Monday Math. On Wednesday.

Yeah yeah. I'm behind.

Monday's Math- 93 books in (this is the last one), 38 books read, 55 books behind. I'm not reading so much this week, because I have a new obsession. Remember a few days ago when I posted about my lovely tote bags? Well I've made a few more since then. And then I SOLD one. (this one) For actual real cash money. They kind you can SPEND ON BOOKS. Suddenly, visions of retirement swam through my head, and it became an obsession. So I opened a shop on Etsy. Ok, so there's only one bag up for sale right now, but you should see my sewing room! There will be more, soon. I even added it to my side bar, see?

I returned two books to the library UNREAD yesterday. The first was Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth- the next Simon R Green Nightside book for me. I just didn't ever get to it and couldn't renew it again. I'll definately go back for it later this summer.

The second was Wisdom Walk: Nine Practices for Creating Peace and Balance from the World's Spiritual Traditions by Sage Bennet. Here's the summary:

For ordained minister Bennett, familiarity breeds wisdom. She examines eight of
the world's great faith traditions, mining them for transcendent practices and
forms applicable to any spiritual discipline. Prior to a culminating multifaith
chapter on service, Bennett explores Hinduism's home altars; Buddhism's
meditation practices; Islam's rewards of surrendering in a daily cascade of
prayers; Judaism's observance of the Sabbath to keep relationships with friends
and family intact; Christianity's rich legacy of forgiveness; Native American
spirituality's nature insights; Taoism's trust in the processes of life; and New
Thought's application of "visioning" to discern calling and course. Each chapter
uses broad brush strokes to cover the elements of each tradition, as well as the
author's running personal narrative to reveal how this approach has unfolded in
her own life and teaching. Bennett's thrust is always on seeing how other
traditions can support, not erode or supplant, an existing faith.

Sounds like something I'd like! But something about the author's writing style kept putting me off, and I never got it read. I finally couldn't renew it any longer and so took it back. I'll probably try it again in the future.

Still reading A Thousand Splendid Suns at home, and have Anne of Green Gables in my bag. I hope to actually READ something at some point soon.

Paths Not Taken by Simon R Green

Paths Not Taken by Simon R. Green is the 5th Nightside novel. Like the previous ones, the situation is getting more and more unrealistic and unbelievable. In this one, John Taylor is on a quest to find the origins of the Nightside. His powers are growing, as is his ego. This was not my favorite entry in the series plotwise, as it barely advances the story at all. The characters go on such amazing adventures on their way to one tiny clue to the overall story of the series. It's still fun reading, but much like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books, the story doesn't much go anywhere. In fact, I'd compare them in a lot of ways- quick easy reads, insanely unbelievable details, a very slowly advancing plot, and lots of fun.

I started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns last night and so far am loving it.

Monday monday

How was your weekend? I had a very nice weekend, very productive in many ways. First, I finished two books, one of them huge. The first book was Nightingale's Lament by Simon R. Green. This is the third book in the Nightside series. This series is a lot of fun, the books are non-stop action of incredible imagination. I was hesitant after book one, but am hooked now. This is from Amazon.com:

John Taylor has just solved the mystery of two friends' deaths when he is called
to another case. Charles Chabron wants Taylor to contact his daughter, Rossignol
(French for nightingale), a young singer who has fallen under the sway of the
ruthless Cavendishes, a husband-and-wife management team. Rossignol used to sing
upbeat, happy songs, but now her set is so melancholy that people leave her show
and commit suicide. After visiting Rossignol at the Goth club Caliban's Cavern,
where she performs nightly, Taylor knows something is wrong. When he goes to the
Cavendishes' management company, a pair of somnambulists beat him mercilessly,
leaving him near death and with no one to turn to but Pew, an old enemy. With
the help of Dead Boy, a deceased mugging victim who now fights criminals, Taylor
tries to locate the Cavendishes' former protege, Sylvia Sin, and find a way to
rescue Rossignol from the couple's clutches.

