Fiona Friday - Strange Things That Lure Kitties (plus some random babble)

I don't believe I've ever had a cat who wrestled cereal boxes, before.

In addition to wrestling unique objects, Fiona has brought our attention to the fact that we never actually finished removing the wallpaper in our bedroom. Don't ask why we never finished and have one painted wall, one stripped and two partially stripped. Okay, you can ask, but it's a lousy story.

Now and then, Fi climbs up the guitar case and onto a cabinet, from which she reaches out and takes a bite of loose wallpaper. I'll be reading away and hear a rrrrrriiiiiip noise and there's Little Fi with a strip of wallpaper in her mouth. I think I know what our next project is going to be (after the kitchen painting and flooring, which is taking us for-freaking-ever because things like broken appliances, backed-up pipes and electrical issues kind of get in the way).

In other news: After whipping out those 5 reviews, earlier in the week, I stalled out. But, that may not be a bad thing because posting 5 reviews at once and then not posting again means I averaged out to less than 1 post per day, this week. I'll continue to do mass posting if that's what works, but I'll try to always leave some break time in between, if I do so. It's just what's working for me, these days.

Just finished reading:

A Hundred Feet Over Hell by Jim Hooper - for the Vietnam Reading Challenge. It was so good I've been reading bits aloud to my husband. It's about a group of men who flew Bird Dogs (a type of Cessna plane that flew no faster than 130 mph -- low and slow) in and near the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam from 1968-69. There is a lot of exciting action and there are a few tear-inducing moments when pilots were lost, along with funny anecdotes about the goofball things the pilots did to unwind. One Hundred Feet Over Hell is just an all-around terrific read.

Recently Arrived:

Return to Paris by Colette Rossant
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Field Notes from a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert (Nick Hornby's fault - he mentioned it in Shakespeare Wrote for Money, which I will review soon) and
Ghost Hunting by Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson

All of those were acquired via Paperback Swap. Field Notes from a Catastrophe is about global warming and how it's affecting our world; you can see from my sidebar that I couldn't stand to wait and began reading it, immediately.

I also checked out a nice little stack of YA books from the library and one Christian book about how to stop being a worry wart. I'm reading one of the YA books, right now: Ruined by Paula Morris

I have not received any ARCs at all, lately. At the moment, I'm not accepting anything that will need to be reviewed before September, apart from one or two rare books I've requested that may or may not show up because I think they're first-come, first-serve and I'm poky. Kiddo is going off to college in the fall and I'm figuring I'll need some adjustment time to figure out what I'm going to do with myself, now that my stay-at-home mothering days will be over. Get a job? Travel? Go back to school? Return to painting, sewing and crafting? Spend time taking pictures of my newest baby (as if I don't do that enough, already)?

Just in front of that paw is a caterpillar. Smartyfurrypants tried to figure out how to get out the window, so I may have to share some of the other pics of Fi and the caterpillar, another time. It's been a few weeks; you can see the trees were still budding. We're in full leaf, now, and looking like a jungle.

Anyway, back to autumn. It'll be interesting, I think, to see what happens. Maybe I'll take dancing lessons. Or make daisy chains. Who knows? What do you think I should do?

Things I forgot to remember - I do that a lot, actually

A little irony, here, I think. Note the book No More Clutter in the midst of one of my crammed bookshelves:

The sheer quantity of books (not those pictured) that I haven't reviewed is starting to get insane, so I'm going to go ahead and go crazy writing mini-reviews, then I hope I will finally, finally get back to blog-hopping. I've missed reading other folks' posts, but when I did manage to read a few, last week, I found myself utterly speechless. I had nothing whatsoever to say. I'm not so sure I ever make brilliant comments anyway, but at least I can usually manage to type something.

This weekend, I bought a little pile. I'm allegedly on a book-buying ban, but . . . okay, forget it. There's no excuse. I bought the following:

Stealing Heaven - Elizabeth Scott

How Green Was My Valley - Richard Llewellyn (the spacing gods are out to get me, again)

Armageddon in Retrospect - Kurt Vonnegut

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period - Gennifer Choldenko

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You - Ally Carter

The Cat Inside - William S. Burroughs

The Printer's Devil - Paul Bajoria

I'm going to remove some of the images of books I've read and need to review from the sidebar, because it's looking a little heavy. But, here's what I have read and not reviewed in recent weeks (for my sanity, I think I'll cross them off as I review):

Custer Survivor - John Koster

Elephant a la Mode - T. Roy Nakai

They Were Just People - Tammeus & Cukierkorn

Fidelity - Grace Paley

First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria - Eve Brown Waite

The Making of the African Queen - Katharine Hepburn

The Cat Inside - William S. Burroughs

I'd Tell You I Love You, etc. - Ally Carter (see list above)

Spellbinder - Helen Stringer

How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff

I don't believe I've ever fallen quite so far behind. Oh, well. Things happen. C'est la vie.

My wonderful friend Cindi has asked me to post info about a contest that includes blog columnists and since it's relevant, I agreed. I'm copying her release verbatim, with the exception of the part where I substituted a link for the URL, so write to Cindi at the address noted, if you have any questions:

2010 NATIONAL SOCIETY NEWSPAPER COLUMNISTS CONTEST Print, Online and Blog-Columnists it is Win, Place or Show Time! Dust off your columns from 2009, find the ones that shine and enter the 2010 annual contest. Make this YOUR year for recognition. Submit with the best of the best and go for the gold. Entry forms and contest guidelines are an easy click away at the NSNC web page. You may just have the winning article...but you can't win if you don't play. It's that simple...GOOD LUCK!

For additional information contact: Cynthia Borris, National Society Newspaper Columnist Contest Chair cynthiaborris@gmail.com

Yes, Cindi, I really did dream God told me I'm fat. It was not my happiest moment.

I've had very few comments to approve for the last few days, probably because everyone's afraid that I'll regale them with stories of my dearly departed cat (don't worry; if I write about my cats, I'll just write stories about their lives as blog posts and I'll entitle them accordingly, although I don't plan to do so).

Yesterday, I took advantage of not having to reply and updated my sidebar a bit. I've removed the tribute to Dewey, but that doesn't mean I'll ever forget her. I simply felt like my heart needed me to put something even more personal in the sidebar. Yes, of course. The cats. Well, they were great pets.

