Big changes in 2015

Happy 2015!

Christmas in 2014 was, for this family, all about starry-eyed kitties climbing trees (Isabel), untying ribbons on packages (both kitties), turning ornaments into soccer balls (Fiona) and a good bit of general mayhem. In the past, we've either plucked Isabel out of the tree or shouted at her when she attempted to climb. This year, we delayed decorating, apart from a few unbreakable ornaments at the bottom, and just let it go. The only thing I wouldn't let the cats do? Chew on the tree. I didn't want them to ingest fake pine needles. Otherwise, I let the kitties have at it and, amazingly, it went very well. Isabel moves very cautiously when she climbs so it looked like wind was blowing through the limbs but the tree stood firm and no ornaments fell; Fiona stuck to playing with the unbreakable ornaments on the lower limbs. They both made us laugh every day.

Sometimes the two kitties even played together.

There were only three of us here, not counting the kitties. I prefer big family gatherings but have to admit that I appreciated the low-key family time. There were no big fancy dinners, no big plates of hors d'ouevres. I asked friends for sugar cookie recipes and got several suggestions, so we chose two of them, prepared both and compared, mostly for the sake of getting into the spirit of Christmas.

New Year's Eve was equally subdued. We started a new tradition, watching O, Brother, Where Art Thou? while neighbors were setting off noisy fireworks. And, I began working on keeping my resolutions before the New Year began, with the thought that I'd already come up with them so I might as well get started.

About those big changes:

I don't feel like I need to list everything I'm planning for 2015, but there are a few things worth mentioning and they're major. I'll update my Review Policy, soon, to reflect my intent for the coming year.

My priority in 2015 is writing fiction. Long before I became active in reading groups and, eventually, blogging about books, I was a writer. I wrote obsessively, was active in a number of writing groups, attended conferences, and was published (a short story, a monthly humor column that I kept up for 3 years, and a number of articles about writing). I've finished several novels. The only time in my life I can recall not writing was during my college years when I was too focused on studying and marrying that good-looking boyfriend of mine. The reason I stopped writing, pre-blog, is not something I want to go into but it has passed and I've been ready to focus on fiction writing for a long time. I just wasn't ready to change my blogging habits. I think it was pretty clear in 2014 that I was struggling with how to fit both into my life. It didn't work. This year, I've committed to writing daily -- even if that only means a single sentence -- and, so far, I've managed to do so.

That leads to what will be changing. Because I've committed to writing daily -- and I have a few other daily resolutions, which I won't go into -- it seems like my days are absolutely crammed. I think that's good in many ways but it does mean I'm going to have to stop blogging regularly. I've got a few books I desire to write about because they were excellent and they just happen to have been sent by publishers; and, I'm going to post my 2014 Reads list, tomorrow. Beyond that, I don't know. I've considered going on an extended hiatus because I haven't really felt compelled to write about books the way I used to and I think I either need to continue not blogging till the urge returns or simply go to weekly or monthly posts about what I've read -- maybe weekly Monday Malarkey and a month in review. Thoughts are welcome.

I'm going to ponder which way to take the blog for a few more days. In the meantime, I'll post my 2014 reads. Just before I went on my Christmas break, I reverted to letting books call to me rather than trying to fit in whatever ARCs were soon to be released. So far, a return to reading the old-fashioned, pre-blog way is totally working for me. I've been in a classics and non-fiction mood and the joy of reading is back. My reading goal for 2015 is lower because I intend to read slower, indulge in longer books and savor them instead of crashing through as many books as possible. Since some of the books I've read were sent by publishers I will definitely write about them soon, if only in "mini" form.

Also, that sidebar is, of course, totally outdated. I finished Eleanor Roosevelt's autobiography weeks ago (it is a fabulous rendering of political history as viewed by a woman I have long admired). I'm not sure whether I'll bother with keeping the sidebar updated. That's another thing to ponder.

The bottom line: blogging is definitely going to be a lesser part of my life in 2015, whether I go back on hiatus or just write occasional updates but I'm still considering how to go about enacting changes.

Best wishes to all for a fabulous year!

©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Thinking Aloud: Comparing book covers and the stories they tell

During the past year, I'd convinced myself that American book covers were finally on the upswing. There have definitely been some new releases whose covers I loved so much I was influenced to either buy a copy or accept a book for review. A few I love:

Why do covers grab us? In the case of those above, they may all be eye-catching but I think it's the fact that they inform the reader of the contents in some way that makes a cover outstanding. The Martian, for example, is simple, bold and eye-catching but it also tells us that it's about an astronaut who is alone in a dangerous place. All the Birds Singing combines the idyllic beauty of farmland and sheep with a frightening wolf image, which lets you know that the setting may be beautiful but there's something sinister happening. Delicious! combines foodie appeal (a gorgeous shop window) with either a touch of history or some sort of local interest (the bicycle) -- in fact, it turned out to be both. World of Trouble clearly shows a dying world about to be annihilated by something from space, yet the hero is strolling foreword, fearlessly facing his end. Lock In highlights the fact that a percentage of humanity is set apart from the rest. Goodnight June clearly references the children's book Goodnight Moon.

So, when I say I think American covers pale in comparison to their British counterparts, I am not saying they're all bad. I do think there has been some improvement. But, this past week I was in London and there it was, again, that reminder that sometimes the cover doesn't reflect the contents. Oliver Harris's Deep Shelter is a perfect example. Look at the difference!

