Books Lists Life

Help, bird watchers! (Identified!)

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:08:00 +0000

We found this nest in our hanging flowers this morning. It's very small, palm sized. The eggs are maybe half an inch long, pale blue. The mama bird is small and fluttery, but very fast so I didn't get a good look. (To be honest, I wasn't expecting her to fly out of the flowers!)

Edited: it has been identified as a House Finch- sounds like they have a couple broods a year. How exciting!

I can't wait to see if they hatch!
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Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts (briefly)

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:38:00 +0000

As I'm sitting down to write up this book, all I can really think is that I've done this. I've written a similar review about a Nora Roberts book. Don't get me wrong, Whiskey Beach is a perfectly fine book, but there's really not a lot of new things to say about it. To condense a 500 page book into a list of bullet points seems a bit silly, but here you go:

Whiskey Beach is/has:

Exactly what you'd expect from Nora Roberts.
Easy to read, with a touch of not-really-dramatic suspense. She doesn't hide who-done-it. As usual.
Filled with likeable characters, mostly stereotypes. This one has the Lawyer whose heart wasn't in it (-in hindsight), the Earthy Yoga Mama, and the Police Detective Who Knows He's Right, Even if He Isn't.
Good, readable, but not particularly memorable.
The romance is better than in most Roberts stand-alones, and I particularly enjoyed Abra's honesty, but it wasn't one that had me sighing in happiness at the end.
Has a terrific cover.

And there ya go. I will, of course, continue to read Nora Roberts, but I admit a preference for her 3 and 4 book series to the stand alone titles.

Mother's Day weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:20:00 +0000

I had The Best weekend. For Mother's Day Mike got me an empty hotel room! It was glorious. No one asked me for a single thing.

Then we hung out in the backyard, mostly playing flip the hammock.

The Princess and I played with paper doll style barbies and took selfies in the sun.

Mike and I cleaned the car and washed the windows. We bought flowers for the hanging pots.

And I planted herbs in my big planter, instead of flowers.( There isn't really obvious garden space at the new house. )

I found some cute plates at the thrift store- there were five of them, so it seemed meant to be.

I hope you all had as lovely of a weekend.

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Book Report 1

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:06:00 +0000

I haven't blogged much lately, and honestly I don't mind. I'm not writing a post to apologize. Life is crazy busy these days as we try to figure out our new routines. Mike seems to be out of town more than he is IN town, and even on their best days three kids are a lot of work. But I do miss being able to go back and look at what I've been reading week to week. In an effort to help myself remember, I’m instituting a new recurring blog post- the Book Report. I’d like to do it weekly, but honestly, it may be less often. It’ll be pretty fluid, depending on what happened in my reading life, but I do love to go back and look at what I was reading, so I don’t forget.

Currently Reading:

A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare. I’m totally reading this series out of order, but I have it on good authority it won’t matter. Dare’s style is witty and humorous without being completely slapstick. Minerva is smart and not afraid to be different.

Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts. I wasn’t expecting to be reading this chunkster just now, but it came up at the library and of course it has a wait list, so I am. I am nearly done, and enjoying it tremendously.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling. The boys and I are reading this at bedtime. They both know the story fairly well, thanks to the movies and the Wii games, but this is the first time we’ve attempted the books.

American Savage by Dan Savage. This one is about sex, faith, and politics. I'm reading it on the Nook during my work breaks and it's a bit of a disconnect to read about s-e-x at work! Thankfully, it's not a how-to!

Recently Finished:

All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey- review here

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson. Another unrenewable library book. Didn't enjoy it quite as much as book one, but can't wait to see where she goes with the ending.

Coming up next!

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder. For the Read-a-long, which I think is dying a slow, quiet death, but I feel like I should read the South Dakota ones! This one should have already been read, but it didn't happen. See: Currently Reading.

I have a ton of other interesting NetGalley books waiting in the wings, but I just ran out of time before I could decide what might be next, whoops! Sorry for the lack of pictures, but at least you go links!

What are you reading? Have you read any of these? What are you reading next?

Sadly, two DNFs

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 12:38:00 +0000

First, The Honest Toddler. I wanted to love this, I did. I love @HonestToddler on Twitter. I like humor. I typically enjoy parenting memoirs. So why didn't I? Because an entire book of it is just overwhelming. I imagine that a lot of people are going to find this incredibly funny, and the book will do well, but I will not be part of that group.

The Honest Toddler: A Child's Guide to Parenting will be published on May 7, 2013. My copy provided by NetGalley.

The second, Midnight Secrets by Ella Grace. Even my romance loving heart couldn't take the writing in this one. 70 pages of backstory before the real story begins, lots of clunky foreshadowing and repetition, but it doesn't really go anywhere (at least to the point where I stopped.) Our hero and heroine had a great relationship in those 70 pages, but once we got to current day it was all badly written sexual tension, and eh, I'd rather read someone who does it well. But, to be completely honest, I may go back to this one. If it were a paper copy I'd have skipped the middle and read the last few chapters to see how the suspense portions end, but that's tricky in an ebook. I wouldn't mind knowing how the suspense plays out, but not enough to keep reading a boring book.

