Knocked Up by Rebecca Eckler

Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-be by Rebecca Eckler is a memoir of sorts. It was recommended to me by a fellow blogger and I thought that since I am pregnant again it would be perfect reading. Eckler is a journalist for the society pages when she finds out she is pregnant by her rich fiance, who lives in another town. This is completely unexpected and not necessarily good news. She professes to know NOTHING about pregnancy or her cycle, not even how often she should get her period. Her biggest concern is how fat she'll get and if the new intern will get her job because of how fat she gets. She doesn't really consider the baby at all except in terms of how it will inconvenience her.

Honestly, I wasn't impressed. (Sorry, Haley.) I thought she was awfully shallow. It seemed like she wanted to make a chick lit book out of her life, so she grossly exaggerated what she knew (or didn't know) or how she felt. I wouldn't have believed it in fiction, no way I can believe it in a memoir. The book was really fast to read, so I give it some credit for that. Overall, I'd say skip it.

Eckler did sue Universal Pictures over the movie Knocked Up, saying it was a rip-off of her book. I have not seen the movie, but the similarities seem to begin and end with the title, and an unexpected pregnancy.

Anne of Green Gables, some challenges, the library, and other stuff

Over the weekend I FINALLY finished Anne of Green Gables. This is a book that I never read as a child, and over and over I hear about how wonderful it is, and how it's everyone's favorite. I've had a copy for years, but didn't get around to reading it until this year's TBR Challenge. (That's right! I read a challenge book!) Don't shoot me, but eh. I had to force myself to read it. I did not begin to enjoy it until Anne STOPPED TALKING SO MUCH. Which means I liked the last few chapters. I was tired of the whole "Gil- other people" thing way too early. After finishing it, I'd love to have someone email me the summary of the rest of the series, because I want to know, but I don't want to read it myself. Or if someone could tell me specifically which book has the romance in it, I might read that one. I think I might have liked it as a child, but as an adult it bored me. I'm discovering that I don't really love descriptive books. Oh sure there are some, but they are usually about specific locations (The South and New Orleans, mainly.)

As you may have noticed, I've recently started reading a lot of Young Adult fiction. Some of it bores me too, but not nearly as much as Anne did, or as much as Little Women did. What makes a book turn into a classic? Which of the books I'm reading now will be a classic? Will any of them? If I reread Pippi Longstocking and Harriet the Spy am I doomed to be disappointed?

One of my personal goals for the year was to read 52 books this year. Last year I read 47 (or was it 48?) This is my 52nd book, so I am 3.5 months ahead of schedule. The full list can be found here.

Last weekend the Monkey and I did a lot of fun stuff together. One of our stops was at the library where I checked out WAY TOO MANY books. I checked out half a dozen YA novels for myself. His Monkiness and I discovered the kid's dinosaur books and he Very Carefully selected 10 or so of them. I am not sure what his criteria are, but there was definate choosing going on. I love that he loves stuff so passionately. We also hit a small Fall Festival, where he had his first encounter with a bouncy house.

What else? I made a new bag, it's so darling that I want to use it myself, but it's too small for all my mommy crap. There are pictures of it over here. I made a slipcover for the ottoman that turned out really well, despite the fact that I was making it up as I went.

All in all, a very successful weekend!

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine is the first book in the Morganville Vampires book. I had previously read Ill Wind, the first in Caine's Weather Warden series and really loved the fresh storyline. I know I love vampire storylines, so jumped at the chance when I saw the first two of these at the library. As it turns out, not all vampire stories are created equal. I did finish the book, but it took me a month to read 239 pages. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. There was one small twist to the story, but it wasn't really enough to make me interested in the sequel. If I had all the time in the world to read books, I'd probably keep going, but time is limited and books are not.

Here's the description from Amazon.com:

From the author of the popular Weather Warden series. Welcome to Morganville, Texas.

Just don't stay out after dark.

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero.

When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.

I WILL be reading more of the Weather Warden books, just as soon as I find a spare moment.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

When I was in the fifth grade my class held a contest to see who could read the most books in a set period of time (I don't remember if it were a 6 week period or the whole year or what.) For most of the time I ran second place to a girl named Candy. Candy and I had a little academic competition going all the way until 10th grade when I transferred to a boarding school. (She chose to stay behind and be top dog.) Anyway. I was pretty suspicious of the amount of reading Candy was doing, cause I knew how much I was reading and it seemed incredible that she was reading MORE than me. Then, for whatever reason, we both read Little Women at the same time. She finished it before me (of course) and I was so disappointed. Our teacher (Mrs. Joiner) had us both come to her desk to ask how we liked the book, etc. She turned to Candy and asked, "Who is Laurie?" and Candy (who LOVED the book) said, "The middle sister." And then everything was good again.

I hadn't read Little Women again since then, but remembered it fondly. I started getting it from DailyLit a few months ago and finally finished reading it last week. I'd love to say that it was a wonderful experience, that I loved the book every bit as much as when I was 10. I can certainly see how it would appeal to a lot of women and girls, but for myself not so much. I love Jo, as does everyone, and my favorite part was when she was falling for Prof. Bhaer and walking in the rain looking for him. I loved the scene where they admit their feelings, and for that matter, Laurie and Amy's young relationship. I liked Laurie's 6 month reaction to Jo's refusal. Everything else was just too preachy. The girls reading their little books about becoming a good person, and Beth's graceful death (except for Jo's reaction, which seemed the most honest), and Meg's little lessons in becoming the perfect wife, and Laurie and Amy's decision to help those less fortunate. And what's the deal with Jo suddenly wanting a houseful of boys at the end of the novel? That's not hinted at anywhere until suddenly it's her heart's desire.