After I added my kitties, I moved all links that smacked of advertising to the bottom of the sidebar. They're not advertisements. I'm not paid to put them in my sidebar; I added them by choice. But, my blog is meant to be a homey, chatty place and books aren't the only thing it's about. So, I decided to keep my tour group -blog directory - media links but move them to a less prominent position.

My third accomplishment was to finally list and link to the books I've read since 2005 in my sidebar. This is something several people have asked me to do. I don't know how to create tabs, so I decided to just go ahead and set up links. Easy peasy. They're lists by month - title and author only. Just for the heck of it, I tossed in my reads from 2000, as well. Typing up all that info was surprisingly fun. Now, I know when I first read Paul Auster, which year I read that Faulkner "with" my eldest (he pretended to read it), and how the variety of books I've read has changed in recent years. Well, I think it's interesting.

Coming up next: A Brevity Test. I usually fail. This time, I'm determined. We'll see how that works out.

Happy Monday!

Bookfool, only cringing a little at the task before her

The Sum of His Syndromes by K. B. Dixon and a bunch of malarkey (it *is* Monday, after all)

The Sum of His Syndromes by K. B. Dixon
Copyright 2009
Academy Chicago Publishers
126 pages

Sometimes the monotony of good ole common sense can simply flatten you. You can nod yes for just so long before somewhere deep inside you fall asleep.

There are times when I no longer know what it is I'm thinking. I mean, sometimes I get caught up in one of those regressive loops--thinking of myself as someone who is thinking of himself thinking of himself. Other times it's just a spooky white noise.

Dave Linden once got kicked in the head by a fireman. He deserved it.

This week Dr. C is suggesting some sort of compromise approach to what we are calling my issues. We should be "eclectic." I told him that while I'm frequently in favor of such approaches in this case it was something I could see right through. It was nothing more than chemistry in reason's clothing.

Paul Maynard once touched a porpoise.

David is a depressed man who hates his job, is falling in love with a girl named Kate but pretty sure her friend Lisa is going to talk Kate back to her senses and he'll lose her, is on his third psychiatrist (Dr. C) and has one close friend who is pretty strange, himself. David fights the idea of medicating his syndromes into submission. He's not exactly a people person and he takes notes in the sixth-floor men's room because he knows nobody will bother him there.

The Sum of His Syndromes is written entirely in little soundbites like those quoted above. It's a quirky little book, rather plotless. There's never any kind of resolution to the separate storylines embedded within the protagonist's offbeat observations, and yet there's something oddly appealing about it. The writing is idiosyncratic but intelligent, sometimes funny, frequently thought-provoking. The quote on the cover says this:

This is the kind of book where we see a bit of ourselves and grimace--but keep reading.
--A. M. Homes

That summarizes The Sum of His Syndromes pretty well. I think most everyone will feel a little familiarity with some aspect of David's life; there's something we can all relate to in this book. I had a grand time reading The Sum of His Syndromes.

4/5 - Bizarre fun in the form of snippets: observations about bits of conversation overheard, thoughts about the protagonist's everyday life at work, on dates, with his best friend, at the psychiatrist's office. I would have liked a bit of resolution--the book simply ends without wrapping up anything at all. But, The Sum of His Syndromes is uniquely entertaining and I'd love to read more by this author.

Woe betide the woman who turns down an author's offer to review and discovers she loves his writing. I'll just have to order Mr. Dixon's other books, later on. I'm still purging like crazy, donating tons to the local library. Children's books are always, always gone by the time I return to donate more -- whether fiction or nonfiction. It's interesting to see what quickly disappears and what lingers in the library basement, waiting for a new home.

Today, the weather sucks. That's good, really good. I finished reading Schooled by Gordon Korman -- a YA novel that I began reading in the hope that it would break last week's reading slump. Victory! It worked! So, I moved on to Mass Casualties by Spc Michael Anthony, a tour book I'll review soon. After I closed Mass Casualties, I started reading Extras by Scott Westerfeld. I knew this book left Tally Youngblood and her story behind, but it was still a bit of an adjustment. I'm enjoying Extras; it's just very different from the rest of the Uglies series.

During the weekend, I managed to finish the first of two stories in Angels at Christmas by Debbie Macomber. It was the usual sweet, light Macomber story with the three crazy angels: Shirley, Goodness and Mercy. At the moment, I don't feel like reading the second story and am unsure which Christmas book I'll attempt next. I have a couple that simply weren't grabbing me, but then nothing was really grabbing me, last week, so I'll just see try again and see what clicks. Devil's Cub wasn't even capturing me -- and it's by Georgette Heyer! If I can't get into Devil's Cub, it will be the first Georgette Heyer book I've ever set aside. And, I'll be freaked out, but I'll probably get over it.

I just removed Can God Be Trusted? from my sidebar for the same reason. It's just not keeping my attention. Every now and then, I have to totally shake up my reading material because I'll balance 5 or 6 books and all of a sudden none of them appeal to me. It's the weirdest thing. That may happen, soon but, at the moment, at least Extras and Look Who's Laughing are keeping my attention. Look Who's Laughing is a book I bought when our local Bible Factory Outlet went out of business, about 3 years ago and yet another book that I "just happened across" while cleaning to make room for the treadmill we ordered as a Christmas gift to ourselves (see sidebar about the message from God).

I'm afraid to look at my Google Reader. But, I visited a couple of Blogger blogs, today, and had no trouble commenting. Have I missed anything wonderful? I hate doing mass deletes, but sometimes readers are a pain. They taunt you with all the posts you're not getting around to reading. I refuse to kill myself over a lack of proper blog-hopping, so I did a mass delete to ease my mind. Right now, making space and purging, home repair and updating are my priorities. My brain is full. I anticipate taking off a couple of weeks, soon, and then after the holidays things should get back to normal.

Have you read anything unbearably wonderful, lately? Share a title and author with me. I still want to know what you're reading and loving. Skip the ones you hated. I'm fine with just the good stuff.

Happy Malarkey Monday!

Bookfool, getting into the Christmas spirit a wee bit late

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst
Copyright 2007
RazorBill (Penguin Young Readers) - Fiction/Fantasy
261 pages
Author's website

Love? He loved her? It was as if the trumpet girl had released a dam. More questions tumbled into Princess's swirling mind: How could he love her? He barely knew her. She barely knew him. She barely knew herself.

"Indeed," said his mother, the queen. "Your brother said the same about the girl from the last midnight, and she was little more than a scullery maid with high-quality shoes, when all was said and done." She fixed her gaze on Princess, and Princess felt like wilting. "Are you a true princess?"

