Happy Mother's Day! Yes, that's me and my mom. I love, love, love that picture because it is all about serenity and contentment and everything being right in the world. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I didn't get anything posted yesterday, but I did finish up some books: three novels and four picture books. Sometimes you need that extra time. Time to just sink in with a book and not worry about having to get something posted!
It's been a weekend of migraines over here at chez Laney. Further proof that they are a) genetic* and b) weather-related (barometric pressure). I don't know if knowing that they're weather related helps or not. You have no control over the weather. But at the same time, it's a relief knowing that it's nothing you're doing food wise to cause the problem**. I gave up on neurologists ages ago because I was tired of being lectured about how my headaches were related to food--you know, all that fruit cake I've been eating. Mom just burst out laughing in places. I haven't decided if that's a step up or down from the it's-just-hormones lecture. Granted not everyone can take my que sera sera approach to headaches.
On Friday, I unburied all five books in the Percy Jackson series so my mom could read them all back to back. (Okay, the fifth one was not buried. It had just arrived.) She'd read the first four before of course. Because the minute I finished The Lightning Thief way back when--a couple of months before the release date in June 2005--I handed it to my mother and said: You must read this book. I also did the same with my bestest friend, Julie. She then passed it along to her two nephews. So that one copy got a lot of use. Not to mention the fact that I rallied for it to appear on Librarians Choices 2005--and won, of course. And it's a great example of how ARCs can work. I know I bought three real copies of it. One paperback--which I got signed! One hardcover which I picked up on Amazon. And another paperback copy to give my dad because there was no way I was trusting him with my signed copy or my hardcover.*** And it's the one series that I have consistently bought in hardcover. Generally in hardcover the week of the release because I just can't wait. (Also I know Julie's family got hooked on the series and started buying them all up.) But to get back on track, Mom's already in the fourth book. (I told you she was fast like me!)
Is there a book or series of books that you've turned into family bonding time? Is there a book that you've enjoyed sharing with your whole family?
What I read in a previous week, but reviewed this week:
Hello Tilly by Polly Dunbar. Candlewick. 2008.
Happy Hector by Polly Dunbar. Candlewick. 2008.
Pretty Pru by Polly Dunbar. Candlewick. 2009.
Where's Tumpty? by Polly Dunbar. Candlewick. 2009.
Thirsty. M.T. Anderson. 1997. Candlewick. 237 pages.
Fixing Abraham by Chris Tiegreen. 2009. Tyndale. 190 pages.
What I read this past week and reviewed:
Yes Day by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. 2009. HarperCollins.
Ten Days and Nine Nights by Yumi Heo. 2009. Random House.
Grizzly Dad by Joanna Harrison. 2009. Random House.
Sugar Would Not Eat It by Emily Jenkins. 2009. Random House.
To Catch A Mermaid by Suzanne Selfors. 2007. Little, Brown Young Readers. 246 pages.
Forest Born by Shannon Hale. 2009. Bloomsbury. 400 pages.
The Opposite of Music by Janet Ruth Young. 2007. Simon & Schuster. 346 pages.
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. 2009. Disney/Hyperion. 381 pages.
A Passion Denied by Julie Lessman. 2009. Revell. 466 pages.
What I read this past week and haven't reviewed yet:
Starfinder by John Marco. 2009. Daw Books. 326 pages.
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. 2008. Random House. 514 pages.
The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister with Denise George and Carolyn Tomlin. 2009. Tyndale. 300 pages.
The Genie Scheme by Kimberly K. Jones. Simon & Schuster. 179 pages.
The Book of Time by Guillaume Prevost. 2006. Scholastic. 224 pages.
The Convenient Marriage. Georgette Heyer. 1934/2009. Sourcebooks. 307 pages.
What I've read and really really need to review:
None
What I'm currently reading:
Frederica by Georgette Heyer.
Marsbound by Joe Haldeman
What I'm just fooling around that I'm reading****:
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Barchester Tower by Anthony Trollope
What I've abandoned:
None this week!
*Both parents, all four grandparents. Though each grandparent had a different 'typical' type. Guess who inherited all types?
**There are psychedelic wienies out there. I can't remember which brand maybe Hormel? but it was fat free wienies....and boy they give you a mind trip if you're sensitive. Also I know MSG is evil for many reasons. Hence the "migraine-gravy" which we always avoid.
***I'm mean like that. I don't mind lending books to my mom because she's a regular reader. She reads all the time. Just like me. (Except she doesn't blog. It would be so cool if she'd write reviews though. I'd love for everyone to see where I get all my passion!) Dad, on the other hand, might borrow a book and have it be sitting around (or have it become quite buried) for months and months and months and months. Once it enters his room, you might not see it again for two or three years. Dad did, by the way, read The Lightning Thief. I started it as a read aloud and got halfway through--well at least up through the zebras--and then he finished it on his own when I bought him his own copy.
****Reading but at a snail's pace :) In other words, I might do two or three chapters a week.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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9 comments:
My mom, sister, and I bonded over the Harry Potter series. We'd go pick up every new book the day it came out, then "fight" over who got to read it first. With each book, someone got to read it first and would have priority to it, but then when they weren't reading one of the others could pick it up. We'd spend about a week passing the book around, trying not to ruin spoilers depending on who was further ahead. We did it with every book, even after my sister and I left for college, because the books usually came out in the summer when we were home. Good times :)
My aunt and cousins and I have bonded on Saving Sailor by Renee Riva. Taking Tuscany her next book in the series just came out. As soon as I finished it they wanted it. :)
Reading out loud together is total family bonding time for my family. The Percy Jackson series is one we've all really enjoyed, so was Harry Potter. Right now we're loving the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. Great characters and enough action to keep my boys asking for the next chapter, and the next, and the next!
Weather related migraines are not fun. So sorry you are dealing with one right now.
There are very few books that my husband and I share. He's not a big reader, but he passed on his copy of Q&A (Slumdog Millionaire) last year and it was definately fun talking over that book with him.
My dad is a big reader, but we read different styles and genres. Still, when he was last here for a visit, he ended up taking away all three of my His Dark Materials books after staying up all night to read Northern Lights.
my brother and I read a lot of the same books and would talk about them .. the hobbit, lord of the rings, harry potter, Pern.. the Pern series seems to be the one I push on others the most and love to hear their thoughts on when they read them...
Harry, of course. And Percy. But we also love the Penderwicks and the Casson family books. But that's just my immediate family... I'm trying to spread the love. :)
I'm sorry, Becky, but I just can't quit giggling over the term "psychedelic wienies." I'm very sorry it was a migraine weekend, and I hope very much that you're feeling much better now!
Oh, and I meant to say how much I love that picture of you and your mom...priceless!
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