July Book Blowout Meme

1. Describe yourself in one sentence.

Copying this one from the 6 word memoir meme: A dreamer lost in a book.

2. What book will you start the challenge with?

I read two books yesterday. Shift by Charlotte Agell. Suddenly Supernatural by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel.

3. Where is your favorite place to read?

In bed.

4. What is your favorite book of all time?

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

5. Remind us all of your challenge target.

31 books

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Summer Goals Meme

I was tagged by the oh-so-fabulous Jen Robinson for the Summer Goals Meme. The meme originated at A Year of Reading. The purpose is to share your top four goals for the summer. I also made some faith-based goals on this site.

Reading. Reading is like breathing to me...fundamental and almost effortless...but I could always use with a bit more focus and structure. I have several reading related goals. One is to read more 2008 books. Why 100? Well, that's 10 books a week for 10 weeks. September 11th is 13 or 14 weeks away which gives me some room for adjustments.

100 "2008" books by September 11, 2008

0 / 100 books. 0% done!

Picture books can count when necessary.

The second is to catch up on reading all the 2007 books that were so wonderfully and graciously sent to me last year to review. Even reviewing 30-40 books a month, I still have an ENORMOUS (hundreds and hundreds) pile of books that I need to get to.

10 "2007 or 2006" books by September 11, 2008

0 / 10 books. 0% done!

The third is to read more Christian books both fiction and nonfiction

10 "Christian" books by September 11, 2008

0 / 10 books. 0% done!

The fourth would be to spend more time with friends and family. Specifically my sister and brother-in-law. But also, of course, my parents. :) And the wonderfully-fantastic Julie. And Kimberley if she makes time for me. And Cynda. And any official and unofficial baby reviewers I come across. *It sure would be a LOT easier to spend time with people having fun if gas wasn't so expensive. * Specific goals might be watching seasons of Stargate or Star Trek or going to the movies. :) Unfortunately, it won't include eating ice cream :( Unless it's ice dream at Chick-fil-a. (I don't really want to know why this lactose intolerant person can magically eat ice dream but get armageddoneshly ill eating ice cream.) Oh how I love Chick-fil-a.

I just thought of a new one. I want to interview more authors!!! That's a good goal to have!

Do you want to play along with me? Want to set some goals? Then please join in and consider yourself tagged. As for official tags, I choose....Sarah Miller, Debi, J. Kaye, Susan and Dewey. The goals (by the way) do not have to be related to books unless you want them to be.

Fun goals that I thought about including: 1) going to the library once a week 2) eating at Denton County Independent Hamburger Company at least twice each month 3) watching at least one episode of Stargate a day. But I chose to go with 'higher' and 'purer' goals.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Yet another Classic Meme of Sorts

I believe this originated with Julie but I can't be completely completely sure.

Classics I Have Never Read and Don't Even Feel Guilty About

1) Moby Dick
2) Paradise Lost
3) James Joyce--I'll never ever ever ever feel compelled to read any of his books

I've never read Steinbeck. I've never read Faulkner. I've never read F. Scott Fitzgerald. I've only read one Joseph Conrad--Lord Jim--but I'll be passing by his other stuff guilt free.

Classics I Have Never Read and Feel A Tad Guilty About

1) Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
2) A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
3) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
4) David Copperfield by Dickens

I'd say I haven't read many of Dickens' books and while I feel slightly guilty about not liking him, I'm not going to be rushing out to fix this any time soon.

Classics I Almost Want To Read

1) Divine Comedy--don't ask me why--I just want to have read it
2) Don Quixote--again, I just love Man a La Mancha and I'd like to have said I read the book
3) Vanity Fair
4) War and Peace
5) Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

More books by the Brontes. More books by Elizabeth Gaskell.

Classics I Want To Read But Haven't Yet

1) Cecilia by Fanny Burney
2) The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
3) The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
4) North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
5) Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
6)A Room With A View by E.M. Forster
7) Howard's End by E.M. Forster
8)The Monk by M.G. Lewis

Classics I have read (or mostly read) and deeply regret

1) Silas Marner by George Eliot. I know it's short but really really disliked it.
2) Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. Again, I know it's short but hated it.
3) Jude the Obscure. Thomas Hardy. Without a doubt in my bottom two of books ever read.
4) Animal Farm. George Orwell. If I had a time machine, I'd go back and save myself the misery.
5) Great Expectations. Dickens. I've read it twice and blocked it from my memory at least one and half times. Now all I know are Pip. Esther. Crazy wedding-cake lady. And I think there's a scene with a boat.
6) The Ice Man Cometh. by Eugene O'Neill. This one would be in the bottom two for sure. Hate. With a passion HATE.

