Book Update

  Lately my laptop has been giving me heartache. :( But since it is up and running for now, here is what I've read lately.

  I read Lirael and Sabriel of the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix. I loved them both!! They were the reason I stopped in the middle of Specials. The first book was written a good 10-ish years before the follow-up, and it shows in the book.

Sabriel starts off with her birth, and ends with her coming to terms with what she must do with her life. The best part of the whole book is when she and Mogget, her cat/magical-being, find a wooden boy who is too life-like to be a real carved boy. It's very lucky that she happens to find him and bring him back from his place between Life and Death. He ends up being a major player in the plot of this book and the following books. 

Books.

Woo. (If you worked with me you'd understand.)

The book challenge starts today!! I'll be kicking it off with Adverbs by Daniel Handler. While reading the Old Kingdom Trilogy and finishing off the Uglies Trilogy. (So MANY trilogies, and they are SO good).

Summer Book Challenge

  Over on one of my favorite blogs, Semi-Charmed Kind of Life, Megan is hosting a summer reading challenge. This is right up my alley. Books is in the title of this blog, so it goes to say that I love to read.
  If this inspires you to get your noggin working this summer join up here!

  This is my tentative list of what I'll be reading starting May 1. It's 14 books, and hopefully my library card still works at home and that I know where it is. The finding my card is going to be the hard part.

• Read a book chosen for the 2012 World Book Night. — The Glass House, Jeanette Wells
• Read a book you were supposed to read in school, but either bailed on or Cliff-Noted. — Dracula, Bram Stoker. I read the first chapter and started re-reading Harry Potter instead. 
• Read a memoir or narrative nonfiction book. — Van Gogh: The Life, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith or most likely The Blogess's book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, Jenny Lawson. 
• Read a book in one day. — This will be on the fly, and will just happen. 
• Read a book that you've always wanted to read but haven't gotten around to yet. — The Rabbi, Noah Gordon. My mama raves about this book, and I have a copy.
• Read a pair of books that have antonyms in the titles. — Sad Cypress, Agatha Christie. Happy Days, Samuel Beckett. 
• Read a book that is set in a place you've never been but want to visit. — Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie. The train goes across Europe. Something I'm hoping to do next year! Hello graduation money. 
• Find a book written the year you were born that was later made into a movie. Read the book and watch the movie; compare. Or find a movie released the year you were born that was based on a book. Do the same thing. —  Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat (graphic novel),  Faye Perozich, Anne Rice, John Bolton. Released 1989. 
• Go into a bookstore or library. Pick any bookshelf. Read the third book from the left on the fourth shelf from the top. — TBD
• Read a book about which you’ve heard bad things. — Adverbs, Daniel Handler. 
• Read a trilogy. Total page count for all three books together must be at least 500 pages. — Fifty Shades of Grey, E.L. James. Not for the sexy time tips ( I don't need those), but b/c I've heard it's awful. So this will be challenging. But probably not too challenging.

About the Gods

  Really, it's about gods. Not of the Greek or Roman variety either. More of the Norse and African and Egyptian gods and a bevy of others.

  Naturally, I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman. The best line in this whole book was about how Jesus was in Afghanistan and couldn't even hitch a line. If I could remember it, I would quote its entirety, but my copy is in my room. My room is too faraway to walk to for just a line from a book.

  American Gods should be required reading. It is amazing. I could go on about how wondrous it is, but that could get boring.

Wait What.

    Books have been taking up a great amount of my time. Followed closely by my 2 projects that were due this week. School is starting to take its toll, and I do not like it at all. Thank goodness there is only 2 more weeks of this madness left! Until June when I start first session, good times. Here's what I've read most recently and loved.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

  A while back I started a list of books I definitely wanted to read this year, and Neil Gaiman's work was at the top of that list. I figured, he writes science fiction/fantasy a genre I can really get behind. Especially since there's no new Harry Potter to look forward to, unless JK's new book is book 8 (dear goodness, please let that be true!!), I figure that going back to older books is a fine plan. 

