Saturday, January 28, 2012

What?

There's something I've wondered about...


SPOILERS for Rose by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess, and the Bone books 1 through 9 by Jeff Smith

In the Bone books it takes everyone, including Grandma Ben, by surprise that Briar's dreaming eye was open and that she was big buddies with the Lord of the Locusts. But, that's something that Grandma Ben finds out about in Rose, which precedes the other Bone books.

Inconsistency? Or did something happen to make Grandma Ben forget about it?

Also, Briar is an old woman at the end of Rose, and yet it seemed to me that somewhere in the Bone books there is a picture of her looking young(ish) on the night that Thorn's parents died. Though I could be completely mistaken on that.

It's just something that I've puzzled over.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

What I'm reading

It's been a while since I've done a "what I'm reading" post.

Inheritance
by Christopher Paolini
Fantasy

Rereading it by listening to it at night as I fall asleep.

It's interesting to read Paolini's books, because on one hand he tells a great story but on the other hand he can be a bit cliche. Still, that didn't stop me from eagerly anticipating the release of Inheritance a couple months ago, and enjoying rereading it.



Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville
Historical fiction

I've been listening to this one at work. At first I was enjoying it so much that I didn't care if it was going slowly. But now I'm beginning to get impatient with it. They do take a while to get anywhere. In any event, I've never been able to listen to it for more than a couple hours, tops. So I've picked up another audio book to listen to at work, when I can't do Moby Dick any more...



Avalon High
by Meg Cabot
Fantasy

I'm not sure how many times I've read this one. The title itself should tell you what story it's a retelling of. Cabot is a good writer, and I'm sure this is a book that I'll keep returning to.



Girls' Night In
by Jim Smiley
Fantasy, mystery

I first read this one about a year ago, and am revisiting it. It's one good book. And I may be slightly in love with the author. :)

What I find to be the funniest bit in this story is that you've got a Catholic school for orphaned young women right across a lake from a school for teenage guys from rich families. And yet, that's not even the source of the real trouble in this mystery!

I enjoyed this book when I first read it, but I'm enjoying it even more the second time around.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

A letter

So I just thought that I would share a letter (ok, an e-mail) that I wrote to John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars. He's the first author who I've written to, not counting writers who I already know "in real life."

...

John,

I read The Fault in Our Stars because I became a Nerdfighter last year and wanted to read about the new book you kept talking about. (Plus I wanted an autographed first edition book.) I expected that it would be a good book. Even so, I was surprised. It's always good to be pleasantly surprised by an author I haven't read before.

There are only a very few books that have made me cry. It takes some special combination of a particularly special story and an excellent writer. Yours was one of those few. And, I would like to add, it is the only book to have made me laugh and cry at the same time. I'm still amazed at how you intertwined heartbreak with humor.

It's a book I'll have to revisit, and it's definitely food for thought. I think it's made me look at my dad's illness in a new light: he has post-polio syndrome, which is pretty nasty, and if nothing else this book made me take another look at him and realize how isolated he is. Maybe this revelation won't actually do any good, but...it's something new to bear in mind, at least.

By the way, when I first found your vlog you reminded me of one of my English professors (I'm an English major, FYI) at Marylhurst University. But by now he reminds me of you. Totally random and weird I know, but I just thought I'd mention it. :)

I look forward to reading the rest of your books.

Sarita

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

"The Fault in Our Stars"

Many books have made me laugh, for one reason or another. A few have made me cry.

Only one has made me laugh and cry, at the same time.

That one book is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. The story is heartbreaking, and yet it is so humorous that I laughed through my tears.

It had me in tears the last two evenings, and I expect to finish it up tonight. I know that saying I expect to cry again is probably a self fulfilling prophecy, but it really is what I expect.

This is one heck of a book. I will definitely have to reread it.

And John Green is officially one of my favorite writers now.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

2011 Reading Challenge

Number of books read

My goal in 2011 was to read 50 books. I did better than that by reading 65 books! That is 130% of my goal. :)

Actually, the number really should be slightly higher than 65 because I reread some of the books during the year. But there's no way to tell that to Goodreads.com.

I think that my goal for 2012 will be to read 66 books.

Number of pages read

According to Goodreads.com, I read 20,614 pages in 2011. Of course, the number is actually a little higher than that because 1) I reread some books, and Goodreads.com doesn't know that, and 2) It's not counting everything I read for school.

So, in more or less the order read, here are my books from 2011:

Bartimaeus: The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud*
Note: I read (ok, listened to) this one twice, I think

The Revolt of the English Majors by G.B. Trudeau

Wrapped Up FroxTrot: A Treasury With the Final Daily Strips by Bill Amend*

Fiber by Rick Bass**

Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce*
Note: I came pretty close to having read this one twice.

The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram**

A Country Year by Sue Hubbell**

Redwall: Mossflower by Brian Jacques*

The Action Bible by Doug Mauss

Far Traveler by Rebecca Tingle*

Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues by Mark Eddy Smith

Cats Are Weird by Jeffrey Brown

Selected Poems by Emily Dickinson

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Beka Cooper: Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce*
Note: I read this at least twice

Rituals by Kiki Howell

The Táin by Thomas Kinsella**

Green Rider: Blackveil by Kristen Britain

Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud*

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko**

The Ransom of Mercy Carter by Caroline B. Cooney*

How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill**

Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie**

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

The Healing Spell and Other Stories by Kiki Howell

The Little Book of Irish Clans by John Grenham

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin*
Note: I read this one twice

Discworld: Eric by Terry Pratchett

Septimus Heap: Syren by Angie Sage

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

Devil's Rock by Chris Speyer

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway*

Inheritance: Eragon by Christopher Paolini*

Septimus Heap: Darke by Angie Sage

Inheritance: Eldest by Christopher Paolini*

Pets' Letters to God by Mark Bricklin*

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

WebMage by Kelly McCullough

Discworld: Mort by Terry Pratchett

Discworld: The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett

Discworld: Soul Music by Terry Pratchett

Inheritance: Brisingr by Christopher Paolini*

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer*

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen*

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer*

Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer*

For Better or For Worse: Family Business by Lynn Johnston

The Burning Island by Pamela Frierson

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer*

Beka Cooper: Mastiff by Tamora Pierce

Bone: Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith*

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Inheritance: Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard by David Petersen

In Their Good Books by Jim Smiley

Bone: The Great Cow Race by Jeff Smith*

Uller Uprising by H. Beam Piper

Bone: Eyes of the Storm by Jeff Smith*

Calvin and Hobbes: Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons by Bill Watterson*

Simon's Cat: Beyond the Fence by Simon Tofield

Bone: The Dragonslayer by Jeff Smith*

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer*

Bone: Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border by Jeff Smith*

Bone: Old Man's Cave by Jeff Smith*

*Books that I had read before
**School books that I did read the entirety of -- there are more that I haven't included here because I only read bits and pieces of them

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