Charlaine Harris, Carrie Vaughn, and a little weekend reading

I actually finished two books this weekend!

The first book I read was Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn. This is another entry in the vampire/werewolf alternate reality genre. I seem to be obsessed with these books lately. This one is about Kitty (duh), the werewolf host of a popular radio station. There's a few murders, a little bit of pack dominance to work out, the usual. I didn't find anything about this one particularly unusual or noteworthy. It was good, but it didn't stand out of it's crowd. I'll probably go ahead and get the second one on paperbackswap, but it won't be at the top of the TBR.

On Saturday we took a road trip to Pierre, which is about 3 hours away. I did a little crocheting in the car, and read a little here and there. I finished up Shakespeare's Christmas by Charlaine Harris on Saturday night. If you've read any other of the Lily Bard mysteries you know how this one was. It was good, taken together this is a good series. If I didn't love the Sookie Stackhouse books I probably wouldn't continue on with these, but they are very quick and I only have two left in the series, so I'll read them.

Then I started reading Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner. This one is part of my TBR challenge books. The first line of the Publishers Weekly review is " What would happen if Buffy the Vampire Slayer got married, moved to the suburbs and became a stay-at-home mom?" I'm about 80 pages in and so far I am not impressed.

For this week's math: 57 in, 21 read, 36 behind. I'm still behind, but the rate is a little slower!

New Notions 5 Challenge

This is possibly the best idea for a challenge that I've seen yet. I almost wish I had not committed myself in so many places already, as I'd LOVE to do it.

The challenge is to pick 5 books that you believe will challenge your thinking about any topic. For me, it was rethinking some religious issues that led to this idea. For you, it might be tackling a political viewpoint, a stance on a social issue, and notions about a color of skin, a creed, or an “ism”. You might challenge your notions about science, the world, or economics. You might want to read a book about something you already agree with that presents a whole new take on it. Anything that YOU believe is outside your normal viewpoint or that will make you rethink your preconceptions or assumptions is fair game.

What a great idea!

By the Decades Challenge

As promised yesterday, I have officially signed up for this one, without adding any books to my list!

• 2000s-Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro
  
• 1990s-The Giver by Lois Lowry
  
• 1970s- The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
• 1980s- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
  
• 1960s- Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
  
• 1950s- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
• 1940s- The Little Prince by Antoine St. Exupery
• 1930s- Brave New World by Huxley
  
• 1920s- Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
  

I have already read The Little Prince half a dozen times. This is my very favorite book, and when I saw it was written in the 40s I couldn't resist adding it. Perhaps it does not qualify for the challenge as I have read it, in which Animal Farm is also from the 40s. There are actually lots of great novels from the 40s that I could have added- Gigi (which I have), Cheaper By the Dozen, The Heart of the Matter, The Pearl, Cannery Row, Stuart Little. I'm going with The Little Prince because it's my favorite.

Reading the lists on wikipedia sure does make me want to read a lot of classics that I never got around to. There are just so many good books out there, and not enough time in my life to read them all.

It's Friday, it's Friday!

It's finally Friday. It's been a very very long week at work, and today had promise of being super-sucky. So it was with mixed feelings that I had to call in sick (ok, call in late) to work with a sick child. Really! His fever was at 103 and there were disgusting things happening. So I'm home this morning and my husband will be home with the monkey this afternoon. And the monkey? Thrilled to be home with mom.

Here's a few little bits of stuff, none of which is quite enough for a full post.

First, do you watch American Idol? Have you been to Television without Pity to read the recaps? I about died laughing at the recaplet of this weeks results show. I can't wait for the full one.

A few weeks ago Michelle at 3M pointed out that I have all the ingredients to complete the Reading Through the Decades Challenge without adding any more books! So I'm headed over now to officially sign up.

