eclectic / eccentric

The 13 Steps of Labor

2012-01-27T10:33:00.000-06:00

My Labor in 13 Steps

1. This isn't so bad.
2. Yeah, I'm rocking this out. Already 8 centimeters and no biggie with the pain.
3. Oh. Oh. Oh God. Why is she trying to escape out of my back?
4. Hey, where's the epidural I asked for?
5. Holy mother of %$^&&*&^$%##. WTF?
6. Ooooooohhhh epidural. That's nice.
7. Nothing to it baby. What contraction?
8. Wait, what do you mean you are taking my epidural away?
9. Okay, I'll just go fast before all that beautiful medicine is gone.
10. Oh. Ohhhh.. OH. OH. OH MY GOD. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? I WANT MY EPIDURAL BACK.
11. STOP TELLING ME TO HOLD MY BREATH. I NEED TO FREAKING BREATHE. HOW DO YOU THINK YOU'LL GET HER OUT IF I'M UNFREAKINGCONSCIOUS?
12. Ewwwww......
13. Wow. Would you look at that? She's awesome.

Madison Paige

7 lbs. 14 oz, 21 1/2 in

Butterbook

2012-01-25T04:35:00.000-06:00

I have deemed this the Butterbook image. I like the whimsy of it.

Link to where I found this pic

Culting It

2012-01-24T05:47:00.000-06:00

I managed to side-step the "no challenges this year" promise by making Projects instead, and now I feel the need to add one more project to the list. There is quite the handful of cult classic reads that I have had on the TBR list for ages, and since I'm feeling pretty good about the projects I've started, I figured why not slap a new project up there.

Defining a "cult classic" is practically impossible, but we all know it when we encounter it. They range from the horrid and cringeworthy to the brilliant and beautiful. They cross genres and eras and styles. But they all have one thing in common (in my humble opinion) :: They deliver a serious mindf*ck. These are stories designed to rearrange your thinking. With a tendency to challenge the status quo, cult classics veer off the beaten path and offer readers something new. They also change the reader in some way, and many a reader of a cult classic finds him/herself keeping a dog-eared copy on hand, well-read and practically memorized.

Here are some of the top cult classics:

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
Necromancer by William Gibson
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Magus by John Fowles
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susan
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailor
Howl by Allen Ginsberg
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I am looking to make this list an even 50, so let me know what I'm missing here!!!

Book Discussion: The Wild Irish Girl

2012-01-23T05:32:00.000-06:00

Sydney Owenson, aka Lady Morgan, refused to reveal her birthday. Yep, that's what got me started writing this post.

I decided to pick up The Wild Irish Girl by the aforementioned Sydney Owenson as my next book in my Classics Project in part because I am 90% sure I've read it before and liked it (and honestly I was looking for an "easier" classic to read due to the imminent arrival of The Floppy Alienette). First, I was definitely right about having read it before, specifically for my 19th century Irish Literature course in college. On the other hand, I was completely wrong about it being an easier classic as the language is pretty highfalutin - and ridiculously gorgeous. :) But I digress....

I am only 60 pages into the text, but I simply had to stop reading and gather some info on the author, something I very rarely have done in my life. For some reason, reading the first 60 pages got me wondering what sort of person, what sort of woman, would write an Irish nationalist tale from a English, male point of view. That's when I found out that Owenson's birth day is unknown because she kept it a secret (and a little part of me fell in love with that eccentricity).

Outside of her undisclosed birthday, Owenson is an intriguing character for other reasons as well: She published her first novel when she was 21, and it was successful enough to allow her to continue supporting herself and her family through her writing; The Wild Irish Girl was her second novel, and it was so successful she became a central part of the literary and social worlds of Dublin and London. It was in London, among the upper class, where she met her husband Charles Morgan, the physician for the Marquis who was Owenson's benefactor. I find it amusing that her popularity in London was due to a decidedly Irish nationalist tale, especially since the British Secret Police took a personal interest in her because of the themes present in her novels and actively spied on her and her husband. Of course, they were in fact allowing Irish liberals to meet in their home.

In typical governmental contradictory fashion, the British government not only put Owenson under surveillance, but they also awarded her a pension for her literary achievements and her "services to patriotism", making her the first woman to receive a governmental literary pension and probably the first woman - possibly person - to receive a British pension for Irish patriotism.

And to top it all off, she apparently cashed in on the popularity of her novel (and promoted it simultaneously) by donning traditional Gaelic dress and impersonating Glorvina (the Wild Irish Girl) at parties. Many Irish and English women began to "go native" and adopt parts of the dress and hair stylings of Glorvina as well in a sort of nineteenth century fandom. Love it.

Randomness

2012-01-22T08:49:00.000-06:00

I tried to put together a coherent, transitiony post but my brain is just too all over the place for that, so instead here are the random thoughts that keep floating through my mind:

At my doctor's appointment, last Monday, I found out I was 4 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced, so why the phat have I not gone into labor yet?
Sydney Owenson's The Wild Irish Girl, which I am currently reading, is alternately fascinating and boring. I love the overly dramatic fascination the narrator has with the titular character, but at times the long, detailed, and specific discussions about what originated in Ireland (not in England or Greece as the narrator believes) are extremely tedious. They may make more sense if I understood all of the allusions, but I just don't have the time to look everything up.

I am geeking out something fierce over Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (which I am also reading at the moment) and it's getting me really nostalgic for 80s music and video games, especially the video games - which I rarely got to play as a kid because my mother would read my Christmas list and see Atari or Nintendo and she would buy books (I'm not complaining now :) ).
I recently found out that milk is like super high in sodium which may be why my feet swell up to unnatural proportions from time to time. Prior to the pregnancy, I didn't like milk and never drank it except with cereal. Now I can plow through like three or four glasses a day. Luurrrvvvee it.