Was she? She didn't know. If she wasn't a princess, what was she? This time, when Princess reached back for a memory, it felt as if she slammed into a wall inside her head.

A modern-day fairy tale, Into the Wild tells the story of Julie, daughter of Rapunzel, sister to Puss-in-Boots (he must be adopted) and granddaughter to a witch. All have escaped from the Wild, a place where fairy-tale characters are doomed to repeat the same stories over and over, again. The Wild lives under Julie's bed and it occasionally turns a shoe into a seven-league boot or steals a pair of jeans. But, the Wild is at least under control where it lives . . .

. . . until, one day, someone makes a wish in the magic wishing well and releases the Wild. Utter disaster rules as the Wild grows, sucking regular people into stories and dooming the characters who once escaped into returning to their old fairy-tale lives.

Julie has uncomfortably straddled the normal world and the world of fairy tales for her entire life. Now, with her mother locked inside a tower, her brother searching for his true love and granny on the verge of baking small children, Julie has no choice but to save the day. But, it's very important that she not allow herself to become one of the stories -- or, if she does, she absolutely must not reach an ending because then her memory will be lost and she will be doomed to repeat a story, as well.

As Julie ventures deep into the Wild, she faces all kinds of fairy-tale dangers. Can she outsmart the wicked witch she once knew as her grandmother, pass all of the necessary tests and save the world from the Wild? Or will she get caught in a story and never see her family, again?

Oh, my gosh, what a ridiculously fun book! I read this book two weeks ago and it's still as vivid as if I'd just closed the book. Sarah Beth Durst spins a marvelous tale and I absolutely can't wait to get my mitts on her next two books, Out of the Wild and Ice. Into the Wild has all the requisite features of a hero's journey. Julie is a reluctant heroine who goes on her quest with trepidation but gradually learns to trust her own instincts.

I did easily figure out who had wished for the Wild to grow, but that didn't bother me. It's a wildly imaginative, modern-day fairy tale that blends the old with some hilarious and often frightening new twists.

My thanks to Book Nut for the recommendation. Confidentially, I try not to visit Melissa's Book Nut blog too often because she can easily turn my wish brick into a wish mountain in under a month. Frightening. I'll keep working on all the books that are her fault and then, once I've hacked that pile down a bit, will go back for more ideas. If you love YA and aren't terrified of what Melissa can do to your wish list, visit her blog. Melissa's an awesome reviewer.

4.5/5 - Magical storytelling with a delightful modern twist, a heroine who is easy to love and a terrific cast of characters.

In other news: I've been so busy with family, chores and sick kitty that I haven't spent a great deal of time online and didn't bother to do a NaNoWriMo update but I stopped deliberately at just over 30,000 words because I wanted to take my time making sure I didn't write myself into a corner (which, unfortunately, I have done in the past). I love my setting, my characters and my idea, but the plot definitely needs work.

In case you're wondering, I'm very happy stopping at 30,000. Altogether, I wrote close to 44,000 words during November. If I could have lumped the two stories together and tossed in another 6,000 words to win, I probably would have because I had 10 days left when I chose to stop -- more than enough time to come up with 6,000 words and certainly enough to have won if I was willing to take the chance that I'd just end up throwing half of my work down the toilet. Since I've won twice, I didn't feel obligated to kill myself trying. I'd rather stop at a point that I feel gives me more room to maneuver; I do tend to write myself into a tangled mess when I write fast.

So, I consider NaNoWriMo a success. I like what I'm writing; I didn't burn out to the point that I can't even stand to look at my story, and I hammered out quite a bit of writing. Fractured or not, 44,000 words in 20 days is a decent output.

Kitty Update: We have found out our beloved Miss Spooky is terminally ill. She's got "a bone marrow disease," but the doctor said there are 10 different possibilities and the treatment is the same for each -- antibiotics and steroids to support a system that is no longer producing antibodies -- so we aren't going to put her through the stress of testing her bone marrow to determine which disease she's suffering from. We found this out when her good eye (she went blind in one eye after the first episode) began to bleed internally and pressure started to build.

Miss Spooky can apparently see a little light but she's functionally blind and has spent most of the day (since I brought her home from the kitty hospital, this morning) curled up on a fat blanket on the floor. She ran into a few walls before I finally got her to relax and settle down. She's a little freaked out. While Spooky had adjusted well to being blind in one eye, she seems to be pretty distraught about not being able to see much out of either eye. I can't say I blame her.

That's about all the news from the House of Bookfool. I haven't finished many books, but I hope to have a Children's Day, sometime soon, and I've got a couple of book tours coming up. If I can, I'll squeeze in my October Reads in Review, tomorrow.

Happy Saturday!

Bookfool

Thursday Spaz Report

I'm sitting in my office, which looks a little more like the inside of a tornado than an office but we won't go there, yet. There's a squirrel climbing down the oak tree outside my window and another one sneaking up behind him. The cat's asleep. My bee sting of two days ago itches. And, I don't feel like writing. At least, not yet. So, you get an update on reading and writing (and possibly arithmetic).

I'm totally spazzed, today, because I lost my mind and decided to move the futon from our office to the den -- mostly to keep my husband from buying a new sofa. I want to use the available space to shift things around before filling up that room (which you may recall has been recently carpeted after two years of being down to concrete) and moving the futon gives us room to paint the office. Yeah! Starting yet another project when we have half a kitchen and 90% of a den. What more could a girl want than to end up with 2/3 of an office?

Normally, if I can't sleep because of the husband's snoring, I go to the futon. Last night, I couldn't sleep because of the husband's snoring. But, there's no curtain in the den window because we're still finishing up the trim painting and that freaks me out. So . . . no futon, long night. Yep, totally spazzed.

I'm on the verge of finishing The Church of Facebook by Jesse Rice and have both enjoyed and been horrified by the ideas it presents about the concept of "community" and how Facebook and other social media (including blogging) lack important aspects of true community. And, yet, at this point I think he's saying that there's a certain amount of contentment that one gets from blasting info about one's life on Facebook, conversations on Twitter, etc. The "church" aspect is losing me a little. I should maybe not have read bits of this when I was sleepy and might do a little rereading before I review, but in general the book is mostly psychology and quite fascinating.