Midnight Secrets: The Wildefire Series by Ella Grace will be published on April 30, 2013. My copy provided by NetGalley.

All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Josh Kowalski is finally breaking free of the family lodge. His siblings all found a way to get away and start lives of their owns, but as the baby of the family he was the last one there, and never got his chance. Now he’s 30 years old and has never lived anywhere else or done anything else. After an honest discussion with his family last summer, he finally came clean about how much he wanted a chance at getting free, and the lodge is prepared for such an event. Katie has been his best friend forever. As the daughter of the housekeeper, and de-facto mother to the Kowalskis, Katie has always been there, and always been in love with Josh. Everyone knows it. Everyone knows they are destined to be together as well, except Josh. As Josh’s big break approaches will be realize his true feelings or will he leave Katie behind with the inn?

Friends to lovers, top of my list, right? After reading Ryan and Lauren’s story (All He Ever Desired), I was pretty ambivalent about picking up another Shannon Stacey. I mean, it was good, but not terrific, and perhaps a bit predictable. But I’m a sucker for a book in a series (see also: Nora Roberts, Susan Mallery, Jill Shalvis) so when I saw it was available for request at NetGalley I asked for it. I read it pretty quickly, despite the craziness of my life. It was exactly what you’d expect it to be from the description and there were absolutely no surprises. The writing is not knock your socks off great, and the plot isn’t anything you couldn’t think up on your own. Josh and Katie aren’t surprising in any way, and honestly, the moment they “cross the line” is pretty sloppily done (and since this is my favorite bit of a friends to lovers story, it was disappointing to me.) I’d love to have seen more of Josh’s thought process as he realized he was in love with her, but except for him suddenly noticing she was hot, there wasn’t much of that. The author tells us several times that he can’t talk about his feelings, that Josh just doesn’t DO that, but it almost seemed an excuse for him not to have any introspection. For Katie, she just loved him, period. The more I write about this book the worse it sounds! It wasn’t bad, honest, it just wasn’t really GOOD either, if you know what I mean?

At this point I wouldn’t recommend the series to anyone else, but I will likely request the next one if I see it come up on NetGalley. I find that I am fairly curious about the sister’s story.

All He Ever Dreamed will be published on April 30, 2013.
Review copy courtesy of NetGalley.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 15:52:00 +0000

There has been a lot of buzz lately about how terrific Eleanor & Park is lately, including this terrific review by John Green. I am almost embarrassed to admit how long I sat on this one before finally settling down to read it. I requested it from NetGalley on October 14! Once it’s publication date drew near I started to think about getting it read (it’s hard to tell, but I am making an effort to read my NetGalley books as they are released, or just before. Or I was, before the move and all.) I started it in earnest before I started working, but it wasn’t long before I was distracted by the stack of paper library books. But then, once I went to work, things changed. I started taking my Nook every day, because it’s so much easier to read in short bursts. So … wait, why do I explain myself like this EVERY SINGLE BOOK? Onward!

Eleanor is new in school. Her history is a bit unknown, she dresses funny, her hair is very very red, and she is not petite. On her first day she rides the bus and is forced to sit by Park, who doesn’t talk to her. Park reads comics and listens to music and while he isn’t disliked, he isn’t exactly popular either. Park just IS. Over time, Park begins to share his comics with her, and discovers a witty, sarcastic personality in Eleanor. He begins to look forward to their time together on the bus and to miss her when they are apart. He can’t stop thinking about her or watching her at school and is soon completely smitten. Eleanor is a bit more hesitant. She doesn’t trust people and is all too aware of the things that make her different. She finds it impossible to believe that someone as beautiful as Park would find anything at all appealing about her, and while she’s much less willing to admit her feelings to him, she’s willing to admit them to herself. The falling in love- the delicious tension and suspense- is so well done. This is, more than anything else, a story about falling in love for the first time. Oh there are bits of the 80s here, and a good bit of the awful home life Eleanor has, but really, it’s the wonder of completely falling for someone else. Of being nearly unable to stand being near to them, just the slightest touch feeling like an electric shock. Every word you speak has meaning and feeling and at the same time you just can’t stop talking.

The back story of Eleanor’s home life is left to the shadows, and there are some creepy bits that are never really explained, but I think in hindsight this works well, because the story isn’t really about that. It’s about the feeling of falling in love, even when everything else is going bad, and you realize things aren’t stable. Eleanor is always hesitant to make a bad move, lest everything fall down and it eventually all does. I have a few little quibbles about the ending, and how prettily most of it is tied up, but overall I really enjoyed this one.

(PS. I notice as of the time of this writing you can get it for Kindle for $4.99)

Disclosure: I received a copy of this for review from NetGalley.