Other foods I now like that I didn't before include eggs, Chinese food, and red meat
Other foods I love now that I liked before but tried not to eat include vanilla malts, graham crackers smothered in peanut butter with hershey's kisses on top, pretzels and pub cheese, and oreos with aforementioned awesomeness that is milk.

I haven't dyed my hair since I got pregnant because I am being super freaking careful because of the past miscarriages. So now my hair is my natural, mousy, completely dull, not vibrant brownish color. What color shall I dye it after the baby is born?
How soon after giving birth can I reasonably leave my newborn child with her grandma so her dad and I can finally go out and get some freaking sushi!!!!????!!!!
The past two Thursdays - the day on which I teach - the snow's been a'falling. Both days, my mother and grandmother were all "but you can't drive to work in this....you're pregnant." Two things: 1) we are not talking storms here, gentle snow fallings accumulating to 1-4 inches; not a big deal where I live and 2) I'm actually closer to the hospital at work than I am at home. Just saying. :) Love it that they are worried about me, but definitely ready to be treated like normal and not like an invalid.

On a side note, my 70 year old grandmother keeps trying to "help me walk" when there's snow on the ground - or even if the ground is just wet. She's adorable. If my manatee self goes down, she's not stopping it! She's coming down with me. :)

And seriously, I'm like practically in labor already, what is taking her so long? Let's get a move on here.

So there's a few of the thoughts that have been percolating in my brain this morning. How's everyone else doing this morning?

173 Books Removed

2012-01-20T05:34:00.000-06:00

One of my goals this year was to remove at least 100 books from the shelves. Well ladies, gents, and other little lovelies, I have now removed 173 books and not even one month has passed. I am so proud of myself I could cry. Then again, I could cry because I have to remove books....

The imminent arrival of The Floppy Alienette necessitated some serious reorganization of the house. After all, the hubby and I had done a fine job of filling in every nook and cranny of our tri-level house all by our lonesome. But as you know, those tiny bodies require a great deal of STUFF and their STUFF requires a great deal of space. So for the past two weeks, I and my husband have been on a mission to remove the clutter from our lives (making him - a minimalist - so happy and me - a major hoarder - a nervous wreck....BUT WHAT IF WE NEEEEDD THAT LATER?)

Our garbage man probably thinks we are nuts, and Harbor House (a local charity for abused women) probably thinks we are nuts too, as we have removed bags and bags and boxes and boxes and pieces of this and that. I am ashamed to admit it, but I managed to fill an entire garbage bag with lotions, soaps, hairspray, makeup, and the such not to give to Harbor House. It's amazing how much Bath and Body Works people have given me over the years (I wonder if I smell?). But back to books....

The books have gone to three places: 1) Half-Price Books, so I could get some moolah; 2) the library, because they need it; and 3) a small stack for giveaways here on the blog, because I love you.

I ended up sending 96 books to Half-Price books netting me a whopping 75 bucks (hardly seems right, but I guess it's $75 more than if I donated all of it to the library. I do wish I could have received an itemized list of books with how much they gave me for each though; either way, they are still making a great deal of change off me.

But the important thing here is that I've removed 173 books. Instead of considering my goal complete, I decided to up my goal to 300 books removed this year. I'm over half-way there, so I firmly believe I can do this. I just need to remember to not put every single book I read onto the permanent shelves. It's a habit I need to break, the keeping of all books read regardless of enjoyment.

Book Review: Northanger Abbey

2012-01-19T05:03:00.000-06:00

Title: Northanger Abbey
Author: Jane Austen
Publisher/Year: Wordsworth Classics / 1993 / 1803
Source/Format: Mooch / Print
Date Finished: 11 January 2012
Book # 2

Buy | Borrow | Accept | Avoid

The Short and Sweet of It
Catherine Morland, young, innocent, naive, and enamored of Gothic novels, finds herself embroiled in a love story not at all straight out of one of her favorite books. What follows is a sweet, sometimes frustrating, humorous, and entertaining coming of age tale peppered with a bit of romance.

A Bit of a Ramble
When Catherine Morland accompanies her friends and neighbors, the Allens, to Bath, she finds herself in the middle of two quite distinct siblings: the Thorpes and the Tinleys. Isabella Thorpe is outgoing, forward, and self-centered, as is her brother John who has set his sights on Catherine. Eleanor Tinley is constant and sweet as is her brother Henry who has captured Catherine's heart. These two sets really provide the framework for Catherine to move away from her naivete to a more realistic view of the world. While the Thorpes overwhelm Catherine, she does not have the knowledge or experience to recognize their true intentions. They are exciting, flirtatious, over-the-top, and narcissistic. The Tinley's, on the other hand, are much more real, grounded.

This same dichotomy is seen in Catherine's impressionability regarding Gothic tropes. Her imagination causes her to see the world around her as a Gothic novel come to light, especially when she finds herself at Northanger Abbey, the "abbey" of it being so wonderfully Gothic. Her tendency to blur the line between fiction and reality, or reconstruct reality to suit a fiction, is oddly endearing to me, and felt pretty dang perfect for a seventeen-year-old. As is the case with all young people though, Catherine must come to realize the truth of the Thorpes, and so to must she come to realize the mundane quality of the abbey she has found herself in.

Most of the tale revolves around this idea: that Catherine needs to put aside childish fancy and see reality for what it is, much more simple and much less sensational than the stories she reads. I don't want this to come across, though, as a book that finds fault with imagination and flights of fancy. On the contrary, I think Austen has created a book that both stresses the importance of imagination and the necessity of not letting said imagination outweigh common sense.

And it's freaking funny people. Seriously, I already spoke a bit about the narrator in my discussion post on this book, but I really want to stress how funny I found this book. I definitely recommend reading this one, and a big thanks to those of you who suggested this be one of the first classics I read for my goals!

NOTES
This book counts towards Reading Goal #1: Reading Off My Own Shelves and specifically my Classics Reading Project.