I'd say more, but really the plots are indescribable. The books are a lot of fun, and I'm glad I have the next one on hand.

The other book that I finished is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I stayed up way past my usual bedtime last night to finish, and it was so worth it. This book is as excellent as everyone says. In fact, it is so excellent that I'm going to write up a separate review for it later today.

In other news, Grandpa bought this for my monkey's birthday this weekend (the birthday was last month) and we worked on it for hours yesterday. My shoulders are crispy from the 90 degree heat. We have completed just enough that he can climb up and slide, but the swings, chalkboard, cafe table, window... all of that remains.

For Mother's Day I DID get to sleep in- until 7:30! Then we had biscuits and gravy, my request, for breakfast. I got a totally sweet card from my husband, and a Backyardigans card from his monkeyness. I also got a comfy reclining chair for the deck. Then later someone brought me a Vanilla Iced Nirvana from Dunn Brothers. It was a great day all around.

For Monday's math- 62 in, 26 read, 36 net books since January. Holding steady since last week, but expecting an influx from paperbackswap this week so don't expect that to stay constant this week.

EDITED TO ADD: Not sure what happened to the formatting here, but I can't seem to fix it. Sorry for the lack of paragraphs!

What I'm Reading Now, and What I'm Not Reading.

I have a ton of books that I feel like I have to read. There are several reasons for this- the book was a gift (Hi, Shawna!) or written by someone I know, or part of a series. As I've mentioned several times, I'm a member at Paperbackswap, and the way it works is that you add your name to the list of people wishing for a particular book. As the books are posted into the system, the first person on the list is offered it and everyone else moves down. You "buy" the books with credits that you earn from posting your own books into the system and mailing them off. It's a fair system, but what it means is- I often read books that aren't the ones I most want to read. For example, if I hear of a Great! Awesome! Wonderful! series, I go add the first few books to my list. The first one comes in, and I feel the need to read it quick, before I get offered the next one. If it sucks, I don't want to waste a credit on the next, see? If the books rocks, then it's safe to leave the rest of the series on the list.

All of this to say, I seem to never get to everything. I still have one of Kim Harrison's books here, a series I know I love, and haven't read it. I have Suffient Grace, sent to me by Sharon last fall and haven't read it. I have The History of Love, given to me by Shawna for Christmas, and only just started it. I have Twilight, which has been mentioned pretty much EVERYWHERE this month, and haven't started it. I have so many books! Which typically isn't a problem, until I want to read them all now!

Today I finished up Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green. This is the second Nightside novel. If you've been reading along you know I was hesitant about reading more of them. This one had a nicely finished plot, but a few other teeny flaws. I am still on the fence about the series. Mike is actually reading the first one (a fiction book not about baseball!) and I'll probably take his lead on the rest of them. I am ambivilant, and with so many books around here there's always something else. They are very quick, easy to read books, so that's a plus. I give this one a 3/5.

I've gotten one more book in the house since my last count (from PBS), bringing me to 13 books in, 7 books read. Holding steady at a 6 book surplus.

Something From the Nightside by Simon R. Green

John Taylor has an extraordinary gift. He can find things, anything. John is from the Nightside, a place where it's always 3 am, and everything is real. Myths are alive in the Nightside, ghosts are real, legends exist. He has been hired to find a runaway and since he's down on his luck, he takes the case.

I love the idea of the book. I like the Nightside. This seems a lot like a man's version of the worlds that Laurell Hamilton, Charlaine Harris and Kim Harrison have created. It's harsher, blunter, less forgiving. I can see myself reading more of them. It was quick and very easy. However, this was the first book in the series, and without spoiling it for the next guy I have to say- he could really do with a better plot idea. It was kinda like he got to the end and then was stumped on how to end it, and threw this crazy idea into the book. It all worked so very well, until that point. I will read the next one (I already have it) but will hold off on ordering more until I see if he has more (or should it be less?) imagination next time. I'd give it a 4, but the ending brings it down. I'll let you know if you should seek them out.