Reading and Blogging for Dafur

Natasha over at Maw Books Blog is starting a campaign to raise awareness of the genocide in Darfur. For the month of September she is reading and posting exclusively about Darfur, in order to help spread the word, and she is putting her money where her mouth is and raising actual money to donate to the cause. You and I can help! Blog about it, and she'll donate money. Put her button in your sidebar and she'll donate more. Read a book on her list and blog it. Sponsor her in what she reads. Watch a video. There are many many ways. She's been collecting prizes and she's throwing in some Amazon.com gifts as well. So head on over to her blog and leave her a comment about what you're doing to help. This post is the place to start.

Some books, some sewing, some grump

It may not SEEM like it, if you're reading my blog, but I've actually gotten a little reading done lately. No, I'm not kidding! I haven't actually finished anything, but I'm reading.

I'm halfway through The Thirteenth Tale. It's pleasantly gothic, if that's possible. Makes me think I should read Rebecca again.

I'm halfway through Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm. This one is non-fiction, about The Body Farm in Knoxville, TN. Patricia Cornwell wrote about The Body Farm, back when she wrote good books. Forensic stuff if fascinating (and if you don't believe me just watch The Discovery Channel, or TLC, or TBS, or or or...) This one is very interesting, but a bit annoying. I don't really like the author's style. In fact, I gave up on their fiction book without finishing it. Because this is non-fiction, it's a lot easier to take.

I'm about to start Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting for an online book discussion. That outta be great. I admit to hovering over my kids a little bit, but hopefully when they are old enough to have a little common sense I'll back off some.

About sewing: A couple Fridays ago I said I would discount one item in my shop or add one new item every Friday. Well, Friday came and went. I forgot. Today I remembered, so I posted one new item AND discounted the old. Go check it out! This week's item is a cute little travel jewelry bag. Hopefully this week I'll do better. (Though, I might move it to Mondays so I have the weekend to sew.)

And the grump: the place where I spend 40 hours of my time a week is not a very fun place to be. I need something different before I die of stress.

Coming soon: way too much thought about the TBR.

TBR Day: Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot

At the beginning of the year I made myself a list of books that I WOULD read this year. Or else. Queen of Babble is not on the list. I'm having a hard time sticking to any list (or any challenge) because there are just SO MANY great books out there.

This is my TBR pile. The bottom shelf is non-fiction, until the mass markets at the end. The top two shelves are fiction. The books on top are the more recent acquisitions. JUST the books on top are about as many as I read in a year.































I plan to make myself weed the shelves soon. Sadly, these are not the only unread books in my home, the basement is full of books. There are boxes in the garage. There are books by my bed and books by my chair in the living room.

My name is Lisa and I have an addiction.

Ok, so this month's TBR Day post.

I choose Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot because I thought it would be quick and easy. I've been doing Jim Butchers for the previous TBR days, and frankly they are hard to review without spoiling some element of previous books. I've read a few other Meg Cabot's- The Mediator book 1, Every Boy's Got One, and Size 12 is Not Fat. Queen of Babble was easily identifiable as another Cabot. Here's the summary:

Lizzie Nichols, a fashion-history major, wants nothing more than to graduate college and then fly off to London to be with her boyfriend, Andy. But at her graduation party, Lizzie finds out that she can't graduate until she writes a senior thesis. And when she lands in London, Andy turns out to be a liar, gambler, and a fashion disaster. Lizzie, stuck in London with a nonchangeable ticket home, escapes Andy via the Chunnel in hopes that her friend Shari, who is catering weddings for the summer at a French chateau, can help. On the train, Lizzie meets a stranger, Jean-Luc, and spills everything that has happened, only to find out that he is the son of the chateau's owner. At the chateau, Lizzie continues to babble when she shouldn't, ticking off Jean-Luc, shocking his mother, and upsetting a bride. Will she ever learn to keep her mouth shut?

First, the characters. They are all pretty much a stereotype. Lizzie is a likable airhead, Shari is the feminist, Chaz is the laid-back philosopher, Jean-Luc is perfect, his girlfriend is a greedy, scheming snot. The chateau (a character in itself) is breathtaking.I liked them all, even Andy the ex-boyfriend. By "liked" I mean that they isn't a bad guy in the bunch, not even the bad guys! I really loved Jean-Luc, but really, who wouldn't?