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

2012-01-17T04:00:00.001-06:00

My first post came about on January 17, 2007, so today marks my fifth year blogging. My first post on a book was a collection of quotes and thoughts inspired by Yann Martel's The Life of Pi. Since that time, I have reviewed over 300 books and written 918 total blog posts: 64 in 2007, 33 in 2008, 264 in 2009, 335 in 2010, and 222 in 2011. As you can see, it wasn't until 2009 that my blogging really took off, and that was entirely because I found the book blogging community.

Research suggests that I have right around 650 followers, and apparently most people get to my site through Google searches and Google Reader. Okay, so that's all the energy I have for stats-like stuff. I am more interested in saying the following...

Blogging has changed my life. From middle school through college, I was an avid reader of a variety of books, enjoying Nora Roberts, Shakespeare, and Hunter Thompson equally. Once I got out of college and Real Life set in, my reading took a decided turn towards the easy. I primarily read romance novels with some sort of mystery-horror thrown in from time to time. I was reading just as much as before (if not more) but I certainly wasn't straining my brain and I wasn't reading a very diverse group of books as I had before. I think my problem was primarily that I had no one to talk to about books. Once I found a new community of readers, I fell back into my old habits easily, and I feel that I am an even more diverse reader now than I was back in college.

And it's all due to you wonderful bloggers out there who introduce me to new books, talk about old ones with me, encourage me to read outside my comfort zone, and in general be totally awesome. Thank you so much, and I hope the next five years are just as awesome as the first.

Book Discussion: Northanger Abbey

2012-01-16T05:55:00.000-06:00

While reading Northanger Abbey, what struck me initially is Jane Austen's voice. In any of her works, I am most drawn in by the voice of the narrator which strikes this perfect balance between proper and snarky and refined and real. The construction of sentences, word choice, pacing, it is all so perfectly Jane somehow, the type of voice one can easily recognize, like a heretofore unheard song by a unique artist. One can always pick out a Bob Dylan song, and I can always pick out a Jane Austen novel.

The narrator is prominent in an Austen novel, calling attention to itself, commenting on the characters and actions in the story, foreshadowing what's to come, and in general befriending the reader. Generally speaking, the narrator in this novel (and in other Austens) is third-person limited omniscient, meaning the narrator knows everything that's happening but can only actually know the thoughts and internal workings of a small number of, or just one, character. In Northanger Abbey, the narrator filters through the protagonist, or rather the heroine, Catherine. What's fun about this is that Catherine is so very different from our narrator (and our author), and so we get narration that implies a sort of sexism the reader knows is not accepted by the narrator or the author. These comments are easily understood as being ironic and lend the story a great deal of humor (seriously, I am laughing out loud throughout this book).

While reading Austen, I sometimes feel like I am being told a story over tea by a clever friend with a dry wit and an easy way with mockery. A friend you have to pay attention to in order to determine what is truth, what is irony, and what is merely humor. I love this, and I had forgotten how much I love this as it has been ages since I read my last Austen.

Now, then, I leave you to return to my impatiently waiting, eye-rolling, friend Jane.

Sunday Salon: Allusions to Other Books

2012-01-15T09:01:00.001-06:00

"Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book."

My topic for this week is: Books that Reference Books

I recently finished Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey which, as many of you know, revolves around a central character with a passion for Gothic novels who allows her imagination to apply aspects of her Gothic reading to her own life. And so readers get direct and indirect allusions to a plethora of real Gothic novels including The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian by Ann Radcliffe, The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis, Camilla by Francis Burney, Belinda by Maria Edgeworth, Midnight Bell by Francis Lathom, and the list goes on. I found myself making a note in the nook every time a book was referenced as a sort of list to read later (as if I need any more on my wish list!).

After finishing Northanger Abbey, I picked up Among Others by Jo Walton, which - based on what I've read so far - is about a young girl, Mori, who possesses magical abilities as does her mother who I believe is not using them so much for good. I'll give you more details after finishing the book; you know me, I didn't really read any summaries or back covers or anything before reading because I like to be surprised. For our purposes here, the point is that the lead character is an avid read of science fiction and mentions a gigantic list of books, once again adding to my wish list.

I found it funny and possibly serendipitous that I'm reading books back to back with so many references to other books, and it got me thinking. How would my reading experience change had I read these books being alluded to? Neither Northanger Abbey nor Among Others requires you to read these books; the stories are perfectly followable and understandable without any working knowledge of the books being referenced. But I can't help but feeling like I should have read these books first; it's part of my whole OCD thing about reading in order. Plus, it would add a deeper layer to my reading I'm sure, and you get that whole "feeling smart" rush when you are in on the joke. Like getting all the references in The Simpsons.

How do you guys feel about books alluding to books? Does it make you want to run out and read those books? Do you feel like you are missing out on something when you haven't read the referenced book?

Book Review: Goliath

2012-01-13T05:27:00.002-06:00

Title: Goliath
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Series: Leviathan, Behemoth
Publisher/Year: Simon Pulse 2011
Date Finished: 10 January 2012
Source/Format: Bought / nookbook
Book #: 1

Buy | Borrow | Accept | Avoid

The Short and Sweet of It
The third and final installment of the Leviathan trilogy, Goliath follows Alek and Deryn in their quest to end a war between Darwinists and Clankers, two opposing ideologies which drive almost every country on the planet.

A Bit of a Ramble
I have already discussed many of the issues I enjoyed with this book: the intriguing politics and the deceptively simple take on gender. But there is one statement I made in that post which I now whole heartedly disagree with. I said I was a bit disappointed that the book had strayed so far from action into a more character-centric focus. Specifically, I was referring not to overall character development and the relationships and personalities of the cast of characters. I was worrying that the burgeoning romantic relationship between Alek and Deryn would take center stage. While I appreciate a good romance, I prefer it to be secondary to the real story, a happy offshoot of a journey or adventure rather than the main focus. The last half of the book proved my suspicions wrong, and ultimately I believe that this story had the perfect mix of action-adventure and romance.