Shuffling Meme

I got this meme from Chris who got it from Dark Orpheus. Here are the rules

1. Open your iTunes library or IPod (or MP3 player or whatever you have)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and pretend your cool…

But I'm going to stretch it so that if I land on an audio book chapter, it doesn't count and I get another chance.

I am playing in my iTunes which has almost 23,000 items (some are chapters from books; some are sermons or spoken word; and a good many are songs). I never use the shuffle because I don't like the diversity. You'll see what I mean.

Opening Credits

Reckless by Alabama

Waking Up

Under the Sun by The Swift

First Day of School

Miami by Will Smith

Falling in Love

I Need to Know by Marc Anthony

Breaking Up

Still in Love by Vanessa Williams

Prom

S-Sammy the Snake by Sesame Street

Life’s OK

All Black by Good Charlotte

Mental Breakdown

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In from Billboards Greatests Hits 1969

Driving

Express Yourself by Madonna

Flashback

Kiss You All Over by Exile

Getting Back Together

Keep'n It Real by Shaggy

Wedding

L-O-V-E by Natalie Cole (and I swear I didn't cheat!! If I was going to cheat, don't you think I would have done something about Sammy the Snake?)

Birth of a Child

I Miss You by Blink 182

Final Battle

Crutch by Matchbox Twenty

Death Scene

Good Vibrations by Beach Boys

Funeral Song

Baby Please Don't Go by Van Morrison

End Credits

World by Five For Fighting

Negativity Meme

Dewey is the creator of this little meme.

1. When you dislike a book, do you say so in your blog? Why or why not?

Yes and no. Here's why. If I feel really strongly about a book (either good or bad) I'll let you know. Sometimes I come right out and say it. But my enthusiasm (or disdain) of a book can usually be discerned. If I'm merely disinterested in a book. (It failed to capture my attention or affection) then that might be harder to discern in my review. I'll state the facts and keep it probably a bit shorter than most. (Though length of review is not a trustworthy guide.) The books that I feel disconnected from--no love or hate--are ones I'd rate as okay. I'm not prone to rambling about those. I need a connection in order to ramble.

But I do believe in being honest.

There are different types of 'not liking' a book. For example, I'm not really into sports. At all. For me to read a sports book and have a gushing response (and that has happened believe it or not) it has to be really really really good. So a sports book could be/would be a good fit for most readers but not be for me, then I don't feel the need to slam the book just because I don't like sports. If the writing is average to better than average, it deserves a nice review regardless of if I like baseball or basketball or wrestling or whatever.

Another would be a timing issue. There are some days when I'm just in a grumpy mood when I'm reading a book. I remember giving one book a hard time because the copy I checked out of the library literally stank. I don't know what that smell was, but it was awful. The book could not keep my attention because I was so irritated by the physical book. The second book in that series is out now--and I have it in my tbr pile--so we'll see if this makes a difference in my reaction.

One book makes for an interesting example. I hated hated hated The True Meaning of Smek Day the first time I read it. I did. I wrote about it something awful. And that was all before I even finished it. (I had read all but fifty or so pages when I slammed it.) But a few weeks later (the same month even) I decided to finish the book. I picked it up to finish right where I'd left off. But for some reason, I couldn't remember where one of the characters had come from. So I decided to start over. Go back to page 1. This was a book that the first time through I wanted to throw across the room. But the second time through, I loved it. It had me at hello. What had frustrated me before, charmed me this time. It was completely unexplainable and really really random. I still can't make sense of it. I know the words on the page didn't change. It was me. I was in a different mood, a different place. So don't discount mood and timing. Because sometimes it really is you and not the author. So I wrote a very very gushy review the second time round.

