Fall Into Reading 2007 - Wrap up

I didn't quite get to finish everything on my list. I'm only halfway through my last book. The schedule of the season just caught up with me. Here's what I thought of what I was able to finish.

An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England (Brock Clarke) - This book was just quirky. I ended up feeling bad for the main character...he was just so simple. While it wasn't the best book on my list, it wasn't that bad. I'm not sure I would see out another book by this author, though.

Up High in the Trees (Kiara Brinkman) - This was a very quick read. It's written from the perspective of an 8 year old and it was beautiful. Some pages were only a line or two long, just quick thoughts. The story follows the boy and his family after the mother dies in a car accident. It's just a very well written look into the grieving process from every angle. I would definitely recommend this book .

When Crickets Cry (Charles Martin) - I think this might tie with Nineteen Minutes for my favorite book on this list. I was hooked on the book from the very beginning and would fall asleep while I was reading it because I just didn't want to put it down. It's heartbreaking and uplifting all at the same time...it definitely tugs on your heart strings.

The Other Mother (Gwendolen Gross) - I'm only about halfway through but I'm liking what I'm reading. One of the major pluses? The main character's name is Thea. I love that name!

Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult) - I will definitely be readinf Jodi Picoult again very soon. As a matter of fact I already went to the library and got another of her books to take with me when we head out of town for the several days. She's a great writer and I gasped out loud when I got to the twist at the end. This was a great, great book.

The Blessing of a Skinned Knee (Wendy Mogel) - I didn't really like this book at all. I felt like I was being preached too about Judaism vs. Christianity and I didn't like the tone. I agreed with the concept of "learn from your mistakes" and such...but I didn't like the approach.

A Life's Work : On Becoming a Mother (Rachel Cusk) - Another one I wasn't so keen on. I actually only ended up skimming the book because the language was too flowery for me. I enjoy a good dose of Parenting Cynicism, but this was just downright negative. One of the reviews mentioned "laugh out loud", which I never did.

The Read-Aloud Handbook (Jim Trelease) - I think the next book list might involve a little more research. This is a great book if you need to be convinced why it's important to read to your kids...which I already know the benefits of. I thought this would be a little more "how to" then "why". The book list at the back did give me a lot of great book ideas for Jake, though, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Charlotte's Web (E.B. White) - We got about a third of the way through this and Jake said he didn't want to read it anymore because "there were too many words". I think I may have jumped the gun a little bit on getting him to read chapter books. We started the Arthur series instead and I think I might start him on Harry and Mudge soon...although he still loves his Dora books.

See how other readers fared at Callapidder Days.

Fall Into Reading 2007 - Book List

It's time again for the Fall Into Reading Challenge over at Callapidder Days. I really look forward to her challenges because my reading seems to slack off between. This way, I know I'm at least getting some (hopefully) good books in every 6 months or so! I'm anxious to get started, but because I don't own a single one of these books, I'm going to have to wait for them to open up at the library. I have 3 waiting for me now so I guess I'll start with those!

Here's my fiction list:
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England (Brock Clarke)
Up High in the Trees (Kiara Brinkman)
When Crickets Cry (Charles Martin)
The Other Mother (Gwendolen Gross)
Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult)

Here's my non-fiction list:
The Blessing of a Skinned Knee (Wendy Mogel)
A Life's Work : On Becoming a Mother (Rachel Cusk)
The Read-Aloud Handbook (Jim Trelease)

And this time around I would like to do a read aloud book with Jake. He's to the point now where he is reading so well, the "normal" books for his age or a little too young for him. He blows right through anything we get him. So, I am going to try reading Charlotte's Web to him everyday.

Coming Soon To a Blog Near You!

Quite a few things coming up here in the next few weeks. Well, o.k. I guess I only really know of 2, but if I had to venture a guess there's a lot more than that. Anyway.

Next Wednesday (September 19th) is the official start of the new challenge over at Tales from the Scales. Beth has named it "Look Great in 2008". How catchy is she? Quite, I think. And I will be continuing my job as regular contributor, every Thursday. Thea Thursdays. It's alliteration at it's finest folks! Dust off those scales, food journals and treadmills and join us, won't you? So, are you in?

And Katrina over at Callapidder Days is starting a new reading challenge on September 23rd! Basically, make a list of books that you would like to read during the challenge (which runs September 23rd to December 21st), write a post about it, and then link up to Callapidder Days on the 23rd. I did my first challenge in the Spring, and I was amazed at how much more I was able to read during that time. It's a lot of fun!

Do you know of any interesting challenges, carnivals, or contests going on? Leave me a comment and I'll check it out. I'm all about the challenge!!

Happy Birthday to....ME!

Well, my birthday is tomorrow, (or today if you are reading this on Thursday) and I'm pretty happy about that. Overall, I say it's pretty cool that I was born. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Dave is out of town so I planned myself a big day for tomorrow (or today)...

