hoping that 2010 will bring you all lots of happiness, health and good books to read!

We arrived home from our magical Christmas trip to Disneyland yesterday. As I type I am uploading 500+ pictures and hope there are at least a few good ones in the bunch. It truly was a wonderful and magical trip with our boys. The park was decked out in gorgeous light displays and our trip was full of much joy, laughter and the precious gift of time spent with our last two boys at home.



The park was at capacity almost everyday we were there, so we were really thankful to have 5 days there. The weather held out well for us-sun everyday and no rain until the morning we left!! We were surprised at how chilly it got at night, but it was still warmer than Seattle in December!

Unfortunately, some guest gave me an unexpected and surprise last minute gift...bronchitis! Luckily I didn't start feeling sick until we got back to our hotel on our last night there. This did make for a miserable plane ride home for me as I overdosed myself on mucinex and was so gorked out I couldn't keep my eyes open for longer than 2 seconds until it began to wear off an hour before landing back home in Seattle. But now that I have antibiotics on board I should be feeling better soon!

Well, this post was going to be reading wrap up post, but now I think I will just upload a few pictures of our trip and do the reading stuff in a different post!

Still here...

No time to blog this week--busy:
1. Celebrating Christmas early with some family
2. Working like crazy to get caught up before we close today for 1.5 weeks.
3. spending wasting 1 whole evening in bed with some weird stomach/chills thing
4. Packing, laundry, packing , laundry for our trip to Disney in 2 days
5. Reading (when I a have few minutes)

Hope you all are staying dry, safe, and warm this week!

double the joy

Not one...
...but TWO!
Yes. I received two Bookmarks magazines in the mail this week.
How, you may ask?
Well, I realized that I never received my Nov/Dec issue and called last week to ask them to send it to me. It arrived today.


Yesterday? The latest edition, Jan/Feb arrived!

Guess what I am doing tonight, right after I put some eye drops in my eye! :)

Hmm.... (edited )

6:30 pm: Great news! I only scratched the white of my eye and it is better already. I love eye drops! I can read again and am glad, as I am totally hooked on my current book: The Gift by Cecilia Ahern. She has written this novel with a lovely suspenseful/mysterious structure and I want to know more, RIGHT now! Thanks for all the well wishes in the comments!

...Eye infection or scratched cornea?
That is the question of the day and the reason I get to go to the doctor later.
Anything that interferes with my ability to read upsets me!

Wordless Wednesday

Adelaide: 1 month old

Short Review

Book: The Xmas Factor by Annie Sanders
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 305

Challenges:
** A-Z ** Read & Review ** The Fall Reading Challenge ** Christmas Reading Challenge ** Read & Review **

This was a warm, cozy, easy to read, and totally predictable Christmas story. I had a great time reading it. The author is really two women who co-author and I will definitely be looking for more of their stuff. I loved the two main characters--each dealing with their own Christmas stress--each trying to give those they love the best Christmas ever. The manner in which their stories and lives collide is great fun! In two words: Delightful and Festive....

Short Review

Book: The Nanny by Melissa Nathan
Finished : November 2009
Pages: 352 pages

Challenges:
** Read & Review ** A-Z ** Fall Reading Challenge** What's in a Name **

Fun!
After reading a couple of slower, deeper type of books, I was ready for something lighter and this British Chick-Lit book fit the bill. It did have a bit more depth than many other books I have read in the past in this genre. The main character, Jo, whose namesake is Jo from Little Women, is a young girl trying to figure out her life! I saw many parallels between her and my 24 year old son who is also in this same stage of life, just happening to be a male! Melissa Nathan has a very dry, and humorous wit about her writing, yet still managing to get her readers to connect with the characters, especially Jo. Life is sometimes messy, and confusing, and frustrating, but still we see a maturity and tenderness in her that makes the book a feel good story.

Publisher's Weekly:

"When 23-year-old Jo (named for a much saltier Jo in Little Women) lands a surprise nanny job with the cosmopolitan and dysfunctional (of course) Fitzgerald family, she trades in her quiet smalltown home and her unexceptional boyfriend, Shaun, for life amid the bright lights of London..."

Short Review

Book: The Lucky Ones by Rachel Cusk
Finished: November 2009
Pages: 240

Challenges:
**A-Z Challenge ** The Fall Reading Challenge** Read & Review **

This was not a feel good kind of book. Cusk has a beautiful way with words and I liked the subtle way the characters are all linked together, but I never really connected with the main characters on a deeper level--that of being a woman and mother. Their experiences were like nothing I have encountered in my 26 years as a mom.

From Publisher's Weekly:

"Cusk's vision of contemporary relationships is a lonely, wintry one, in which people's inner landscapes dominate. This makes for gorgeous, languorous writing in places, but it also restricts the view: the landscapes are so rich with pathos that there isn't always enough room for the range of human emotion so essential to prose that relies on thought instead of action. In "The Sacrifices," a married woman who never had the baby she desired visits her childhood home, now occupied by strangers, and fantasizes about returning to her old room: "I would sit on my bed as the afternoon turned outside the window to night. I would wait for them to call me down." This passivity runs throughout the book, as characters tend toward rumination rather than deed. But as readers come to the end, the lives of Cusk's characters begin to tie together hauntingly. This is not life in all its messy complexity, but a mannered, poignant portrait of the treacheries of domestic life."

The End!

I have officially finished all of my challenges for 2009!

Click on each button to see my challenge page for each one, if you are so inclined! Whew, but it has been a good year of reading. Click here to see all of my 2009 challenges completed throughout the year.





















































One challenge not completed still is the Casual Classics. I just could not squeeze Agnes Grey in to complete it!

Finally...

... finished a book this month!!! Now on to Christmas book #2.

