Books
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The Westing Game
I first heard of The Westing Game, I think, in a comment left by my old bloggy friend, Wendy. (She’s not old, just quit blogging, so she’s not a current bloggy friend, right? I miss her writing, actually.) Based on her loving the book as a kid, I bought it for Maya and put it on her bookshelf. It has thus far failed to capture her interest, so it’s just been sitting there, waiting. When I signed up for the Herding Cats reading challenge, I saw this book on the list, and thought it was a good chance to read it. The Westing Game is the story surrounding the…
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Reading in Grief
V-Grrrl mentioned in her comment that when her parents died (within 6 weeks of each other! God, Dad, be careful!), she had to put all photos of them away, couldn’t drive past their house, couldn’t bear to be reminded. Not that doing these things helped her to forget, I don’t think anything could do that…but she was too raw to cope otherwise. Which made me think of the different ways that people grieve. My uncle made me a lovely collage of photos of my mom, and I find comfort in looking at it. None of the pictures are of her when she was sick, they’re all of her in her…
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Belong to Me
We think our parents are in charge, right? Like they know what they’re doing? But the truth is, they’re making it up as they go along, just like we are. Just like everyone. If we judge them by their worst mistakes, they’re all, like, gargantuan failures. Maybe you should try judging your mom by her intentions, by whether she, like, loves you and is doing her best. Such is the young teen wisdom of a minor character in Marisa de los Santos’ new book, Belong to Me. It is wisdom that spoke to me in my particular moment of grief, and made me think that perhaps my mother might want…
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My Sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes
So, I’ve been talking about this book off and on since I first heard of it on NPR’s To the Best of Our Knowledge. I had it in mind for awhile, and then decided to wait to read it until I was ready to take on the Non Fiction Five reading challenge. Since Non-Fiction and I don’t get along that well, I thought this would be a good one to keep until I was ready for it. My Sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes is a collection of essays by contemporary Iranian writers, discussing everything from feminism to photography, from film-making to reading Exodus. Collectively, these essays…
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Doublememe Palace*
Awhile ago, I signed up to be a ‘weekly geek‘, and take on the challenges put forth on Dewey’s blog. Alas, thus far I have sucked at it. I find that given a subject to write on, I kinda freeze and succumb to writer’s block, which is why I quit my brief stint at a mommy blog that I briefly contributed to quite awhile ago. Anyway, the prompt this week was pictures, and since it’s mostly book folks participating, it seemed like a good idea to post a picture of a book. However, I’ve already posted pictures of the books around here, twice actually. So I’ve been mulling it over.…
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Why Do I Love These People?
Back in February, my dad sent my sisters and me copies of this book, Why Do I Love These People, by Po Bronson. He had read it, and thought it was a valuable collection of stories that we might all enjoy, and perhaps gain something from. The stories are those of families, and how they overcome difficulties in their lives, and come out of hard times closer together than they were before. Some of the stories related to dealing with parents, others to spouses, and still others, children or siblings. Some to all of the above. What struck me the most about the stories in this book was a theme…
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Driving Sideways
I decided to take a break from my Reading Challenge books, and pick up a copy of Driving Sideways, the first published novel of my bloggy friend, Jess Riley. I bought the book on Tuesday, and finished it on Saturday night. It was the kind of story that sucked me right in, and had me thinking about how I wished I were reading it while I was doing other things, like working, or being at a boring party on Saturday, that kind of thing. This is a relief, because I have to say, I was a little bit worried…what if I hated it? I’ve never reviewed a book by someone…
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Pimpin’ my Peeps
Oh crap, I’m so excited today, I might pee myself. You see, one of my favorite blogs over there on my sidebar, Riley’s Ramblings, belongs to Jess Riley, whose first novel is being released TODAY! And I’ve been there for a bit of her journey, as her editor changed publishing houses, nearly putting the kibosh on the whole project; the name was changed from “Driving with Larry Resnick” to “Driving Sideways”…which is better, actually, because I am a supremo dork, and got Larry Resnick mixed up in my mind with John Rzeznik from the Goo Goo Dolls, which may have been an interesting novel, but surely not the one Ms.…
