Just For Fun...

Grand-Girl at the pumpkin patch
Adelaide Renee
11 months old

Review: French Milk

Book: French Milk by Lusy Knisley
Pages:195
Finished: October 2010
Challenges:
***A-Z Challenge *** Read & Review***Graphic Novels***

From Amazon:
For her 22nd birthday—and her mother's 50th—Lucy Knisley and her mother went to Paris. For more than a month, they toured the City of Lights from their fifth arrondissement flat, exploring museums and cafes, taking photographs, eating pastries and drinking French milk, which Knisley says is sweeter than its American counterpart; she compares it with the influence we take in from our mothers...

My Thoughts:

Reading graphic novels is still a stretch for me. I have such a hard time relating to them and connecting with them. This book really lacked some depth, coming across as mostly a little travel journal, which is just fine except I was expecting this maturing relationship between the author and her mother, and I just never saw it. In fact, the interactions between mother and daughter are few and far between and very superficial when they do appear. Another down side to the book is the whole art thing~~I am not a big art connoisseur and found her descriptions of the art and museums she visited to be a bit boring.
It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't something I can rave about either.

Challenge Finished

Edited October:
I have finished this challenge~
I really enjoy memoirs and feel I chose some great ones for the challenge.

1. Summer at Tiffany
2. Snow Falling In Spring: coming of age in China during the cultural revolution
3. To Dance: a ballerina's graphic novel
4. The Invisible Wall
5. Cherries in Winter
6. Yesterday Morning
7. Zig-Zagging: loving madly, losing badly...how ziggy saved my life
   

1. The Memorable Memoir Challenge will be hosted here on The Betty and Boo Chronicles.

2. The challenge will run from January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010. You're welcome to join anytime.

2. Memoirs, letters, diaries, and autobiographies count as reads for this challenge. (Basically, if you think it is the stuff of memoir, it counts.)

3. Overlaps with other challenges are allowed. Audiobooks and e-books are also allowed.

4. Participants are encouraged to read at least 4 memoirs/diaries/letters/autobiography books in 2010. Of course, more are fine!

Review: Zig-Zagging

Book: Zig-Zagging by Tom Wilson
Pages: 211
Finished: October 2010
Challenges:
***A-Z challenge ***Memorable Memoirs**Fall Into Reading 2010

From Amazon

In this inspirational memoir, Wilson, author of the cartoon strip Ziggy (a job he inherited from his father), relates a life filled with wondrous memories and profound struggles. While growing up, Ziggy served as a means for father and son to draw out our thoughts and feelings about each other. But years later, Wilson's leg was crushed in a car accident, his wife died at age 44 of breast cancer, leaving Wilson with their two sons, and his father—both mentor and hero to Wilson—also had a serious illness. Immobilized by depression, Wilson's faith failed him, and he concluded that the mercy of God [was] an apparent fiction. Wilson struggled for peace and truth with Ziggy by his side. His ultimate rescuer was the gift of a journal in which he recorded his feelings and thoughts. With ideas like imagining Moses as the first Superman, Wilson delights with fresh, well-considered insights, while the Ziggy cartoons reproduced here put both the character and his creator in a moving light.

My Thoughts:

First of all, I must say that during my teenage years and early 20's I loved the Ziggy cartoon. My husband, while we were dating, would send me Ziggy cards when I was away at college. I so enjoyed receiving them and sending my own to him. Ziggy is the loser who becomes a winner--the little every man that lives in all of us.

This was a well written memoir by a man who felt like he had lost his whole world, and then found a way to climb out of the pit of grief and grief induced depression. His writing style incorporates the analogy of driving home from a business trip and that of life's journey. I was rooting for Mr. Wilson to find his faith in God again--because his life was filled with hope even when he couldn't see it or feel it. A true testament to the heartache and joys of real life.

Wordless Wednesday

The Falling has begun!

Autumn Fun

Edited: I have completed the challenge! Thanks Carl for the great yearly event. I was able to complete more books than I thought I would and can now say that I have read all the Harry Potter series which I though fit into this challenge perfectly. So I polished off what I had left of those, numbers 5,6,and 7. AND I have been able to squeeze in a macabre Shirley Jackson selection.



It is time. And I almost missed it.
What, you may wonder?

Carl's RIP V challenge! I know that I am bombing terribly with my other challenges, but this short term challenge may be just what I need. The weather we are having right now in the Seattle area speaks Fall to me. We seriously are having daytime temps that are typical for mid to late October. Plus, it is getting dark so much earlier each evening. And, another Fall indicator is right around the corner... The Fall read-a-thon! So, I am going to sign up for this challenge and I am going to give it a go....