   Neverwhere was the first Neil Gaiman book I ever read. It was set in London, which won me over immediately. I have a thing for England and anywhere in England. 

Spring Wish List

   As the spring time weather has already hit here in Georgia, I figured it was time for me to think of all the possible things I can spend the funds that UGA pays me on. These things are completely necessary.

1. New glasses. I've had the pair I'm wearing now for nearly a year. I love them, but I think it's time for smaller frames. I've had my eye on the Colton pair from Warby Parker. The best thing about Warby Parker is that they give a pair of glasses to someone in need when any pair is purchased. Which is great! And it makes me think that buying another pair of glasses is totally worth it!

 2. Books. I read a lot. With these habits, I tend to re-read what I already own. Which means not moving along with my goal for this year. Luckily, there's only 2 books left in the series I'm reading, and they're only $10 each. A steal! 

   3. Sunglasses. I have a lot of colorful pairs, but I'm saving up for a pair of Ray Bans to wear at Disney in a normal non-orange or pink color.

Yes, these look colorful and they are, but they're also more natural than orange.

   4. Hair color. This is going down this week, so no need to wait! The rest of this list though is on hold. 

Just Read

   My goal for this year is to read as many new books as I can. That means books that I have never read before. So far, I think I'm doing ok. I would be doing better, but I keep going back to books I've already ready; somehow, re-reading old books keeps me from getting to new books fast. Weird.

   This is what I've read most recently. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. If I could only use one word to describe this book, it would be beautiful. It is written like a dream. The story is great, the writing even better. If I could read this book over and over again, I would, and I probably will since I own a copy. Libraries and I just don't get along. It's actually cheaper for me to buy books than to borrow them.

Spring Breakin'

  Ahh spring break. I love it so much, that I might do it again next week!


  I've been keeping busy this spring break. I traveled down to Florida, not a long trip from my house (~40 miles to the border), made some pie (not from scratch, but I have to celebrate Pi Day properly), and started planning an exciting event for next year! 


   As of right now though, all I have on the brain is reading. I'm currently reading The Art of Fielding, which is beautifully written. I can't wait to finish it and see what happens! No spoilers if you've read it!


  But in true nerd style, I've got all these pulled up:

   Here's the links to all the above tabs:

  What Would a Nerd Wear

  on my reading list

  And yes, these tabs are from the same lovely blogger. 

  My to read list can be found here. If you want to know what I've read that is here. 

Books!

   My books, that I had shipped with snail-speed shipping, arrived today! I got Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (which was far longer than I anticipated, but it means I'll be busy for at least a weekend), The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. I'm excited to read all of these! Especially considering I spent a lot of my paycheck on these. I say I always have money for books and shoes. I have my priorities sorted. I think that the rest of the world should get in line for my book about how to have your life figured out. It'll be out before I kick the bucket for sure.

      

  Also, chances are high that I'll write a novel before I actually write a book about how to live life properly. Which reminds me, I had a crazy dream that would be amazing as a book. So naturally, I made an outline for it, just in case.

Currently Reading

   Emma by Jane Austen. It's been a long run for me and Emma Woodhouse. We started this affair long ago in December. And now at the end of January, I still have yet to finish.
   Granted, I have read more than just Emma while reading it. So until I've finished, which should be soon, no reading posts.
   Not even one about The Fault in Our Stars by my favorite person John Green. I can say favorite person, because I met him. Sure it was fast, but it happened. More on that front later.

A Fresh Idea

    I've spent a lot of time recently working on an excel spreadsheet of all the books I've read since high school. I'm not even up to 200 yet, and I am thoroughly disappointed in myself. I have got to stop re-reading so many books, and read some new ones instead! To work on that, I'm going to start doing posts on what I've previously read that's on my chart and hasn't been posted here. It'll be a pseudo-library feature. Except I don't loan my books out, and chances are high that I'll talk about Harry Potter a lot. Along with Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit of course. Now, I'm going to think about what book or books I should post about first.

12th Day of Christmas--My book wishlist

  On the 12th day of Christmas, which is tomorrow, you're supposed to get a ton of stuff from your true love.