Snapshots

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:39:00 +0000

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Playing Catchup

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 18:33:00 +0000

Wow. Guys, I'm tired. The last month has been crazy full and stressful. Let's catch everyone up as quickly as possibly, ok?

First- I got a job! I am working for the Department of Public Safety in a M-F, 8-5 full time job. I started on March 18th, and so far it's going really well. They are more interested in training me well than in training me fast, which I really appreciate. Much of it is literally like learning a foreign language, but I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Second- the little ones started full time day care. This got off to a rocky start, as the Bug was (is) really unhappy about it all. We ended up swapping from an in-home daycare into a center after 8 days. He is still very unhappy, but the center is better able to deal with it, and he really is getting a lot out of the pre-school structure. The Princess is so easy going- daycare? ok, where are the kids?? Not a moments hesitation on that girl's part.

Third- we FINALLY moved! YAY! We've been in the house a full week, but still have a few minor things to do at the apartment this week. The house is total chaos. The kitchen is done enough to use it though, and we all have beds. Once I get more unpacked I'll give you all the grand tour. Meanwhile, I sit at the bay in our kitchen and look out at the river, and I feel like my stress levels just drop. The kids are pretty thrilled with all the space as well.

Last, the Pirate turns 8 today! CRAZY. (And the Bug is right behind him on Wednesday, turning 5.)

With all that going on, I have barely been reading at all. I guard my two 15 minute breaks at work with absolute rigidness, as they are literally the only moments between 6am and 10pm that I don't have to do anything else. No running errands, no boxes, no cleaning. I finished up On the Banks of Plum Creek (which you should go comment on, read-a-longers!), am mostly done with Eleanor and Park, and wrapped up Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson, Book 7) last night. I have read pretty much NO blogs, and have no idea what's going on in your worlds. If I missed anything big, tell me in the comments, ok? My goal is to have everything more or less in order by next weekend, and then have free time again.

On the Bank of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the next book in the Little House on the Prairie Readalong! I've kinda dropped the ball this month on promoting this, but new job for me, all the kids into daycare (and had to change that one once already!) and yesterday we moved into our new house. So. I'm lucky I've even read the book!

Here we go-- In On the Banks of Plum Creek the Ingalls family has returned from Indian Territory and moved into a dugout house on the creek. Pa digs a giant wheat field, and things are looking good. Sadly, just before the crop is to be harvested, a plague of grasshoppers descends and ruins the crop, the prairie, the trees, everything green in sight. Pa has to travel east to find work, as he's already spent the wheat money before he has it. The Ingalls have a shiny new house, built with lumber, and real glass windows. The girls start school and the entire family attends church in town. We finally meet Nellie Olson.

For me, the books are getting more interesting. They interact more with other people, and they don't meet every trial with such nonchalance. Laura shows a little bit of a temper with Nellie and I loved the party in the creek. My favorite parts are about the house though, can you imagine waking up with snow on your blankets?

I'm sorry to say I don't have my act together enough to ask questions, but promise to do better next month. I'd love it if you would use to comments to tell me what moments struck you and what parts you enjoyed.

The longevity of book lists.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

While I was packing to move I found a little notebook that I carried around in college to make book lists in. I was in college from 1993-1998, so while we had internet it wasn't nearly as awesome as it is now. I was on several bookish listservs and had a notebook. I made this short video to show it to you all. Amazing that I could record a video of this quality in ONE TAKE, no? Judging by the titles on the first page, this was from about 1997. Near the end I started dating the pages and January 2002 is the last date I see. There are a lot of formal lists in here: "RWA Books of the Year 2001", "Recommendations to K", "Ship Books", lots of series in order, since you couldn't just whip out your phone at the library to find them.

I had a class (Women's Studies) about that time with a girl who kept the best journal ever, and I've always strived to get myself into the habit of what she did. Basically, it was a 3 ring notebook, with a decorated cover, and she just started on page one and filled it up with everything. To do lists, book lists, journal thoughts, quotes, poetry, recipes, absolutely everything. 15 years later, I'm still trying to copy her. In some small ways I do, I keep a spiral notebook by my computer and make notes about anything in it, including grocery lists, and phone numbers, but it's not pretty or thoughtful and I don't save them. Things like Goodreads and Pinterest took over the pretty parts for me.

While it's doubtful that I would ever read from these lists, I imagine that I won't ever intentionally get rid of this little notebook either.

The Lady Most Willing, briefly.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

The Lady Most Willing...: A Novel in Three Parts by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway. Eccentric Scottish laird kidnaps potential brides for his nephew heirs and sequesters them in his cold drafty castle until someone falls in love.