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The Amber Spyglass
Into this wilde Abyss, The Womb of nature and perhaps her Grave, Of neither Sea, nor Shore, nor Air, nor Fire, But all these in their pregnant causes mixt Confus’dly, and which thus must ever fight, Unless th’ Almighty Maker them ordain His dark materials to create more Worlds, Into this wilde Abyss the warie fiend Stood on the brink of Hell and look’d a while, Pondering his Voyage; for no narrow frith He had to cross. ~Milton’s Paradise Lost The Amber Spyglass is the third book in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. It continues the story of Lyra and Will, two young adolescents with extraordinary powers. Lyra’s power…
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Herding Cats Challenge
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8[/youtube] I read about the Herding Cats reading challenge over at Dewey’s blog, The Hidden Side of a Leaf, and I had to join up, because not only do I love to read, I also used to work for EDS, when the ad above aired. So I thought, yeah, I’m on board. Here are the rules. 1. List 10 books you have read and love. LOVE. OK, at least really really like. 2. Pick 3 books you haven’t read before from the ‘favorite books lists’ of other challenge participants. Don’t worry, they’ve put together a wonderful master list, making it much easier than going through list after list after list.…
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Running Out of Time
Running Out of Time is a novel written for young adults, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Maya has been asking me to read this book for quite awhile now, and as I just finished Pictures of Hollis Woods, and was in the mood for another YA/quick read, I said yes, I would like to read it. Besides, the letter ‘R’ was coming up in my month of letters, so I had yet another impetus. I’m glad that she talked me into reading it, because I really enjoyed the book. The suspense was engrossing, and the characters very likable. Running Out of Time is the story of a young girl, Jessie, who…
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Pictures of Hollis Woods
Pictures of Hollis Woods is the story of Hollis, a 12-year-old girl stuck in the foster care system, wishing for a way out. She finds herself misbehaving, skipping school, doing whatever it takes, to get out of house after house, searching for more…searching for a family. She finds what might be a family for her in the Regans, a couple and their 13-year-old son, Steven. She lives with them for a summer, and starts to allow herself to open up her heart, to trust and to believe that she might be worth loving, that she might be worth more than a “mountain of trouble”, as one of her foster families…
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Non-Fiction Five
Yay! The Non Fiction Five Challenge, hosted by Joy, is almost here. I’ve been looking forward to joining this challenge for awhile now, thought my reading seems to have stalled a bit lately, so I’m not sure how I’ll do. I’m a fiction reader by preference, and the number of non-fiction books that actually make it onto any reading list of mine are few and far between. What better way than a challenge to get me motivated and reading, right? Here are her rules, which are pretty basic: 1. Read 5 non-fiction books during the months of May – September, 2008 2. Read at least one non-fiction book that is…
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Middlesex
Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides (author of The Virgin Suicides), is first and foremost the story of Calliope, a young Greek girl growing up in the suburbs of Michigan, and how at puberty, she becomes Cal, a young Greek boy. The story spans three generations, starting with Desdemona and Lefty, a brother and sister fleeing Greece during the war with Turkey in 1922. Unfortunately, Desdemona and Lefty are in love with each other, and the anonymity of fleeing their homeland for America gives them the opportunity to start over, as husband and wife. Their story is a sad one, because as Desdemona discovers the dangers of birth defects involved if they…
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Meme Monday
Just when you’re not sure what the heck you’re going to write about, along comes a pal like Theresa and tags you for a meme. WHEW! 1) What book are you reading right now? I just started Middlesex. Like, I’m only a few pages in. So far, I’m enjoying it. 2) What was the last book you read on a plane? Usually I save plane trips for my guilty pleasure, People Magazine. But flying from Anchorage to Oakland is a long flight, with a long layover in Seattle, so People doesn’t really cut it. So I read People first (with Tori Spelling on the front cover…I’m a sucker for any…