Yesterday, I listened to and enjoyed BlogTalkRadio's interview with the authors of A Climate for Change and thought it was very well done. I sent in a question for this particular interview, so if you listen in you can hear my question and author Katharine Hayhoe's reply. And, if you can't fathom parting with the money to buy the book, A Climate for Change is currently available in full, online, especially pertinent for those of you aren't North American and therefore can't sign up to win a copy. You can also purchase it as a download for a reader, if you're one of those people who have moved with technology in a way that makes my nose wrinkle.

I'm going to just do a quickie review of The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton, right now, this very minute because I felt like the best descriptive term I can come up with is . . . nyeh. Disappointing to have such a pitiful grasp of the English language, but at this very moment you'll recall that I'm spazzed, frazzled and basically wiped out. So, you get what you get.

The Bible Salesman is about Henry, a fellow who acquires free Bibles, which he sells door-to-door. He meets a thieving, lying, dangerous man named Preston Clearwater, who convinces Henry he works for the FBI and hires Henry to help out with his car-theft ring. Henry likes the money and loves the idea that he's helping the FBI, but he falls in love along the way and the whole FBI thing starts to lose its fizz. Eventually he puts two and two together and comes up with 9, which leads to a pretty exciting and satisfying ending. It's just that . . . maybe it was me, but I kept falling asleep while reading this book. I think I can give it about a 3.5/5.

Nano-wise, the writing on my bad sci-fi has gone well for the first three days -- which, of course, were really days 9-11 of National Novel Writing Month. I skidded to a halt at a total of 9,271 words, last night. Not bad for 3 days' work, but the LOL cat, above, describes my sentiments at the end of the day.

This has really been a tremendously slow reading week, but I've read about 100 pages of The Foundling by Georgette Heyer and find myself besotted with the Duke, who was born a sickly baby and coddled to the point that he's getting tremendously feisty. I love Heyer's feisty characters.

And, my husband has now cooked 4 of the recipes in How to Lower Your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food by Chef Alain Braux, (<---another Amazon link that doesn't benefit me, just in case you want to dash over to buy a copy). Kiddo gobbled up the pork chops, returning for seconds (moist, amazing, cooked in wine and topped with apples, celery and cheese) and I made my husband go back to the store to get more portobello mushroom caps to make a second round of stuffed mushrooms. Our pumpkin cheesecake is chilling.

The book is about 2/3 health book and it's the most interesting book on lowering cholesterol that I've read -- actually, I don't believe I've ever finished reading any of those I've attempted in the past. It's enjoyable to read at least in part because the author occasionally talks about his childhood in France. Those musings, along with fabulous recipes and very readable nutrition advice have made this book a 5-star for both myself and the husband. I hope to write a full review by this weekend and I'll add a favorite recipe when I do.

I think that's about all the news, for now. How are you doing? Still no blog-hopping for me. I'm feeling a tad lonely, but it's fun writing bad sci-fi. You should try it, sometime. Seriously.

Happy, Happy Thursday (or Friday, for those of you on the other side of the world)!

Bookfool: Reader, writer, counter of words

Sunday Scatterberry Pie and Roll Call -- a little bit of everything, in the usual fashion

I've just finished giving my cat her medicine, which essentially means trying to get her to swallow some antibiotic drops and ending up with antibiotic spit all over my hands. You've never had any fun until you've tried to pill or give drops to or put ointment in the eye of a lovable but feisty cat. That's an old photo at left, of course. Her left eye is completely black and she obviously can't see out of it, but she's already figured out how to jump up onto the futon and down onto the floor without incident. I'm so impressed with her adaptability. Miss Spooky: my hero.

I finished Crossing Myself by Greg Garrett, last night, and I know I'm going to have a terrible time reviewing it because the book is so meaningful that it hurts my head to think of distilling it down into a few paragraphs' worth of review. I'm considering just posting quotes -- nothing but quotes. Well, maybe a little bit of description, but I'll tell you about it a bit, right now. Greg Garrett is or was a tenured university professor at Baylor in Waco, Texas. He was successful in his teaching and in his published writing, but his private life was a disaster -- three divorces, two kids, often out of money and chronically depressed for over 20 years.

In 2002, he came this close to committing suicide but instead discovered the real meaning of faith and, while teaching at a Baptist university, began attending an Episcopal seminary. He talks about his life in those years, as he went from complete and utter mess to loving his life. This book is so cool. I ordered Crossing Myself from Paperback Swap because I've got another Garrett book for review, a recent release called No Idea. I can't wait to see what new things he has to say.

I heard the best story, yesterday. That's a photo of an iron-clad Confederate boat, at left. You'll understand why I chose that image, shortly. Kiddo has had to throw in the towel for the rest of the swim season because his shoulder injury was getting far too painful, so we were shopping for running shoes in Jackson. I figured if he's not going to have swimming to keep him in shape, we should train to run together (although you can imagine I'll never be able to run at the pace of a 6-foot, 17-year-old boy).

While we were shopping, we ran into one of my husband's work friends and he had a great story to tell. We'll call him Bob. Bob had to speak at a briefing, last week, and he and the other speakers went into it knowing the meeting was going to be extraordinarily dull. So, to ward off the boredom, they dared each other to insert some totally impossible word into their presentations. Bob was challenged to use the word "aluminum" in his part of the briefing. Aluminum, of course, was totally off-the-wall and plays no part in anything about which he was to speak, but he was determined to get that word in there and what he came up with was, "This is not an iron-clad plan. This is an aluminum-clad plan." After the presentation, the Big Boss came up to him and said, "What was the deal with the aluminum remark?" And, Bob went away with a really great story that made us laugh our socks off in the aisle of Academy Sporting Goods. I wouldn't mind hanging out with Bob. He is one great storyteller and an incredibly cheerful, upbeat guy.

I'm currently reading a bunch of books, as always. I sometimes wish I could reign in my ADD brain and focus on one book at a time, but I actually tried to finish up $20 Per Gallon and discovered that it's best taken in small chunks (at least for me). So, I'm back to reading 3-page bits and pieces. It's a good book. I'm particularly fascinated with the descriptions of the new South Korean city, Songdo, which is being built entirely as a compact, energy-efficient satellite city that sounds a lot more like the Jetsons' world than anything I would have expected to exist in my lifetime. I'm thinking the book is a good one for people who plan to do world-building in preparation for writing science fiction.

Milky Way Marmalade seems to be the book that I can't stop burying, lately -- the one that needs a neon flag attached. I may set it aside for a week or two because I've got quite a list of books that I feel obligated to finish before the end of the month, even though I only have one remaining tour. Or, maybe I'll just restart it. I apparently love weighing myself down with nonexistent obligations.