1. Take kids to the sitters from 10am-1pm. Hopefully there won't be a spelling lesson.
2. Indulge in reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. (I'm one of the crazies who is taking longer than 2 hours to read the 700+ pages)
3. Eat breakfast for lunch. (Drool) Seriously, I may go to Waffle House.
4. Hopefully receive my present from Dave in the mail. (I found out where it's coming from since I'm a freak about checking my card statement)
5. Hopefully go see Evening with some friends...but I have to find a sitter first who can drive so I don't have to wake the kids up at 11pm to take the poor girl home. Claire Danes, Toni Colette, Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close....yeah, I really need to find a sitter...

I hope everyone has fun celebrating my birthday in their own special way!

Spring Reading Thing Wrapup

The Spring Reading Thing is officially at an end, so it's time to do a wrap up post. Katrina gave us a list of questions that we could answer so I thought that would be the easiest way to post about it.

What was the best book you read this spring? The best new book I read was The Five Love Languages for Children. There were parts of the book that I was just amazed with, it felt like they were writing specifically about Jake. It really helped me realize that there are things he responds to more than others (Quality Time and Physical Touch mean more to him than Gifts) and I have really seen a change in him when I make an effort to do those things. The best reread would have to be Beyond One: Growing a Family and Getting a Life. This was not on my original list, but I took it with me on vacation and fell in love with it again.

What book could you have done without? There were several, actually. I never even finished 3 of the books on my list just because I couldn't get through them. I figured if I wasn't hooked within 50-75 pages, I probably wasn't going to get hooked. I stopped reading Cat's Eye, Lake Wobegon Days, and I Will Bear Witness. Although I've read Cat's Eye before, I was bored to tears (and I had the voice of a friend in the back of my head telling me how bad the book was). My uncle and I enjoy similar types of humor and he is a big fan of Garrison Keillor so it surprised me that I didn't like this one, either. I just couldn't keep myself awake, and all the "footnotes" at the bottom of each page were really distracting. And finally, I Will Bear Witness was very repetitive. It is a diary of WWII, but for the first year, every entry was almost exactly the same. I lost interest quickly.

Did you try out a new author this spring? If so, which one, and will you be reading that author again? Bitten was the first Kelley Armstrong book and I was pleasantly surprised with it. My husband, Dave, actually bought this book to read on the plane and I started reading it when he was done. He likes this stuff and I usually laugh when I see the books that he's chosen, thinking that they weren't "my thing". But I could easily see myself reading the rest of the books in this series. I also read Petticoat Ranch by Mary Connealy book (also not on my list, thank you Katrina!) and I really liked it! It was an easy, quick read which is just about all my brain can handle sometimes.

If there were books you didn't finish, tell us why. Did you run out of time? Realize those books weren't worth it? Just the three I already mentioned.

Did you come across a book or two on other participants' lists that you're planning to add to your own to-be-read pile? Which ones? I have actually saved the link to the review page so that as I need a new book suggestion, I can check out what others had to say!

What did you learn -- about anything -- through this challenge? I learned that I have a hard time finding books I like. I used to read just about anything anybody put in front of me, but now I find myself not wanting to waste my time with something I don't like from the beginning. I also realized that I might have to try some non-fiction books to see if they'll bore me as much as I think they will! And also, just because I create a list, doesn't mean I have to stick with it if I find something new or realize something else was bad.

What was the best part of the Spring Reading Thing? Reading something other than magazines. I had gotten away from reading and I had forgotten how good it feels to get invested in a character or a story line. I felt like I was reclaiming a little piece of me that I let die when I had the kids. I realized that I need to nurture my brain and imagination a little more.

Would you be interested in participating in another reading challenge this fall? Yes, Yes, YES!

This is what my reading list looked like by the end:
Bitten - Kelley Armstrong (FINISHED)
The Five Love Languages of Children - Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell (FINISHED)
At First Sight - Nicholas Sparks (FINISHED)
Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson (FINISHED)
Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood (STOPPED READING)
Lake Wobegon Days - Garrison Keillor (STOPPED READING)
I Will Bear Witness - Victor Klemperer (STOPPED READING)
Confessions of a Slacker Mom - Muffy Mead-Ferro (ADDED TO LIST/RE-READ - FINISHED)
14 Hours 'Til Bedtime - Jen Singer (ADDED TO LIST/RE-READ - FINISHED)
Beyond One: Growing a Family - Jennifer Bingham Hull (ADDED TO LIST/RE-READ - FINISHED)
Petticoat Ranch - Mary Conneally (ADDED TO LIST - FINISHED)
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (ADDED TO LIST - IN PROGRESS)

Reading list

When I was growing up, I read A LOT! I could easily go through a book a day and I loved it. I don't know what happened, but I hardly read it all anymore, unless it's a magazine. I just haven't made reading books a priority anymore. So hopefully the Spring Reading Thing hosted by Katrina at Callapidder Days will help motivate me to read more. And since I'm only supposed to have 1 hour of personal computer time a day, I should have all this left over time, right? We'll see, but I'll keep the list short just in case...

Bitten - Kelley Armstrong (not my usual read, but I started it and I hate not finishing books)

The Five Love Languages of Children - Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell

At First Sight - Nicholas Sparks

Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson

Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood

Lake Wobegon Days - Garrison Keillor

I Will Bear Witness - Victor Klemperer