And speaking of 3M, a month ago (or more, who can keep track of time any more?) she nominated me for the Thinking Blogger Award. This is an "award" that you give to 5 people whose blogs make you think. Then you link back to the originator of the award with a nice looking icon. I LOVE the idea of this, that you're singling out some blogs that you love, and in turn those people acknowledge 5 more. Here's the catch though- every time someone goes back to the originator he gets clicks, and his site has advertising. I am a bit cynical, and well, to me it seems a little bit like a very well thought out way to get thousands and thousands of visitors to click on your site. I am torn though, as I am honestly thrilled that I made someone's list. I want to continue it, I want to list five people that make me think, that I enjoy, but I don't want to link back. So I'm not. Here's my five blogs:

1. Mary Elizabeth William's neighborhood
2. Journeywoman
3. Maggie Reads
4. Random Musings
5. one plus two

And speaking of Maggie Reads, I still need to pick my choices for the Southern Reading Challenge- I had intended to do that now when I started this post, but got drawn into all the choices. The challenge doesn't start until June 1st, so I'll come back to it later.

Next, a friend emailed me a link to StandingWomen.org today. You can follow that link to read more of the background, but here the action part:

Please stand with us for five minutes of silence at 1 p.m. your local time on May 13, 2007, in your local park, school yard, gathering place, or any place you deem appropriate, to signify your agreement with the statement below. We ask you to invite the men who you care about to join you. We ask that you bring bells to ring at 1 p.m. to signify the beginning of the five minutes of silence and to ring again to signify the end of the period of silence. During the silence, please think about what you individually and we collectively can do to attain this world. If you need to sit rather than stand, please feel free to do so. Afterwards, hopefully you and your loved ones can talk together about how we can bring about this world.

If you are in Rapid City, South Dakota (as I am) the stand-in (stand-off? moment of silence? big event? bell ringing?) will take place at the Memorial Park Rose Garden by the Civic Center. This is on a Sunday, Mother's Day.

The only book I've completed lately was Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich. It was very short, and very typical Stephanie Plum. I did enjoy the book, but Morelli and Ranger were both absent, so it was not a favorite. I am glad that I did not pay for it (I got it from paperbackswap and have already mailed it on!)

This weekend will either be crazy busy with family stuff, including at least 8 hours in the car, or crazy sucky with a sick baby. Either way, I'm hoping for lots of reading time. I'm 30 pages from the end of my current book, and have big plans for others.

Thursday Thirteen # 13

To celebrate my gorgeous new blog, I give you....

Thirteen Questions for YOU regarding my new look and blogs in general...

1. How awesome is Lindsay at Splat Designs?
2. I'd like to add bloglines or a blogroll or *something* that will condense my bloglist down. Any suggestions? #1 criteria is: free. I looked at blogroll.com today, but after entering a lot of links discovered in the forum that all was not well.
   
3. If I do end up just typing them all into a list, would it be better at the very bottom of the sidebar? It would be fairly long.
4. What about the archives? Should they be at the bottom instead?
5. Do people actually use the archives? (besides me, I mean)
   
6. Have you been to Splat Designs to check it out yet?
7. I have a very small handful of non-blog links. Should they be near the top? The bottom? Do you follow links (not-blog links) from other blogs?
8. I'm thinking about adding a quote in the footer. What's your favorite quote?
9. What is the coolest little feature of your own blog?
10. What is the coolest little feature you've seen on someone else's blog?
11. Do you generally notice changes to sidebars or new elements in blogs?
12. Do you usually read it all from a feed like Google Reader and rarely see the blog itself?
13. Why have you not gone over to Splat Designs yet?

Confidential to Lindsay: I still love it, you rock!

So, whaddya think?

Beautiful isn't it? The lovely and talented Lindsay over at Splat Designs has been hard at work again. I still have to do my part and load all the links back in, but isn't this a great new look? I love it! Thanks Lindsay.

Monday's Math and weekend reading

First, the ugly. I got 6 new books this week and only finished one. So- 53 in, 19 read, 34 behind. My name is Lisa, and I have a problem.

This week I finished up Plum Lovin' by Evanovich, which I had planned to tag a mini review onto the reviews of everything else I finished this weekend. Only- I didn't. Finish anything, that is.

I did manage another stripe on my blanket, if that counts...

Tonight my husband and I are spending the night out of town. This will be the Monkey's very first night without one of us there. Therefore this is the first night we've had together, without him, since his birth (unless you count that first week while he was in the NICU, and I don't.) Wish us luck. I'm sure he'll be fine.

Book lists and other things of note.

