Book #5
#5 - The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The fact that I just got around to reading this book even though everyone else and their mother has read it (come on, when since Harry Potter have I read a book in the top 50 on amazon?) and reccomended it to me. Ironically? If a lot of different people reccomend something to me? I won't read it. In this case, it was good enough to have spent time on it, but not good enough for me to reccomend anyone else read it. I won't spoil the concept (really just for citycat who I know hasn't read it since i stole it before she could) but I guess I just didn't find it as engaging as some of the other books I've been reading.
Also? I'm 10% of the way to my promised total and only have 94% of the year remaining - this may be more challenging than I thought.
Labels: books
Daily News Feed
washingtonpost.com | Getting Mad About Schools
We all know how much I love Jay Matthews, but this article of his bridges all of my loves - not just education, but also complaining in order to get something done.
Cognitive Daily: Study: Playing video games helps kids transition to adult life
Yes, this article is JUST for Eric. And for me - maybe I will be willing to let my children play video games when they grow up.
Dr Straightlove -- or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the War on Marriage -- The Debate, by Emily Messner
Emily hopped onto this issue (as she should and as she usually does) before I got a chance to. I called E last night yelling and screaming, asking "If [insert your favorite gay couple here] could get married, would it mean we wouldn't? Or shouldn't? Or would it affect us in ANY way? Finally, the C-SPAN news conference that made me so angry had religious leaders blaming gay marriage for single parenthood. Anyone who can explain ANY of these things to me adequately will win a cookie! DCist adds on to this by reminding us of the anniversary of the Loving decision.
Most-Educated Cities in the United States - MSN Encarta
Alas, apparently Bethesda does not hold the title anymore, or Encarta is looking for larger cities than Bethesda...but DC is the 4th most educated city in the country!
Finally washingtonpost.com | What Happens When There Is No Plan B?
I don't even want to commentate on this article. I was just so upset as I read it. I didn't know they didn't HAVE TO TELL YOU why they would refuse to service you.
Jodi Picoult Strikes Again
#4 - Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult
(for someone who randomly stumbles across my blog who does NOT know me - yes, I managed to work a full-ish day at work, work at home for several hours, and still manage to finish a whole Jodi Picoult novel by 2am. I read fast, ok?)
Jodi Picoult's books, from what I can tell, like to pick up a thread of little-known culture (the Amish, Wicca, etc) and use that as a backdrop for the story she weaves. Also, her books almost always tend to deal with some kind of abuse. In this case, we got the abuse we were looking for in The Pact on the last page of this book, but also a neat dualism between all of the pairings in this book. Except I kept getting detectives, deputies, and children mixed up. Plus, maybe I really just didn't get into The Pact as much but Jordan McAfee's storyline wasn't as compelling as I wanted it to be. Overall though... I liked the book a lot.
Reflections on reading and literacy
When people hear how much I read, a frequent question that I get is, "What is your favorite book?" I have always struggled with ranking books that I read. That isn't to say that I don't have books or series that I run back to. Often. When I'm looking for "comfort reading." As I kid, I didn't read the "good" books. I think I read all 152 Babysitters club books that were published at the time, not to mention all sorts of other junk reading. My idea of classics extended really only to Madeleine L'Engle and Louisa May Alcott. I was in college before I saw Jane Austen as more than a chore and I still am surprised at the holes I have in my already-read repetoire.
And sometime, I'll have a non-Jodi Picoult book in this 50 books.
This feels like an adult Book-It except without the free pizza.
Oh, by the way? I found something I NEED in my life. I need about twenty of these in my life: The ThumbThing. All of my turned pinkies and sore thumbs could be behind me! Behold! I could hold open books wherever I go! Now, to find out where to purchase one...sigh.
commentary on the template...I know, I know--it is getting better and worse at the same time. deal.
Labels: books
"As I was saying, before I nailed myself in the head with that plate..."
This weekend, E and I decided to go up to his parent's house for his little brother's graduation from High School. So, we packed an overnight bag, I loaded myself up with novels, and were on the road about 7:30 Friday night, with an ETA of about 2am. This was much better than our last drive up to New England, where we didn't leave until midnight and I was pre-eet-y drunk. This time, we decided to leave ourselves a little more time. In fact, 7:30 seemed the perfect compromise between E's desire to drive while it is light out and my compulsion to only drive in the dark.
First hangup - accident on the BW parkway. So, we detour to Powder Mill where E insists he knows where he's going better than I do - so instead of getting off at 212, on I-95 -- we ended up backtracking back to the Beltway. Where there was another accident.