I am opting for Peril the 2nd with my choice of books being:
1. Her Fearful Symmetry
or
2. We Have Always Lived in the Castle--finished
and
3. Harry Potter #5 (The Order of the Phoenix)--finished
and/or
4. Harry Potter #6 (The Half-Blood Prince)--finished
and/or
5. Harry Potter #7 (The Deathly Hallows) -- finished

Review: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Book: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Pages: 214
Finished: October 2010
Challenges:
*** RIP V***Read and Review 2010***


Summary from Amazon:

Since the mysterious death of four family members, the superstitious Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood, her ailing uncle Julian, and agoraphobic sister Constance have lived in a bizarre but contented state of isolation. But when cousin Charles arrives in search of the Blackwood fortune, a terrible family secret is revealed. Bernadette Dunne's reading is flawlessly paced and suspenseful. The voices she provides the cast of characters are spot on: precocious Merricat is haunted and increasingly desperate; Constance is doting but detached; Uncle Julian is both pleasantly dotty and utterly unnerving; and Charles is the conniving villain listeners will love to hate. A treat for fans of mystery and suspense.

My short two cents:

Macabre, creepy and emotionally unsettling!! Exactly what Shirley Jackson is known for and best at. A master of character development and subtlety alerting the reader that something is not right, all is not well, and then keeping you guessing till the very end just how "not right" things are! This was a great read for October and Carl's RIP V challenge.

Edited 12/30/10 : Well, the challenge came to an end and while I didn't completely fail, I did reach my highest goal of finishing 12 books. I did finish 8, and considering the reading slump I found myself in this Fall, that isn't too bad! Now it is winter and I am gearing up for a new year of reading.


I missed the original announcement of this yearly challenge and now I am scrambling to catch up. It is hosted every Fall by Katrina of Callapidder Days. The challenge runs from September 22 through December 20th---you know?.... through Fall!

Here is my list:

1. Ex Libras--Finished
2. The Yellow Lighted Book Shop
3. So Many Books, So Little Time--Finished
4. Bride Island
5. Hold Autumn in Your Hand
6. Zig-Zagging--Finished
7. Uglies-Finished
8. Queen of the Tambourine--Finished
9. Never Change--Finished
10. About Alice--Finished
11. Maus I
12. Jennifer,Hecate, Mcbeth, William Mckinley and Me--Finished

End of a Journey...

Dear J. K. Rowling,

I am writing this to say thank-you!
Thank you for writing the Harry Potter series and while I know this might seem a little late, as the last book was published back in 2007, it is still very heartfelt.

You see, I just finished #7 yesterday, but it didn't take me 3 years to read through it. No. It took me 6 days, but not 6 days of straight reading as you see I do work full time during the week.
Yesterday marked the end of a journey that I began in May.
A journey which the seed to begin had been planted back in December 2009 as I was looking at my book lists--both what I had read in 2009 and what I might like to read in 2010.

We have all 7 books sitting on a shelf in our house. One book doesn't even have a front or back cover on it, and all of them look a little banged up. Signs of a beloved series that has been read over and over here in our little house. You see, I was the only one in my whole family who had not read them. Six other family members had read them-most at least twice, and some even 3 times through.

So, I voiced the idea that maybe I would make 2010 the year to read Harry Potter. And that idea was met with a chorus of, "Yes mom! You should!" And as the year began and then the months flew by, my teenage son began begging me to start them. He would ask me every week when I was going to start them.

And then in May I did! I read the first one. And found it to be a nice little story, yetI was not all that provoked to start the 2nd one right away. But in the back of my mind, I knew that November was my deadline because that was when the new movie would be released. I wanted to go to that movie with my family and actually know what was going on.

Then in June, I began the second book. Once again, I though what a nice children's/ young adult book, but I still wasn't totally hooked.

With Sam's constant badgering of me, I read the 3 rd book in July and began to feel myself really connecting with the stories and characters and wanting to know more.

August saw me plow through #4 at the end of the month and that did it. I was consumed by the storyline! Numbers 5 (My favorite) and 6 were completed in September and were the only books I read that month. It was very fitting that I completed #7 yesterday, during the 24 read-a-thon I was participating in with my son Sam. The son that urged me month after month to read the series. I could not have timed it better had I tried.

So, thank-you...
For attention to detail that boggled my brain, continuity throughout the 7 books, and plot twists and turns I never saw coming.

Thank you...
For the memories of my family, discussing the book I was reading, carefully, lest they divulge some special secret, for hearing them yell, "Yeah Mom!" each time a book was finished.

Thank you...
For richly drawn characters who made me laugh, brought me to tears, and made me want to read the next book to see what they would be up to at the close of each finished book.

But most of all, thank you....
For James, Lily, Sirius, Lupin, Fred, George, Luna, Neville, Mr. & Mrs. Weasley, Serverus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, Ron, Hermoine, and most of all....Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived!