I've decided to join the Newberry Challenge. I'm not sure where I'll find the time to read them, but I can't help myself. I figure just entering the challenge will have me reading at least a couple books I'd otherwise skip over. I had a really hard time choosing as so many of them brought back memories for me. I managed to only pick one that I had read before (#6). Here's my list:

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry (1994 Newberry Winner and on my Dystopian Challenge list.)
2. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (1990 Newberry Winner)
3. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (1979)
4. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
5. Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt (1967)
6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (1963)
7. (alternate title) The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (1959)

(Gina, you should definately do this one with me!)

I am definitely going to create a TBR list over here, because I need to see how far behind I am at every moment!

I have finished one book this week (Plum Lovin' by Evanovich) and will get a brief review up soon. I have been reading another quick one (Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Vaughn) in the hopes of getting some quick credits over at paperbackswap. I am struggling with The Inheritance of Loss. While I'm reading it I enjoy it a lot, but the minute I stop I turn ambivalent. Each time I review my wish list at PBS I wish I were reading something other than TIoL. I am still reading The Book Thief as well, and loving it, but don't want to rush it at all.

I finished up my list of 101 Things in 1001 days, for anyone who can't live without reading another list. It's in no particular order, though I did try to group things a little.

Thursday Thirteen #12

. . . Thirteen Pet Peeves. . .

1. Businesses that intentionally misspell their name to be funny- special mention to those that are aimed at children. For example, Kid's Kastle or Wee Kare Daycare or EZ Money Check Cashing.
2. People who repeatedly say, "But we need the moisture!" in the middle of a snow storm.
3. People who repeatedly say, "But we need the moisture!" in the middle of a drought.
4. People who chew gum while making business calls (or, more specifically, while calling me to ask for a loan.)
5. People who take phone calls while in my office. I honestly don't care if their phone rings, so long as they don't answer it. I completely understand forgetting to turn it off or down. The exception, of course, are calls related to their business with me.
6. Forwarded email that have not been edited to remove all the forwarding info.
7. Forwarded email that promise me a wish come true, or a coupon to Outback, or a free trip to Disneyworld.
8. Nasty, dirty flip-flops.
9. Sweatpants worn in public to anywhere that isn't the gym or the doctor's office/ hospital.
10. Especially if you are a man.
11. Bullet hole decals on your car.
12. When you call someone's cell phone and it says, "Please enjoy the music while your party is reached" and suddenly you are listening to some crap song.
13. When my neighbors take the parking in front of our house, while there is perfectly good parking IN THEIR OWN DRIVEWAY.
    

Newberry Challenge ?

Nattie Writes! has started a Newberry Award winner challenge...

Ok, I know. I have too many of these as it is. But this one seems so harmless- it's children's books, how much more reading time could possibly be involved? This one has a set number of books- read 6 Newberry Award Winners. The challenge starts May 15, and runs to December 31, 2007. PLENTY of time. I just quick browsed the Newberry List, and quite easily found 8 or 10 that I'd love to read (or re-read, as the case may be.) Should I?

101 Things in 1001 Days

I saw this idea at someone else's blog. I quickly read it, and thought, eh, but the idea would not go away. I managed to find the main site again, but can't for the life of me remember whose blog I first saw it on! I'm sorry, if it was you let me know, and I'll give you credit.

Here's the info from Triplux.

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as new year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

I'll be putting my list over here. Once I make it. My list starts April 17, 2007 and ends January 12, 2009.

Monday Math and other notes

47 in, 18 read, 29 behind.

Did you all see that The Road won the 2007 Pulitzer? I might have to add that to my Challenge list.

Speaking of the Challenge, I put a big ol' link to it over there in my sidebar. The original post is slipping off the screen soon.

Weekend update, including The Mediator 1: Shadowland by Meg Cabot

Yes. It's True. I finished a book. Granted, it was a fairly short young adult novel, but hey, it counts! I read The Mediator 1: Shadowland by Meg Cabot. This is my 3rd Cabot and I'm really glad it wasn't my first! The plot is interesting, but the writing is pretty bad. The premise is that Suze is a mediator- she sees ghosts and helps them move on. (Shadowland was published in 2000. The Sixth Sense came out in 1999. Hmmm.) Suze has just moved to a new town and hopes for a new start at a new high school (a la Buffy), but wouldn't ya know it? There's a ghost problem. The book has great potential. I liked the characters just fine. My problem is with the violence. Ok, that's not actually correct. I don't mind the actual violence in the book. I dislike Suze's propensity to threaten to punch (or fantasize about punching) anyone who annoys her. It seems childish. This is a young adult novel, but really, it's not needed at all. If this had been my first Meg Cabot I'd probably stop here. I won't be recommending this one to others and I won't be adding the rest to my wishlist. I might one day check them out of the library, but as it is, I have way too many books to read.

