Ranging Mom

I didn't keep any list of books read, but at least journals on bookcrossing.com let me know how many bookcrossing books I've read this year. My count so far is: 67

1. The Preservationist by David Maine
2. The Feiner Points of Leadership by Michael Feiner
3. Ain't Myth-behaving: Two Novellas by Katie MacAlister
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) by J. K. Rowling
5. Like a Dog With a Bone by Lee Charles Kelley
6. Plague of Memory: A Stardoc Novel (Stardoc) by S.L. Viehl
7. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jim Benton
8. Code Name: Bikini by Christina Skye
9. How to Murder a Millionaire by Nancy Martin
10. The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danziger
11. Devices and Desires by P.D. James
12. Fat Girl: A True Story by Judith Moore
13. Retire on Less Than You Think by Fred Brock
14. Fiddle Dee Death by Caroline Cousins
15. I Love You To Death by Amy Garvey
16. Dogged Pursuit by Lee Charles Kelley
17. Twinkie, Deconstructed by Steve Ettlinger
18. Hello, Gorgeous! by MaryJanice Davidson
19. Letters to a Lady by Joan Smith
20. The Saint in England or The Misfortunes of Mr. Teal by Leslie Charteris
21. The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock
22. The Christmas Treasury by Altom, Kent, Perry, Rutledge
23. To Marry At Christmas by Kasey Michaels
24. Thanks, Mom: Humorous and Meaningful Quotes on Motherhood by Tom Burns
25. Too Soon Mid-life Crisis by Rowan Barney-Murphy
26. The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw
27. It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It by Robert Fulghum
28. The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson
29. A Mankind Witch (Shadow of the Lion) by Dave Freer
30. The Chick and the Dead: A Pepper Martin Mystery by Casey Daniels
31. Cart of Death by Mari Ulmer
32. A Dog's Life by Peter Mayle
33. Conversations with the Fat Girl by Liza Palmer
34. Essential Einstein by Shana Priwer, Ph.D. Cynthia Phillips
35. Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned by Alan Alda
36. Code Name: Blondie by Christina Skye
37. Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie
38. Bad Heir Day by Wendy Holden
39. The School for Heiresses by Sabrina Jeffries, Liz Carlyle, Julia London, Renee Bernard
40. Talk Nerdy to Me by Vicki Lewis Thompson
41. Sleeping with the Fishes by MaryJanice Davidson
42. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac Mccarthy
43. Rake's Ransom and a Loyal Companion (Signet Regency Romance) by Barbara Metzger
44. Valentine's Day Is Killing Me by Leslie Esdaile, MaryJanice Davidson, Susanna Carr
45. Time Twisters by Jean Rabe
46. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks
47. You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore
48. Warp Speed by Travis Taylor
49. Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken
50. High Heels and Holidays by Kasey Michaels
51. The Quantum Connection by Travis Taylor
52. High Heels and Homicide by Kasey Michaels
53. The New York City Cab Driver's Joke Book by James Pietsch
54. Falsely Accused by Robert K. Tanenbaum
55. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
56. More "Ladies of Letters" by Sue Townsend, Carole Hayman, Lou Wakefield
57. Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story by Christopher Moore
58. Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss
59. Anything Considered by Peter Mayle
60. Tinker by Wen Spencer
61. Bride of Dark and Stormy (Bulwer-Lytton Contest) by Scott Rice
62. The Yankee Girl: A Korean Girl's Journey to Find Herself by Kyusun Chung
63. The Day They Came to Arrest the Book by Nat Hentoff
64. Native American Wisdom by Edward S. Curtis
65. Bowled Over by Kasey Michaels
66. The Bride of the Unicorn by Kasey Michaels
67. Dorothy L. Sayers by David Coomes
Hey, is there any pattern here? They are not in any special order.

Current Mood: contemplative

I enjoyed my time at the Bookcrossing Convention, as everyone says- it is great to put together names and faces. I attended everything, even delaying my drive home as I didn't want to miss anything. That meant staying overnight as I didn't want to be driving all night, but my choice of a Knight's Inn wasn't a good one. My family would argue it was a typical one, however. This place I will bet was a Travelodge built in the 1970s. Too bad no one saw fit to keep maintaining it, from the barely closing door to the oddly lumpy floor the place screamed neglect. But the bed was clean (I carefully checked) and the cost was low so I crashed there overnight then finished my driving the next day.

I knew the convention would be fun and even though I was by myself I figured I could still make friends. The bookcrossers there did not disappoint. From talking books to talking pet, work to play, and strange trivia in between! there were always friends to be found. My crashing into a group was never rebuffed, for which I thank them all. A special thank you to my roommate, tchouli, for the same reasons and more.