   On the 12th day around these parts I'll be lunching with an old friend. Packing some stuff. And thinking of books that I absolutely need. And if these books aren't out yet, I've got them marked on my iCal so I can run to my local bookstore and buy it. Nerd alert!!

  To mark the occassion of the Magi making it to Bethlehem to meet baby Jesus, I made a list of books that I will most likely be purchasing once work kicks back up.


  In no particular order:


   1. The Hunger Games trilogy. I've read them all, but I would love to own them all. I like to re-read. A lot. In fact, I'm thinking of starting off 2012 with a reading of Harry Potter.

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     2. Hush Hush Saga. I've read these also. I'm pretty sure that I have read every single book on this list. Or all the ones that came before it.

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    3. A Discovery of Witches, and it's sequel. I read it this past fall. It was the best book I read last fall, and I read a lot of books last fall. 

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    4. Abandon. This was great. I love things based on Greek myths. They make me smile. Its sequel is coming out in May, so I have plenty of time to save up. 

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    5. Across the Universe. This book was weird. But I think it's worth owning. And its sequel should be just as good. 

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Moving

   Moving is stressful. In that, I don't know what to expect.

    Then, there's my book hoarding.

   My book hoarding has never held me back. I don't have an overly large amount of books. I have your standard amount of, well, what is the average amount of books people own? Let's say that the average person owns 100 books. I own more than that. Maybe. I've never counted. I could count, but that would take more time than taking them off the book shelf and gently placing them into a box.

 
   Book hoarding is also accompanied by a book shelf that is too tiny. I have a tiny book shelf. Sure, it could hold a lesser reader's book collection, but my books have varying heights, thicknesses, and putting paperbacks and hardcovers together is difficult for me. Not really! Who is that mental? I'm sure if I worked on it, I could have those problems. Since my book shelf's storage is limited, I gathered some plastic egg crates from my parents' garage. Will they miss those crates? Probably. Will they ever get them back? Well, if they don't mind that the crates are now hot pink, and I've invested in a bigger book shelf, they are welcome to them. That's right, when I move into my new apartment, I will have my tiny book shelf with a side of hot pink makeshift book housing.

  Along with hoarding books, I've also amassed quite the collection of scarves. How did this come to happen? Scarves have never been a big part of my life, but somehow I have enough to fill a duffel bag. Some might call that "not hoarding," but it's what I like to call ridiculous. (that was a Miranda joke, watch it, love it.)

   Now I have to go watch some quality TV, think about book shelf paint colors, and plan tomorrow's packing activities.

Readings

   I've read several books over the past few weeks, in the hopes that I would make my google spreadsheet a nice long list. I've made it quite the list, but sadly it's not as long as I thought it would be. Alas, I'll just keep reading, and here's what I read on Saturday.

   This past Saturday I spent a lot of time in the car with 6 of my nephews, Robby and Sara were off getting Santa's shopping done, and I brought along Across the Universe by Beth Revis.

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   Across the Universe has got to be one of the strangest books I've ever read. It's starts off in 2036 with Amy and her parents at a lab to get frozen for a journey to a new earth like planet that will take 300 years. Personally, I would have told them to keep their new planet because the idea of being frozen, while I'm still kicking, makes me feel icky or icy(ha!). The first chapter is the freezing process for Amy's parents and her last. If anyone can make it through the first chapter, then the rest of the book is worth it. I thought that the first chapter was rough, not because it was written poorly or because it was terrible, but because Beth Revis makes it seem so plausible. The believability of the book is what makes the story. In the next chapter, it's some 200 years later on board the ship Godspeed, and Elder (the chapters go from Amy to Elder's point of view), is having his leadership lessons as he's next in line to be Eldest the ship's leader when he learns about the bottom part of the ship where the icy cargo is stored. And not long after he discovers it, someone unplugs Amy's icy coffin with the supposed intent to murder her. Amy is saved and she learns all about life on the ship, and how she's been woken up 50 years too soon and cannot be refrozen. The people on the ship are mono-ethnic, have never been anywhere but onboard the ship, and all have the utmost respect for Eldest. As the book goes on, it starts to seems like an outer space combination of Brave New World (the people on the ship have strange mating practices) and 1984 (it's very dystopian). The story doesn't really have a good ending, but this is the first book of the trilogy, so I'm eager to see what happens next!