The Interrogative Mood lost me at the halfway point. A book composed entirely of questions is fun . . . to a point. And, halfway was it for me. I can imagine it would generate some great discussion -- say, if a group were to read it and each individual choose his or her favorite questions for everyone to answer. But, as far as reading the entire book, the problem is that there's no story and no particular direction. Its a totally random book with question after question, most of which are not interconnected, although sometimes he goes on for a while with a particular train of thought. It made my son and me laugh when we read it aloud (and blush when one or two of the questions were sex-based) but there's a limit to how far you can take the fun. It should be a board game, not a book, I guess.

The Maze Runner is still grabbing me but took second place while I finished up Crossing Myself, last night. It seems likely that it will be the next book finished, if only because just thinking about it makes me want to kick my husband off the futon and curl up with it. But, I have things to do, so he can stay there and play with his little toy (some electronic Applepod thingy).

As to the Roll Call mentioned in my subject line . . . there's another story. I had around 240 hits in 24 hours, just after posting the zombie book review and I made the assumption that maybe people were looking up the zombie book, but just to find out I went on one of my rare jaunts to StatCounter and discovered that my hits were all over the map, as far as the searches that led them to my blog. When I first put up my stat counter, I fussed over the numbers and wondered what I should do to change things to keep people coming back. And, then at some point I decided that numbers are meaningless and I'm not in this for anything other than a mode of expression. I'm not blogging for free books. I'm not blogging to make money. I just need an outlet to babble about the books I love and a place to write freely.

Yesterday, I made the near-fatal mistake of looking at keyword analysis and then from there I ended up looking at unique visitors vs. return visitors and found that my statistics show that people don't return to my blog. That isn't entirely borne out by the comments but I know that some people I used to think of as "old faithfuls" aren't returning to my blog as often as they used to and that bothers me. After looking at my stats, I was ready to stop blogging right at that moment, close up shop, hide my blog and disappear. But, then I remembered checking off Day by Day Armageddon, last week, and saying to myself, "4 down, 17 to go." All of which means, I still feel burdened by the books that have been sent to me but not yet read or reviewed, so I'll keep chugging away.

But, I'd like to know who is out there lurking. Readers like Google Reader distort statistics because people often read a post but don't click through to comment. I'm pretty sure the fact that 56 people follow me in that little Google Friend thing that you can't find unless you go to my "about" page says something; and, the others who use readers of various types are still there but not always commenting. Still, I'd like to know, so if you could step forward and comment -- just say, "I'm here," it would help ease my mind.

I'm off to get ready for my Bible study. My own reader is oppressively heavy, again, and this week my son is off for "intercession" so I'll be in and out a lot. Kiddo needs to be entertained or he'll spend all day shooting at bad guys and watching movies in the dark. I wish everyone a wonderful week. If I'm unable to comment on posts, it's a temporary thing. I'll be back next week. In addition to dealing with intercession entertainment, we've got the Poison Guy to look forward to and a carpet installation, mid-week. Kiddo has a doctor appointment and will still show up for swim practice, even if he's not swimming. I have photos to load to the swim blog and cleaning and paint touch-up to do in preparation for the carpet dudes. It's going to be a busy week. Happy reading!

Don't forget to tell me you're out there, please!! Happy Sunday!

Bookfool, feeling just a wee bit lonely

Hello. Did you miss me?

I'm back! And, yes, I didn't admit that I was going somewhere because I live in a rather small town and it's unwise to say, "I'm going away," but . . . we've been in Costa Rica for the past week. That's my husband's hand -- holding a branch of a coffee plant to show coffee cherries at different stages of growth. We toured a coffee plantation and came home with a few bags of heavenly coffee.

And, wow, did we have a great time. I only managed to finish 2 books because Costa Rica is so spectacularly beautiful and the wildlife so noisy and distracting that I just couldn't read and fell right into bed at night. This will undoubtedly cause great stress during the coming weeks, but the trip was worth any angst I may have in keeping up. I'm thinking about starting up a blog just about our trip, although it may take me a while to get going. At the moment, I'm working on tossing out the bad photographs.

To keep myself from going crazy, I'll just go ahead and warn you that I have 4 book tours coming up this week and I haven't cracked open a single one of the books. So, I'll just post the info (all 4 are First Wild books, with a sneak peek chapter) and link up to reviews when I get to them. I can tell you I've received all 4 books and they all look fabulous. I've flipped through them and look forward to reading. The titles are:

The Unquiet Bones by Melvin Starr

So Not Happening by Jenny B. Jones

The Blood of Lambs by Kamal Saleem, and

So Long Status Quo by Susy Flory

I also have an author interview and a guest post to share, soon. I'm obviously going to have to do a mass delete on my reader, but I hope to begin visiting other blogs, soon. How was your week?

Just FYI, the rainforests are definitely worth saving.

6 Things That Make Me Happy Meme

Lisa tagged me for this meme and, boy, do I ever need to focus on the positive, today. I'm having a bear of a week. Note the kitty who is thinking positive, at left. I found this image online and it's not credited to anyone, so if anyone knows the source I'll be glad to provide the correct info.

6 Things That Make Me Happy

1. Space and Light -- I know, that's two. They go together. I need lots of both or I start to lose it. This is one of those weeks that I could definitely stand to have a big, empty room in which to paint, meditate, read, write or dance. Or, all of the above.

2. Books -- Yes, I suppose you knew that.

3. Critters -- All kinds. I love my cat. I'm quite fond of my kids (big critters, these days). I adore the little anole lizards that are absolutely everywhere around our house. I'm ridiculously infatuated with the hawks hanging out in our neighborhood and . . . shoot, I even like snakes. I just love critters. Except, I could really do without the loose dogs in the neighborhood and the insects that try to invade my house when the humidity hits. Books and critters together are also great, provided we're not talking critters who eat books. This critter is generally safe with books, apart from occasional knocking-over and pulling-off-the-shelf fits:

4. People who send or bring books to my house -- The mailman, the UPS guy, the FedEx dude, the guy in the yellow van. I'm very friendly to these people 'cause they make me happy. People who send books to me are way up there on my adoration list, too, as you might imagine.

5. Travel. Except to places where the natives eat, burn or are puzzled by books. My favorite places to travel have either phenomenal scenery, fascinating history or both. Good book shops are a bonus.