2. Do you temper your feelings about books you didn't like, so as not to completely slam them? Why or why not?

I'm wordy. I am. I ramble. It's my nature to say in 500 words what most could say in 100. So I might take the longish route to get there. I would NEVER EVER EVER say in a review. "I hate this book. Don't bother reading it. If you're thinking about picking it up, don't. Avoid at all costs. Trust me on this one. This book is a complete waste. It's not worth the paper it's printed on." I'm not that brutal. And I don't even think in those terms 99.9% of the time. That description? I'd say that about Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. He's dead so I don't feel the need to be nice. I will say I didn't like this book. Or personally I hated this book. But it's self-evident (I make it so) that it's just my opinion. I'll give a few reasons why it didn't work for me. But I've never felt the need to say that a book wouldn't work for anybody at all.

3. What do you think is the best way to respond when you see a negative review about a book you enjoyed?

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

4. What is your own most common reaction when you see a negative review of a book you loved or a positive review of a book you hated?

If I follow that blogger. (That is if I regularly read his/her blog.) Then I'd feel comfortable saying that I was sorry they didn't enjoy that book. I might mention how much I loved it. But that how everyone has different tastes and not everyone can "love" every book. It would be very very very boring if everybody had the same favorite book, the same favorite author. Reading is subjective and that's what makes it great. Everybody reads books differently. I would never slam the blogger. (I couldn't imagine an instance where I'd ever be rude to a fellow blogger.)

As for the second part of the question. If a person loved a book I hated, then I wouldn't feel the need to say anything at all really. I don't care if someone else enjoys a book I hate. I'm not the book police.

5. What is your own most common reaction when you get a comment that disagrees with your opinion of a book?

It does depend. It depends in my part on my interpretation of their intentions. Most of the negative comments I've received are in my opinion from teens frustrated that my reviews aren't detailed enough, long enough, specific enough to substitute for their doing their own homework (be it report or quiz or whatever). I'm not going to apologize for that! I'm not in the business of supplying people with answers to their homework. If the comment is ugly, then I'll delete it. Otherwise, I ignore it.

6. What if you don't like a book that was a free review copy? What then?

99.9% of the time I don't feel guilty for reviewing a book that I dislike even if it was a free review copy. Especially if the review copy came directly from the publisher. If the review copy came directly from the author, then I might feel marginally guilty for posting a negative review. Not enough to change my mind about writing it. But enough that I might 'temper' it down a bit in tone.

I'm up front in my policy. If I finish it, then I review it. I'm honest in my reviews. I think most authors are well aware of that possibility. They may not like reading a negative review. But it is part of the job. If they're going to wear the hat of 'published author' then sooner or later (either on a blog, in a newspaper, a journal, or an Amazon or B&N review, etc.) he/she is going to find a wide variety of reactions to his/her work. Some good. Some bad. Some hateful and angry and disrespectful (you may or may not be surprised what you find written up these days on Amazon). Some glowing in praise. Some mocking. Some sarcastic and witty. It's a risk you take. You can't please everyone. You've got to be okay with some not liking or appreciating your work so that your work reaches those that do love it. I really truly believe that most books have the potential to be somebody's favorite book. It may not be my choice. It may not be your choice. It might not be a critic's choice. But reading is so subjective. You never know when that book will find 'the one' reader who thinks it's priceless and above all others.

7. What do you do if you don't finish a book? Do you review it or not? If you review it, do you mention that you didn't finish it?

I never "review" a book I didn't finish. What does "review" mean in this context? I would never make a separate post dedicated to that one book, discussing that one book and have it be masquerading about as a review. I might mention it in a conversational sort of way in a post. For example, I might be posting on what books I've read in the past few days, or the past week. It might merit a sentence or too in passing. But nothing substantial. In a list of books--the Cybils, a challenge, etc. I might mark certain books "dnf" (did not finish) but that is about it. If I'm visiting another blog and see a review of the book there, I might mention that I couldn't finish that one. I might even ask if it gets better or if I should give it another try.

6 word memoir meme

6 Word Memoir

1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag five more blogs with links
5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I was tagged by the book worm.

Here's mine:

A dreamer lost in a book.

I tag: Debi, Chris, Dewey, Becky, Renay,
and one more because I'm not afraid of bending rules:Melissa.