Obnoxious Facebook About Me for John Green

   So a year or so ago one of my best friends and I wrote each other's About Me sections. We wrote some ridiculous things with descriptive text that still doesn't make much sense at all. Well, I decided that I'd put the one that Meghan wrote for me back on my page. It is rather humourous and not at all about me. Except that part about my harmonica playing. Well, that's not really true, I don't even own a harmonica. One day...
   Back to the true meaning of this post, I've decided that it would be brilliant to write an absurd about me for random people. It doesn't matter if I know them, if they're made up, or even if they're famous. Famous is a term I use lightly, because someone who is famous to me might not be famous to you. If they aren't famous to you, then it's time that you learned about the vlogbrothers. Which you can do here at their you tube page. So here is my first not-exactly-true-life biography for someone I don't know.

     John Green


  I'm a writer. I also make videos with my brother. In these videos, we debate important topics like pizza, corn dogs, facial hair, and whether or not Red Green pooped in the nintendo. People, those are important things to think about in today's world. Especially since today's world is worried that the world might implode or explode or turn into a Kardashian.
  In my free time, I like to wander through the woods with a short person strapped to my back. Why do I do this? I'm not sure, though I am fairly confident that the short person on my back has been eating my groceries. I should really look into that guy. Oh wait, someone just told me he's my son. Fatherhood, I forgot.
   I live on an island in a sea of awesome called Nerdfighteria. It's a great place, come visit and talk about important topics like the ones listed above. Also, the only foods available on Nerdfighteria are corn dogs and pizza. But to order pizza one must have a mustache.
  I'm also the king of finding Alaska, having too many Katherines hanging out, and towns made of notebook paper. If you don't get these references, we aren't friends. Why? Because it means you haven't read my books: Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns.

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Up next, I don't want to say in case I forget. 

My 12 by 2012

I saw this over on The Small Things, and I thought it was brilliant. It's a list of goals to complete before 2012 comes around.

1. Be able to run at least a mile without stopping. I'm nearly there!

2. Don't get a drastic haircut. A hard one, because I love my hairdresser. A lot.

3. Have all my Christmas shopping done before December.

4. Have my list of books read up to 200.

5. Make my crazy just a little bit less crazy.

6. Wear crazy high shoes because I can.

7. Have a week of jean free outfits, and actually wear them.

8. Get better at crocheting.

9. Finish mine and Sara's scarves.

10. Re-read all the Harry Potter books.

11. Keep running every day.

12. Stay happy.

It's not a life changing list, but I think it's doable and will come with good results. What are you hoping to achieve before next year?

Book. It would be books, but it's only about one.

   So my time this week has been taken up with lots of reading. Not reading lots of books, but that's ok. The book I read was so spectacular! It was like reading Harry Potter for the first time. When I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the first time back in 1998, I was mesmerized. I thought that surely the book itself was magical. I looked the book over, trying to find out why such a plain paperback was so magical. I know now, that it wasn't the book that was magical, it was the story and the characters and being able to so easily imagine that I was a part of Harry Potter's world. Ever since reading that first book, I've felt that way about every other Harry Potter book. I always feel whenever I pick one up to read that something magical is about to happen. It makes a small town life exciting, and it always makes me wonder. So to get that kind of feeling with a new book as an almost adult was a big deal to me. I read this book slowly, well, slowly for me anyway, to savor that feeling for as long as possible. I don't know what it is about a great story, but I'm rather confident that I'd be happy to earn a degree in reading. Sadly, you can't earn a living by reading alone.
   The book that gave me such a feeling is A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. It's about witches, daemons, and vampires, all very exciting things to me. The story starts in the nearby Oxford at the Bodelian  Library with a witch named Diana Bishop. She unknowingly calls up lost manuscript, which sets off a reaction in the creature world. Soon, she meets Matthew de Clairmont, a vampire, and their adventure starts.
   I'd love to just write out an account of the story, but then the fun of reading the gigantic book would be gone. Read it, love it.