In my review of the first book in the series, I stated that the story is entertaining, with wonderful characters, intriguing themes, and a beautifully-described world, and now that I've finished the series, I believe that statement still holds true. If I had one complaint about reading this book, it is that I had to wait so long between Behemoth and Goliath. I really, really prefer to read my series from start to finish, first book to last book, back to back, in as little time as possible. That is one of the changes blogging has made to my life. Now, I keep hearing about these must read series with only the first installment out, and I just can't force myself to hold off on reading! I can't wait to find some time (that elusive bugger) and sit down and read the entire series back to back. Maybe that could be a plan for the April readathon...

NOTES

This book completes a series, meaning I get to check off one series from my gigantic list of to-reads that make up one of my Reading Goals.

The Spec Fic Short List

2012-01-12T05:07:00.004-06:00

The short lists are up for the Indie Lit Awards, and I am thrilled to share the list for the Speculative Fiction award:

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Magician King by Lev Grossman
11/22/1963 by Stephen King
Among Others by Jo Walton
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I am definitely geeking out over this list, especially since my super strange reading this past year means I've only gotten to one of them (A Monster Calls). But these are all books I've been seeing around the blogosphere, and the reviews have had me adding to my wish list. Now I have a brilliant excuse to indulge!

Obviously, I am most concerned with the SpecFic list as I'm the Director for that panel, but I don't want to short change the other short lists, which also have me adding to my wish list:

Biography/ Memoir

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Bossypants by Tina Fey
I Pray Hardest When Being Shot At by Kyle Garret
Little Princes by Conor Grennan
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch

GLBTQ

Well With My Soul by Gregory Allen
Swimming to Chicago by David Matthew Barnes
Songs for the New Depression by Kergan Edwards-Stout
Nina Here Nor There: My Journey Beyond Gender by Nick Krieger
Huntress by Melinda Lo

Fiction

Dance Lessons by Aine Greaney
Cross Currents by John Shors
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene

Mystery

Missing Daughter, Shattered Family by Liz Strange
The Cut by George Pelecanos
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes by Marcus Sakey
Fun & Games by Duane Swierczynski

Non-Fiction

Berlin 1961 by Frederick Kempe
In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff
Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku
The Social Animal by David Brooks

Poetry

Beyond Scent of Sorrow by Sweta Vikram
Catalina by Laurie Soriano
What Looks Like an Elephant by Edward Nudelman
Three Women: A Poetic Triptych and Selected Poems by Ramos, Emma Eden
Sonics in Warholia by Megan Volpert

All of the panels will be enthusiastically (at least I'm thinking so) reading their short listed books, so that we can announce the winners sometime in March.

The Bookish Queen

2012-01-11T05:08:00.000-06:00

I need to buy more used books so I can find something like this in one of them. :)

Link to where I found this pic

Book Discussion: Goliath

2012-01-09T22:14:00.000-06:00

I have finally picked up my first book of the year. After over a week of hem-hawing my way around my shelves - both physical and virtual - I finally settled on reading Goliath by Scott Westerfeld. The third book in his Leviathan series (Book 1, Book 2), Goliath brings readers back to a reimagined, steampunk, World War I history, where the opposing forces are Darwinists and Clankers. Darwinists believe in the manipulation of 'life strands' (DNA) in order to create new and useful creatures such as airships which are actually entire ecosystems. Clankers, on the other hand, find these beasties, a term from the book, to be abominations and their progress has been of the mechanical variety. Flying whale ships versus electric walkers. Awesome. The two sides seem to be on equal footing regarding progess; they've just done it all quite differently.

This idea of simultaneous, equal, but opposite progress has fascinated me from the beginning, and while this third installment (so far) is focusing less on the ideological differences and more on the relationship between our two main characters, I'm still engrossed in the sociocultural comparisons between the two groups. Alek, one of our lead characters, is a born and raised Clanker who has spent the last two books (yeah, I don't know how much time has passed) on a Darwin airship and best friends with a Darwinist midshipman. His close association with the "opposing" side has offered him the opportunity to not only observe the bioengineering Darwinists, but also to understand and appreciate them. And his Clanker tendencies have certainly impacted them as well to the point where they have even accepted (albeit grudgingly) a bit of Clanker technology on their ship.

I mention this specifically to reveal to you how much I appreciate the fact that while Westerfeld has his characters appreciate each other's perspectives, he does not have them fully accept each other's ideas or start some sort of too pat compromise. Understanding and appreciation of another culture does not mean agreement. Both sides remain a bit distrusting of the other. Good for them. And good for Westerfeld. I get annoyed when people are thrust into a new (and very different culture) and are quickly and almost easily completely accepting with no reservation. That's completely inauthentic in my opinion.

That out of the way, there is one more issue that I'm enjoying while reading the book, and this one may contain a few plot spoilers (minor ones). Our protagonist, Deryn, disguised herself as a boy, Dylan, to join the Royal Army and become a midshipman, and it is in this disguise that she meets Alek, who believes her to be a boy and treats her as such. In the third book, he discovers Dylan is actually Deryn, and he, of course, goes through a period of pissiness because he has been lied to by someone he considers his best (and only) friend. Perfectly understandable. What I really like though is that his transition to thinking of her as a her does not carry with it a ridiculous restructuring of his treatment of her. We have a few moments of "but she's a girl" when there's danger or you know, the need to go into a male's room at night, but they are quick, superficial moments that don't actually lead Alek to do anything chauvinistic. Now, I'm not done with the book (about half way there) so I'm not sure that will continue, but I am really pleased right now that Alek didn't suddenly get overly protective or dictatorial and the such not.

And Westerfeld still has Deryn as the badass soldier she was before, saving Alek from time to time and at other times clocking him in the gut, exhibiting real physical strength and daring, and really just being the same person she's been from the beginning. I am enjoying this take on gender expectations.