As for other reading, I've read another 50 pages or so of The Book Thief and it is still excellent. I haven't read anything with this style of writing in a long long time. It's just beautiful. I'm in no hurry to finish because then it'll be over. I also started Plum Lovin' by Evanovich today and will likely wrap it up tonight. I did not read any of The Inheritance of Loss for the group discussion. Oops.

I've been doing a little crocheting, and frogging and trying again. I want to make a little something for the new baby in my family, but can't get in a groove.

The most exciting thing of the weekend (of the bookish weekend anyway) is that my awesome husband made us this little logo for my Dystopian Challenge. If you looks really close it's the opening of Fahrenheit 451. How cool is that? Now if he'd just tell us what books he's planning to read for the challenge...

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Last night during bath time I started to read The Book Thief. I've barely read 40 pages, but needed to stop and post this quote from page 4.

Personally, I like a chocolate- colored sky. Dark, dark chocolate. People say it suits me. I do, however, try to enjoy every color I see- the whole spectrum. A billion or so flavors, none of them quite the same, and a sky to slowly suck on. It takes the edge off the stress. It helps me relax.

And then it just gets better! The writing is so so great. Thank you, everyone who told me to read it.

Thursday Thirteen #11

Thirteen Things on my To-Do List:

1. Write thank-you cards for the monkey's gifts, so the monkey can "sign" them.
2. Update the monkey's blog for the out-of-town grandparents benefit.
3. Order some pictures for my mom. I love ordering pictures from Walgreens. I can upload the pictures here in South Dakota, and place an order for pickup in Alabama. In one hour!
   
4. Finish the little gift for my new nephew.
5. Finish Addison's blanket. Hahahaha, yeah right. She's almost one.
   
6. Mail a little package of happiness to a friend of mine.
7. Work on my ripple blanket.
8. Mail a book for paperbackswap.
9. Read something. As you can tell by the new element in my sidebar, I keep starting new books.
10. Finally post my nominees for the Thinking Blogger award.
11. Purchase an absurd number of gifts for birthdays in April and May. Ouch.
12. Start looking for plane tickets for our trip to Alabama/Tennessee this summer.
    
13. Check out Booktribes.

For more Thursday Thirteens, click here.

Southern Reading Challenge 2007

Maggie over at Maggie Reads has proposed a summer reading challenge that I can not resist. The challenge is to read three Southern books, by Southern authors, in Southern settings. This does not begin until June 1, so I have plenty of time to pick my books. Maggie has been posting a lot of stuff about Southern authors to help people choose their titles, and I'll be taking her advise into consideration.

Since moving to South Dakota (at least it's South Something!) from Alabama in 2002, I miss a lot of things Southern. Sweet tea. Chick-Fil-A. Kudzo. The Auburn/ Alabama rivalry. A couple of years ago I wrote a letter to an old college professor of mine at Auburn. Dr. Flynt was such a great teacher. His classes were just outright enjoyable. I just googled a little bit and found out that he has a (short) wikipedia page! A bookseller called Alabama Booksmith has a nice short bio of him that starts with- "Wayne Flynt is the leading authority on Alabama history. Author of eleven books, Dr. Flynt has actively devoted his life to bringing the issues of history and poverty and their social impact to the forefront of the public's consciousness."

I took two classes from him, one of which was "History of the South since 1877" which I took the winter quarter 1997. A quarter or so later I took Alabama History from him. During the History of the South class we all had to read a book off a list and present it to a small group of students, and Dr. Flynt. This event took place at his home, and his wife made us Mississippi Mud Pie. Ever since that class I have said that I wanted to read everything on his list, but I didn't keep the list. So in the fall of 2004 I wrote to him and asked if he would please send me a copy of the list. He replied immediately, and personally, and it sure seems that he remembers me. (Remember, I took 2 classes from him, for a total of 24 weeks, 6 years in the past, at Auburn, not a particularly small school).