New Library Meme

February is Library Lovers Month, so to celebrate I thought I'd try to start a new meme going around about the library. I know one went around last year. I answered it. But I'll try to think of new questions. I'd really appreciate it if you'd play along :)

How do you plan on celebrating Library Lovers month? By writing this meme. And by visiting my library, of course :)

How often do you accidentally spell library as 'libary' when you're in a hurry? Too embarrassing to really answer. It's funny how a few words can be tricky for me to type. My mind just rushes too much ahead I guess. I hope that's the reason anyway. I really really can spell.

What is the most amount of books you've ever had checked out at one time? From my university library, I've had close to a hundred books checked out at a time. It's like this. I was in an independent study--a French class--and the assignment was to write an annotated bibliography of French Women Writers. I'm not sure if it was more or less specific than that--limited to certain centuries, etc.--but I had to check them out and "browse" them enough to be able to write five or six sentences. The sad thing? They'd been in the library--the Woman's Collection--on the shelves probably since the library opened back at least sixty or seventy years if not longer--and I was the first person to check them out. Ouch. But for a public library, my record is for about sixty or sixty-five books. It was overwhelming and scary.

What is the longest you've ever gone without visiting the library? I didn't mean to write a tricky question. The truth is that I've always had access to either a public library, a school library, or a University library. Before we got our school library in fifth grade, my trips to the local library where few and far between. We might go steadily through the summer--earning free McDonald's hamburgers--but not visit it through the rest of the year. So my books were limited to what we had at the house--plenty let me tell you--and the classroom libraries of our teachers. But once the school library was open, I was hooked. And in college, I was hooked. And out of college, I discovered the joys of the public library.

What is the biggest fine you've ever had? I once forgot to return an interlibrary loan book for about a week or ten days. It was painful. I think it was somewhere around eight or twelve bucks. More than I wanted to spend.
When you go to the library, do you plan ahead and make a list? Or do you browse? I make lists on index cards most of the time. But I've always always been a deviant. I end up with some of the books on my list. And most of my books off the list.

Have you ever been shushed or hushed by a librarian? Not lately. I really do try hard not to make a scene.

What is the worst (against-the-rules) thing you've ever done in the library? Probably--gasp--bring in food and drink.

What's the worst thing you've ever done to a library book? Underline in pencil. My somewhat valid excuse? Remember the aforementioned books for the French project that had never been checked out? Well, I figured they'd be no harm done by marking them up a tiny bit to aid me in my notes.

Have you ever had a "favorite" librarian? Yes. Mrs. Lacy was my favorite and my best. She was *inspirational* in oh-so-many ways. Very self-esteem boosting at a rotten rotten school for the most part. I was her library aid for four years.

If you could change one thing about your library it would be... This one's hard. It's not that I dislike my library. But I would want a bit better selection. As I'm reading blogs day after day, week after week, I see many books that I'd like to read at some point. But my library doesn't have some of them--a lot of them.

Reading Meme...

Sarah Miller tagged me for this meme. And as I'm almost always game for a book-related meme, here I go.

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

I'm going to cheat on this one a tiny bit. There are a few books that make me cringe--not that I've ever read them--but positive or negative reviews hasn't really got a thing to do with it. For example, I cringe away from any and all animal books where it looks like the animal (dog, cat, horse, whatever) might die or be abused. If there's a dog on the cover, chances are good that it might end badly. So I don't go there. Exceptions to the rule being if someone I know--someone who knows my quirks--tells me that all ends well. But it has to be someone I trust. I wouldn't put it past some people to lie to me and then BAM I'm hit with a dying dog and I'm a mess.

Other books that I'm not particularly drawn to...I've never really sought out the Gossip Girls, "It" books, and "A-List" type books. They could be good, bad, or mediocre. I'm just not sure I want to read about them.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

This is difficult. I'm not really a party person--not in your traditional sense. My birthday parties are immediate family plus one or two friends that are so much a part of my life, so aware of my quirks, that they're just as much a part of my family as if they were born into the craziness. But that being said, I'd choose characters that I've been friends with a long time. Anne Shirley, perhaps. Lucy Pevensie (sp?). Francie from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It would be a food-related event. Nothing funner than snacking on cookies and maybe-just-maybe mini-quiches. (I love those!)