Needless to say, it was 9pm before we were north of Baltimore.
Instead of horrible rest stop fast food, we found a Boston Market in Newark (Thank you Jordan, for insisting I learn that "shortcut" through Elkton) and were in Delaware around 10pm.
Where it was MONSOONING.
(E insists it was a Tsunami. I'm not saying he's wrong.)
It continues to pour (as in, many many MANY accidents, hydroplaning, 40MPH flashers on, too bad the windshield wipers SUCK conditions) through New Jersey. We consider the Tappan Zee option, but neither one of us wants to risk a route we don't know in a terrible horrible rain storm. We brave the GW bridge and the cross-bronx in the storm - luckily, there were only about 8 other idiots on the road with us all the way through Connecticuit. (E and I also already have our rest stop rhythm down for the way up - Joyce Kilmer for gas, Fairfield for a stretch, the rest stop on 91 for a bathroom break, etc) It is good that so few cars are on the road because it is STILL monsooning. Absolutely POURING rain. It rains through CT, all the road changes, the Mass Pike, Worcester, and then finally home. Where we RUN into the house to not soak ourselves.
Yes, it is 5am. Joy.
We crawl into bed(s - ok, he crawls into bed and I crawl onto trundle) and I (as usual) read until late and wake up early. Luckily, this case, early was 9ish and we were both up by 10:30ish.
First thing I do in the morning? Manage to offend E's mom over her new coffeemaker.
I? Didn't realize it was a big deal, since E's mom did not say anything at the time. No, she waited until almost all of E's extended family was around to bring up the fact that I insulted her coffeemaker.
(Me: plotting revenge. probably on cruise.)
(Cruise? Whole other story)
Saving grace of new coffeemaker? Means that E's mom has CAFFIENATED coffee in house.
The family has enough fruit and cheese trays to feed an army. An army, that due to the weather, has been reduced to one uncle, one grandmother (I think I'll call her G-Mae) and the five of us.
(E rescues me by insulting his mother over the ice bucket)
Off to graduation we go, in a Zipcar minicooper(! have I mentioned how much I love E's uncles? I'm sure I will as the Cruise to Nowhere approaches). However, due to the weather, the outdoor graduation was scrapped in favor of a ticketed affair in the auditorium. Which, we are short 2 tickets for. I was all for heading over to the restaurant early and pre-gaming, but in the interest of family unity (and the fact that we did not drive ourselves), we camped out for the closed-circuit graduation viewing in the cafeteria. Which would have worked out well, if there was audio.
Ah well. I needed to take the practice ACT anyway.
Plus, that made us miss the 6 (!) student graduation speakers.
Off to a celebratory dinner (where E's mom orders wine, giving me the green light to drink as well) with two uncles, a grandmother, and his brother's girlfriend. Who is adorable, well meaning and very cute. But very....young. VERY young. So young, that I was forced to look back at my childhood and evaluate...nope. Still was NEVER that young.
Entertainment? She ordered the house salad for her dinner entree - telling me that it is clearly a Rite of Passage - first meal with a boyfriends family? Only order the salad and eat only half of it.
(Afterwards, E's mother and I bonded over the fact that we were never that young. Still does not negate earlier coffeemaker incident and the subsequent need for revenge. I'll keep you posted)
Home again, Home again - time to evaluate side trips for the Cruise to Nowhere. We discover that as much as E's father has been pestering us to select our side excursions, the rest of E's family has hardly looked at them. Only one we know for sure? A family-wide trip to the brewery. E's uncles will bike there - we will take the bus.
Sunday morning, we chat and make motions to get on the road. Since driving to Cambridge from MiddleOfNowhere, MA is shorter than driving from DC, we decide to visit Mar/Char (I need a better one, i know) on the way home. Which, mind you, we have done on the previous two trips from MA. I will be so sad as they move to LA, as that will cut them off of our driving loop.
We chat about families, weddings, crime fighting dolphins and the like. I probably committ a faux pas as the first thing I do after hugging Char is to look at the ring, but a girl is allowed to be curious, right?
We then decide to go out for Indian food, since it seemed better than Bertuccis. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of said Indian food (I had a lovely paneer dish, E had a passable vindaloo) and dinner was going quite well until I nailed my head on a plate. Which the waiter was holding. Which I managed to chip. WITH MY FORHEAD.