The list is the back two pages of his syllabus, and the copy he sent me was clearly pulled off the back of a syllabus. Makes me wish I'd asked for the entire thing. I do not know how or why he chose these books.

His Key: @- Alabama writers, #-Pulitzer/ Nobel Prize/ National Book Award Winners, *- his favorites (the stars were added before he mailed it to me.)

POOR WHITES
Harry Crews, A Childhood
Eudora Welty, A Curtain of Green*
James Agee, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men@
Erskine Caldwell, Tobacco Road
Dorothy Allison, Bastard out of Carolina
Rick Bragg, All Over But the Shoutin' @*
Lee Smith, Saving Grace

RELIGION
Clyde Edgerton, Raney*
Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood
-, The Violent Bear it Away
-, A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories
Walker Percy, Lancelot @
William Styron, Sophie's Choice*
Will Campbell, Brother to a Dragonfly*
Dennis Covington, Salvation on Sand Mountain @*

WOMEN
Alice Walker, The Color Purple #
Vicki Covington, Bird of Paradise @*
Elizabeth Dewberry Vaughn. Break the Heart of Me @
Lee Smith, Oral History
-, Fair and Tender Ladies
Mark Childress, Crazy in Alabama @
Nanci Kincaid, Balls @*

RACE
Richard Wright, Native Son
-, Black Boy
Shirley Ann Grau, The Keeper of the House @#*
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird @#*
William Styrom, The Confessions of Nat Turner *
Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man @#*
Zora Nell Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God *
William Faulker, Intruder in the Dust *
Albert Murray, South to a Very Old Place @

POLITICS
Robert Penn Warren, All the King's Men #*

COMMUNITY/ FAMILY
Olive Ann Burns, Cold Sassy Tree *
Ferrell Sams, Run With the Horseman *
William Faulker, The Unvanquished #*
-, Light in August #*
Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward Angel *
John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces #*
Dori Sanders, Clover
Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides *
Peter Taylor, A Summons to Memphis #*
Elise Sanguinetti, The Last of the Whitfields @
Eudora Welty, The Optimist's Daughter #*
Judith Patterson, Sweet Mystery @
Mary Ward Brown, Tongues of Flame @*
Clyde Edgerton, Walking Across Egypt
-, In Memory of Junior
Eugene Walter, The Untidy Pilgrim @
Walker Percy, The Movie Goer. @

In case you wonder, I read Dori Sanders' Clover. I do not remember it.

Monday's Math

Well, I skipped a week, but it hasn't really made much of a difference. I only got 4 new books in the last two weeks taking us to 44 in. I read 1. ONE. Book in the last two weeks, bring total read to 17. So I'm behind by 27 books? I totally wasted a chance to catch up here.

I'm thinking about starting a TBR list over on my list site. Perhaps seeing it all listed in one place will spur me on?

Weekend Progress

Argh. The weekend is over and I have not accomplished much! Ok, I've accomplished LOTS, but nothing to do with reading or blogging. We celebrated my son's 2nd birthday yesterday, and he ended the day on a high note- 102 fever! Sleep was in short supply last night, and today was spent with a small hot boy plastered to my side or on my lap. I did manage to start a little blanket for the newest baby in my family but otherwise, here's what I have to do to catch up on this week:

• Monday Math, I just realized I missed it last week. And if I didn't notice it wasn't done, and it's MY blog....
• Discussion on The Inheritance of Loss starts tomorrow, I still have roughly 80 pages to read.
• 3M nominated me for the Thinking Blogger Award way back on Thursday, but I haven't had a chance to think. Ironic, no?
• Finish a book. Any book.
• Update the monkey's blog about his birthday party.
  

I will not be going to work tomorrow but I highly doubt I'll get any more done than yesterday. Convienently, we already have a doctor's appointment for tomorrow, so hopefully we can get him on the mend soonest. Now I think I'll go to bed and try to read a chapter or two. Probably I'll just go to sleep though.

Dystopian Challenge, part 3.

EDITED May 5, 2007 - Mr. Linky wasn't working. Go HERE for reviews instead. I'll invite you all as soon as I figure out how...

Ok, I have no creativity for these things, so I have named my challenge the ever-inspiring: Dystopian Challenge. Like it?

In case you missed the first post, the rules were as follows:

1. Pick any number of books you wish to read that fall into the Utopia/Dystopia genre.
2. They do not have to be books you've never read, but hopefully they aren't books you last week.
3. Challenge is open now, and will last until November 6th.