I still need to discover a 'gimmick' or some way of becoming a bit more memorable. I was a bit saddened that Sonora had forgotten me to the point that I hadn't even the honor of introducing her on Sunday as I had been asked (and prepared) to do. I shall work on developing my quirk before I attend another convention, LOL.

Current Mood: sleepy

I'm a strong believer in tolerance. I don't care to argue your beliefs as I am not needing to convert you or be converted by you. I like "multiple points of view," and feel sad that you feel attacked when I don't think as you do. I shalln't attack back, OK? Give it a rest, already...

"YOU?" To whom am I addressing this message? Those who are smug as they blast the 'ignorant' believers of other systems.

The beliefs of the American Indian are not quaint stories for your amusement, idiot. It is their understanding of the world and their place in it. I think the problem is not with the stories, it is with the translations. Someone says this Navajo word= that in English and right away a wealth of misunderstanding is introduced.

Turn that to different "Christian" points of view, say Creationists or Flat Earth believers. Ok, I disagree, but I am more than willing to let you hold your own beliefs without converting you to mine. May I in turn be left to develop my own understanding of the world and my place in it? Let's not ridicule believers on any slice of the arguments, if they are not converted to one 'truth' is it worth the battle?

Let's go further and add 'conspiracy theories' to the list. If an all powerful government/Big Brother is able to control your beliefs, bully for you. I chose to think differently. I won't attack your beliefs (refute maybe, rebut surely) and I'd like the same courtesy in return. Thank you.

Current Mood: thoughtful

I've a few, rare, days off extra from work and couldn't resist a trip to the bookstore. I found two to purchase, the one I had in mind turned out to look just plain stupid so went to browse in Science Fiction. SL Viehl has a new StarDoc series book out, I had no idea it was coming. Got it, read it, will be registering it at bookcrossing soon. I kept feeling as if I had missed a book in the series as I read the new one, but I've read them all. The story was pretty good, better than the last ones, but that nagging thought that I was missing some key to the story... Ah, such is life.

The second book was an anthology by Esther Friesner. I half recognized the stories, I may have read it via a bookring. I'll need to register that book and see... A bit of a disappointment though as I zipped through the book and it's not even the end of the holiday weekend.

Perhaps another trip to a bookstore is needed? Naw, I do have other things waiting to be read...

Current Mood: pensive

I not only had the opportunity to read a fun book: Candyfreak, but BigKat added a 'requirement' to the ring involving sending locally made candy to each ring participant. Yum. Speaking of addictions...

Current Mood: impressed

I think the uncontrolled/uncontrol-able need to something (especially if you know better) is an addiction. I have two, well, two major ones.

The first has to do with eating and the appeal that some foods have even though I should avoid them. I have big problems processing grape juice, for example. But I love the taste of grape juice, so I drink some from time to time for the taste and just deal with the reaction later (this happens quarterly, so I've months to recover). Same goes for onion, I like the taste but within 30 minutes I'm going to be needing a bathroom.

The second addiction is book related. Sometimes, I get caught up reading an author and I keep gathering all of his/her books even if I hate them. I recently (two days ago) bought a book, hardback, at the Waldenbooks even though I knew I was going to hate it. I just had to read it, see what would happen, see if the book was as bad as I had anticipated. It was- honestly, it was even worse than I had anticipated. I've even met the author and knew I'd hate the book (there are books with co-writers that are great, his solo works are what I detest). Why do I keep reading them? Why did I get all the Tepper books in the "True Game" series, for example, when I hated them all? What compells me to read Stasheff's never ending "Wizard inspire of himself" tomes even though the quality ended after the first few books?

I know that there are temporary cures. I'm confused as to how they are obtained. How did I break the Piers Anthony curse so that the Xanth books no long rate a glance? Why can I bypass Anne McCaffrey without more than a quick read of the back cover?

Current Mood: contemplative

I am reading the biography of Jane Fonda titled Citizen Jane. It's one of the collection I gathered from the last library booksale. So far I am half-way through the book and Hanoi has been mentioned twice, but not really dealt with. I don't know if I'm supposed to be sympathetic to Jane due to her childhood or what but it is not working. Unless there is some spectacular change in this book my 'understanding' of Jane is remaining the same. I still think she should have been punished for what she did to the troops in Vietnam.