The American cover of Deep Shelter, at left, has the typical bold look of a thriller. But, what's happening? Are those steps at the top? A lonely man walking through a corridor? They both fit and yet . . . they really don't say anything at all. The British cover at right, though, shows that the book takes place in London with the building known as "the Gherkin" at its center. And, it tells you that something is happening below ground as you're looking up from stairs in an old metal structure to the surface. It's not perfect; the British cover isn't entirely reflective of the contents as there's no wide gap showing the London skyline in the shelters involved, from what I gathered. And, yet, the point is that the cover on the right is not only eye-catching and intriguing; it tells a story before you've even opened the first page.

The same is true of Harris's first book, The Hollow Man:

At left, the generic American thriller cover; at right, the British cover. The British cover again reflects its London setting. We see a man with a gun, running down an alley. He's alone. What's going on? The fact that the British cover says, "A twisting spiral of lies and corruption and a beguiling bastard of a hero," adds to the storytelling of the cover on the right. You have an idea what you're looking at when you see the British cover and read the blurb. The American cover says nothing at all.

The Oliver Harris books jumped out at me because I was in search of The Hollow Man, last week. As on every other occasion when I've visited London, I found that it's a lot more difficult to control my impulse to buy books in London than it is back home. The fact that there are so many wonderful little bookshops in London probably doesn't help matters. This, for example, is the charming little store where I bought The Hollow Man: West End Lane Books in Hampstead:

Just after we walked out of the store, my husband (who doesn't read much because of his dyslexia and  tends to find bookstores annoying because we own so many books) said, "Why don't we have wonderful little stores like this?"

Fortunately, those small independent bookstores do seem to be making a comeback in the U.S.

Another comparison:

What on earth is an artist's rendering of a nose supposed to mean? I have no idea. The cover of Matt Haig's The Humans at left is the American version. It's an interesting image but it tells me nothing, whereas the British cover actually says, "It's hardest to belong when you're closest to home." Clearly, it's about being a human. But, it also has that outer-space element, the shooting star (indicative of an alien arriving on earth), the dog -- a universal symbol of friendship and acceptance. And, there is a dog in the book, so bonus points for that. The colors are also fabulous. I would walk right past the American version but the British version is one I'd frame and hang on my wall.

What do you think about book covers? Does it matter to you whether or not they give you a decent hint what's inside? Do you prefer bright color to simple, graphic design?

Just curious.

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

I'm working on it, I promise!

Can't sleep so I decided I might as well quickly type an update.  I'm working diligently on my Life After Life review and F2F report.  I know a lot of you are anxious to read about Life After Life but it's one of those books I loved so much that I'm all agitated about the need to do it justice.  So, I'm taking my time, hacking away at it, bit by bit.  I may have to break the Life After Life post into 2 parts because our group discussion was so amazing that there's plenty to say about that, as well.  There may be a post or two before then. I've got a tour to post on Thursday and at the rate I'm going . . . well.  

Permission to whine at me in the comment section, granted.

In the meantime . . . books that have walked in:

Legacy of Rescue:  A Daughter's Tribute by Marta Fuchs (Holocaust memoir, for review)

Serving Victoria by Kate Hubbard - It probably involved a lot of bowing and scraping and, "Yes, Your Majesty."  

Pain, Parties, Work by Elizabeth Winder - About poor, miserable Sylvia Plath.  Hope it's not too depressing.

Frozen in Time by Mitchell Zuckoff: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of WWII - Kind of speaks for itself with that massive subtitle, eh?

The latter 3 are ARCs from Harper.  It doesn't sound like the arrivals are lightening up, does it?  I'm trying.  It's possible I'm an addict.  Is there a 12-step program for ARC addiction?  If so, please tell me you must go somewhere excessively cool like a windswept Irish coastal village or a villa in Italy to be cured.

Funny cat story of the day:

After I brought in a fresh, clean litter box, Isabel tried to dig a tunnel to China.  She literally put her front paws into the box and started digging, flinging litter everywhere.  I just stood there, a little dumbfounded, but then she jumped into the litter box and started turning circles.  First time in my life I've ever chased a cat out of a litter box!

The photo above is just a picture of a helicopter in gorgeous puffy clouds that made me think about the sheep I need to be counting.  

Back to bed.  I'm reading The India Fan by Victoria Holt and enjoying it.  What are you reading?

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Sunday Life is Sucking Mash-Up

This was my week.  I kid you not.

I can't even begin to tell you what all went haywire and you wouldn't want to hear it, but pardon my absence.  I was so upset for several days that I couldn't read, couldn't think straight, didn't take any photos, didn't check email, couldn't write and had a Falling Skies streaming marathon.  Oh, that is bad, kidlets.  When Falling Skies is all your brain can handle, you are in dire straits.

Before my life began sucking mightily, I did manage to finish The Art Forger.  I didn't love it, but when I finally came to my senses after this week's fiascos (yes, plural), I picked up Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and I am totally going to tell you to buy, beg for or borrow that book.  I'm only 1/3 in but it's one of the most entertaining, sharply-written books I've read in quite a while.  There's always something to be grateful for, if you look hard enough.  

Meanwhile, since I didn't pick up the camera, apart from the one day I went outside with the goal of capturing a cardinal in motion (sort of a success), Fiona didn't get Friday'd, again.  I know you all desperately need your cat fix, so I'll share a photo I'm pretty sure I haven't put up on the blog:  Izzy in the bathtub.  

Also, there was this, which I call the "Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky, tippy, tippy, tippy, tippy-toe squirrel photo" because this little fellow was trying to get to the bird food without getting swooped upon and pecked by the dozen or so cardinals and finches that were having a party on our deck railing:

He did get dive-bombed at least once.