6. Long, hot, great-smelling baths. Fizzies. Bubble bath. Heaven.

7. Pickles. Because it would be boring just to follow the rules and write about 6 things, wouldn't it?

In other news . . .

Still battling sore eyeballs, but I'm reading plenty. Staying off the computer does seem to help a bit. You can see from my sidebar that I can't seem to settle on much of anything. But, I'm having fun with the books I'm reading. The Book of Unholy Mischief is heavy on the senses -- lots of food descriptions. Sometimes it makes me hungry. My friend Paula sent Shadow of Colossus to me (so, obviously, she's on my favorite people list -- actually, she's always way up there on my favorites list) and it grabbed me, immediately. Don't be fooled by the fact that two of those books, The Coasts of Canada and Fear in North Carolina, have been in my sidebar forever. I'm enjoying them; I just haven't been in a non-fiction mood.

I'm still working on the balance concept and if a book doesn't grab me I've got automatic permission to withdraw, so to speak. Fortunately, that's really not happening much at all -- I do have one DNF book to post about . . . just one. I've become a bit more selective when it comes to requesting advance readers and I'm mixing in plenty of other books from the library and my own shelves. 2009 has been a delightful reading year, thus far.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson arrived from Amazon on Wednesday and it's a quick, light read, so I whipped through it in an evening and plan to watch the movie (I ordered both book and movie, just for fun). Last night, I finished reading For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn. I'll try to get those reviewed as soon as humanly possible -- don't forget I'm having a drawing for 4 books about keeping the love alive in marriage. Almost nobody has signed up, so your chances are excellent.

For Women Only is really quite fascinating. My husband and I talked about some of what the author had to say about how men think and I admitted that much of what she discovered in her research was mind-boggling from a female point of view. Huzzybuns had trouble maintaining eye contact while discussing how he thinks, but in a cute way. He did a lot of nodding and grinning, indicating that the author did a good job of nailing what's most important to men. I'm going to read the companion book For Men Only and then attempt to coerce my husband into reading it, but he's kind of stubborn and everyone at work seems to be handing him books to read, lately.

Speaking of which, I'm also reading a math book my husband brought home, called Euclid's Window. I haven't added it to my sidebar because he keeps snatching it back, but it's tremendously engrossing for a book about math. The author has a great sense of humor.

I still haven't gotten far into A Lever Long Enough, but that's merely because I distracted myself by starting three other books. Silly me. I'm going to read a bit of Lever, after I get off the computer. Conan Doyle's Wallet is, thus far, making me wrinkle my nose.

On this day in Bookfool's Reading history:

In 1998, I'd just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and was in the midst of The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini.

Completely forgot to tag anyone -- tag! If you haven't done the "6 Things" meme, I just hit you on the shoulder. You're it. Have fun!

A Post-Thanksgiving Cocktail of Books and Cats and Other Fine Things

First, you get the Freaky, Big-Eyed Cat Photo because, frankly, I think this picture is hilarious:

That's our Miss Spooky, sitting on a dining table chair at Eldest Son's apartment in Memphis, where the entire family -- cat included -- spent Thanksgiving. Spooky does have gorgeous, big green eyes . . . but I think it's the angle that makes this photo look so wild. I took that shot with my phone camera.

From Turkeygate by Craig Medred -- I love the opening line of this article:

"Is this a strange country or what?"

After reading about people trampling each other for bargains (honestly, nothing is worth trampling a person, in my humble opinion), the availability of Christmas ornaments made from reindeer droppings, and a woman who blogs about nothing but Brian Williams' ties, I'm inclined to agree.

I hardly read a thing . . .

Thanksgiving was a reading wash, although I had one sleepless night during which I began to gobble up Fear in North Carolina: The Civil War Journals and Letters of the Henry Family, Compiled and Edited by Karen L. Clinard and Richard Russell. How's that for a mouthful of title? I am absolutely loving it. Cornelia Henry had a wonderful matter-of-fact journal writing style, so one minute you're reading about her sewing projects, the weather, what a great man she married (although a bit soft-hearted) or what kind of illnesses are going around the area and the next minute you're reading about which states have seceded from the Union, followed by a remark about a troublesome drunkard or the joys of motherhood. Cornelia's journals are a pleasant hodge-podge and the book itself is loads of fun because it includes scads of other info -- documents like the Old Mr. Henry's will and photos of the family, copies of advertisements from the time period (1861-1868), etc.

Also, because I apparently overloaded on sad reading material, I have begun to read an incredibly funny book called Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte, the story of how Tarte went from city-dwelling, pet-free life to country life with a startling menagerie. Ah, just the right amount of levity to get the squeaking, rusty brain cogs rotating, again.

We went to the Memphis Zoo and everyone became bored with my incessant photo-snapping, including the tigers:

Yawwwn. Finally, even God became dismayed and sent rain around the same time Eldest left to avoid going into a coma. I did try to warn him that I'm not fun to hang out with because I take a million photos, but nobody believes me till they experience the pain of standing around waiting for me to move on to the next exhibit.

Many thanks to Eldest and Girlfriend for the delicious meal and to Eldest's Girlfriend for allowing me to paw through her sack of used books. I came home with two books and she didn't get a thing, although I have a bag full that I would have brought along with me if we'd had just a tiny bit more room in the car. Note to S: Just ask if I mention anything you're dying to read.

Still reading:

Hurricane of Independence by Tony Williams - but I haven't touched it in a week. I hope to get back to it, tomorrow. Because the hurricane was tragic, this book was one of the two I felt that I needed to set aside for a few days, but I'm enjoying it.

Waiting for Daybreak by Kathryn Cushman - A very quick read, which I will probably finish tonight, Waiting for Daybreak tells the story of a pharmacist whose life was dramatically altered by a single error (this one's fiction). Now, working at a new job in her hometown and trying to help her parents pay for her mother's expensive experimental cancer treatment, Paige faces an entirely new set of dilemmas. I love Kathryn Cushman's writing style.

The Pages in Between by Erin Einhorn - Another I haven't touched in a week, but plan to get back to reading, very soon.

Grit for the Oyster - Still loving the uplifting messages in this book. Even though I'm not currently writing for publication, I've found that this book is very inspiring and I've finally begun to think, "Maybe I can get back to writing the way I used to." I highly recommend this book for Christian writers who need encouragement.