The Lady Most Willing crams three love stories into one full length novel, with mixed results. (stone-cold earl, haughty duke, down-to-earth villager, rich-but-ruined heiress, etc.) Each romance reads like a novella, and while I want to love novellas, there is just not enough time for any plot except Love at First Sight. Once they admit this to themselves (or each other) there's no time to explore it, instead jumping straight to acceptance and marriage. We all know I'm a huge romantic, but I'd like to see a little more relationship development, please. I did enjoy Catriona (the one they nabbed on accident) and Taran (the Laird) quite a bit. The novel also renews my desire to try out an Eloisa James full length novel, and reminds me that I miss the "old" Julia Quinn, and really should re-read The Duke and I. Recommended for fans, but don't expect it to make your "Best of" lists.

Dead bones and deadly animals, oh my!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

One of the things I think the Nook would be terrific for is introducing my reluctant reader to other forms of media. He's already quite proficient at looking things up online and reading about what he wants to know (namely about Wizard101, but whatever). I think that reading on the Nook color might get him a bit more interested than a "boring" paper book. To that end, I keep an eye out for books on NetGalley that he might enjoy. He's not a fan of a lot of fiction his age, and we're not really interested in pushing a religious theme on him, so I mainly look to NetGalley for non-fiction. I have recently requested two books that I hoped he'd enjoy. Sadly, he wasn't interested in either one, but you might be.

Bones Never Lie: How Forensics Helps Solve History's Mysteries by Elizabeth MacLeod had lots of promise. As most boys (I assume), he's fascinated by creepy things and actual bones fit that bill. I had thought that he might be able to push past the more mature theme in order to read cool things about bones, but he has little interest. This doesn't mean that *I* didn't sit and read half the book one evening. So many interesting things about ancient bones, Napoleon, crime scenes, forensics, etc. This is clearly written for a younger audience, but I still found it incredibly interesting and would recommend it to slightly older kids. Bones Never Lie was released on February 4, 2013.

I hoped that his fascination with mythological creatures would allow him to enjoy Deadly Adorable Animals , but turns out he has zero interest in real animals. Duh. Not the same thing, MOM. This one is probably more his age level (he is 8) but I could not interest him at ALL. I admit, this one didn't interest me much either, and I didn't read the entire book. Deadly Adorable Animals was released on March 5, 2013.

Part of the problem with both of these books is that the pictures, which are vital, did not show up on the Nook. The NetGalley format is not a great choice for books with pictures, as to really read them you have to sit at a laptop. You would assume this would make make my computer loving kid more interested, but in the end it did not. I may try again with Bones, as I do think he'd enjoy it, but for now we'll go back to pushing the paper version.

Both books received from NetGalley in exchange for my review.

Moving books, disappearing wives.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:12:00 +0000

Today is a school holiday. It's 10am and my kids are already crazy. I suspect we'll be packing up and leaving the house if it ever warms up a bit.
We move in one week! I can't wait!
Things on the job front are going well. I don't want to jinx it by talking about it though. I'll let you know as soon as I can.
All of our books are packed except the library books. I still have about 50 of those checked out. (Not all for me.) I'm not sure why I think I need ALL of them in the next week or two but I can't bring myself to return them either. I should just pack or return them all and just read on the Nook this week, but I won't.

What I Read This Week:

On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House, Book 4) by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I am really getting worried about grasshoppers!
Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn. Finished up last night. I was really loving the ride, but I'm just not sure about the ending. More on this later.

Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

My library has one small set of shelves for "New and Popular" books. It's a bit misleading, because "new" means "new to our library" not "newly published". This means that I will often go to look over the shelves and find several books from an author's backlist, including books published decades ago. This was recently the case with Carla Kelly. There were a good half dozen of her books sitting there in a row, and I thought that it was interesting that I had never read a Carla Kelly, since she's written 40+ books, and I picked two up. One of them happened to be a Harlequin Historical from June 2010, and the third in a trilogy, Marrying the Royal Marine . It should also be noted that I've only read a couple Harlequin Historicals, because in my mind a historical should be longer. And the covers are cheesy. I sat down yesterday and read the entire thing. If I were the type to buy and keep books, this one would be a keeper.

Polly Brandon is the youngest illegitimate daughter of a complete sleezeball. She's grown up in orphanages and believes herself to be ugly and unworthy. Despite these things, she's generally fairly content and when the opportunity arises for her to travel to Portugal to help her older sister in the war, she goes. After boarding the ship for a week long trip, she discovers that she gets horribly sick on boats, and being the only female on the ship, has to accept help from Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Junot, Royal Marine. (Seems unlikely, but it's well done as to why it has to be him.) The two are immediately comfortable with each other, and find themselves secretly falling in love, despite each knowing it's impossible. After arriving in Oporto, they are separated for a time, but the feelings don't go away. The Napoleonic War throws them back together, in horribly intimate circumstances, and they manage to fall completely in love.

Guys, this was terrific. I loved every single bit of it. The setting is so well done, the author clearly knows her history (or seems to, I am not overly familiar with the war) but doesn't stop the story to teach you the details, she just assumes you'll figure it out. Rather than having war be the backdrop to force the time period, the war is front and center. These people are IN the war. The book does not shy away from the horrible bits- death, massive injury, rape, madness, starvation, misery. These things are not alluded to, they are THERE. And yet the focus on our couple is still maintained. It is so well done, that while you are horrified by the circumstances you're also able to believe the love story.