Actually, now that I'm flipping through the photo files, I'm finding all sorts of treasures.  We have only one bar stool because we there was only one at the Pottery Barn Outlet Store when we went looking, a couple months ago (and we haven't happened across its match-mate).  Eventually, someone may have to fork out the big bucks on a second stool. In the meantime, Fiona has claimed the one we've got:

Other wahoos:

• A meteorite did not land on my head or blow out my windows.
• I've done a reasonably good job of resisting offers for review books (only 1 arrived).  That helps to offset my horrible reading week, although I am well and truly behind on reviews . . . again.
• Several used copies of personal accounts from WWII England arrived at our house, this week (titles forthcoming), and most of them are in terrific shape.  
• I know Easter isn't about bunnies, but it's an excellent excuse to plunk a few bunny-shaped objects on your mantel. 
• Brussels sprouts in cream sherry sauce.  O. M. G. 
• It's already mid-February, but I haven't forgotten this little bit of Christmas fun:

Here's hoping the next week will be a great one, all around.  Feel free to share your wahoos with me.  I can use all the uppers I can get, right now.

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Throw Me Off the Bridge Thursday

Kidding about the bridge.  But, wow.  One day you say you're going to skip your regular post because you're planning to dash out a million reviews and the next day it's . . . not the next day. Suddenly, three days have passed and you haven't written anything, you're about to finish another damn book and you've started referring to them as "damn books" because reviews are starting to feel like a burden.  I'm sure you've had days like that, right?  

So, I've been busy.  If you're a regular here, you probably surmised as much.  I think I'm almost done decorating for Christmas.  I hope.  We do have a tree, now.  It's an artificial, pre-lit thing.  I couldn't talk the spouse into a real tree.  It has about 7 ornaments hanging from its plastic branches.  The cats think the branches are chew toys.  "Don't eat the tree," is a sentence they recognize, now.  When stated with authority, it produces immediate and satisfactory results (aka, a look of shock along with a halting of action).

Here's what I've done, this week -- well, some of what I've done (not necessarily an exciting list):

• Cleaned my kitchen (this is harder than you might expect; I'm married to a man who can make a meal look like an explosion -- but he cooks, so I'm okay with that) and placed a three-branch candelabra with metallic red candles, wrapped in a swag of little clear crystals, on the counter.
• Cleared off my desk whilst watching live streaming of the London premiere of Les Miserables.  That was awesome and sucky at the same time because we were going to be in London, this week, but had to cancel the trip.  It was fun to watch the stars' teeth chatter while they signed autographs, though.
• Decorated my desk with the thingy in the picture, above.  
• Took the above photo of a Christmas desk decoration against the background of a yellow wall (yeeurgh -- not a good combination), added bubbles and turned the background green, et voilà.
• Received two books in the mail:  Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin and Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.
• Watched a full episode of Castle for the first time, ever.  Seriously.  Reported viewing on Twitter.  Received enthusiastic replies.
• Got a few more gifts knocked out of the way but have not yet located wrapping paper.  The situation is becoming critical.  I had to cover the gifts with a blanket when one of the recipients showed up.
• Watched the movie Hugo whilst folding the Mt. Everest of laundry piles.  Okay, it was just a mole hill but it felt like a mountain.  Great story, Hugo: visual feast, awfully melodramatic. Liked the book better. 
• Ate lunch with my best friend, who came to see the new house and hang out for a bit.  She approves.  
• Shopped with best friend and bought her Christmas present, then handed it to her in a green plastic bag because she chose it and is about to zip off to Florida -- no point to wrapping.
• Went out to eat with Kiddo's girlfriend, got stuck in a remote corner and had to wave a white napkin to get the attention of a server.  
• Accidentally spent the night on my new couch.  
• Ate a piece of strawberry cake; subsequently developed an obsession with finding the perfect strawberry cake recipe.  If you have the perfect strawberry cake recipe in your possession, please share.
• Rotated the cat repeatedly.  Fi likes to chase the laser in circles. I have not yet figured out how to photograph a rotating cat whilst manipulating the laser, but trust me, it's hilarious.  

Honestly, I'm getting exhausted just thinking about my week.  We'll stop there because I have a book to finish. How is your week going?


©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Tuesday Twaddle

I just had an epiphany, this week.  When I mention books that have "walked in" (aka, arrivals), it never occurs to me to mention e-books.  I purchased one e-book and downloaded one for tour, but I probably will continue to forget to mention them because you can't stack e-books in a convenient location to remind yourself what you acquired.  This week, I will definitely mention them.

New arrivals, the past week:

Lola's Secret by Monica McInerney - e-book for TLC tour, requested because it's a Christmas book and I'm reading as many as I can to help me come up with decent suggestions for my F2F group's December meeting.
Jamie Oliver's Great Britain by Jamie Oliver - also for TLC tour
When It Happens to You by Molly Ringwald - from Harper It for review
Among the Missing by Dan Chaon - purchased at my local secondhand bookstore . . . which, unfortunately, was a pretty big disappointment, otherwise.
Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn - e-book purchased because I felt like a quick, creepy read.
11/22/63 by Stephen King - an impulse purchase

General Twaddle About My Week:

