walking those dogs

Just got back from walking the mini pack. We missed a few walks because we had four days of rain in a row! Unheard of! They did pretty good and it felt nice to be moving our legs again.

P.S. Rainy long walk is by holli.

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

I requested this book as an Early Reviewer because I read the author's first book, The Day the Falls Stood Still, a few years ago and loved it. The Painted Girls did not disappoint!

This well-researched historical fiction novel takes place in Paris 1878. It follows the van Goethem sisters as they struggle to survive after their father dies. Luckily the oldest sister, Antoinette, once trained in ballet for the Paris Opera and uses her mischievous ways to get auditions for her little sisters. Little did I know, but they used to pay girls to train for the ballet.

Every other chapter is told from the middle sister, Marie's, point of view, although the story mainly centers around her. She wants nothing more than stability for her family. Marie is a hard worker who loves music and her family, which makes her accessible to almost all of us. One way she makes extra money is by posing for Edgar Degas. He has a smaller role in this story but is still well developed as a character.

This is an excellent sister story, but I also felt the author was making a commentary on our roles in the world. Can you truly pull yourself up by your bootstraps or were you born to your lot in life? Don't tell. I'm not supposed to quote an advanced copy of the book but I feel in sharing this you will understand an underlying theme:

Monsieur Zola's tale is not about getting a washhouse or a chance upon the stage. It is about begin born downtrodden and staying that way. Hard work makes no difference, he is saying. My lot, the lots of those around me, were cast the moment we were born into the gutter to parents who never managed to step outside the gutter themselves.

Read this book and you will be magicked away to a time and place very different from our own. Fortunately the characters will make you feel at home.

P.S. This book counts as my book Published in 2013 for my Eclectic Reader Challenge.

quote of the day/how I know my class is going to fail state standardized testing

Me: {pressing play}

State Approved CD Instruction Deliverer: Write your full name on the line.

Girl: I don't have a full name!

P.S. I got this picture from Private Arts.

2012 End of the Year Book Survey

Time for end of the year book quizzes! Yay! On this one you're supposed to answer the questions with titles of books read in 2012.

Describe yourself: The Girl Who Played With Fire

How do you feel? Serenity

Describe where you currently live: East of Denver

If you could go anywhere...? The Voyage Out

Favorite form of transportation: Ruffian (she was a racehorse)

Your best friend is: I, Robot

You and your friends are: Catching Fire

What's the weather like? Day of Honey

Your favorite time of day is: After Dark

What is life for you? The Penultimate Peril

You fear: Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Best advice: Animals Make Us Human

Thought for the day: You Shall Know Our Velocity!

How you would like to die: The End

Who else wants to play?

P.S. Books is by Emily Martin.

21

I made this scrapbook page back in November as a birthday present for my niece Alyssa. Her friend Stephanie asked friends and relatives to make a scrapbook page with a drink recipe, then put them together in a scrapbook for Alyssa's 21st birthday. Well I love alcohol, scrapbooking, and my niece (not in that order) so this was perfect for me.

I use a template to cut 21 out of some confetti paper and added some alcohol stickers. I put my recipe on a We R Memory Keepers Project Life-type card that I thought looked like a recipe card. Alyssa loves cats so I had to add a sticker I had of a cat with a birthday hat on.

The picture of me is with our pink grapefruit tree in our backyard, since the recipe for a vodka greyhound requires grapefruit juice. I hurried home, set up my camera on a tripod, and used the timer to take this picture. You can still see the sunglasses imprint on my nose but I was under a deadline!

The main reason I want to share this picture is because this week, after living here for 5 years, I finally invested $25 in an electric juicer and it has changed my life. I got to make a greyhound with ease after an annoying day at school (uncommon this year, and because of adults of course, not students!). And then I tried the juice without the vodka for the first time and I liked that too. Maybe I'll be healthy or something now.

2013 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge

Last year I made a weak attempt at the Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge and only read 1 book. You can read any number of books to join, but this year I'm going to shoot for 2. That would keep me at the "Initiate: Read 1 - 5 Witchy Books" level.

Here are some books that I already have which I will choose from:

1. Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman - I haven't read a book by him in a really long time

2. Son of a Witch: Volume Two in the Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire - I read Wicked in 2006 so I guess it's time to read the sequel

3. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts by Arthur Miller - I did a scene from this in a competition in high school but never read the whole thing

4. The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow - this has been on my shelf for 4 years

5. Witch by Christopher Pike - I have been wanting to reread some of my Christopher Pike books (my favorite in high school) but never find a reason to. Maybe this challenge will get me going.

(non-fiction)

6. The Truth About Witchcraft by Hans Holzer

7. The Complete Art of Witchcraft by Sybil Leek

8. Witchcraft in the World Today by C.H. Wallace

If you would like to join my reading coven visit Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf.

P.S. Matilda is by Jayme McGowan.