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?

This one will be tough. Some of the most boring books in the world where some of my "required" textbooks. Going into Library Science, I didn't expect some of the textbooks to be so mind-numbing. Maybe other people are just smarter than me. But every time I saw a chart, a graph, a statistic represented in some way incomprehensible to a me of very-little-brain, my eyes would glaze over. But speaking in terms of literary boredom, I'm not sure. So many of the long books I've just given up on altogether. War and Peace. I *want* to finish that someday. But my past two attempts have not worked. I get almost-almost halfway through (within a hundred pages of the middle) and then I'm tempted away by another book that is easier. It doesn't help that I have the itty-bitty print edition. Squinting never does much good for the entertainment value of a book. Don Quixote is another example. So if I went with an answer like that, I'd probably be here forever. So it has to be something short enough that I don't give up on reading, but boring enough that I die...or want to die. I'm still coming up with nothing. But in the meantime I can give you a title or two that I'd (almost) rather die than read again...
Jude the Obscure (oh-there-aren't-enough-words to describe how much I hate this book) by Thomas Hardy.
The Iceman Cometh. Oh-how-I-hate-this-play.

Come on, we've all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you've read, when in fact you've been nowhere near it.

I am a good girl. In school, when we were assigned to read something, I actually read it. 99.9% of the time. Even if I hated it. The exceptions were I was more likely to stick to an unpleasant-to-me novel or play for lit class than I was a textbook.
Socially speaking, I don't "pretend" to have read things I haven't. For one thing, it would be silly.
That being said, there are many, many, many things I've read that I've blocked--unknowingly perhaps--from my memory. Books that I read in Junior High and High School that I *know* I sat down and read at some point. Books that I know I passed quizzes and tests on. Essay questions that I know I discussed these books in some way or other. But I remember zero of what I've read. Silas Marner. Great Expectations. Great Gatsby. Treasure Island. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Most likely some Hemingway as well.
So I might pretend in those situations. If asked have you read this, or did you like this, I'd answer like I *still* knew what I was talking about.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to reread it that you haven't? Which book?

This doesn't happen to me. Sometimes the opposite happens to me. I thought for example that I'd never read Northanger Abbey. I could have sworn that I hadn't. Yet, when I was reading it just felt so very familiar. The words, the phrases. It was weird. I still have NO memory of when I read it the first time. But it would just be too uncanny for me not to have at some point.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead and personalise the VIP)

There are a few books I'd consider to be must-reads. The Giver by Lois Lowry. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. These two probably don't show up on too many lists as must-reads, but Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I'd choose a book--or a handful of books--that captured humanity. The *really* good books are those that capture what it means to be human, to live, to think, to act. Books that capture the good, the bad, and the ugly side of humanity. These meaning-of-life type books.

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

This one's tough. I don't really see myself reading in another language just-for-the-fun-of-it. I'm not a literary snob dying to read literary masterpieces that are prone to being over my head in more ways than one. If I said "French." Part of me would cringe a bit. While I love some French literature I've been exposed to--the more modern bits after the first world war haven't been to my liking at all. I took a whole course (a painful course) reading French existentialist philosophy. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. I've never felt the same about the French since then. Which is REALLY unfair of me I know.

My other choice--the first choice really--would be Italian. I don't really have a desire to *read* Italian. But I just love, love, love to hear it spoken. I have a super-super-super weakness for Italian (or should I say Italian-American) crooners. Whether they're singing in English or Italian or another language altogether--like Dean Martin recorded a French album--I just love it. I love listening to music in Italian. It just makes me happy.

While the fairy is granting me powers of other languages, I'd love to learn American Sign Language. That would be cool.

A mischievious fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?