• This week I discovered I was definitely not meant to be a librarian.  I've been shelving my books by category, as we unpack.  I've got at least the following categories and then some:  YA, history, historical fiction, WWII (both NF and F, mixed together), short stories, poetry, classics, sci-fi, science, travel and travel memoirs (but I have an entire separate shelf dedicated to books about France and/or set in Paris and an entire shelf of memoirs), psychology, law, Christian/inspirational/spiritual, writing, literature studies, writing reference, books about reading or with bookish subject matter, "potentially fluffy" and "I'm not sure how to categorize this".  
• We don't necessarily have to go to the big city to do city-related errands.  There is a tiny town we can go to, instead. I drove there to do some banking and scout out the courthouse, this week.  I'm familiar with the town but I hadn't paid much attention to the courthouse.  It's beautiful!  You can park to the side, where there is a row of towering pecan trees and an iron fence covered in lichen.  
• It is acting like autumn, although our leaves are not yet turning.  We're enjoying the cool air and have begun taking daily walks through our neighborhood.  It's truly exciting to finally live in a subdivision with sidewalks in a city with leash laws that are enforced!
• The photo of squash at the top of this post was taken at a produce stand we love.  We've only been there a few times, in the past, but it's been a favorite place since we discovered it on the way to a swim meet.  We're thrilled to be 30 miles closer to one of our old favorite haunts!

Random conversation with husband:

Me:  "I was thinking maybe we could make a pumpkin man.  You know, like a snowman but with 3 pumpkins stacked on top of each other, instead of balls of snow?"
Husband:  "Nancy, this is a nice neighborhood."
Me:  "But, we don't have snow, so . . ."
Husband:  ". . . "

Reading update:

I have been an ADD reader, this week.  I set aside the books I was reading last week and started 11/22/63 practically the moment I brought it home.  But, I haven't gotten far because I keep picking up other books.  I read the first story in Miracle and Other Stories by Connie Willis, this weekend (loved it).  And, then I downloaded my creepy e-book, Wait Till Helen Comes, and read that at once.  I finished Lola's Secret (a November tour book) and read maybe 25 pages of Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure.  I can't remember if I finished The Lifeboat this past week or the week before, but it kept my attention long enough to complete.  That's saying something, I suppose.  I also read Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory.

Blogging:

I've been bad, haven't I?


©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Tuesday Twaddle - with emphasis on our move, various bulleted book lists and a cat collage

I hope you can enlarge this photo to see how the cats have been into everything during our move:
I haven't updated our progress on the house in a while, primarily because I haven't been making any. I've been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease but am still in the preliminary testing stages and am obviously hoping the diagnosis is wrong. However, I've had enough trouble functioning that it's been all up to the man of the house to get nearly everything accomplished. In the photo below, I had to cover up the half-dressed person painting above our built-in entertainment center because he is Strongly Against having his photo uploaded to the internet. I left the hand with the paintbrush, though, so you can see he was hard at work.

The living area is almost done! It's been great to watch the yellow disappear. It was just not my thing. In the kitchen? The sunny yellow is tolerable with a lot of other color thrown in. In a living area, not so much. At any rate, we've managed to move our "good shelves", the IKEA Timmermans, and hope to load them up soon. We've been loaned a pickup truck for a week and this week will be more about hauling as much of the remaining furniture as possible rather than settling in, though. Most everything has been moved in CR-V loads, so you can see why our move has stretched out over 2 months, already. Here are the Timmermans, all sad and empty, prior to being moved to the new house:

Reading-wise:

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• The Sandcastle Girls was the last book I finished. Since then, I've been reading Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson but it took me about 5 days to read 50 pages. I haven't found much time (or energy) for reading. I'm still reading Miss Buncle's Book and have added
• The Stars Shine Bright by Sibella Giorello. I'm enjoying both. I love Sibella Giorello's mystery series. It's very unusual for me to like a series so much that I find it unbearable to pass up a new release but I can't bear to miss a book by Giorello.

Just walked in (the past week's arrivals with links to descriptive website pages):

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• The White Forest by Adam McOmber - from Simon & Schuster for review
• The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma - from Atria via Shelf Awareness
• The Other Half of Me by Morgan McCarthy - from Free Press for review
• The Exceptions by David Cristofano - from Grand Central for review
• Circling the Waggins and Born Without a Tail by Cayr Ariel Wulff - from author for review
• Decorate by Holly Becker - purchase
• The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons - from Paperback Swap

Some of the whys and wherefores:

• Miss Buncle's Book sounded like an upbeat form of entertainment. I'm finding that it is; I just haven't been able to stay awake very long during my normal reading time.
• The White Forest sounds like a perfect, atmospheric and creepy read for fall. I don't know whether I'll join in on the RIP Challenge or if it will even continue in 2012 (spooky reads) but Carl's challenge has become so ingrained that I tend to look for ghostly, paranormal, mysterious reads to begin curling up with in September even when I don't join in.
• The Exceptions by David Cristofano apparently continues the story from The Girl She Used to Be, which I thought was quite nearly a perfect book, stylistically, although a bit disturbing.
• I bought Decorate by Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick because I like Undecorate so much. They're actually not companions (not the same publisher, near as I can tell) but they look like they belong together and I need inspiration.
• Bob Tarte, author of Kitty Cornered (whose wonderful book Enslaved by Ducks currently costs only $1.99 for Kindle) posted info about Circling the Waggins on Facebook and I commented that I'd be adding it to my wishlist. Bob apparently told the author that I write book reviews and she contacted me. I seldom accept books directly from authors but I trust Bob and his circle of friends. Ariel Wulff sent me both of her published books rather than just the new one.

I didn't realize:

Miss Buncle's Book is also published by Persephone Books. Cool. My copy is from Sourcebooks and I do love the Sourcebooks cover.