The plot is good. Aside from a silly subplot about her senior thesis, I thought it was a sweet, believable plot. The senior thesis part seemed to be thrown in for the gimmick of starting each chapter with a sample of it. I pretty much didn't read any of them. It's a light, easy, read. There is nothing to think about or remember or worry you while reading. It's clear from the minute she meets Jean-Luc what is going to happen.

Having read 4 Cabots now, I feel like I know what to expect- a light, fluffy, predictable plot. Nothing complicated and nothing heavy. This book (and it's sequels) are marketed to adults but I think that teens would also enjoy them. They do include sex and references to it but nothing your average teen doesn't already know, and nothing scandalous. Overall, perfect for what it is, but never gonna make your top ten list.

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Camping, Take Two

(the view from the tent)

We gave camping another shot this weekend, hoping to avoid the same outcome as last time. This time we were at a different campground (still within Custer State Park) and our tent was right on a little pond. It was a great site, but since the Pirate hasn't had swim lessons yet,* it was a wee bit stressful. There were 10 of us camping, and 6 more visiting, so it was a rowdy bunch. Within an hour or so of arrival the Pirate took a spill and cut open the spot right between his eyes. This is his first real injury and we considered a trip to the ER for a little super glue, but Uncle Pat (the EMT in the family) quickly improvised a butterfly. Poor kid badly wants his bandaid off...
















The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. We "fished" with the big kids and played on the little playground and told the dog to shut up about 8 million times. Then it was bedtime. This time we had a working pump for the air mattress. The Pirate was TIRED. He went to bed easily, but then coughed all night long. So once again the only one who slept was the Bug. We got up about 6 and took our time packing up. My sister in law made pancakes and we headed home about 10. Overall, better than last time, but not yet ideal.















* 99% if the beginning swim lessons in this town are between 9am and 4pm, Monday thru Friday. This is not so helpful if both parents work.

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New Etsy Policy!

Starting TODAY I have decided that for every Friday that I do not post a new item to my Etsy shop, I will discount one other item by 10%. I have not yet determined how I'm going to decide which other item, but since I have no new items today, and there is only one listed, today's sale is pretty clear! The discount will be permanent. This means that if I have no new item NEXT Friday, I will discount that one lonely bag another 10%. If you're in the market for a new bag this might be your chance! Go check it out!

Challenges

I need to sit down and sort out my challenges to see if I stand a chance of finishing anything. Last year I managed to fail EVERY challenge I entered. This year I was determined not to overdo it, not to commit to too much. I have my own personal TBR challenge, which should have been enough. Here're the ones I couldn't resist:

The U.S. Presidents Reading Project, hosted by Books 'N Border Collies:
Read a non-fiction book about each U.S. President.

• The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama (44)
  

The Chunkster Challenge, hosted by Think Pink Dana.
I need to read 4 chunksters by December 20. So far, I've read:

• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Classics Challenge, hosted by Trish.
I have to read 5 classics, and one bonus "new" classic by December 31. I've read:

• Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (my new classic)

The TBR Day Challenge, hosted by avidbookreader.
Each month we read one book that's been on our shelves since at least 2007. My list:

• Moneyball by Michael Lewis
• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
• Toddler, edited by Jennifer Margulis
• Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
• gods in Alabama by Jossilyn Jackson
• Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
  
• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
  
• Cerulean Sins by Laurel K. Hamilton
• 
  

Explain this..

The smallest person in our house has not 1, not 2, but FIVE seating options in the living room alone.

And where is he right now?

Sleeping on the couch.

The Etsy Shop

The Etsy shop is FINALLY re-opened! Granted, there is only one bag listed at the moment, but I have a couple more in progress and a fairly unplanned weekend, so there is hope!

Thursday Thirteen #?

I haven't done a Thursday Thirteen in months, I thought today would be a good day for it.

13 Things about the last 6 years...

1. 6 years ago yesterday I left Alabama after living there my entire life.
   
2. 6 years ago today I drove into South Dakota for the first time. My imagined idea of South Dakota (western SD at least) turned out to be wrong.
   