Hawk to Patrolman ratio:

Vicksburg to Memphis - 31 : 2
Memphis to Vicksburg - 34 : 0

Wow, not a single patrolman. I was shocked, especially given the weather on the drive home and the fact that a lot of people were driving with serious lead feet. Here's what we ran into on the return trip:

That's another phone photo. I'm just as obsessive with the phone camera as I am with the SLR. You should see my Pop Art (a photo of a soft drink cup with a straw jutting out to the side -- well, I think it's cool).

Off to bed with me. Nighty-night!

Just stuff

Stolen from Hey Lady Trish, because it's true. I'm lame:

I have a mental laundry list, you see. But, just like a written list (I have at least two of those going, at any given time), there are items I keep putting off and moving to the "new" lists that I create each day. Only, since this one's mental, I don't even get the satisfaction of making a little check mark in a column. I love ticking things off of lists. Anyway, I've mean to thank Care for this little award for eons. I'm probably the last to receive or post about this award and I was feeling pretty unloved. I mean, the cat likes me but some days I yearn for more. And, in fact, the cat had a tummy ache, this week, so even she was pretty unfriendly (she's improving). Thanks, Care!!!

Book-a-rama Chris gave me another award, but I have to confess . . . I don't get it. This blog inspires closeness? I think that's what it means. Typically, the awards have been around the block and back, so to speak. So, I'm just going to say "Thank you," and move on. Thanks, Chris!

I'm going to try to catch up on book reviews after cleaning our so-called "office" (meant to be a bedroom; used like a closet). It's a big job but somebody's gotta do it. But, wait! My son mentioned this fun site, Sad Guys on Trading Floors. I happen to know that a guy I went to school with, who never said a negative word to anyone (unless you count that crack about the Dorito) has been the Vice President of Global Affairs on the NYSE, for a time -- since he gave up that posh government job in protocol. So, while I was chatting with the son, I flipped through the photos to see if Jeff was in there, anywhere. Sure enough, there he was on page 3:

The dude on the right. That's Jeff. He used to have gorgeous black hair, but now he's distinguished. And, looking maybe a bit angsty, but it's hard to say. Jeff is a really upbeat guy. I hope this week didn't kill him. If you are currently friends with Jeff, tell him I wish next week is better -- partly because I talked my kiddo into chucking his summer earnings into a mutual fund. Har. Let's just call that "long-term investment", shall we? So much for the idea of saving for college.

I'm not making my giveaway a sticky post, so don't forget I'm giving away a book. I'll keep reminding you. Next up, a string of book reviews, probably low on chatter (but you can never tell, with me, can you?).

Happy Weekend!

September Reads in Review

My cat is reading Bedlam South. And, if you believe that one I have some excellent swamp-land . . .

September was a pretty decent reading month for me, although there were some odd gaps during which I finished nothing, nothing, nothing followed by a flurry of completed books. I suppose that's par for the course, but the gaps felt longer than normal. In the end, I completed 12 books with a total of 3,383 pages. There were dramatic highs and lows. I seemed to either love or hate a book, this month; there wasn't a lot of in-between. Maybe because of illness, books were held to a higher standard. If you're feeling lousy, you want to be enormously entertained ("vaguely" just will not suffice) between naps. If I reviewed a book, there will be a link you can click on to read the full review.

Bookfool's September Reads:

1. Talk of the Town by Lisa Wingate - Life and love in small-town Texas. I laughed, I cried; I loved this book.

2. The Words of War by Donagh Bracken - Civil War history; hard reading but it was worth the effort. Thanks to Mr. Bracken, I can now recognize names of critical players and battles.

3. Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland - Not about all the lonely people -- just a few of them, mostly Canadian. Sort of depressing, with an upbeat ending. Also, if you click on the link you can read probably the weirdest review I've ever written.

4. The Last Queen by C. W. Gortner - A fictional tale of Juana the Mad that seems plausible enough and treats her with sympathy. It was rough being royal. Well-written and engaging.

5. Blue Sky July by Nia Wyn - The true story of a mother who refused to give up on her severely damaged child and the miracle that emerged from her love and tireless effort. A book that deserves to be widely read. Beautifully written.

6. Chameleon, Butterfly, Dragonfly: A Divine Guide to Lasting Fulfillment by Cindy Silbert - New Age advice channeled to the author by a Hawaiian goddess. Breeni liked it. I found the book flaky and unhelpful.

7. Walking Through Walls by Philip Smith - Twofers on the "yeesh" factor. Psychic healing, drugs, sex, rock 'n roll. Readable, but sordid. Not my thing.

8. Farworld: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage (YA) - Ah, there we go. Adventure with a sense of humor. A few too many bad guys to easily keep track of, but whatever. Great escapist reading. The kiddo loved it and I appreciated the family-friendliness.

9. The Darcys and the Bingleys by Marsha Altman - My first Austen off-shoot and I had to work at letting go of my Mr. Darcy a bit, but once I did . . . such fun. Witty and surprisingly true to the characters in many ways.

10. Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky (YA) - Graphic sex without any real moral dilemma, no paying the consequences for reckless actions. A review would have been akin to throwing the author against a wall and shooting her, so I passed my copy on to a friend who will undoubtedly love it and review it in glowing terms.

11. An Inconvenient Truth adapted for a New Generation by Al Gore (YA) - The kids' version of Al Gore's book on global warming, packed with photos and very well presented (although I do believe a few of those charts would go over kids' heads). Made me want to hug my trees, save the rainforest and the glaciers, snuggle up with a polar bear. I don't see how anyone could disbelieve the evidence, but my husband and I promptly had an argument about global warming and I had to explain those past warming fluctuations and how they compare with the current warming trend. I claim victory in that little tiff.

12. Awakening the Genie Within by Bettye Johnson - The author is old and shares plenty of wisdom, but her religious beliefs are so far removed from mine, that . . . again . . . I thought a review would be a slaughter. I'm not willing to flay authors, so I'll just tell you that the book is similar to Chameleon, Butterfly, Dragonfly in its New-Age, female-power approach but with a dude named Ramtha (whose name is a registered trademark -- beat that) as the god being channeled. Too much of a stretch for me.

What now?

I just finished Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, this morning. The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser is rather chunky and I'm a little thick, myself, so it will take me a while. But, I have already had to reach for tissues. Musser knows how to engage a reader emotionally. I'm on the downhill slide in Occasional Therapy for Your Midlife Years by Ellyn Gamberg. It's hard to relate, at times, but it's a good book and it was just me getting hung up, not the author missing the boat entirely. I set The Dharma King aside because I hadn't touched it in a week, but not due to either the writing or the storyline. It was a focus issue. I've decided I'll start it over, again, in a week or two, so the reading can be fresh.