My sidebar is taunting me:

I have three books I need to review. Soon, I hope. Soon, soon.

Happy Tuesday from Bookfool!

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Yes, I know I am being a bad, bad blogger . . .

. . . but I have several excellent excuses.

NaNoing, for example. So far, life seems to be occasionally getting in the way of the novel writing (you know, sleeping -- my current Life Focus -- and working out, appointments and errands and bill-paying, etc.) but I've completed about 20% of my 50,000 required words and it's been ridiculously, stinking fun. My hero was dreadful in that, "Good grief, he has absolutely no flaws . . . I think I'm going to heave," way. So, I turned the first 8,000 words into a dream sequence and now I'm being just flat mean to my characters. It's such a hoot. Where else can you have that kind of fun without actually hurting anyone?

I've also been driving around town, snapping photos of fall color. We knew a storm was coming after Oklahoma's freaky weekend "Quakenado" (first the quake, then the tornado -- I didn't come up with that cute coined word, unfortunately) because Oklahoma's messes tend to land in our yard, so I rushed out to capture as much as possible. We are having an unusually beautiful fall, probably thanks to several unseasonably early and sharp cold snaps.

We did lose quite a bit of foliage in the storm, but not enough to end the beauty completely, so I'm still at it. Today, I took some pics in the Big City because I had to go there anyway, so I figured I might as well drag the camera along and look for more photo-opportunities.

And another thing! I've been playing with my cats. They are very demanding, but how could you possibly turn down a face like this one?

Impossible. Incidentally, Isabel's perched on top of our entertainment center in the photo above; and, shortly after I snapped that picture and several others, she rolled off. Poor Izzy is really bad with heights. I worry about that girl. Fortunately, I had a bin full of clothing to break her fall. It sometimes pays to be a lousy housekeeper.

I've been trying to sort through my million squillion photos of Japan, but to be honest I'm just intimidated. Between the two of us (Huzzybuns and I), I'm pretty sure we took about 2,500 photos. There's a lot of tossing-out to do -- neither of us is brilliant at photography, I'm afraid -- but plenty of decent photos will remain and there's much to tell. I've set up a travelogue blog, but at this point in time I'm keeping it private. I'll sprinkle photos into this blog, now and then. Never fear.

Yes, we rode the bullet train!!! Did you know it's actually easier to eat salad with chopsticks than with a fork, once you get the hang of eating with them? I learned a lot in Japan. Also, if you're going to order spaghetti at a Japanese Italian restaurant, for heavens sake don't order the kind with tomato sauce. White cream sauce is good.

I do everything I can to keep you informed. Gotta go. We'll talk books later, 'kay?

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Reading update and some other nonsense

This is going to be one of those rambling posts because I'm in kind of a bummery mood. I think the heat is getting to me. We'll start with the cuteness and move on to reading. This was so wrong of me. The cats are not allowed on the piano, lest their little claws inadvertently scratch the fine wood and my mother return to haunt me, but Isabel looked so cute that I had to snap some photos before making her get down:

My mother paid for this piano by working as an Avon rep, way back in the Seventies. I used to go along with her for her orders and deliveries, now and then, and although I was small I recall my favorite of her customers was the one with the talking parrot.

Reading update:

I woke up at 5AM on Saturday morning (not by choice -- I'd already stayed up rather a bit later than I should have) and finished reading Simon Van Booy's book, Everything Beautiful Began After. Be patient with me. It's so compelling and such a great story that even though I had the urge to mark practically every other line, I was too immersed to bother. So, I'm going to reread it -- probably next week -- before I review.

But, a few words about Everything Beautiful Began After: It seems to be a love triangle, at first, and it begins a little slowly. Apart from the beauty of his writing, you may even be tempted to think it's not going to be anything special. And, then Simon yanks the rug out from you and turns the story on its head. Suddenly, what you thought was a love triangle becomes a story of grief and hope. It's almost a tapestry -- about love and death and friendship, the fleeting nature of life and how much every single moment counts. Everything Beautiful Began After is awe-inspiring, uplifting, authentic, hopeful, beautiful. It's everything I hoped Simon's first novel would be. Prepare to have your heart broken and then put back together with sparkles and rainbows. Everything Beautiful Began After is a book you simply must read.

Onward . . .

After I closed Simon's book, I gave myself a day to ponder and then decided there was absolutely no way any book could hold a candle to EBBA, so I chose something so completely opposite and fast-paced that I wouldn't end up constantly comparing. My next read was a YA sci-fi, Gone by Michael Grant. In Gone, there are disappearing adults, a strange dome-like enclosure over town, talking coyotes and other strange animal mutations, kids with special powers. It's a little bit Stephen King, a little bit William Golding. The way the children react to the absence of adults hints at Lord of the Flies and, of course, you can't help thinking about King's Under the Dome, although I haven't yet gotten around to reading Under the Dome and, therefore, can't compare.

I finished Gone, last night, and I have a copy of the next book in the series but obligations will keep me from reading it for a while. Instead, I've moved on to a tour book, Face to Face with God by Jim Maxim, and Shadow of a Quarter Moon by Eileen Clymer Schwhab. I'll add both to my sidebar in a bit.

Just walked in the door:

Hunting Unicorns by Bella Pollen - I loved The Summer of the Bear so much that I promptly ordered another of her books. I won't get to it for a while, but that's only if I behave myself. It's very tempting.