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Days in Pictures and Books 3

Thursday:

Only .5% alcohol, 100% delicious

   Lunch at Limes Farm. Rose lemonade is delicious!

Friday:

A pumpkin tray with leaf dip dish.

    Bunco. I won this easy to pack pumpkin tray. Sara's getting it for Christmas.

Saturday:
  I don't have a picture for Saturday, don't be sad, I lounged.

Sunday:

An empty coconut shell. 

   Sunday is always Mass, and then out. We went to Aston (sadly they don't build Aston Martins there.) for lunch, and came home to make horse hoof coconut shells. At least, that's what Robby did. Now, I can be King Arthur!


Books
   
     Over the past week, I've read 4 books, but I only took pictures of 3.

The first book I read was Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie. She's brilliant. I would never have guessed who killed who. If you want to read about deaths at Petra, read this book. Then watch Indian Jones and the Last Crusade to see Petra.

The second book I read was another Agatha Christie. It too was set in the Middle East, only this time the murder wasn't in Petra, it was in Iraq. I won't go into detail about the story because if I do, then you might guess who did it, and that's no fun.

I'm the next big book photographer.     

  The third book I started and finished was the second book in the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, it's called Throne of Fire. And boy what a book! There's ancient Egyptian gods roaming around in the duat, magicians, and an almost missable mention of the Greek gods. If you've read all the Percy Jackson books then you'll get it. I loved this one! It picked up a few months where the first book left off, but it kept up the story line and added a new one. I'm excited for the third one!

The book photography just gets better and better!

   The fourth book was absolutely astounding! I had heard nothing but good things about this book, and I was not disappointed! I could continue to gush about this book, but I'll stop. Now, I do hope that the world never gets ugly enough to come to anything like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Read this book, you will not regret this. Unless you're a stick in the mud and don't want to be my friend.
 

I feel like I have a whole book photo career in front of me!

Almost learning at Starbucks

   It's Friday! Almost, it's Thursday night, so close enough! 
   I'm linking up with the always fab {av} from {Long Distance Loving}, 
to share my would be outfit if I had endless amounts of money. Also, 
this outfit would happen if I had a Starbucks I could drive to, set up my 
books, and think about learning. I have books, I have a Starbucks, but I
 have no need to think about learning right now. It's  a tough tough world.
 I hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

Books 2

      Since my last book post writing, I've read 3 and a half books (not that I'm one to brag, I would never brag). Since two of those books are part of a trilogy, I'm only going to write about the first one, it's part of a trilogy too, but the second part of it hasn't come out yet, so onward!

      Once again, I read a book by Meg Cabot, I love Meg Cabot, and I'm hoping to one day be able to finish the Princess Diaries series. No, but really, I love Princess Mia. This book had nothing to do with Princess Mia or New York City or you know normal teenagers. This book had to do with death, and diamonds, and a Fury. Good times. If you are unaware of what a Fury is, I suggest Edith Hamilton's Mythology, not Wikipedia.

     Abandon by Meg Cabot is a story about a girl who has died and come back. The story doesn't start with her death or with any deaths. Pierce is the girl who has died, and now she can't seem to get away from the boy she meant when she died. The book starts with Pierce settling into her new house away from where she died, and starting out fresh. She's got a long way to go though if she thinks she's getting away from the boy she met after she died, and an even longer way to go to get away from those who want her dead, for real this time. 

     

      The story was a little slow to get started, but since this is the first book of a trilogy that's forgivable. Building the characters is really important in my book. I love a series with characters that have a story and that you can build a relationship with. Even though book characters aren't real, I have a running relationship with almost every character from several books I've read. I can only hope that for the next book, that Pierce gets some more action. Not THAT kind of action, action that involves running from Furies. Not sexy time, she's only 17 and way too young for that. Also, in the next book, Underworld, I'm hoping for some more Persephone-esque mentions.