Finished: The X-Mas Factor. By finishing this one, I have now finished all my 2009 challenges still left tot finish!! I will be posting some wrap up posts and reviews (behind on those) later today.

Reading: The Gift by Cecila Ahern. Ten pages into it and am hooked already.




More later--off for my Birthday lunch with my daughter and granddaughter!

A Mail Treat!

What should come in my mail today??
A treat.
From the person who got my name for the Holiday Swap!
That blogger happens to be Julie from Booking Mama!

There is a copy of a book called Earthly Pleasures which has been on my wish list for a while, White Citrus Shower Gel from Bath & Body Works, a bookmark made by Julie and the most adorable scrabble tile necklace that says "Read" from The Well-Dressed Reader!

It is a wonderful collection of goodies and I couldn't be happier!! Thank you so much Julie--this truly was a treat to come home and open after a long week at work.

Baby

Big Baby Blues

Sleeping like an angel

*squeal!*

I know, you are all probably shaking your head over this, but I must mention this new challenge I am entering. It is the You've Got Mail Challenge! The fact alone that this is my all time favorite movie has forced me to join!! I have seen several other challenges centered around books mentioned in a tv show or other movies and even one centered around a Billy Joel song. While those others tempted me, I was able to resist.

Oh, but not so with this one!

The host, book psmith says:

I hope you will join me in reading the authors and books highlighted, mentioned or pictured throughout the film as well as participate in the bi-weekly movie-themed memes, mini-challenges, quizzes and giveaways. The challenge runs from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010 and you may join at any time. You may overlap with other challenges.

There is no set number of authors/books to read.

You can choose to read anywhere from one to all from the list below.

Any book by or about the following authors:
Jane Austen
L.M. Montgomery
Maud Hart Lovelace
NoelStreatfeild
Roald Dahl
Kay Thompson
Shel Silverstein
E.B. White
Beatrix Potter
Dr. Suess
Ludwig Bemelmans
Mario Puzo
George Bernard Shaw
Thomas Jefferson
Margaret Wise Brown
Maurice Sendak
Frank L. Baum
Lewis Carroll
C.S. Lewis
Johann David Wyss

At the beginning of each month, I will publish a review post and if you have reviewed a book you may leave a comment and I will include the link in the post. There will be no set dates for the bi-weekly events, so following this challenge blog will ensure that you are notified when an event is posted.

I am so in on this one!

baby it's cold outside!

I decided to copy Tina from Book Chatter and post a picture of the view from my front porch. It may not look like much, but let me tell you, it is cold!! At noon it is only 32 degrees, and you can also add a windchill factor to that because there is a lovely north wind blowing too! December has arrived. How sad that you can still see the cornstalks I put up at Halloween!





In book news--nothing much to say. I thought I would be just reading away this monthe since our Christmas festivities are being scaled down due to our trip to Disney which begins on Christmas morning. I am doing no baking and very limited present buying, which leads to limited package wrapping. I think once I get things decorated, (yes, I am not a complete scrooge this year and am still doing that!) I will feel like I have a little more leisure time.

Still reading The X-mas Factor but really want to start the new Cecilia Ahern book I purchased last week.

So wish me luck as I bribe beg my boys to bring the crates of Christmas stuff down from the attic!

Hope you all are getting more reading done than me. ;)

Friday Facts

1. There was snow in the rain that was falling as I left work this afternoon. It was stinkin' cold all day--only getting in the upper 30's for temps. I live in the Seattle area, and snow is just wrong!

2. I am still in love with my new granddaughter, Lyddie!

3. I am reading The X-mas Factor, but it is slow going. The book is fine, it is just my lack of time that is holding me up.

4. One of my all time favorite authors has a Christmas book out. It is called The Gift and is by Cecilia Ahern. I love, love, love her. So, I purchased her book today on my lunch break. Total impulse buy.

5. I have totally been having fun checking out all the challenges being posted.

6. Jumping up and down for joy that the weekend is here!

Can't Wait!

I just saw that one of my favorite authors has a sequel being released in February, just like she promised!

Release date: February 2, 2010
(click picture for a summary)

Wordless Wednesday

7 pounds of pure sweetness!

The Letter Q

Hosted by Vicki from Reading At The Beach

Welcome to A-Z Wednesday!!

To join, here's all you have to do:
Go to your stack of books and find one whose title starts with the letter of the week.
Post:
1~ a photo of the book
2~ title and synopsis
3~ link(amazon, barnes and noble etc.)
4~ Come back here and leave your link in the comments.
If you've already reviewed this book you can add it also.

Who knows? You may find your next "favorite" book.

THIS WEEKS LETTER IS: Q

My "Q" book is The Queen of the Tambourine by Jane Gardam

This book is one that I am planning on ready for the A-Z 2010 reading challenge for the letter Q. It is an epistolary book, which I happen to really enjoy.

From Booklist

Eliza Peabody, a slender woman of 50 with dark, flashing eyes, is married to a terribly aloof dignitary and lives in a very posh section of London where everyone knows everyone else and their dogs, or at least pretends to. Eliza, a bit outre because of her lack of children and abundance of imagination, becomes obsessed with Joan, her enigmatic neighbor. We know this because we're privy to some very patronizing letters Eliza writes to Joan just before Joan ditches husband, children, and, yes, dog, and sets out on an arduous journey to such unvacationy places as Bangladesh. Joan's abrupt departure coincides with the disintegration of Eliza's marriage. Eliza slips into a rather mad frame of mind, which we learn about solely through the hilarious and poignant letters she continues to write and not necessarily send to the ever-elusive Joan. Gardam, recipient of two Whitbread Awards, strikes an unusual balance between wit and sweetness, creating a smart but gentle novel that seems to be from a far less explicit era than our own.