I would say the greatest thing I've discovered--and this is tough--is to push the boundaries of what I read. Carl's R.I.P challenge for example, got me to read some H.G. Wells which I loved, loved, loved. Not to mention Ray Bradbury. Carl's sci-fi experience challenge has exposed me to Isaac Asimov. In particular his Foundation trilogy. That I loved. I LOVE reading blogs and getting ideas for what to read next. Some of these titles are books that I wouldn't have sought out on my own.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

Sarah's answer was good--really good. I'll borrow a bit of it. My ideal library has built-in ceiling to floor bookshelves. Wall after wall of shelves to be filled. I imagine I've got a pretty good start on filling up an entire library. While I tend to prefer hardbound for some things, I'm not a total snob. For example, some books I would *never, ever* waste that much money on. For example, (shhh!) my romance novels. I had a real weakness in my college days especially of buying romance novels. Book sales on campus--for example--you could buy paperbacks 2 for a $1. At half-priced books, there for a while, you could get a stack of eight to ten books for $1 or $2. Of course, you didn't get to choose WHICH books you got. They came in shrink-wrapped packages. And with my favorite author, Julia Quinn, 95% of the time I'd find them for at least 50% off. I wasn't about to spend eight or nine bucks for cheap entertainment. Those books are like throwing away your money and wasting your afternoon. They're fun. But there's no lasting value. That being said, I wouldn't part with my Julia Quinn books ever. I love her books. I have reread them several times apiece. But the rest is mostly junk, junk, junk. You can take a stack of fifty or sixty books and be told that they're worth less than a dollar or two dollars total for all of them. Most places won't even take them if you wanted to donate them. Boy, that was a tangent. I wonder how I got started down that road? Anyway, back to my dream library. It would be nice to have my books behind glass but not 100% essential. Hardbacks mostly. My library would need comfortable reading chairs and plenty of lights that you can turn off and on and adjust so it's just right. Also I like the idea of having a table and a few chairs.

This is the part I'm copying from Sarah. I want the ability to snap my fingers (an ability I lack actually) and have all the ARCs I want. To have all the books I want. For example, I just "found" that there's a new book (2007 release date) called None But You by Susan Kaye. It is the first of two books that tells the story of Jane Austen's Persuasion from the viewpoint of Captain Wentworth. It is published by Wytherngate Press. The sequel is coming out in 2008. It is called For You Alone.

I tag: Abby the Librarian, the Longstockings, Melissa from Book Nut, Paige from Reading and Breathing, Booklogged from A Reader's Journal, and Chris from Stuff As Dreams Are Made On.

2008 Award Meme

In the excitement of the big announcements coming from ALA, I thought I'd start a meme seeing which books people have read before the mad rush starts.

I'm going to bold the ones I've read, and italicize the ones I own that I haven't read yet but plan on doing soon, soon, soon. You might want to add categories for ones you've heard of. Or ones you want to read at some point. You can change up the rules all you like.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine*
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger**
The Wall by Peter Sis
Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems***
November Blues by Sharon M. Draper
Twelve Rounds to Glory by Charles R. Smith
Let It Shine by Ashley Bryan
The Secret Olivia Told Me by N. Joy
Jazz on a Saturday Night by Leo and Diane Dillon
Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything In It by Sundee T. Frazier
Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby
There Is A Bird On Your Head by Mo Willems****
Hello, Bumblebee Bat by Darrin Lunde
Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheelter
Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
Los Gatos Black On Halloween by Marisa Montes
The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle
My Name is Gabito by Monica Brown
My Colors, My World by Maya Christina Gonzalez
Frida: Viva la vida! by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
Martina the Beautiful Cockroach by Carmen Agra Deedy
Lightship by Brian Floca
Nic Bishop Spiders by Nic Bishop
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox
One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke
Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins
Your Own Sylvie by Stephanie Hemphill
Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe
The Cat or How I lost Eternity by Jutta Richter
Nicholas and the Gang by Rene Goscinny

* I have read this one quite a few times. But I haven't written a review for it yet. But the day it came in the mail. (I think it was in the summer.) I pulled it out and said, "this has to be a winner!"
**This one made the Librarians Choices list. During our meeting, the person who nominated it read it aloud to us. And held up the book so we could see the pictures. So I know it's good. But I've never held it in my own hands. And I haven't looked at it enough to review it yet.
***Oh how I wish I had a contact with this publisher!!!!
****For some odd reason, I've checked this one out of the library. But never got around to reviewing it officially for my blog. I remember loving it though!

Christmas Meme

I saw this on Reading is My Superpower, but I'm planning on changing a few questions.