My sidebar has just continued to become more intimidating, so I'm going to attempt to start tackling reviews in whatever manner I can, this week. Hopefully, my exercise class won't hit me quite as hard as it did last week, but I will tell you this . . . Two of the girls in my class just finished "Boot Camp," another exercise regime that's known to be quite tough. They told me the class we're attending,"The Next Level," is harder. Goodness.

Might as well end with a photo from our vacation. This picture was taken on our trip west to Exmoor:

We had the option of paying a couple pounds to take a scenic byway or taking a free road. We chose the scenic byway. At times you could see thousand-foot plummets to the sea, at other times it appeared that Robin Hood was likely to come bounding out of the forest. Definitely a detour worth taking, but not for the faint of heart.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other thanBookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Emailbookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Copyright 2011
Philomel Books - YA/WWII

352 pages

Lina, a Lithuanian, is 15 years old and looking forward to art school when the Soviet secret police pound on her family's door, allowing them mere minutes to pack. It's 1941. Her father has already been taken away, probably imprisoned, maybe already put to death in a prison camp. Lina, her brother Jonas and her mother have no idea where they're going. Ahead of them lies a treacherous journey to Siberia.

Along the way, Lina draws clues to let him know where they've gone, hoping he will be able to follow their path. Will Lina's father find her messages? Is he even alive? How long will her family be able to survive the cold and starvation?

One thing that never ceases to amaze me: How completely bottomless the well from which the stories of WWII are drawn. Ruta Sepetys is the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee and in the author's notes she describes how and why the stories of Lithuanians were suppressed. Stalin "cleansed" the Baltic region? I had no idea.

It's been a couple weeks since I finished reading Between Shades of Gray and Lina, upon reflection, is an interesting but fairly flat character so she hasn't stuck with me all that well. What has continued to roll around in my head is the story, itself. As Lina packs, she sets a loaf of bread in the window without realizing how valuable food will become to her family, instead packing the art supplies she values. When soldiers try to separate Jonas from Lina and their mother, her mother finds a way to keep them together. Cold, hunger, endless train rides followed by life working as slave labor on a farm and then more travel and deprivation, disease and cruelty -- and occasionally, amongst the horror, small acts of friendship. Those are the things that really linger in my mind.

Between Shades of Gray is a young adult novel that is gut-wrenching, believable, shocking and moving. The fact that it's aimed at a teen audience does not diminish the story in any way. I particularly loved Lina's mother. She's a character of immense strength and grace who not only manages to keep the family together and fed but also manages to make friends with almost everyone who crosses her path. Definitely recommended.

In other news:

I was aiming for "brief" with this review. How did I do?

I finished reading Home to Woefield two days ago and it was so completely wonderful that I'm having trouble getting excited about the books in my sidebar. I can't wait to babble about Woefield. In the meantime, I'll just go ahead and tell you it's worth buying. It's a five-star book. Trust me on that.

For the last week or two of March, I dropped the ball and didn't bother to keep track of books in/books out. But, I've got two arrivals sitting beside my head (there's a dresser not far away) and I'll dash to the bedroom to grab the others. Here you go . . .

Arrivals:

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See - from Random House

The White Devil by Justin Evans - from Harper (YA - creepy-looking!)

In Grandma's Attic and More Stories from Grandma's Attic - from B & B Media Group

True Courage by Steve Farrar - from B & B Media Group

The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin - from St. Martin's Press

6 books went out the door, this week. I can probably get my records up-to-date but last time I looked, I had a net outgo of approximately 106 books for March. Not bad. I think I'll shoot for another 100-150 in April.

It has cooled off dramatically in our area but thanks to early heat, Mississippi is looking ridiculously colorful. It got so hot so fast (record-breaking upper-80s temps, last week) that a lot of things bloomed early and I totally missed the chance to photograph the wisteria. I always look forward to the wisteria. Here are some wet flowers from our library's garden:

And, a planter, still at the library. I haven't planted, yet, but I have some flowers sitting on the porch. It's rained most of the week. Hopefully, this weekend will be dry so I can get to the planting.

Kiddo read Jumper by Steven Gould, yesterday and has verified the comments I've read that the book is better, much better than the movie. Every time I turned around, there he was with the book in his hands. He used a paperclip as his bookmark. He's not particular, but he doesn't dog-ear (Thanks be to God Almighty -- I abhor dog-earing).

I'm a little worried about My Jane Austen Summer. Woefield after-effects aside, it's striking me as . . . weird. I just can't seem to follow the author's thought process. It's a tour book so I'll do my best to finish but I find I'd rather put it in a hamster cage than read it. Probably a good thing I don't own a hamster.

I think that's all the news. My headache has boomeranged on me and returned with a vengeance. Crap. I hate that. How has your week been?

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Books are like hamburgers (a philosophical post)

Photo credit

There have been several really interesting articles by authors that have me thinking, lately. Justine Larbalestier's "I Love Bad Reviews" is the only one I bothered to save for the purpose of linking, unfortunately. Here's the a link to the article by Janni Lee Simmer that began the conversation (which is mentioned in Larbalestier's post). Both are well worth your time.

What are they saying? Larbalestier is just one of many authors who are trying to make the point that authors need to be accepting of reviews, regardless of whether they're positive or negative. She goes so far as to say that a negative review -- even one in which a blogger or other reviewer truly stomps on the author and doesn't say a single positive word -- is a good thing, simply because it's better to have someone read your book and spout off about how awful it is than to sink into obscurity. Great point, I thought.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, last year or the year before, Shannon Hale wrote an article that asked bloggers to consider why they rate books and then send their words out into the universe to potentially wreak havoc and wreck lives. That wasn't her wording at all, but I will tell you I initially found her article upsetting because I had never thought of myself as a person who placed my reviews out there for the world to see. I have always blogged for myself. The whole reason I began blogging was to have a place to simply write my honest thoughts and purge about the books I read.