The hero is just terrific, despite being named Hugh. Compassionate and smart, good looking and terribly old. (He's 37.) He's honest with both Polly (who he calls Brandon) and himself. He knows he wants a wife and a family, and he is very aware that Polly is painfully young (she's 18 as the story opens.) He is honorable, even as he walks away from her in misery. (So many romance heroes would give a pretty speech to her about how they can't be together, and break her heart before leaving. He doesn't do this.) Polly is young, but not sheltered. She knows her position in life and is not trying to snag a hero or be anyone she's not. She's slower to realize her feelings, but like Hugh, is always honest with herself. She finds herself in an adventure much more dangerous than she ever dreamed, and she's able to stand up and be a hero in her own right. (I don't mean hero-who-won-the-war, I mean hero-who-does-the-right-thing-when-it'd-be-easier-not-to.) I really loved the way the author was able to give them both very distinct voices, and clearly showed their internal dialogue without becoming melodramatic or silly. There were no moments of contrived drama, and I never had to suspend belief.

This will easily be in my top ten of the year, and I'll be watching the thrift store for my own copy. You better believe that I will be picking up the first two in the series at the library today.

You can find Carla Kelly online here and here.

All He Ever Desired by Shannon Stacey

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I am apparently really good at reading books out of order. I started Fool's Gold in the middle. I started Lucky Harbor in the middle. And now I've started The Kowalskis on book 5, All He Ever Desired . Sadly, my library doesn't have the others so unless they show up at the thrift store I won't get to read the others.

Picking up in book 5, Ryan Kowalski has returned home to help his brothers renovate the failing family inn. He's trying hard to avoid Lauren, who he was in love with in high school, but it is a small town. Lauren, who has a teenage son and a divorce (from Ryan's ex-best friend) behind her, has often had thoughts of "what if?" but plans to never ever Go There. So of course they run into each other, and of course they Go There.

Lauren struggles to do the right thing with her son, who is basically a good kid but is having problems with his dad's new family. Money is realistically tight, and when he gets in a little trouble at the inn, he has to work off the debt to Ryan's family. I appreciated that they didn't just buy him out of trouble, even as I saw it as a device to force Ryan and Laura together. Money is treated realistically, even though Laura and Ryan have vastly different amounts of it. Ryan is never a snob about it and Laura never thinks she won't want her because she has none. This doesn't mean that they don't have problems. For one, once the inn is done, Ryan will return home to Boston, eight hours away. Laura's ex lives in the same small town, and they share custody so moving out of town seems impossible. Laura doesn't want more children, and Ryan always thought he would have kids one day. They have to work out a way around all of these things, none of which ever feel like they are quite the obstacle they should be.

While I did find this one satisfying, I didn't find it completely original. Perhaps I've read too many small town extended romance series and need to go find some single titles, but now, weeks after reading it, I struggle to remember the details. Family inn has been done to death at this point, I think. I've also read several books lately with one half of the couple returning home to their small town and their old crush, who is now divorced with a child. (This one, Back to the Good Fortune Diner, Wild for the Sheriff.) You could argue that this part is my fault as they are all three NetGalley requests, but I would argue that, like renovating a family inn, it's a recent theme.

Overall, nice and easy, satisfying, but not memorable. I would read the others if they are available, but I won't seek them out.

You can find Shannon Stacey online here and on Twitter.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my review.

Spinning round and round.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:15:00 +0000

I almost didn't do a random Friday today. I feel like I'm repeating myself a lot here. Kids not sleeping? Check. Job hunt? Check. Snow? Check. (Actually the weather has been ok this week.)
Did you guys all see the completely condescending judgemental "Dear mom on an iPhone" post going around this week? It made me a little bit furious. Doubly so when it's a man who wrote it and men who keep reposting it, and it's about a mom. I read two beautiful responses to it, this one at Fried Okra is lovely and made me cry, and this one at Rated PeeGee is quite a lot like my life. I get the point, that childhood goes so fast, but there are a million ways to make that point without being an jerk about it.
The Bug keeps coming up with crazy conversations. "Mommy, is bacon protein? My FAVORITE FOOD IS PROTEIN????" (This was a good thing.) "Mommy, am I making a tetragon (with his hands)?" He is also a complete ninja rockstar at Minecraft crafting. Mike and the boys play together, but it's the four year old who knows how to make things without looking them up.
This month's post for the Little House on the Prairie Read-a-long went up on Monday. I'm ready for some discussion on that one! So much more political than Big Woods.
We went to the park by our new house yesterday, since it was fairly warm out (50!) The river is still frozen.

What I Read This Week:

Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn. I'm not quite half done. I do know one spoiler that is coming soon, but even without that I feel like she's about to rip the rug out from under me.
On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House, Book 4) by Laura Ingalls Wilder for next month. I'm looking forward to Laura getting a little older.
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. My thoughts here.
Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data by Charles Wheelan. I have barely started.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess)

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:00:00 +0000

You've all read the post about Beyonce (the Chicken, not the singer), right? If you haven't, stop here and go read it.