1. What is your favorite Christmas book to re-read each year?

I don't know that I have just one book that I'd reread. I like reading Christmas books, I do. But it doesn't have to be the same one each year. New books are fun. But I will say this. Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg is seriously magical. I love that book. I also love The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, I believe. But most of what I read that's Christmas related is new-to-me.

2. What is your favorite Christmas movie or show?

Movies. For me it has to be Holiday Inn and White Christmas. I really couldn't choose between those two. That being said, I love Miracle on 34th Street. And I really couldn't imagine a holiday season without one viewing of It's A Wonderful Life. And I love a Muppet Christmas Carol. As far as specials go, I have some that are a must. And they might not be what you'd expect. One is Arthur's Perfect Christmas. I love this one. I think because December is a pledge drive month on PBS, whenever it originally aired it played like fourteen times. And it might have played ten times the next year and six times the next year and so on. I haven't seen it yet...but it's early. Anyway, I just loved it. I did buy the DVD of this one. Another is Elmo Saves Christmas. I love this one. I just do. The songs. The characters. The moo-bunnies. It's just too fun. And it has some of the best lines ever. I love it when Big Bird does a tap dance on the phone. He's calling his friend, and he says something like "I know you can't see me (or maybe it's hear me) but I want you to know I'm doing a little tap dance..." Anyway, maybe you had to be there. Of course, I love How The Grinch Saved Christmas. And some of the best holiday moments come from Charlie Brown's Christmas. But those two are standard.

3. What is your favorite Christmas cookie?

Mom only bakes sugar cookies. But like cookie monster from Sesame Street, I've never met a cookie I didn't like. My friend Julie makes really, really good Ginger Cookies. Those are always yummy :) They're really good with cream cheese spread on them.

4. When do you start Christmas shopping?

Tricky question. I've bought presents the week after Christmas to store up for the next year. But that isn't typical. That's unusual. Usually, I buy things when they're at an unbelievable bargain price. It could be a 90% sale in July. It could be in mid-October. But definitely around Thanksgiving, I start thinking about shopping. Usually.

5. Do you re-gift?

I could lie. But I won't. It depends what the gift is. If it's a nice gift, then I wouldn't hesitate to regift. Does that mean I re-gift something every year? No. Most years I don't. But I have done it. And I wouldn't rule it out for the future. For example, if someone "gifts" me with a candle or potpourri then I wouldn't have a problem giving it away to someone else. (Not necessarily as their only present. Not to say I'm too cheap, this might do. But as a I have no need for this and you might like it kind of thing.) Not to hurt anyone's feelings, but those are two things--along with crystal knick-knacks--that I have absolutely no need for. Sometimes I think there is this generic-girl assumption. Oh, you're a girl you must like fill-in-the-blank. (It probably happens with guys too, I don't know.) There are many things I like, but most are not generic. A safe gift, a gift that is always, always, always welcome that would never be regifted is chocolate. Chocolate is good for any occasion at all. It's welcome on un-birthdays too!

On an unrelated note, one of the funniest gifts my mom ever got was a box of alka-seltzer. Very strange gift to get from a relation in my opinion. It reminded me (though this happened years before the Friends episode aired) of the episode of Friends where Chandler and Joey don't have a chance to go Christmas shopping because they're helping Phoebe out...and so their "gifts" come from the gas station.

What is your favorite Christmas song?

This is probably the hardest question for me. There are songs that make me happy, joyful. There are songs that make me nostalgic. There are songs that make me cry. There are so many songs that I love to hear this time of year. Some religious. Some not.

When does the tree go up?

This is always the biggest chore. Dad grumbles and complains about the tree more than anything else. It's been as late as December 23rdish. It's never been in November. But the tree isn't up at my house as of December 10th. So maybe this weekend if I'm lucky. As much as I like looking at the tree. I'm not big on actually doing the work. I don't wrestle with lights at all. Thank goodness I don't have to. And there are about six or seven ornaments that I'm extremely attached to--bonded with--that I like to hang myself. A few apples a brown gingerbread man and gingerbread house. Remnants of ornaments from late seventies/early eighties. Ornaments that have hung on the tree from my earliest memories. And I have some newer ones. I have a Veggie Tales. I have a Cookie Monster one. And I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but once my favorites are placed...well, it's just not as fun.