Last Update :: End of Event Meme

What I'm reading now: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

How many pages read since last update: 77

How many pages read total: 582 (.85 pages per minute)

Number of books read since you started:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2. French Milk by Lucy Knisley

Amount of time spent reading since last update: 120 minutes

Running total of time spent reading since you started: 681 minutes or 11.35 hours

Mini-challenges completed:
1. Favorite Childhood Books (Hour 2)
2. 6 Word Mini Challenge ( Hour 3)
3. Show Me the Books (Hour 5)
4. Love to Hate (Hour 8)
5. Pet Pics, Prized Pages.... (Hour 10)
6. Wordle (Hour 15)
7. Pitch Your Book (Hour 18)


What Sam is reading: Harry Potter #1 ( 1055 pages, 587 minutes of reading---9.7 hours and 1.79 pages per minute)


Sam has finished:
1.Cirque Du Freak #1 (The Living Nightmare)
2.Cirque Du Freak#2 (The Vampire's Assistant)
3. Read 80 pages of Harry Potter #7 before putting it down
4. Cirque Du Freak #3 (The Tunnels of Blood)
5. Cirque Du Freak #4 (Vampire Mountain)



What we are listening to: Smooth Jazz Radio

What have eaten: Peanut Butter M & M's and some chips and dip

Distractions: TIRED


Weather: RAINY

End of Event Meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
For both Sam and I it was hour 20--which is when we both just really struggled and finally gave up! It was a little after 1 AM for us.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Sam really smoked through those Cirque Du Freak books--they are a Vampire series and I really think Harry Potter was a great choice--I think I should have saved it for the end and not the beginning...

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Heavens no! For an event this size it is managed amazingly

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Everything! My cheerleaders were amazing!

5. How many books did you read?
I finished the last part of the 7th Harry Potter, finished French Milk and almost finished We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Sam finished 4 books.'

6. Which book did you enjoy most?
Me: Harry Potter
Sam:

8. Which did you enjoy least?
Me: French Milk

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn't one, but the ones who visited me were great!

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Oh, you know we will! This was our 4th one to participate in and is something we both look forward too. :)

Thank you to all the organizers and cheerleaders!!

Update #4 :: Hour 18

What I'm reading now: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

How many pages read since last update: 72

How many pages read total: 505

Number of books read since you started:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2. French Milk by Lucy Knisley

Amount of time spent reading since last update: 120 minutes

Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 561 minutes

Mini-challenges completed:
1. Favorite Childhood Books (Hour 2)
2. 6 Word Mini Challenge ( Hour 3)
3. Show Me the Books (Hour 5)
4. Love to Hate (Hour 8)
5. Pet Pics, Prized Pages.... (Hour 10)
6. Wordle (Hour 15)
7. Pitch Your Book (Hour 18)


What Sam is reading: Harry Potter #1 ( 943 pages, 497 minutes of reading)


Sam has finished:
1.Cirque Du Freak #1 (The Living Nightmare)
2.Cirque Du Freak#2 (The Vampire's Assistant)
3. Read 80 pages of Harry Potter #7 before putting it down
4. Cirque Du Freak #3 (The Tunnels of Blood)
5. Cirque Du Freak #4 (Vampire Mountain)



What we are listening to: Smooth Jazz Radio

What have eaten: Popcorn with Starburst Jelly Beans mixed in, cup of coffee and diet coke for me, Orangina drink for Sam

Distractions: Restless legs and headache


Weather: RAINY

Update #3:: Hour 16

What I'm reading now: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

How many pages read since last update: 193

How many pages read total: 433

Number of books read since you started:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2. French Milk by Lucy Knisley

Amount of time spent reading since last update: 90 minutes

Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 441minutes

Mini-challenges completed:
1. Favorite Childhood Books (Hour 2)
2. 6 Word Mini Challenge ( Hour 3)
3. Show Me the Books (Hour 5)
4. Love to Hate (Hour 8)
5. Pet Pics, Prized Pages.... (Hour 10)
6. Wordle (Hour 15)


What Sam is reading: Cirque Du Freak: #3 Tunnels of Blood ( 744 pages, 392 minutes of reading)


Sam has finished:
1.Cirque Du Freak #1
2.Cirque Du Freak#2 (The Vampire's Assistant)
3. Read 80 pages of Harry Potter #7 before putting it down



What we are listening to: Smooth Jazz Radio

What have eaten: Chinese Take Out for dinner, Starbursts candy, and getting ready to make a cup of coffee

Distractions: Puffy eyes from crying at the end of Harry Potter #7!... Computer time.... Moving laundry

Mini Challenge: Wordle: Hour 15

I could not for the life of me figure out how to make my Wordle larger in my post. I am posting link to the mine from the website.