Back?

Ok, now you know what Let's Pretend This Never Happened is like, review over! Just kidding. It's got a few more serious moments (the entire book doesn't make your stomach hurt laughing) but even the serious topics are funny. Lawson doesn't hold back about her crazy childhood (think: taxidermy), her high school experience (cow vagina), miscarriage (I can't even), mental illness (whoa). While I did read several of the stories on her blog prior to reading the book, I don't feel like reading the book was time wasted at all. I highly recommend this one to anyone who likes a great memoir, has a sense of humor, and isn't completely offended by the f-bomb.

You can find more chat about Let's Pretend This Never Happened at the BlogHer Book Club discussion. The Bloggess is online here, and on Twitter. You can also read an interview with her here.

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

Back to the Good Fortune Diner by Vicki Essex

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:13:00 +0000

After being evicted and fired, Tiffany is back home in tiny Everville. She's mortified to be working at her family's diner again, and desperate to pay off her debt and get back to her dream life in publishing. To that end, she takes a side job tutoring the son of the man she tutored in high school. The man she still has a crush on, of course. Chris is determined that his son not be stuck on the farm like he was, and to get away he will need a college education, so when he finds out Tiffany is back in town, he immediately runs her down and begs her to tutor Simon. Spending time with Tiffany again makes him realize how little he knew her back in high school, and he's suddenly very interested in getting to know her better. But what will happen when Tiffany finally is back on her feet?

Back to the Good Fortune Diner has a great premise. It's not really a reunion story, as they were never even friends, let alone a couple, and it's not a story of complete strangers either. In the introduction, the author explains that she has the same Chinese- American heritage as Tiffany, and that she wanted to write a story from that perspective as well. I thought both of these things would be fascinating. Unfortunately, I was wrong on both counts. It wasn't completely awful, but there's really no part of it that I'd recommend to anyone else.

First, the romance. Tiffany has a huge crush on Chris, and always has. She's completely unable to even look at him, let alone talk to him, without being speechless at how incredibly HOT he is. Every. Single. Time. There's no past history basis for this- Chris wasn't mean to her in high school, but he didn't see her as a person either, and he wasn't a hero for any other reason. He's just hot. Oooo-kay then! About midway through the novel, Chris realizes he never gave her a chance to have a personality in high school, so he asks her out to dinner. This is a bit more believable, but honestly, I didn't really see them getting to know each other now either. They just suddenly become a Thing. And the entire time Tiffany is still struck dumb by his beauty. I never saw a progression of romance, or a falling in love, or even a sexual tension that went both ways. Having sex does not a romance make.

Second, the cultural aspect. I'm from South Dakota by way of Alabama. I don't have a ton of experience with different cultures beyond knowing the stereotypes. I could have written this. There wasn't one part of Tiffany's experience growing up Chinese-American that I found to be surprising or illuminating. I don't want to cast doubts on the author's upbringing, but honestly, it was just like she included all the stereotypes and called it good. Perhaps, as a white person, I shouldn't even go here, and I wouldn't mention it if SHE hadn't mentioned it first, you know? Anyway.

As a whole, just skip this one.

Disclosure: I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Litte House on the Prairie Discussion Post

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:32:00 +0000

This is the second discussion post for the Little House on the Prairie Read-a-long- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. For a complete schedule see this post. I have moved the opening day of each discussion to the first Monday of the month, instead of the first day of the month. Things should just start on a Monday. You are not in any way require to post on opening day, and the discussions can continue throughout the month before moving onto the next book. There really are no rules.

This post and the comments will contain spoilers.

So when we last left Laura, she was living in a tiny cabin in the woods. At the end of that year, Pa decides that the family needs to take advantage of the land that is opening up to settlers in Kansas, and packs everyone into the wagon and they take off. It takes the family weeks to cross the prairie and eventually they settle close Independence, Kansas. Pa builds a house and stable, digs a well and they begin to settle. Unfortunately for the Ingalls family, the abandoned Indian path past their house turns out not to be so abandoned, and the "open land" turns out to still belong to the Osage tribe, and at the end of the year, the family packs up and returns to Wisconsin.

Things are getting a little more real for the Ingalls this year, aren't they?? From the river crossing at the beginning to the prairie fire at the end, and it's all just part of life. Can you even imagine needing to know everything Ma and Pa knew how to do just to survive? How to build a house, how to dig a well, how to beat a prairie fire. I'm exhausted just reading it. I read several of the stories in this one out loud to various family members and despite knowing it's (mostly) true, it reads so much like fiction as to be nearly unbelievable. Can you imagine packing up and leaving your family and knowing that you may never see them again, and never know what happened to each other?