3. It was then (as it is now) the middle of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and there were a LOT of bikes. I was a bit nervous.
4. In January 2003, I was hired at my current employer, as a teller.
   
5. In August 2004, we bought our first house.
6. The next week we got a dog, Scout.
   
7. On October 2, 2004, Mike and I got married. It was a very small wedding, just ourselves and five witnesses. It was perfect.
   
8. In January 2005, while 5 months pregnant, we took a dream vacation to Cabo San Lucas.
   
9. On April 7, 2005 the Pirate was born.
   
10. That same year I turned 30.
11. In October 2007 I started this blog.
12. On April 10, 2008, the Bug was born.
13. Yesterday, on my anniversary of leaving my home and everyone I knew behind, I told a friend how much I didn't regret it for one minute. My life here is wonderful, more than I could have ever imagined.

For more Thursday Thirteens, go to www.thursdaythirteen.com

A bloggy resolution

Lately there has been some talk around the blogosphere about blog reviews being worse than paper reviews (will that controversy ever die?), especially those of the blogspot variety. In another paper review, women's writing, and by association women readers, are brushed off as pretty insignificant- eaters of tea and cucumber sandwiches. I'll save you the discussion on this, you can find them all over the web, but it does make me think about my own reading and blogging. (Not that the discussions are bad, just that I don't have anything new to add. Here's a nice one from Caribousmom, and one at another at minds alive on the shelves, and chris at book-a-rama talks a bit about it.)

I've become a bit unenthused at my own reviews. If I were reading myself on a Reader I'd never click through (for the reviews, for the stunningly cute boys, yes, yes I would!) I've been reading a lot of easy books lately, Evanovich, and Jim Butcher and the like. I've got a good excuse, I think, with two small children and a full time job it's hard to focus. But I'm not so happy about it. I've decided to step it up a little and stop skipping the hard stuff. I'm not swearing off on the easy stuff by any means, but the occasional non-fiction or literary fiction or classic wouldn't kill me. I'm also on the lookout for a nice set of guidelines for questions. Something generic to every book- I know there is a blogger who I read all the time, one who reads tons of books, who uses such a thing, but do you think I can remember who it is? Help me out here, someone who can remember needs to give me a link. And if it's you, I'm sorry, I think you're great. I just can't remember who you are!

However, this doesn't mean that I agree with the columnist. I think bloggers do a much better job of spreading a love of books than an paper review ever did. I think there is a niche for every type of book blogger, whereas you never see romances (for example) reviewed in mainstream print. I think that women's fiction is some of the best writing out there. Anyone can do war, I'd like a little emotion with my books, please. (Wait, was that a stereotype? Should I take it out?)

Anyway, my point, as I struggle to make it, is that on MY blog, the standards have slipped and I'm gonna fix it. EVERYONE ELSE'S bog though, still great. I'd rather read a hundred of them than a handful of print. I'd rather be friends with the writer, and I feel like I'm friends with many of you. I'd rather be able to respond, and get a response. I love being able to compile notes on the same book. I've added way more books to my TBR from the blogging world than I ever did from my NY Times book review subscription.

Oh, and today for lunch I had cucumber sandwiches. Cream cheese, cucumbers, and ham. It didn't seem to affect my intelligence AT ALL.

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A Tale of Two Boys

I'm at work on a Saturday morning (a rare occurrence) and have been mostly doing actual work (even rarer on a Saturday), but I wanted to post a couple little pictures. These are my boys- The bug at 16 weeks, the Pirate at 18 weeks. (Pirate on the purple couch, bug on the tan one. I can't make blogger do pictures like I want them.) Then the bug again, just cause I like the picture. The bug has much darker coloring than his brother. His hair is dark (not red at all like it looks in the picture) and I'm pretty sure his eyes will be brown. This one, he's all mine.

We have a crazy day ahead of us today- a birthday party at 1, with "swimming," and then my husband's company picnic at 5. I get off at 12:20, gotta run home, feed the bug, take a picture and wrap the gift, then race to the party. Leave the party, feed the bug, run to the picnic. Fingers crossed that the bug wants to eat when I want him to eat!