Click HERE

Mid Event Survey

Sam, reading early this morning

Mid-Event Survey:

1. What are you reading right now?
French Milk by Lucy Knisley

2. How many books have you read so far?
Finished 1: Harry Potter #7

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
Nope! OH the joys of having older children!

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Just a music lesson I needed to taxi drive for, and then the making of lunch for us 2 readers and of course the time it took to shower and dry my hair!

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
How slow of a reader I am!

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope! This is a well oiled machine...

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
I would have my update templates ready to go--something I forgot to do this time.

9. Are you getting tired yet?
A little, but it is only 4:00 in the afternoon for us.

Update #2 :: Hour 12

What I'm reading now: French Milk by Lucy Knisley (a graphic novel)

How many pages read since last update: 175

How many pages read total: 240

Number of books read since you started: 1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Amount of time spent reading since last update: 270 minutes

Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 351minutes

Mini-challenges completed:
1. Favorite Childhood Books (Hour 2)
2. 6 Word Mini Challenge ( Hour 3)
3. Show Me the Books (Hour 5)
4. Love to Hate (Hour 8)
5. Pet Pics, Prized Pages.... (Hour 10)


What Sam is reading: Cirque Du Freak: Living Nightmare ( 498 pages, 5 hours of reading)
Sam is currently taking a break and playing Halo Reach on the XBox!

Books Sam has finished:
Cirque Du Freak #1
Cirque Du Freak#2 (The Vampire's Assistant)


What we are listening to: Smooth Jazz Radio

What have eaten: Scrambled Eggs, Cherry Turn Overs, Salami & Cheese Sandwiches, Fresh Rasberries, coffee, Starbucks bottled drink, Milano cookies

Distractions: Puffy eyes from crying at the end of Harry Potter #7! Taking time out for Sam's Saxophone lesson and a quick run into the grocery store...

Prize you’ve won: None

Mini Challenge:Pet Pics, Prized Pages and Pachyderm Prose

The Challenge:
1) Post a picture on your blog of a current or past pet.

This is our sweet "girl" Molly. This photo was taken this morning when I came back into my room after getting up to take my shower. She has a special knack for making herself at home in our space!

2) Tell us your favorite animal book and then write a sentence using the name of the main character and only the first letter of that name.

I don't read animal books because of the "dead dog syndrome" I grew to hate after reading, Where the Red Fern Grows, out loud to my two sons. Me sobbing through the end of that book was disturbing to see by my sons!! :) :)
But I did find myself attached to Hedwig the owl in the Harry Potter books so we have come up with this sentence using only the letter "H":

Hedwig Helps Harry Hold Hope!

MIni Challenge: Show Me the Books

This little challenge is simple! Post of picture of some stack of books in your house. I could show you stacks of books on shelves throughout my house, but instead will show you the stacks of books that Sam and I have picked out for today:

Mine:

Sam's

Update #1 :: Hour 4 /// 6 Word Mini Challenge

(updated 6 word sentence meme at the end of this post)









What I'm reading now: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

How many pages read since last update: 65
How many pages read total: 65

Number of books read since you started: None
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 81 minutes

Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 81 minutes

Mini-challenges completed:
1. Favorite Childhood Books (Hour 2)
2. 6 Word Mini Challenge ( Hour 3)


What Sam is reading: Cirque Du Freak: Living Nightmare (85 pages, 1 hour of reading)


What we are listening to: Nothing yet!

What we are eating: Nothing yet, but will jump in shower next, then make scrambled eggs to go with our cherry turnovers. Oh yes...I still need my first cup of coffee!

Distractions: hungry, tired, dry eyes, and dirty hair! ;)

Prize you’ve won: None

6 word Mini-Challenge:
(composed by my 15 year old side-kick, fellow reader and beloved son,

Amazing Books plus scrumptious snacks: Joy!

Intro Meme

Woo Hoo! I am up and trying to get going. It is 6 AM here and I was supposed to be up at 5, but that is just waaay too early on this working mama's day off! :) I am reading from my house in the greater Seattle area and my 15 year old son, Sam, will be reading with me. I have not woken him up yet as he was out late last night at his high school football game.



Where are you reading from today?

I am reading from my house in the greater Seattle area and my 15 year old son, Sam, will be reading with me. I have not woken him up yet as he was out late last night at his high school football game.

3 facts about me …

1. I am going to be a Grandma for the second time this next spring!

2. I am a budding knitter, and have really enjoyed learning this skill after doing many other hand crafts over the years, mainly cross-stitch an sewing.

3. I love hazelnut anything!

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

Based on the photo in this post , 10.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

My main goal is to have fun, but a mini goal is to finish that Harry Potter #7 first thing today!! We will read until we just can't keep our eyes open any longer...

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?

Switch it up during the day--move around, take breaks and if a book just isn't working for you, put it aside and choose a different one. Graphic novels are a really nice change when you are tired!