What about Bob?

Fred, first. Remember Bob and Fred, our spiders? Fred disappeared for a few days and then returned to the same old web. Bob hung out for a while and then abandoned his (gigantic, awe-inspiring, squirrel-entangling) web. Said the kiddo, "He's probably around. Bob's a mover."

Do you know your nursery rhymes?

Remember Jack and Jill? The old woman who lived in a shoe? Mary, Mary, quite contrary? I thought everyone knew those old Mother Goose rhymes until I moved to Vicksburg. I'd successfully used "Little Jack Horner" to clarify my last name, many times, while we were still living in Oklahoma. But, I hadn't tried that in quite a while . . . till school began in August. The new security guard at my son's school was having a terrible time remembering my name, so I said, "Do you know your nursery rhymes? Remember this, when you see my car . . . 'Little Jack Horner sat in the corner.' " Apparently, she doesn't know her Mother Goose. She's been calling me "Miz Corner," ever since.

Off to my corner to read. I've got to go motivate the teenager to work on abstracts while he's off school. He has this really, really bad grade he needs to fix. This is one of those points during which a mother says to herself, "So, why did I stay home with my kids? I could have been earning money, setting an example for hard work and watching my retirement income disappear!" Actually, that last bit makes staying home sound worthwhile.

Giveaway coming up when I can get to it. Be patient with me, please!

Three things: A contest Two contests, the heat, the links

First things first: The Story Siren is having a contest in honor of reaching 20,000 hits at her blog. Read the post and email answers to her questions in order to enter the contest. Okay, uck, I've edited three times and I can't get that link to the contest to work, so if you're getting http:// and blogger.com in front of the second http://, please just delete everything in front of that second http and it should work. Blogger is really starting to tick me off.

And, another one! Dar at Peeking Between the Pages is giving away a copy of The Host, here! All right! I am so dying to read that book.

Second, it's 99 degrees out. I am melting. I can't accomplish a thing. Someone send me a breeze, please? Just a little bitty bit of that nice, cool Canadian air or, you know, a UPS box full of glacial ice (I know, it'll melt, but it's the thought that counts) or maybe . . . penguin thoughts. Anything cool will do.

Third, I am sitting on my butt far too much and realizing that I need to tidy up the link list in order to stop myself from wasting time visiting folks who don't visit me or haven't linked to my blog or (ick) those who have ditched me. However, I really don't want to offend anyone. So, if you've meant to link up to my blog or you're just a fly on the wall and you want me to leave you as is, put you back up, add you, etc., just let me know. I love my fellow bloggers. I just don't want to turn into a giant toad because I sit too much. Plus, I have a few friends I have to add because I love them.

Obviously, I adore you if you're reading this post. Doesn't it feel good to be loved? Here's another cold photo, just because . . .

Bookfool, all gushy with bloggy love and still dreaming of mountains and ice and breezes

A Brief Update and a Smooch

First the smooch.

Isn't that a sweet photo? I went for a drive out to the local prairie dog village and there are tons of youngsters. I'll have to go visit them, again. I could sit all day watching the kids play. Sending virtual hugs to all my blog buddies. I'm missing you!

And, an update:

Not that we're unusual in this, but we've had loads of storms and even a trip to Burger King has been a little difficult to squeeze in. Last time I was here (Saturday), the signal was hinky and I couldn't post a thing. Since I'm getting good work done at my mother's house, I'll probably be here another week and then I hope to get back to blog-hopping when I return home. I miss visiting everyone and reading your posts!!

Bookwise, I've finished the following:

Simple Genius - David Baldacci (audio - listened to it on the drive up) - found this one way over the top, but the author's notes at the end made sense of some of the historical background.

Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert - Loved it! The portion set in India bored me, at first, but I loved the way that section ended and enjoyed the final third. It ended up a big thumbs up, at least for me. I've noticed reviews on this one are quite polarized.

Overcoming Hurts and Anger - Dwight L. Carson, M.D. - This one came from a stack of books that I'm referring to as my mother's "angst pile". I read it out of curiosity but it was really fascinating and more about discovering how the reader can determine how s/he handles anger and what to change in order to handle daily hurts more effectively than about overcoming past hurts. I really enjoyed reading it and learned quite a bit about myself and my family.

Facts the Historians Leave Out: A Confederate Primer - John S. Tilley - Originally copyrighted in 1951, this one is from my mother's collection of history books. At only 76 pages, it was a very quick read and engrossing. I don't agree with everything Tilley said, but then there's a lot I don't know. It's basically a book that defends Southerners and describes the basis for Confederate secession and I found it very informative.

In the Land of Dreamy Dreams - Ellen Gilchrist - for the Southern Reading Challenge. The verdict: that new cover shown in my previous post is probably stock art and absolutely does not fit the book at all. Most of the stories are set in the South, all have at least a few Southern characters and there's only brief mention of a kimono in someone's closet -- no other Asian references. New Orleans and Mississippi are heavily featured and the stories are amazing. I'll try to do a full review of this one when I return home. It's a great book.

Return from Tomorrow - George Ritchie with Elizabeth Sherrill - Another book in the same vein as 90 Minutes in Heaven (published in 1978 -- the fact that the author's experience occurred during WWII makes the background alone worth the read) but a little harder to believe as the man claimed his spirit tried to travel to Richmond, Virginia and he realized he had left his body when he reached (of all places) Vicksburg, Mississippi. So, he turned around and floated back to where his body lay covered by a sheet . . . and then met up with Christ. I got a kick out of the Vicksburg portion, but I found myself struggling not to laugh or at least roll my eyes. Sorry.

Early Widow - Mary Jane Worden - Another book I read purely out of curiosity. My mother was widowed at 56 and I was so wrapped up in my own grief that I guess I just wanted to know what her side of losing my father was like. It was a heart-rending, grab-the-tissues book. But, it also spoke of healing as it was the journal of a young widow and each month brought progress in her healing and that of her children.

About to finish: The Queen of Sleepy Eye by Patti Hill

Not sure what I'm going to read next. I'm having fun digging through my mother's books. It's been a beautiful day, although it's clouding up, now. Here's a photo from my mother's garden, taken during a sunny break:

Wishing everyone sunny days and happy thoughts!

Little Bookfool on the Prairie