I followed that up with post #2, which has some lists of books and links to lists.

A couple of brave souls actually agreed to play along with me! Ok, so there aren't many, but at least I'm not alone. I plan to convince my husband to join in too. I had a hard time narrowing down my list, without it being the first 5 books listed. I think I have it now though.

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry. (I really want to read Lowry's Number the Stars too, but it doesn't fit the challenge. Or really, any of her books. )
2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. (I read this in 10th grade and loved it so much. It was the first books that really made me *think*. Then I had to do a presentation to my class, much of which revolved around sex and drugs, and I was mortified.)
3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. (I've also read this before, but I'd like to read it again as an adult and mother.)
4. Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm. (Susan at West of Mars keeps recommending it, so I chose it.)
5. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. (This one was on the list at wikipedia and looks interesting.)
6. Either Animal Farm or 1984 by Orwell. I have not decided which.

Those of you who are gamely playing along, post your list in comments and I'll edit it into my post here.

Gina's List:

1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry
3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
4. Animal Farm by George Orwell
5. Brave New World and
6. The Island by Aldous Huxley

Michelle's List:

1. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
2. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
3. 1984 by George Orwell
4. (and possibly) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip Dick
5. Jennifer Government by Max Barry
6. Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Maggie at Maggie Reads is playing, she's starting with The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Mercy's Maid over at Random Musings is only unoffically playing. If she WERE playing, she'd start with:

1. 1984
2. The Handmaid's Tale
3. Animal Farm

Raidergirl3 at an adventure in reading is planning to tackle:

1. The Giver
2. Never Let Me Go
3. The Road by Cormac McCarthy or Cloud Atlas
4. Brave New World
5. Fahrenheit 451

Paige is planning to read:

1. 1984
2. Brave New World
3. The Giver
4. The Road
5. Oryz and Crate

Amy at The Sleepy Reader's list comes from the YA field:

1. The House of the Scorpion by Farmer
2. Feed by Anderson
3. Gathering Blue by Lowry
4. The City of Ember by DuPrau
5. Among the Enemy by Haddix
6. Among the Free by Haddix

Wendy at Caribousmom is reading:

1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
2. The Road
3. The Handmaid's Tale
4. In the Country of Las Things by Paul Auster ( I can't find a link for this?)

Camille at Dabbling Dilettante has signed up for:

1. The Handmaid's Tale
2. The Postman by David Brin
3. A Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M Miller Jr.
4. Fahrenheit 451 (re-read)
5. The Road
6. Children of Men by P.D. James

Nattie at Nattie Writes! is planning to join.

Dana at Think Pink is going to read:

1. Fahrenheit 451
2. A Brave New World
3. Oryx and Crake
4. Shade's Children by Garth Nix
5. The Road
   

Denise W at not-so-deep thoughts posted her list:

1. Brave New World
2. When Late the Sweet Birds Sang
3. The Road
4. The Giver

Chris at book-a-rama is joining with:

1. Oryx & Crake
2. Brave New World
3. and maybe more!

Teabird at Tea Reads will be back with her list!
And here it is:

1. Children of Men
2. Oryz and Crake
3. Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Michelle at 3M's Booklist will read:

1. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick
2. The Messenger by Lois Lowry
3. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
4. The Handmaid's Tale
5. Never Let Me Go

And possibly:
6. Oryx and Crake
7. Children of Men
8. Cloud Atlas

a.book.in.the.life's list:

1. The Road
2. Animal Farm
3. Brave New World
4. The Handmaid's Tale

Stephanie at Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic:

1. The Giver
2. Uglies
3. Brave New World
4. Fahrenheit 451
5. The Road
6. Cloud Atlas

lovelyloey:

1. 1984
2. Animal Farm
3. The Giver

Megan:

1. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin
2. Utopia - Thomas More
   
3. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
   
4. The Hideous Strength - C.S. Lewis
   
5. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
   
6. The Island - Aldus Huxley
   
7. Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Thursday Thirteen #10

I try to not talk so much about him here, but in honor of the Monkey's 2nd birthday on Saturday, I give you 13 things about my boy:

1. Sometimes he gets real quiet and stands real still, and just when you're thinking he's filling his pants he HOPS! and gives you a giant grin and says, "Mama, I a FROG!" Granted, when he hops his feet barely leave the ground, but it's still cute.
2. He is in love with dinosaurs. He calls most of them "DINOSAUR" except for the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops and the Parasauralophus, which he calls "Carol!" after his daycare provider.
3. When he wakes up in the middle of the night he often starts with "Daddy! I awake!" This is great for two reasons; one, it's just cute; and two, he's not yelling for me.
4. He's starting to use more complex sentences, a recent example is "I go to Grandpa's house to color! With Jo!"
5. He is a sweet sweet boy, full of kisses and hugs.
6. When driving we have to be on constant lookout for busses, and be prepared to shout "BUS!" at every one of them.
7. He *always* needs a hat. *Always* Sometimes two.
8. He loves firetrucks, which he calls "Fire Fighter Trucks." Police cars, garbage trucks, delivery trucks, tow trucks, ambulances, lawn maintenance trucks, pickups with ladder racks, and mailtrucks are also "Fire Fighter Trucks!"
9. He loves other kids. He isn't shy at all and is always ready to jump in with anyone who's playing.
   
10. He is SO DRAMATIC when he wakes up. "Eyes, mama, eyes! Bright eyes!" His blonde hair is all fluffly like an dandelion and he's so horribly put out by the light. "Off!" "Sweetie, that's the SUN, mama can't turn it off!" "Off! Off! Eyyyyyeees"
11. He will wash his hands and brush his teeth for 20 minutes, easy. Probably longer if we'd let him
12. He loves books. He likes to be read to, but he LOVES to look at them by himself. He likes to bring us our books and point out the "CCCs" Good thing too since his parents both love books.
13. He loves to count the steps into the house, and 75% of the time he GETS IT RIGHT. There are 14 steps, sometimes he skips 7 (always 7). He is very very reliable at counting things up to 6. He's not even 2 until Saturday!

I just love that kid so much.

You can find more Thursday Thirteen participants here.

A Challenge (still nameless), part 2

I've been looking for possibly titles for my challenge, and this is some of what I've found. I've used multiple sources (Amazon, wikipedia, etc) and have not looked most of these up. I post them here to help save time for others:

From Wikipedia's entry on Utopian and Dystopian Fiction:

(links are from Wikipedia, I did not check them)

The word utopia was first used in this context by Thomas More in his Latin work Utopia, which literally means both "no place" and "best place" in Greek. In this work, More sets out a vision of an ideal society. An earlier example of a Utopian-like work from classical times is Plato's The Republic (Plato), in which he outlines what he sees as the ideal society and its political system.

Other examples include Aldous Huxley's Island, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and B.F. Skinner's Walden Two. Gulliver's Travels may also be seen as a satirical utopia because it is actually a comment on the society the author lived in. The same goes for Erewhon by Samuel Butler - where "Erehwon" is "nowhere" spelled in reverse.

[Dystopias:]

• Paul Auster's In the Country of Last Things
• Stephen King's The Running Man
• Fritz Lang's film Metropolis
• Phillip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
• John Carpenter's Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.
• James De Mille's early A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder
• Yevgeny Zamyatin's We
• George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm
• Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited
• Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451
• Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" and Player Piano
• Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake
• Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash
• Ira Levin's This Perfect Day
• Ayn Rand's Anthem
• William Gibson's cyberpunk novels.
• Alfonso Cuarón's film Children of Men
• William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson's book Logan's Run

Ursula K. Leguin's Always Coming Home fulfils this model, as does Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time. In Starhawk's The Fifth Sacred Thing there is no time-travelling observer, but her ideal society is invaded by a neighbouring power embodying evil repression. In Aldous Huxley's Island, in many ways a counterpoint to his better-known Brave New World, the fusion of the best parts of Buddhist philosophy and Western technology is threatened by the "invasion" of oil companies.

In another literary model, the imagined society journeys between elements of utopia and dystopia over the course of the novel or film. At the beginning of The Giver by Lois Lowry, the world is described as a utopia, but as the book progresses, dystopia takes over.

Then there is a Wikipedia entry on just Dytopia literature (not sure how this merits another entry, but oh wel. This one is just a long list of novels.

Here is an Amazon listmania list on both utopias and dystopias. And another.

Lots to choose from!