My only complaint about the book so far is that this installment strays so far from the action focus of the first two. This last book seems much, much more focused on the characters. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I do so enjoy the action and the politics...maybe more is coming in the last half of the book.

Now, I suppose I should stop yapping and get back to reading.

Being Pregnant aka Demi Moore can Kiss My Ass

2012-01-07T05:54:00.002-06:00

When people talk about having babies, the focus seems to stay on the horror of labor and delivery. But I'm here to say that pregnancy itself is no picnic. Now, I am definitely not a hippie, earth mothery, Angelina Jolie type, nor am I the sexy-and-I-know-it Demi Moore type, so I'm not well positioned to enjoy the "blessing", "joy", "mystery", etc. that is pregnancy. Yes, sometimes feeling the baby move around is pretty awesome, but then again, sometimes it's just a giant pain (figuratively and literally).

Anyway, here are a few things I didn't know before I was pregnant:

you can actually feel your pubic bone....
.................................................the sciatic nerve causes a quick, dramatic, paralyzing pain
said pain can jump from one butt cheek to the other.....
the difference between not sleeping and being unable to sleep is important
the difference between not going #2 and being unable to go #2 is important, dramatically important......
....bathroom stalls are very small....
..............................................................swollen feet look ridiculous.....
and it is difficult to repress the desire to poke at the bubbly tops of them.....
a baby will actually try to escape out of the upper stomach area, butt first, which is very uncomfortable due to spreading ribs and displaced organs
YOU CAN FEEL YOUR PUBIC BONE (not good, not good at all, at all)
.............................a stomach can be a hazard when trying to shave the bikini area....
belly buttons are not meant to be kicked from the inside...
you can actually function on getting no more than 1.5 hours of sleep at a time....not well, but it's possible...
....hunger can actually wake you up in the middle of the night despite the fact you ate enough for a small army the day before.......
baby brain is an actual disease which can make it difficult to even remember your own name.....
...................................being able to sleep on your back and stomach is necessary.....
....rolling from one side to the other in bed requires muscles you didn't even know you had (and hurt when pregnant)....
....the fatter you get the more people will tell you how "cute" you look for a pregnant woman...
.........................others just continually tell you how huge you are....
people who have never been pregnant think they know more than you do about being pregnant....
...people who have been pregnant think they know more than doctors about being pregnant....
...the world smells bad...
...............................................you can actually pee 5+ times in single hour...
there is no quantity of lotion to prevent stretch marks......
the stomach is not the only thing to get bigger (feet, hands, hips, thighs, breasts (and not in a sexy porn star kind of way), wrists, ankles and calves, I'm pretty sure even my toes are bigger)......
...........................you can feel like you have to pee RIGHT NOW but then produce nothing more than a non-relieving drop......
.............and finally, ladies and gentlemen, you can feel your freaking pubic bone. and it hurts. and said pain prevents you from moving in a normal way such as lifting your legs to put on pants, walking in a non-penguin fashion, rolling over in bed, getting out of bed, getting off the couch, lowering down to and raising up from the toilet seat,

I'm not necessarily complaining (okay, maybe just a little bit). I'm just fascinated by the whole experience (in the way you'd be fascinated by watching the video screen while you get a colonoscopy, not fascinated like you'd be if you suddenly developed supernatural powers). One of my co-workers actually said she thinks the ninth-month of pregnancy sucks so magnificently so that women are actually looking forward to pushing that 10 lb sack out a space they are pretty sure was not actually designed for the purpose (despite what everyone says).

But I'm in the homestretch. At 37 weeks, The Floppy Alienette is considered full-term, and I'm starting the countdown for when she'll exit my rather frustrated body.

House from Book

2012-01-06T04:55:00.002-06:00

I can totally see this sitting on a coffee table in my dream house.

Link to where I found the pic

Series Report: Adult and Graphic On and On

2012-01-04T05:30:00.001-06:00

One of my projects this year is to get my reading under control, specifically my reading of series. Below I have listed all of the adult and graphic series that I either have started or have at least the first book on the shelves ready to go. The *** indicates that the series is completely published.

The Adult Series

Already Started (6)
***Wicked by Gregory Maguire - 1 down, 3 to go
***Thursday Next by Jasper Fforde - 2 down, 4 to go
The Passage by Justin Cronin - 1 down, 2 to go
Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger - 4 down, 1 to go
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin - 1 down, 6 to go
Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris - 11 down, ? to go

At least one on the Shelves (9)
***The Talent Series by Anne McCaffrey
***The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead
***Mythago Wood Cycle by Robert Holdstock
***Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay
***The Shifters by Rachel Vincent
Lords of the Underworld by Gena Showalter
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Strain Trilogy by Guillermo del Toro
The All Soul's trilogy by Deborah Harkness

The Graphic Series

Already Started (3)

***Sandman by Neil Gaiman - 3 down, 7 to go
***Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - 1 down, 1 to go
Fables by Bill Willingham - 4 down, 13 to go

At least one on the Shelves (4)
***Abhorsen by Garth Nix
***Millienium trilogy by Stieg Larsson
House of Mystery by Matthew Sturges
Unwritten by Mike Carey

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have any advice on which series I should focus on first - especially if all the books in the series are published - please let me know!

Series Report: The YA Overload

2012-01-03T06:00:00.004-06:00

One of my projects this year is to get my reading under control, specifically my reading of series. Below I have listed all of the young adult series that I either have started or have at least the first book on the shelves ready to go. The *** indicates that the series is completely published.