Remember in the last book how I quoted that bit about the sky being so big? It happens again in Prairie! In my copy this is on page 10, but I read a Large Print copy, so may be different in your copy. I'm curious to see if this will be a recurring theme in all of the books.

All day long Pet and Patty went forward, trotting and walking and trotting again, but they couldn't get out of the middle of that circle. When the sun went down, the circle was still around them and the edge of the sky was pink. Then slowly the land became black. The wind made a lonely sound in the grass. the camp ire was small and lost in so much space. But large stars hung from the sky, glittering so near that Laura felt she could almost touch them.

So let's talk about it:

How about that lake crossing? It wasn't scary until it was over and then I couldn't stop thinking about a family just vanishing in the ice.
And then the creek crossing right after- just how safe were those wagons?
How long do you think it really took Pa and Mr. Edwards to build the house and stable? And why don't we hear about Pa being gone to help Mr. Edwards with his?
Do you think Mrs. Scott was a bit hysterical with her fascination with the massacre, or do you think maybe she's the most realistic person on the prairie?
Do you think Pa really believed the prairie to be as safe as he insisted, or was he just trying to reassure Ma and the girls?
Fever 'n' Ague- yet another way to wipe out entire families!
Another Christmas of plenty. Or not. I read this part to my sons, who couldn't even pay attention they found it so unrealistic. I kept trying to bribe them with pennies, and they all but laughed. The internet suggests this is about $.20 today. How excited would you have been to get your own cup for Christmas? (I got myself a new mug just yesterday, but I don't plan to use it for every meal.)
The story of Mr. Edwards and Santa was my favorite part of the book, what was your favorite?
Do you think Ma was relieved to pack and and go home at the end, or upset about a wasted year? Can you imagine changing your entire life in a day like that? Or being able to pack your entire house in just a few hours (I'm moving in three weeks. I WISH I could!)
It seemed to me that Laura was really reinforcing the idea of Mary as the perfect girl while Laura was the naughty one. Do you think this was exaggerated for the sake of the books? As a way to build sympathy for Mary later (dun dun dun, foreshadowing?)
The elephant in the room- Can we really feel sorry for Pa for having to give up his hard work when the land still belonged to the Osage? I looked up Du Chene and it seems that perhaps Laura took some liberties with him, but in any case, do you think there was one anti-war Chief that saved them all? How scary would the war cries and drums have been? It seems that the entire family was on the breaking point listening.
Any other thoughts?

Little House Read-a-Long news, #Estellagram

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:14:00 +0000

I have made the decision to move ALL of the opening posts for the Little House Read-A-Long to the first Monday of the month, instead of the first of the month. I don't know about you guys, but it's much easier for me to put together a thoughtful post over a weekend. I apologize if any of you rushed to get it read before today. I have finished Little House, but I didn't want to just throw a post up.
Are you on Instagram? Are you participating in the #Estellagram? No? You should be! I am, you can follow me as lharsma.
In possibly the most exciting news in years, we have a moving date! Guys, I'm so ready to leave this little apartment!! March 23rd! (Coincidentally, Mike's birthday.)
Which means that yesterday our dryer stopped working. Yes, it's part of the apartment, not ours, but really? We couldn't go another month without having to call the landlord?
Florida man swallowed by sinkhole in bedroom. Horrifying!
I had a job interview yesterday, and I realized on my way to the interview that it was the first time in my life that I've ever interviewed with a man. It was also the least chatty interview I've ever done. I don't think this was a coincidence. In other job search news, I have not yet found a job, but I'm getting pretty blase about interview outfits. Also, if you are looking for a state job, be warned that the process moves very very slowly and it doesn't pay to get your hopes up.

What I Read This Week:

First, let me just say how glad I am that I keep this running list, because otherwise I'd just completely forget what I read!
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Of course.
Back to the Good Fortune Diner (Harlequin Superromance) to by Vicki Essex. I was expecting good this from this from other reviews, but couldn't ever connect with either main character and ultimately didn't buy the love story. It was a NetGalley book, so expect a short review about why.
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. I really wanted to finish this one this week for it's release date. I did not make it.

Like mother like daughter

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Just warms your heart, doesn't it?

A Hexagon Quilt Update (including a how to video!)

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:43:00 +0000

I know, you're all sitting around waiting for me to tell you how the pink and gray hexagon quilt is progressing. My ultimate goal is to make a full sized quilt, which will require 3025* 1" hexagons. I've made 718 so far. Trish kept pestering me, asking when I was going to start sewing them together, and while the real answer is "not until I am very nearly done making them", I couldn't resist making a small patch. I think a lot of people who I've described the quilt to had a really hard time picturing my layout, perhaps this will help? Unfortunately, all it's really done is make me want to sew more together! Like, some of the darker pinks around that bottom right one, and to extend the whites at the top up into cream and back into pale pink and and and... (I can't, because I want to be sure the distribution of the colors is nice and smooth.)

For those of you in the unofficial quilt-a-long, I made a really wobbly, incredibly unprofessional video of how I sew the hexes together. I kept looking at the screen instead of my hands and missing stitches, oops!