My Favorite Books of 2012

I read 43 books last year. Here are my 9 fiction and 2 non-fiction favorites, which I recommend you read as well. They are listed in the order I read them.

fiction

Watchmen by Alan Moore - This is the first graphic novel I've ever finished. Superheroes deal with their inner demons and struggle with power trips.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese - reviewed here on March 11th

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - imagine the competitive life of Geisha while learning about Japanese history. Made me cry. My favorite book of the year.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Follow Katniss as she battles for her life in a game designed to entertain and control the masses.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - The exciting sequel to The Hunger Games.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey - reviewed here on December 28th

After Dark by Haruki Murakami - reviewed here on December 29th

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson - reviewed here on December 29th

The Kite Runner by Kahleid Hosseini - coming of age story about a boy from Afghanistan and his best friend/family servant. Made me cry.

non-fiction

Columbine by Dave Cullen - very thoroughly researched account of the Columbine shooters, tragedy, and aftermath. Everything you think you know about what happened is wrong.

Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls--One Flying Disc at a Time by Jim Gorant - reviewed here on September 11th

2012: A Year in Pictures

January: Chad's Annual Bowling Birthday Party

February: Petsmart Charities 5K PetWalk with Stephanie and Corey's Family

March: Angi and I See Fran Lebowitz Together

and a Visit From Amy!

April: Date Night to See Sucre

and Girls Night to See Florence + the Machine

May: 3 Graduations in Kansas

June: Trip to Palm Springs

July: Jaws Pool Party with Mini-Pack

August: Hottest Hike Ever

September: Diamondbacks Lose to Cubs :(

October: Suns Game on Halloween

November: Trip to Titan Missile Museum

and South Mountain Birthday Walk

December: Corey Puts Up Christmas Lights and Declares He Does Like Christmas

Love and Happiness to All in 2013!

Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge

This was the only book I was able to read for the challenge this year, but it was enough to earn me Initiate status at Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf.

No Rest for the Witches is 4 short stories by 4 different authors: MaryJanice Davidson, Cheyenne McCray, Christine Warren, and Lori Handeland. Unfortunately it was not as much fun as I had hoped it would be. I had never heard of Paranormal Romance before and that is what I discovered this book is. The Paranormal element was fun, but they lost me at the Romance part. One story ended with people having sex to save the world. The whole thing just seemed ridiculous to me. At least I got this book free from a pile at work.

If you're looking for some Paranormal Romance, I suggest sticking to Twilight.

Eclectic Reader Challenge 2013

I had a lot of fun doing the Eclectic Reader Challenge this year so I'm going to try it again next year. I have to read 1 book from each of these categories by the end of next year. Some of them I had never even heard of and had to look up.

Here are the categories and some of the books I've decided to read:

Translated fiction

Historical mystery - The Egyptologist: A Novel by Arthur Phillips

Romantic suspense

Made into a movie

New Adult - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Urban Fantasy

Dystopian - Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3) by Suzanne Collins

Memoir

LGBT

Action Adventure

Humour

Published in 2013 - The Painted Girls: A Novel by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Who's ready to join me?

P.S. I found the top picture at redlipsandicecream but I don't see it there any more.

What's in a Name 2013

I found a reading challenge that I did a few years ago which now has a new host. I'm very excited to accept the challenge thrown down at Beth Fish Reads.

Here are the categories and the books I own with suitable titles:

A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title:

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

A book with something you'd find in your kitchen in the title:

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A Novel by Aimee Bender

By Bread Alone by Sarah-Kate Lynch

Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies by Laura Esquivel

Five Quarters of the Orange: A Novel by Joanne Harris

and I have 3 unread Chicken Soup for the Soul books

A book with a party or celebration in the title:

Happy Deathday! by Alfred Hitchcock

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish

A book with fire (or equivalent) in the title:

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt

A book with an emotion in the title:

Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan

Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook

Loving Frank: A Novel by Nancy Horan

The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland

Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin

Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire: A Novel by Margot Berwin

The Walking Dead, Vol. 4: The Heart's Desire by Robert Kirkman

A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title:

The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser

The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay

Lost Highways by Curtiss Ann Matlock

Lost Laysen by Margaret Mitchell

Who else wants to join in?!

P.S. I found the awesome library pic at Epic Win FTW.

Eclectic Reader Challenge 2012 Completed!

Here's what I read:

Literary Fiction: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese finished 1/19/12

Crime/Mystery Fiction: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson finished 12/28/12

Romantic Fiction: Horseplay: A Novel by Judy Reene Singer finished 7/9/12

Historical Fiction: Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel by Susan Vreeland finished 7/28/12

Young Adult: The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 13) by Lemony Snicket finished 6/3/12

Fantasy: Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman finished 3/31/12

Science Fiction: I, Robot by Isaac Asimov finished 8/25/12

Non Fiction: Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints by Sam Brower finished 2/5/12

Horror: Desperation by Stephen King finished 5/26/12

Thriller/Suspense: Bag of Bones by Stephen King finished 6/29/12

Classic: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey finished 10/9/12

Your favorite genre: After Dark by Haruki Murakami finished 12/15/12

My favorite from this challenge was probably The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson.