FINISHED
Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld

Already Started (14)

***Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini - 3 down, 1 to go
***Alex Rider Adventures by Anthony Horowitz - 2 down, 7 to go
***The Gatekeepers by Anthony Horowitz - 3 down, 2 to go
***The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan - 8 down, 4 to go
***Everworld by Katherine Applegate - 6 down, 6 to go
***Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink - 1 down, 2 to go
***House of Night by the Casts - 1 down, 7 to go
***Fablehaven by Brandon Mull - 1 down, 4 to go
***Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare - 3 down, 1 to go
***Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan - 5 down, 6 to go
Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare - 1 down, 2 to go
Matched by Ally Condie - 1 down, 2 to go
Septimus Heap by Angie Sage - 4 down, 2 to go
The Weirdling Cycle by Mortimus Clay - 1 down, ? to go

At least one on the Shelves (37)

***Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa
***Faerie Wars Chronicles by James Brennan
***Insatiable by Meg Cabot
***Deverry Series by Katherine Kerr
***Edgar & Ellen by Charles Ogden
***Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer
***The Changeling Saga by Peter Garrison
***Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
***Sweep series by Cate Tiernan
***Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
***Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
***Hush, Hush saga by Becca Fitzpatrick
***Tomorrow series by John Marsden
***St. Clare's series by Enid Blyton
***Lewis Barnavelt by John Bellairs
***The Books of Magic by Carla Jablonski
***Sacred Books by David Michael Slater
***Maze Runner by James Dashner
***Trial of Blood and Steel by Joe Shepherd
***Mistwood by Leah Cypess
***Beautiful Creatures by Garcia and Stohl
***Goblin Wars by Kersten Hamilton
***Witch & Wizard by James Patterson
***The Glass Book of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
***The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
***The Lost Books by Ted Dekker
***The Last Survivors by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Birthright series by Gabrielle Zevin
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Bumped by Megan McCafferty
The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan
The Saga of Larten Crepsley by Darren Shan
Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Riders of the Apocalypse by Jackie Morse Kessler
Alex Van Helsing by Jason Henderson
Stork series by Wendy Delsol

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have any advice on which series I should power through first - especially if all the books are out already - be sure to let me know!!!

2012 Blogging Goals

2012-01-02T05:17:00.001-06:00

GOAL #1: Post Efficiently

I have never been a consistent poster, going from one or two posts a week to posting every day. While I would love to keep up the every day posting, I have to accept the fact that The Floppy Alienette is probably going to make that impossible. I don't want to go all willy nilly with my posting though, so I hope to accomplish the following sub-goals:

Sub-Goal: Schedule My Weekly Posting : Work out a set schedule of posting 4-5 times per week: include book reviews (new ones or Old Favorites), bookish images, baby day (yeah, I'm probably going to be talking about my little one around here), a post on teaching, one meme per week, Sunday Salons about reading issues/theories, etc. I am not assigning a day to each because I am just not that organized, but I do want to at least try.

Sub-Goal: Schedule my Monthly Posting : At the end of each month put up a blogger recommendation wish list listing all those books I've found on other blogs. I started this last year, but the baby stress pushed it to the back burner. To help with Goal #2, I also want to have a day set aside for a monthly mini-review posting for those books which may not warrant an entire review post.

Sub-Goal: Schedule a Quarterly Report : I would really like to post a reading and blogging goal update four times throughout the year. I want to set these up in advance so I can just pop in the numbers and add a few easy comments at the appropriate time.

Sub-Goal: Create My Posts in Advance : Excluding book reviews and memes, I would like to schedule my posting roughly two weeks in advance. Obviously, this will shift as I am a bit more spontaneous than I would like to be.

GOAL #2: Switch Up My Book Postings

The posts I write may not necessarily constitute reviews in the super-formal sense of the word, but they do follow a basic review pattern of summary and evaluation. This year, I would like to write more book discussion posts in addition to the "reviews", meaning I will write multiple posts per book, at least one discussion type post and a final review post. I also want to remember that I do not have to review every book I read (last year really helped with this as I read a ton of un-blogged-about books). To help assuage the guilt of this, I hope to write a Mini-Review post every month.

GOAL #3: Manage my Google Reader

The GR is a never-ending problem, but I am hoping to one day figure out a way to organize my GR so that those blogs which I love + those blogs which interact with mine are clearly listed in a Must Read folder, and the others are separated out by some other classification.

Sub-Goal: 20 Must Read Blogs : I would like to get the Must Read folder down to 20. Right now, I have 45 blogs in the Must Read folder, and I absolutely cannot keep up with them.

Sub-Goal : 120 Total Blogs to Read : I subscribe to a total of 199 blogs. Just not possible for me. At least not if I want to keep reading, blogging, working, eating, sleeping, spending time with the family, etc. My eventual goal is to pare down my GR to only 120 blogs total.

Sub-Goal : Increase My Commenting : Comment on the 20 blogs I put in the Must Read folder at least every other day, and comment on the other 100 blogs at least twice a week.

2012 Reading Goals

2012-01-01T04:57:00.004-06:00

I have no doubt that this year will be quite an adventure for me. The arrival of The Floppy Alienette is sure to change my life drastically, and I have a feeling that reading 100+ books may be a pipe dream for a few years. I also think that all those challenges I like to sign up for may be a thing of the past. I don't, however, believe I have to completely give up on challenging myself and my reading habits, so instead of completely wussing out, I'm going to stay focused on some relatively manageable goals:

GOAL #1: Read Books I Own

This is the big one. I have 400+ books on my shelves that are wasting away, unread, and I think this is a good time to focus on those books. One, it will save money, a definite plus as babies are ridiculously expensive considering how small they are. Two, I probably won't be spending near as much time heading to Barnes and Noble or aimlessly browsing online for new purchases. Three, having that many unread books is something of a sin, isn't it?

Sub-Goal: Read at least 12 books from my new Classics Reading Project
I compiled a list of classics I either have on the shelves or on my nook, and I am determined to start reading my way through them. I am only committing to 12 this year for two reasons: 1) I'm thinking the new baby is going to seriously cut in to my reading time and 2) I want reading classics to be a treat, not a hassle. I would love it if you would head over to the list and let me know which books you think I should read first.