In reality, I tend to tilt the hand holding the hexes back and forth quite a bit more, so that I barely have to move the hand holding the needle. I tried to film it like that, but all I ended up with was a really nice video of my table as my hands moved in and out of the frame. I'll give it another shot one day. Maybe.

For those of you NOT in the quilt-a-long, who would like to be, the English paper piecing hexagon tutorial can be found here.

*It really requires just shy of 3000, but my goal is to make 3025 to make up for counting errors.

Random Fridays keep on coming.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Everyone in my family was under the weather on Sunday, which resulted in the Princess and I taking the comforters to the laundromat on Monday. She thought it was the most fun ever, except for the bit where I used my very last dollar to buy her a treat from the machine and it didn't fall. Luckily for her, the route guy showed up minutes later and retrieved it.
This week's struggles are nothing new. The Pirate still hates school. The Princess still refuses to sleep well for two consecutive nights. I am still looking for a job. It is still winter.
I rarely use my blog to complain, and I never call people out on Facebook. I haven't ever complained about a job or a coworker in a public arena. I especially think it's the tackiest thing in the world to talk smack about your spouse in a public place. I have recently been shocked again by a family member who repeatedly uses Facebook to criticize their spouse. Every single time, I am shocked anew.
That said, there are two people who I would mention here, because I find them so shockingly thoughtless. First, there's a firefighter who lives on my street (a one block dead end!) who drives WAY too fast down our street. I like to cut him slack when he's leaving because there might be a fire, but when he drives home at top speed I find it a little more annoying. The second is also a driver. I've run into this person several times in town, and while she's never cut me off, I've witnessed her cut other people off on more than one occasion. I've seen her dodge in front of people for parking spots. I've seen her drive the wrong way through open drive thrus in order to cut a corner and not drive around. You'd think this person was a teenager, but no, she's a middle aged woman. The reason I remember her so clearly is because she drives an orange pickup with the name of her business all over it. (I sure hope it's her business, it would be awful to have an employee making such a bad impression all over town!) You can bet I will never call on her, if I can help it.

What I Read This Week:

A Good American by Alex George, for BlogHer Book Club. I didn't love it. Reviewed here.
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder for the Little House on the Prairie Read-a-Long. The discussion starts here, please join us!
All He Ever Desiredby Shannon Stacey for NetGalley. I enjoyed this tremendously. Review to come.
Back to the Good Fortune Diner (Harlequin Superromance) by Vicki Essex, also for NetGalley. I've barely started this one.

A Good American by Alex George

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:03:00 +0000

One of the things that I rarely read are novels that cover the span of a hundred years. I don't mind novels that play with time a little- grandma's history mixed with the present- or perhaps the majority of the life of a single person, but I rarely pick up a book that covers the history of multiple generations. Turns out, I don't enjoy it so much.

The first half of A Good American by Alex George is really interesting. Jette and Frederick immigrate to America around the turn of the century and settle in Beatrice, Missouri. They are German, as is the majority of the town. They have a couple children and then Frederick goes and joins WWI, with predictable results. The book continues on through American history, with Jette, and her kids and grandkids. The first half, with the immigration experience and a lot of great detail about blues, jazz, and other music of the time is quite enjoyable. I loved seeing them set up a life and the struggles to keep up with the times. I often turned on Songza to a blues or jazz playlist while I read. (Turning Songza on to a blues playlist is incredibly common for me, but I have yet to learn to love jazz.)

Unfortunately, the second half, which begins about when the narrator is born, completely changes. The entire book is narrated by Jette's grandson James, so perhaps the change happens when it starts to talk about the parts of his life that he remembers, but I much preferred to read his history. The small bits of foreshadowing in the first half become and every other page bits of foreshadowing. The believable history of a family in the first half becomes a series of ridiculous people and their actions (and deaths.) By the end, it felt like a parody of a family history. The focus on music changed, and was not longer about the love of music itself.

That said, the book does have some really great moments. I loved watching Frederick learn English, and the romance between Cora and Joseph, James's father. There's a scene in New Orleans at the beginning, where Frederick hears jazz for the first time that is wonderful. There are some memorable characters as well; Lomax, who plays music and cooks soul food; Polk, who works at the bar; Freddy, who has the best story of anyone, except Frederick himself. There are also quite a few that seem to be there for impact; Morrie, the gentle giant, Rankin Fitch, Mrs. Fitch, the entire sub-plot of Reverend Gresham and Teddy.

I'm sure I won't stop thinking about some of the final revelations for a few days, and I'm going to have to go back and re-read a couple pivotal scenes to look for clues. Overall though, it was just ok, and I don't see myself ever choosing to read or recommend it.

You can join the discussion at BlogHer by clicking this link. The first discussion question has been posted, "What foods are are part of your gastronomic mosaic?", which you can answer here. You can find Alex George online here, and on Twitter.

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.