8. Wrapping presents. Love it or hate it?

Hate it. Well, this meme is making me look like a Scrooge. It's not that I hate it. I just don't love it. Here are a few more random things about me. I can't cut straight. I just can't. I never passed "scissors" in school. So jagged edges are a fact of life. This most often annoys the person who uses the roll of wrapping paper after me. Greatly annoys. Problem two. I'm not good with tape. Most of the time I do okay with your average ordinary Scotch tape. But if you give me the wide tape for packing and sealing boxes, etc. It's a nightmare. This kind of tape was actually used in my high school library to repair paperback books. I worked as a library aide for four years to refresh your memory. I don't know which year it was, but I was banned from using the tape after a few incidents. I was also banned from using glue. Not that glue is part of gift wrapping but still. The only thing I'm good at is masking tape by the way. I've never had any complaints there on how I use that. So to receive a package wrapped by me is to have something original. So presents look nicer, more polished when wrapped by someone else.

9) Who is the hardest person to buy for?

Someone who thinks they don't need anything. Someone who says I don't want you to buy me anything.

10) When do you start listening to music?

In an "early" year, the week before Thanksgiving. In a "late" year, the first or second week of December. One year I had the flu for about six or seven weeks and practically missed everything.

11) Favorite Christmas memory...

For me one of the best Christmases that I can remember was 1986. It was an oh-so-magical year for me. The toys were abundant. And everything was just right. Christmas as a kid was just different. There were three houses to visit within a span of a day or two. My mom's family--an aunt and my Grandma--my dad's extended family--all great-aunts, great-uncles, and cousins once removed. And my grandparents. Sometimes they came to us, sometimes we went to them. And lest you think that involved a long drive...our land is adjacent. Just around the block. Or just across the pasture. But we'd never ever ever ever walk through the pasture to visit for Christmas. Who would want to risk stepping in something not-so-nice??? I try to avoid the pasture at all times :) As a kid, you're automatically the center of attention. You're automatically cute. Everyone wants to give you presents. Then you reach an age where you're lucky to get socks. I was in junior high when I realized that my cousin's dog was the new center of attention, he got the love, the gifts, the attention. And in his defense, he was an awfully cute dog. Very fun to watch.

12) You open presents on....

Christmas Day.

7 Weird/Random Facts Meme

This one is making the rounds. While it is somewhat similar to the 8 Random Things Meme I did many months ago, it's been a while...and there is plenty of random/weird to go around again.

1. Today is my birthday. I share it with Louisa May Alcott and C.S. Lewis. Not to mention Madeleine L'Engle. Growing up, I thought this meant I was destined to become a famous writer. I did not know this offhand, but just learned that J.R.R. Tolkien died on this day in 1973.

2. You can make number two be that I share a love for family history/genealogy with my mom. One of my favorite school assignments was the family tree project. Related to fact #1: One of my great-great-great grandmothers (I am horrible at counting generations in family trees so there might be more 'greats' to add) was named Rebecca Jane Matthews. She was born on November 29, 1836. She was one of my first ancestors (if not the first) who moved to Texas way back when--1839. She even lived in Denton a good bit of her life. I used to write short stories about her.

3. I love, love, love crooners. Tony Martin. Dean Martin. Bing Crosby. Frank Sinatra. Bobby Darin. Nat King Cole. Perry Como. Michael Buble. (Just to name a few past and present). I really love so many different styles of music. It goes beyond any one generation, genre, decade.

4. I am addicted to Dancing With the Stars. I've never missed an episode. And I am happy to say that I have accurately predicted/guided/voted 4 of the 5 winners of the show. (Season 4 was the one that got away.)

5. Completely random here, but I was in elementary school during the '88 elections. And I'd never been through one before--not that I could recall--the '84 went right over my head along with the '84 Olympics. Up until that point, I thought Ronald Reagan was king. I didn't understand about presidents being elected every four years. (This did result in some teasing.)

6. Speaking of teasing, something my mother still brings up to haunt me is that when I was little I thought elephants were reptiles because they had "rough, scaly skin" or so I wrote in one of my school papers. I think this is no better or worse than my sister drawing a four-legged duck.

7. Today marks the fifteen month mark for my blog. :)