GOAL #2: Manage My Series

I have two posts coming up which will further detail this one, but in essence, I am in the middle of a crap ton of young adult, adult, and graphic series. And to top it off, I also have the first books in another crap ton of series. I have 15 YA series started, and at least the first book of another 37; 6 adult series started, 9 with the first book; and 3 graphic series started, 4 with the first book. That's right folks! I have 74 series to manage right now, already on the shelves.

GOAL #3: Organize My Bookshelves

I need to get my shit together, so to speak, in more ways than one when it comes to my bookshelves. Right now, my books are spread out over 6 bookshelves in the living room, one in the dining room, one in the office, and one in the closet. While I originally had a plan of attack for all of the shelves - with books nicely separated according to genre, author, etc. - the shelves are rather disorganized now due to a strange mix of organization by genre, age, read/unread, etc. It's quite the mess.

Sub-Goal: Organize my Nook
I have 110 books on my nook (probably more coming after Xmas), and they are something of a disjointed mess. I need to get them nicely archived if read and organized onto separate shelves if unread. I still haven't quite figured out how to organize them as I am not a huge fan of genre classifications. Perhaps something a bit more simple: Classics, Contemporary, YAL, and Nonfiction? And where do I draw the line between classics and contemporary?

Sub-Goal: Remove at least 100 books from my shelves
I have roughly 2000 books in my house, and I really need to cull. I probably should get rid of more like half, but as a true hoarder, I think it will be difficult enough to get rid of 150, especially since I got rid of over 350 just two years ago. Minimizing my material possessions in general is a good idea, but the books definitely top the list of over indulgence for me.

So what are your reading goals for this year?

Book Review: Heartless

2011-12-31T04:59:00.002-06:00

Title: Heartless
Author: Gail Carriger
Publisher/Year: Orbit / 2011
Date Finished: 22 December 2011
Source/Format: Bought / Print
Book #: 95

Series Reviews: Soulless, Changeless, Blameless,

Buy | Borrow | Accept | Avoid

The Short and Sweet of It
The fourth book in the Parasol Protectorate series, Heartless follows Alexia Tarrabotti Macon as she attempts to thwart the assassination of the Queen, a threat revealed to her by a ghost. And she did all of this while very pregnant.

A Bit of a Ramble
I have to admit that part of the reason I loved this book so much is that I am pregnant and I thought Alexia's complaints and attitude nicely mirror my own. For example, she refers to her growing baby as the infant-inconvenience. Love it. She complains of an inability to sleep, a ravenous hunger, and a body that has betrayed her. I'm so there. And she simultaneously needs and is annoyed by those around her treating her a bit like an invalid. Yep. This added a bit of extra flair to an already wonderful series for me.

As always, the world building is excellently done with just the right amount of back story, repetition of formerly revealed ideas, insertions of new elements, and character development. Carriger creates complex, round, dynamic characters in this series. Every person is multi-faceted and can still surprise four books in to the series. As a reader, I simultaneously feel like I know these characters very well and like they are shrouded in a mystery I can't wait to uncover. Like a recent friend or possibly more like a new significant other (one with a seriously saucy past anyway).

The next book in the series comes out in March, and I will definitely be buying it. I highly recommend starting this series if you haven't already.

Reading Wrap Up 2011

2011-12-30T05:05:00.004-06:00

2011 was quite the strange year for me due to the arrival of The Floppy Alienette in my generally uninhabited body...errr..I got pregnant. The transition to pregosaurus was not an easy one for me as I had two miscarriages prior to this pregnancy which made five months in the middle of the year rather impossible for reading and blogging. Once the worry diminished, preparation time began, meaning I've had a rather lackadaisical year here on the blog.

THE BIGGIES

Books Read	96	Pages Read	29510
New Books	71	Re-reads	25
Fiction	83	Non-Fiction	13

I read 47 LESS books this year than last, and that doesn't really surprise me or make me sad. I re-read more books this year than normal because I wanted escapism, effortless escapism. Like I said, this was one strange year for me.

THE AUTHORS

Male	45	Female	52
Alive	87	Dead	9
New To Me	47	2+ Books/Author	9

Yet again, my male-female ratio is pretty evenly split despite the fact that I make absolutely no effort in this area. I, yet again, failed miserably to read more dead authors this year.

THE BOOKS

Age	Adult	51	YA	38	Middle/Children	7
Format	Novels	88	Short Stories	4	Plays	2
	Graphic Novels	2	Misc.	0	eBooks	21
Source	Bought	44	Borrowed / Library	8	Gift/Win/Free	17
	Swap Site	5	Review Copy	22	BEA	0

As always, I primarily read adult novels that I bought at one point or another. Luckily, the "bought" does not mean I bought it this year; it just means that I spent my own money to acquire the book at one point or another. I only read 5 ebooks last year, so I'm making a bit of progress on that front, but still 21 is pretty minimal...

GENRES
I'm totally copping out on genres this year. Honestly, I've never been satisfied with genre classifications, and I really need to rework my labeling system in a more personal way.

MONTHS

January	13	July	5
February	7	August	2
March	9	September	4
April	7	October	8
May	11	November	8
June	16	December	5

My pattern seemed to reflect my emotional state: January normal, Feb. thinking about trying to get pregnant, March making the decision, April trying, May distraction from pregnancy tests, June overwhelming re-read as I realize I'm pregnant, July/August/September stressed over pregnancy, October/November/December planning for baby.

Overall, I am neither disappointed nor pleased with my reading stats. The year was so unusual that I can't make any sort of intelligent comments on it.