P.S. Give A Hoot, Read A Book is by Stephan Britt.

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

I can't believe I waited a year to read The Girl Who Played With Fire, the sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. But the story picks up about 2 years after the last so in their world I'm ahead of the game.

We find Mikael Bomkvist back at Millennium, ready to change the world by publishing a story written by a new character about the illegal sex trade in Sweden.

Lisbeth Salander is living it up, traveling the world and spending the money she stole from the bad guy in Dragon Tattoo and reading math text books. As soon as she gets back to Sweden though, she gets pegged for 3 murders. Did she do it? Blomkvist believes she's innocent but needs to find the real killer to save her.

This book was as fast-paced and exciting as the last. Definitely recommended if you liked Dragon Tattoo.

This book fulfills my Crime/Mystery Fiction requirement for the Eclectic Reader Challenge.

After Dark by Haruki Murakami

It's been over a year since I've read a book by Haruki Murakami, so after reading almost every category from the Eclectic Reader Challenge I rewarded myself in the Your Favorite Genre category by reading After Dark. Really I don't know if I could choose 1 favorite genre, but many of my favorites had already been covered so I chose Magical Realism. I think it's hard to put Haruki Murakami's writing style into a genre box, since he has a style all his own, but Magical Realism comes pretty close.

Anyway, here is my summary of After Dark:

Just kidding. That's Micah Lidberg's summary.

After Dark centers around one night in the lives of 2 sisters, Eri and Mari. Mari seems hell bent on staying up all night reading in Denny's. She meets a guy on his way to band practice who knows her sister. He plays the trombone because the first time he heard the song Five Spot After Dark by Curtis Fuller he thought, "That's the instrument for me. The trombone and me: it was a meeting arranged by destiny."

Meanwhile Eri is asleep in her home. She's been asleep for months and nobody can figure out why. But we see through an omnipresent narrator that something evil is watching her and perhaps controlling her through her television.

I don't want to give any more of the story away because the journey is the joy of a Murakami story. I loved this book, but it does all take place in one night and was only 244 pages. I'm used to really long, super involved books by him.

Here's one of my favorite scenes:

"You know what I think?" she says. "That people's memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive. Whether those memories have any actual importance or not, it doesn't matter as far as the maintenance of life is concerned. They're all just fuel. Advertising fillers in the newspaper, philosophy books, dirty pictures in a magazine, a bundle of ten-thousand-yen-bills: when you feed 'em to the fire, they're all just paper. The fire isn't thinking, 'Oh, this is Kant,' or 'Oh, this is the Yomiuri evening edition,' or 'Nice tits,' while it burns. To the fire, they're nothing but scraps of paper. It's the exact same thing. Important memories, not-so-important memories, totally useless memories: there's no distinction--they're all just fuel...You know. I think if I didn't have that fuel, if I didn't have these memory drawers inside me, I would've snapped a long time ago. I would've curled up in a ditch somewhere and died. It's because I can pull the memories out of the drawers when I have to--the important ones and the useless ones--that I can go on living this nightmare of a life. I might think I can't take it anymore, that I can't go on anymore, but one way or another I get past that."

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

I saw the movie One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest over ten years ago so I thought I had a good buffer to read the book finally for Banned Books Week.

The story is told from the "Chief Broom's" point of view. For many years he's been a patient in the mental institution which is the setting for the story. He never talks, making people assume he has no brain capacity and making him privy to the true horror that surrounds him. The ward he lives in is ruled over by the terrible, power-hungry, and unjust Nurse Ratched. She has everyone stepping in line when the main character, McMurphy, gets sentenced to reform in a mental institution. In a choice between the institution or hard labor he thought he was choosing the easy way out.

Much of the story is a heroic, sometimes comical battle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. McMurphy loves a good game and believes he can beat Big Nurse at her own game. But what made me love McMurphy was when his struggle stops being a game and starts being about the people around him that he comes to care for.

The hardest part for me was not picturing McMurphy as Jack Nicholson from the movie. It shouldn't be a big deal to just go ahead and imagine him as Jack Nicholson, but he is described as a linebacker-sized redhead. His size and hair color come up constantly in the story and it was a little jarring for me. That detail aside, I loved the whole story and would highly recommend it.

Why was this book banned? My guess is because it makes people who question authority look like cool heroes. And we can't have that folks! Or it could just be the way McMurphy talks about women...if you know what I mean.

Does anyone watch American Horror Story: Asylum? I read this right before the season began and it seems to borrow heavily from the book. Power trippin head nurse? Check. Same song being played repeatedly on the intercom to drive patients crazy? Check. Torture used to punish heal patients? Check. But I still like it.

This book fulfills my Classic requirement for the Eclectic Reader Challenge.