Current Mood: irritated

I was disappointed to see Jim Hawkins didn't win the Sony Award for speech broadcaster. The speech by the Gold winner rubbed salt into that, too. Today I went and found award ribbons (You're Number 1, Great Job, etc) and a silly stuffed animal to send as alternate awards for Jim. As usual, I addressed the envelope to Jim Dot Hawkins. LOL. I really do feel that listening to JimOn gives me a good feel for 'real' people in the UK.

Current Mood: cranky

I finished the biography of Joan Kennedy and have started Ethel Kennedy. I had not realized, at first, they are both by the same biographer. Neither book is more than a 'popular novel' type treatment of the featured woman. I'm a bit disappointed but at least I'll know (or remember) more than when I started. Ole Ethel is popping out kids at the moment I think she ends up with 11. Joan was such a piker, only 3 children, but she did try for more.

Well, when you get the books from the reject pile of the library booksale you gotta expect they aren't the brightest and the best. LOL.

Current Mood: okay

I'm definately in my biography reading phase now. I've almost finished a 1973 biography of Joan Kennedy and I've a biography of Ethel Kennedy to jump into next. Poor Joan has been in the news recently due to alcoholism and problems with the children. Oh, and one of the children (Pat) is in the news for alcoholism as well. I suspect I'll not envy the Kennedy lifestyle after finishing both biographies!

Current Mood: contemplative

Ok, so I'm "behind the curve" on this one as well. Here's the list with my accomplishments:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
2. Harry Potter Series, J. K. Rowling (Read and enjoyed)
3. The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien (Read and hated)
4. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger (?seems familar?)
5. Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden
6. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (Couldn't finish)
7. The Curious Incident of the Dog, Mark Haddon (Read and enjoyed)
8. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
9. My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult
10. The Hitchhiker's Guide, Douglas Adams (Read(all)& loved)
11. Life of Pi, Yann Martel
12. The Stand, Stephen King (Read and hated)
13. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (Read and enjoyed)
14. 1984, George Orwell (Read and enjoyed)
15. Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery (?seems familiar?)
16. The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis (Read(all)& hated)
17. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (Read and enjoyed)
18. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë (Couldn't finish)
19. The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
20. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
21. The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien (Read, it's ok)
22. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
23. The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafón
24. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (Read(all) & liked)
25. The Five People You Meet, Mitch Alborn (Read and enjoyed)
26. The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
27. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
28. No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith(Read, it's ok)
29. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (Couldn't finish)
30. Watership Down, Richard Adams (?seems familiar?)
31. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
32. Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
33. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
34. Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier
35. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
36. Animal Farm, George Orwell (Read, it's ok)
37. Lamb, Christopher Moore (Read and enjoyed)
38. The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
39. Persuasion, Jane Austen
40. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
41. Angels and Demons, Dan Brown
42. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
43. The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger
44. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
45. Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks
46. Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood
47. Eragon, Christopher Paolini
48. 100 Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
49. 84 Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff
50. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (Read, sequel too, and enjoyed)
51. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupéry
52. Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
53. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
54. Dune, Frank Herbert (Read-all, some ok-1st ones better)
55. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
56. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
57. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (Read-all, good!)
58. Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier
59. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley (Read and enjoyed)
60. Discworld Series, Terry Pratchett (Read and hate 'em)
61. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
62. Stephanie Plum Series, Janet Evanovich (Read 1st 3, ok)
63. The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
64. The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck (Read and enjoyed)
65. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
66. To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis
67. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess (saw the movie, LOL)
68. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury (Read and enjoyed)
69. The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
70. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
71. The Neverending Story, Michael Ende (Read and enjoyed)
72. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
73. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
75. A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snickett (Read and hated)
76. Atonement, Ian McEwan
77. American Gods, Neil Gaiman
78. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Couldn't finish)
79. Emma, Jane Austen (Couldn't finish)
80. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
81. Little House Series, Laura Ingalls Wilder (Read(all) & ok)
82. Possession, A. S. Byatt
83. Lord of the Flies, William Golding
84. Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
85. Sabriel, Garth Nix
86. Saturday, Ian McEwan
87. Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
88. Stones from the River, Ursula Hegi
89. The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank (Read and enjoyed)
90. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
91. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle (?seems familiar?)
92. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (Read and enjoyed)
93. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt
94. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (Couldn't finish)
95. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
96. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
97. Doomsday Book, Connie Willis
98. East of Eden, John Steinbeck
99. Fingersmith, Sarah Waters
100. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith

So count me at 38% I suppose. Do I get bonus points for reading the series, LOL? Yes, I do read some things I hate but sometimes I just can't plow through a book no matter how well recommended.

Current Mood: quixotic