I had to give Shannon Hale's words a lot of thought. And, really, although I still don't think of blogging as a way of "presenting my thoughts to the world", I suppose the fact that most of my readers arrive via Google means . . . well, yes, I am. It was thanks to Hale's post that I ceased to rate books numerically. I'd never really liked giving books a rating, since I've found that the way I feel about a book can change a week or a month after I set it aside. In a way, she gave me permission to let go of numbers. It was difficult to let go of numerical ratings, at first, simply because I knew my readers liked seeing how I rated a book. I've worked diligently to try to rate in words rather than numbers, since then -- in other words, present my thoughts clearly enough that a reader can gauge how I feel as well as he or she would by glancing at numbers -- although I know it's not the same.

Getting to the point: How are books like hamburgers?

Here's my thought: Books are like hamburgers in the way we feel about them and the kind we choose. Some people like mustard, mayonnaise and ketchup. Some people like pickles and tomatoes only . . . or just cheese (that was me, a hundred million years ago, little miss "Plain, with cheese"). Some folks will not touch a hamburger because it's got meat in it or they want something just a little offbeat between the buns (bookwise: between the covers). One person's hamburger is another person's gag reflex. The same is true of books.

Sometimes, you get even get e-Coli from the contents. There is such a thing as a bad hamburger and there is such a thing as a totally awful book. I believe both are the exceptions. But, how we react to what's inside our hamburgers and our books is very individual. In both cases, it's a matter of taste, preference, sometimes even the way we happen to feel on a particular day.

The bottom line is that I have always believed and still feel strongly about the importance of honesty in reviewing. It's important to me to attempt to find something I like about each and every book and mention it, if at all humanly possible, simply because I've been published and I know what it feels like to be reviewed. But, I know it's not always possible. Some books just don't work for everyone. I love this particular line of conversation amongst authors. What do you think? Have you ever felt like you had to adjust your thoughts to avoid hurting feelings? Have you ever had an author attempt to debate your impressions of his or her book? Is complete honesty the best policy?

Addendum: Here's one blogger's response to the "pressure to be nice" at Literary Life. I don't personally feel pressured, but I am a bit of a nonconformist (nobody's going to tell me how to blog -- I'm here to do my own thing, period) and always try to be nice, anyway. If a book stirs my passions in some way, I'm going to say so . . . but as kindly as possible. At least, that's always my intent.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Monday Malarkey

I'm still battling a late-summer slump (yep, it's still freaking hot down here in the underbelly of the nation) but I don't want you guys to think I've completely abandoned my blog. That's not my intention, anyway. However, I don't have the energy for Book Blogger Appreciation Week, this year, so I'm just going to carry on as usual and try to get at least 3 reviews written, later this week. Happy BBAW to book bloggers everywhere!

First the bookish malarkey:

I've finished reading Simon Van Booy's Why We Fight and enjoyed it. As soon as I get myself percolating, I'll write a review. Writing a Monday Malarkey post is at least in part designed to force myself to write something, anything. I think I've just gotten a little out of the habit.

Last night, I finished reading London's Strangest Tales by Tom Quinn. I plan to review that, as well as Man Gave Names to All the Animals by Bob Dylan, illustrated by Jim Arnosky (a children's book), this week.

And, now the babble:

Reading slumps suck!! But, you knew that. I don't go through reading slumps often but if I'm really scheduled there are times that my brain just refuses to read anything at all that isn't urgently calling out to me. To try to overcome that, I've dumped a lot of books, this summer, allowing myself to move on whenever one's not grabbing me. It took me a while to give in and start laying books aside, but I think doing so has helped and my reading is finally starting to pick up. Now, of course, I'm way behind on reviews so I'm getting much more serious about not accepting books. Feel free to lay odds on my success or failure.

This got in the way of my reading, too:

But, man, what a great excuse to not read, being exhausted after a day of zipping around London. We had such a great time. One of the coolest things I saw? People reading everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. I saw people reading while they walked and ducking under eaves to read when it rained, reading whenever they had to wait (in restaurants, at the theater, you name it). And, of course most everyone was reading whenever they were on the train or waiting on the train or sometimes going up the escalator.

I'm very envious of the fact that publishers in Great Britain put out new releases in paperback. I am a diehard paperback gal -- I don't like hardbacks at all -- so if I could have stuffed more books in my bag, I would have bought more of the titles I'll have to wait a year or more to see in paperback, here. Not that I needed them, but it would have been fun.

Seriously, just babble:

Yesterday, I stayed home while my husband dropped off Kiddo at school (he was home for the weekend) because I needed to stay home to make sure I made it to Bible study. The guys dropped by the Celtic Festival in Jackson and found a patch that said my mother-in-law's maiden name is Scottish. "So," said my husband, "the next time I'm in Scotland, I can get the kilt."

I wasn't quite sure what to say to that, so I just said, "Uh, okay," and then he went on: "I always knew there must be a reason I long to play the bagpipes." Okay, that cracked me up.

Kitty news:

Things are improving, little by little. Fiona still needs her quiet time at night, when Isabel goes to her own room (which, by the way, contains food, water, toys, a bed, a scratching post and a litterbox -- it's a little difficult finding the room to step around all that stuff to do the laundry, these days), but when they're together the harmonious stretches seem to be lasting a little longer each day. You can see why Fiona might find little Isabel a bit irritating:

I'm really quite proud of my little Fi for putting up with Isabel so nicely. Tomorrow marks two weeks as a two-cat family! I'm excited. I really think they're doing well. And, anyway, there is no way I can fathom making poor Izzy go to The Barn of Doom. She is a sweet kitten and deserves a decent home.