Yes, sports fans. Eating out can be hazardous to my health. And the sanity of waiters EVERYWHERE.
So, bleeding profusely from my forhead, I leave the restaurant to collect myself. Char comes out to make sure I'm not losing it in Harvard Square, and I'm not sure whether she is happy to see I am laughing hysterically, or wondering why they just CANNOT TAKE ME ANYWHERE.
We pay, bandage myself, and go back to their place for Advil and farewells.
The trip home is much less eventful, but I do have several Action Steps for myself from now on.
1. When E and I do this drive as a family, I want to plan one tourist-y stop on every drive. Possibly by going back to collecting pamphlets and drawing an option out of a hat - when else would we have an opportunity to visit the Mystic Seaport, or the Barnum Family Museum?
2. I love maps so much that upon birth of my children I will give them at atlas. Then, I will highlight the trips we take on said atlas, and when E is not on the car, let the child(ren) plot out alternate routes to take.
3. Devise subtle revenge for coffemaker.
4. And the most important? AVOID RESTAURANTS WITH SQUARE PLATES.
Labels: Canadian Family, humor
Fifty Books: 1, 2, and 3
So, Jen referenced this when she was visiting last winter - the 50 Books "project." Since I don't have the energy at 6am to go back and read the etymology of the actual 50 books woman I decided to make up my own rules.
1. Since I read so fast, 50 books from 6/1 to 12/31 should be more than doable.
2. If I have read the book before, I must re-read it in its entirety and it must not be one of my junk books - the whole point of the project is to pull me into new, non-junk books. However, do not be surprised if you see something like The Last Days of Summer sneak on here during the Cruise To Nowhere, when I will need comfort reading.
3. It must be a book that I am completely willing to tell other people that I am reading and share it with the world. That should be an obvious caveat, but since CityCat and I have had discussions about outdoor and indoor bookcases, I feel I need to note it.
So, with the rules in place, let's enter our first contenders.
#1 - Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult was CityCat's and my new obsession a few weeks ago. We started with Vanishing Acts, and when I got my Borders gift cards, I picked up My Sister's Keeper and The Pact. CityCat then decided to attack the used bookshelves of Amazon with a vengeance. Picture Perfect was better than some of hers, not as good as others, but just as compelling to read as all of them. I have lost more sleep over this author than I can count. PP does not have the courtroom drama or the twists that many people associate with some of her other books, but I could not put the book down. If you're looking to warm up to this author, pick up this book and a number of her others, but save My Sister's Keeper until the middle, since I still think it is her best.
#2 - Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
So many people reccomended this book to me that I actually forgot I had not actually read it. While I do agree that the book should have stayed a book, since we disliked the movie, I was able to juggle all of the characters in the book much more easily since I had seen the movie. Some parts of the story were less compelling in the book, but overall - I was surprised to read it was written by a man. It was an exceptional picture - escapist literature about an escapist sector of society. The end was a little sudden for me, with too quick of a resolution, but probably just because (as the movie) the novel was a little slow.
#3 - The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
This book is the reason that I am up at 6:30 in the morning after driving all night. Picoult newest book is also the reason E's mom made up for the coffeemaker discussion - she brought up Picoult independent of me (unless she was snooping through my bags, but that doesn't seem her style) and lent me the latest novel. Which I started on the drive home and finished once we got here. A different conceit - comic book pages scattered throughout the book, give this book another layer of compelling. Well written characters - though the father character for me could have been developed a little more - I wanted more out of him - and the twist that I figured out too soon - but I like that she writes in her twists in this book and in Plain Truth as afterthoughts, as if to say to the reader: "Yes, I know you are compulsively reading all of my books and therefore you can see the clues I leave you in the story. I will foil you by making it not as big of a deal as you would think!" Finally, there has to be something about Jodi Picoult if she is keeping me up at night, making me go to work on no sleep, and keeping both my boss and my roommate entranced as well.
Flash from the past!
Does this look familiar to anyone?
I'm still working on the sidebar, but since this is the first day of summer (for me), I brought my favorite template back! I'll have to put in a little more legwork (haha, get it? legwork?) to fix all the coding, but I have time now.
I have stopped and started on this blog a number of times, but one of the constants in my life has been entertaining stories that need to be shared. For example, CityCat and I have parties that turn out like this. And how would you live your life without reading that?
Besides, my work (where no one has nicknames yet, stay tuned) provides great entertainment.
Plus, snakes on a plane, and a cruise to Alaska are still coming.
so it was time to restart the blog for real.