I am glad that I read it again, but it's not a favorite. Well, except for that part where it totally revealed who was a liar liar pants on fire.

PS Who are the extra women in this picture? Marmie and Hannah?

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The Westing Game was my first Newbery Challenge book. This book won the prize in 1978 and according to all sources is hugely popular. Perhaps I'm in the wrong demographic (and, of course, I am) but I did not get it. I didn't find it interesting. The mystery was confusing. There were clues, but they didn't really lead to an answer. Perhaps I didn't spend enough time sorting them out and keeping notes, maybe if I had I would have be enthralled and amazed. As it was, I didn't like it. I didn't care who won and I found all the characters annoying. I didn't feel like there was any danger to the character who was in danger. Just eh.

Here's the publisher's summary, if you're still interested:

For over twenty-five years, Ellen Raskin's Newbery Medal-winning The WestingGame
has been an enduring favorite. It has sold over one and a half million copies.
This highly inventive mystery involves sixteen people who are invited to the
reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. They could become millionaires-it all
depends on how they play the tricky and dangerous Westing game, a game involving
blizzards, burglaries, and bombings! Ellen Raskin has created a remarkable cast
of characters in a puzzle-knotted, word-twisting plot filled with humor,
intrigue, and suspense.

NOLADawn gave me an interesting link to this site, where you can see actual manuscript pages. That's more interesting than the book was, I think!

This is my first Newbery Challenge and my second By the Decades Challenge book.

Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner

I'm on a roll! I persevered and finished another challenge book today. This one was Carpe Demon: Confessions of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner.

Here's Amazon.com's summary:

Lots of women put their careers aside once the kids come along. Kate Connor, for instance, hasn't hunted a demon in ages.

That must be why she missed the one wandering through the pet food aisle of the San Diablo Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, he managed to catch her attention an hour later-when he crashed into the Connor house, intent on killing her.

Now Kate has to clean up the mess in her kitchen, dispose of a dead demon, and pull together a dinner party that will get her husband elected to County Attorney-all without arousing her family's suspicion. Worse yet, it seems the dead demon didn't come alone...

It's time for Kate Connor to go back to work.

Well. It wasn't Buffy. The writing starts off bad, but gradually gets better. It's supposed to be almost slapstick humor like maybe Meg Cabot or Janet Evanovich. I felt like she was trying way way too hard, the jokes had neon signs announcing them. This too gets better as the book goes on. And while I'm being honest, her 21-month old is way way more verbal than my (very verbal) 25 month old. And I knew the ending about halfway through. I do love the idea, I think the plot had potential, but it doesn't not inspire me to run out for the next in the series. Which is ok, cause thanks to my procrastinating on reading this one, paperbackswap.com has already sent me the next one! I managed to get the 3rd off my wishlist before acquiring it too.

This book is my 4th TBR Challenge book.

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...

Weekend Reading

I got some reading done this weekend, yay! I spent a lot less time online than usual and had time to read. We also did a lot of little family things, which was fun. So what did I read?

Last week I read Under the Duvet by Marian Keyes. This is a little collection of essays about just about everything. Some of them are pretty light (shoes!) and some are pretty heavy (there is a really good one on being an alcoholic.) It was a really quick little book, with lots of humor. She reminds me a little of Meg Cabot, but I can't put my finger on why. A lot of the essays were previously published, mostly in 1998 or 1999, so it is a little dated. It got me geared up to start Rachel's Holiday, also by Keyes, for my TBR challenge. So far, Rachel's Holiday is very good. I will use this one for my M author. 3/5

Yesterday after sorting my books for the Themed Lists post, I moved a couple of the shorter books to the top. I figured I have to get some reading going or I'll just have more and more staring at me. I started Statements: True Tales of Life, Love, and Credit Card Bills by Amy Borkowsky during naptime and managed to read almost all of it before the Monkey woke up. The premise is great, the author uses her American Express bills to recreate her life and we get to read all about it. In practice, it's not so great. The chapters are anywhere from 2 to 6 pages long, and sometimes it's quite a stretch to make the purchase into a story. About 15 pages in (so soon!) I almost gave up, but decided that since it was so easy to read I'd keep going. About 80 pages in I wasn't any more impressed, but I'd already read nearly half so I kept going. By the end I knew I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It just wasn't interesting. I give this one a 2/5.

Today I picked up Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris. This is the fifth book in a series by a tried and true author. While I think the previous book was better, this one had some great moments. Lots of the secondary characters are fleshed out and Sookie is (of course) tested more. I'm a bit nervous about the amount of sexual tension (no actual sex, sorry) between Sookie and the various guys. Until this book I thought Harris did a great job of making me love all the potential suitors, in this one a couple of the guys dropped out for me. I LOVE Sam, and Eric. Oh, and Quinn. 4/5

Hopefully I can keep up the pace this week and finish up a few more!