Off to read. Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Bookfool, trying to deserve her name

©2010 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Bookfoolery and Babble, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby (review)

Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby
Copyright 2008
Grand Central Publishing - Fiction/General
394 pages, incl. reading group guide

The fact that there's a reading group guide at the end of Life After Genius feels like a big hint, to me, now that I've read the book. Honestly . . . I am aching to talk about this book and wish I had a circle of friends to sit and chat with about it. We would nibble cheese in honor of the protagonist's prize-winning maze, if I were to serve as the hostess. And, then we'd talk about the ending because I've been mulling it for days and no longer consider it tragic but not everyone will probably feel that way.

Life After Genius tells the story of Theodore Mead Fegley. A prodigy recognized for his brilliance from early childhood and occasionally moved forward in school by a year, he's never been surrounded by peers his own age and has been ridiculed, abused and outcast. His cousin Perry sticks up for him, when he can, but Perry's world is completely different from Mead's. Perry's a talented athlete, popular and handsome. Mead envies him but at the same time he keeps his distance from Perry, feeling just a bit inferior in the same way most people feel inferior to Mead in intellect.

Now 18, Mead is about to graduate from college. Just as Mead is preparing to give a presentation on what he's learned about the Riemann Hypothesis, an equation considered unsolvable by mathematicians for over 100 years, he abruptly leaves the university and returns home. Only 8 days remain until his graduation. What drove him away? Is there a chance he will return in time to graduate?

Back home in High Grove, Illinois, he begins working at his father's combined furniture store/mortuary business. Mead is not willing to say why he bolted from the university and refuses to return his professor's phone calls. Because the book is told entirely from Mead's point of view and goes back and forth in time, the story unfolds rather slowly as the reader learns about the anguish of being known as a genius, the one true friendship Mead had but failed to acknowledge until it was too late, and the enigmatic fellow student whom Mead has never quite been able to peg. Was he really a friend or just a user?

The mystery surrounding Mead's abrupt departure keeps the pages turning; and, deeper into the novel the characters around Mead take on growing importance. In the end, though, Life After Genius is still Mead's story. He has always been a fish out of water but a person who knew his passion and pursued it with vigor. I loved Mead's focus and, at times, wanted to slap some sense into him for working so hard that he didn't participate in other aspects of life.

The ending can be interpreted in at least two different ways. It's pretty ambiguous. Have you read Life After Genius? I'm curious what other people think. Do you consider the ending tragic or hopeful? My curiosity has already driven me to peek at a few other reviews -- something I normally don't do until I've written my own. I was particularly impressed with Nicole's scholarly review:

Linus's Blanket review of Life After Genius

Nicole mentions something that I questioned about the book -- the fact that Mead shows up at home with a broken arm (I was thinking it's his hand or wrist, but now I'm not certain). At some point in the book, I realized he wasn't really acting like a guy with a broken bone. He dug a grave, for crying out loud -- kind of a two-handed job. That's a minor flaw, but it definitely was something that unsettled me.

Booking Mama also wrote a lovely review:

Booking Mama's Life After Genius review

It's fascinating to me how we often come away from the same book with different impressions. The book is, indeed, tragic in many ways. But, after I gave it some thought I was pretty sure the ending indicated that Mead was finally summoning his courage, preparing to take on life rather than just continuing to hide from the world by burying himself in books.

4/5 - A thought-provoking, beautifully-written book with well-rounded, believable characters. I'm anxious to see what this author comes up with, next.

In other news:

My baby turned 18, this week. Eeks! I'm getting so old. I received a box of books from a friend (you know who you are!) and when Kiddo was seeking out reading material, I told him he should try Powers by John B. Olson. "I think you'll like it," I told him. He gave me his skeptical teenager look -- boy, does he have that look perfected -- but I handed Powers to him, he read the blurb on the back and said, "Yes."

The next day, he handed it back, finished. Powers was "good", he told me. Translation: "I don't want to say anything you'll quote on your blog, so I'm using a neutral term." So, of course, I asked him if it was just good, really, or did he really enjoy it? . . . because he certainly read it fast enough. "The ending was nothing earth-shattering, but for the type of book it was good. I liked it." That's as far as he would go. I can tell you, though, that when my son reads a book in one night it's one he'll eventually reread. He has to -- I can't keep up with him (and neither can the library, which carries few books that suit his taste), he reads so darn fast.

Just Finished:

The Sum of His Syndromes by K. B. Dixon - a slim, quirky book that I absolutely loved. And, of course, this is the one I ordered after turning down the auther's latest book (kicking self). I love the quote on the cover of this book:

"This is the kind of book where we see a bit of ourselves and grimace--but keep reading." A. M. Homes

Yep. Exactly. It's going to be hard to review the book, simply because I'd like to quote at least half of it. But, I'll try . . . soon. I haven't actually done any Christmas shopping, yet, so it's possible I should take a day or two away from the computer to work on that. We do have a tree. It only has two strands of lights that are comically skirting the middle of the tree (because my husband put them on the tree and he has no sense of proportion). That's another thing to work on.

Happy Weekend!

Bookfool, who is in "Oh, no, I haven't even written a single Christmas card or bought a gift and, um, what did we do with the outdoor lights?" mode.