Best of 2011

2011-12-29T05:14:00.002-06:00

A giant chunk of this year's reading was actually RE-reading, but I wanted this list to reflect my favorite new reads. Oddly enough, this does make the creation of a "best of" list much easier - less books to choose from. :) Without further ado, here are my top ten new reads of 2011:

The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
Abounding with monks, nuns, secret passageways, cold corridors, nasty weather, soul-selling witches, prurient interests, superstition, and the occasional dead body, The Monk is perfectly eerie. The gothic qualities set up that wonderful atmosphere readers of this type of lit love so much, but the actions which take place move well beyond the scary ghost or foreboding breeze. Some truly evil crimes are committed. There are specific, likeable victims. And happily ever after comes at a great price.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Winter is Coming. So rings the words of the Starks of Winterfell, the family central to the epic tale contained in this novel. The motto reflects the harshness and strength of the family as well as resounding a prophetic truth for the whole of Westeros, a land about to be torn by a vicious political upheaval, a game of thrones. This story completely captured my imagination.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Holmes by Loren D. Estleman
Sherlock Holmes returns in this brilliantly conceived and written novel, and to make it even better, he is tackling the case of Jekyll and Hyde. Despite knowing the outcome, I was engaged throughout, the journey to the truth being so much more exciting than the denouement. Following Holmes and Watson as they meticulously ferret out the truth was fascinating, in no small part because their investigation alternates between periods of intense excitement (girly shows, barroom brawls, carriage chases) and quiet contemplation (exactly how I picture Sherlock).

Lost Voices by Sarah Porter
In this lyrical and haunting tale, Porter explores a world in which girls, cruelly abused in life, transform into mermaids and find themselves wielding a great power over humankind. The story is haunting and painful and atmospheric, but I don't want to give the impression that the darkness is pure sensation without purpose; readers are treated to a story both horrifying and beautiful. Like a traditional fairy tale (instead of the Disney version) the world Porter has created feels infused with shades of gray. Black and white, right and wrong, are secondary to the complexity of personal growth and understanding.

Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
Foer chronicles his foray into the world of memory in this intelligent and fun book. The perfect combination of the personal and the academic, Moonwalking with Einstein had me completely hooked. Intelligent. Fun. Insightful. Funny. Inventive. Fabulous. And a host of other adjectives that start with I and F. This, in my opinion, is narrative nonfiction at its best: personal, informative, and entertaining.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
When a young girl goes missing, fingers start pointing at "Scary Larry" Ott, who 25 years before was suspected in the disappearance of another girl. Soon, Larry winds up shot, and Silas, once Larry's friend, now the town constable, finds himself investigating. But why was Larry shot? Attempted murder? Suicide? What really happened 25 years ago? Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is a perfectly atmospheric literary suspense.

Ashfall by Mike Mullin
What I most appreciated about the book was that sense of realness without spectacle. Truly bad things happen in the story, but the events are not overblown or dwelt upon for effect; they are simply related as events which occurred. The devastation wrought by the volcanic eruption was not just geological or meteorological; it was social, cultural, ideological. I have absolutely no problem believing the loss of humanity exhibited by some of the characters. While the book is not particularly happy - it is reasonably grim actually - I never felt that all hope was lost. Some communities, some people, were still friendly, caring, and humane. Actually the diversity of post-volcano experience is one part of the book I really enjoyed.

Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen
Ghosts takes place over one night at a mansion in Norway. The majority of the story is unveiled in a conversation between the protagonist, Mrs. Alving, and a pastor from a nearby town, Manders. The two are building an orphanage to honor the late Captain Alving, a man Manders believed to have been an honorable man, but who in fact was a scoundrel and a drunk. Alving's actions in the past are influencing the present through his son, Oswald.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
The Mortal Instruments trilogy, City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass, rocked my world when I read them, and I was thrilled to receive this novel, a prequel to the MI trilogy for Christmas. Clockwork Angel includes everything I loved from Mortal Instruments - passion, mythology, kickassery - and then it puts two cherries on top: Victorian London and steampunk. Purrrfffect. The layers of depth Clare injects in her work really adds to the world building. the world created within the pages of the text refers to and develops its own past and promises a future. If you have not read Clare yet, you are really missing out.

The Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mills
In a rather accessible extended essay, Mill argues for the emancipation of women both for the betterment of society and the personal benefit of women. What struck me most about Mill's essay is his clarity and conciseness. I really enjoy it when authors of SERIOUS tomes with IMPORTANT topics inject a bit of the snarky into their texts, and Mills does a fantastic job of this.

Super Mini Reviews of the Forgotten

2011-12-27T05:17:00.001-06:00

So during my downtime this summer, as I stressed out over my first trimester, I read quite the handful of books but didn't review a single one. Since I like to have at least a tiny record of every book I read - with my thoughts - here are my super mini reviews of those books that didn't get an actual review this year.

*Dante's Inferno by Seymour Chwast: Inferno as Graphic Novel. Super Boring.

The Return of Rafe MacKade by Nora Roberts: Sexy Bad Boy and Reserved Antique Dealer Do It
The Pride of Jared MacKade by Nora Roberts: Sexy Lawyer and Sensual Single Mom Do It
The Heart of Devin MacKade by Nora Roberts: Sexy Cop and Fragile Divorcee Do It
The Fall of Shane MacKade by Nora Roberts: Sexy Farmer and Hot Nerd Do It
Captivated by Nora Roberts: Flippant Film Maker and Sultry Witch Do It
Charmed by Nora Roberts: Delicate Healer and Down to Earth Dad Do It
*The Next Always by Nora Roberts: Sensitive Architect and Practical Widow Do It

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.
Club Dead by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.
Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.
Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.
Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.
All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.
From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.
*Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.
*Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris: Hot Vampire Sex.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling: Book 6
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling: Book 7 (did you really need more than that for these?)

I totally see why I didn't do full reviews. All but four of these were re-reads (* next to the new reads) and most are not quite complex enough for me to write separate reviews.

On a side note, does anyone else notice how many of the books I plowed through this summer are focused on people ~~doing the nasty~~ falling in love? In that spirit, here is Chris Isaak's Wicked Game for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Happy Festivus!!!

2011-12-24T05:14:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Or happy festivus if you will. You are all awesome, and I hope you all get carloads of books.