7 Things I Love (Aside from Books)

Cath and Pat both did this meme and since I like never have anything to talk about lately, I thought I would share more about me! Fun, I know!

7 Things I Love (Aside from Books)

1. My computer. Even if I have been pretty quiet lately, I miss the conversations that I normally have on here! I know so many people just from getting bored one day and starting a blog...

2. History. Though I majored in English in university, history is and always will be my first love. Nothing gives me more of a thrill than reading history books... I am not even kidding! I didn't read enough this year, though. I hope to do better in 2010.

3. Canada. I am very proud to be Canadian. I love Canadian History and Canadian Literature and Canadian music... I pretty much like everything Canadian. We are not perfect, but I really wouldn't choose to live anywhere else in the world. It's a shame, though, because the economy sucks right now and I probably SHOULD go elsewhere...

4. Trips! Most of my trips the last couple years have been day trips, but they are fun! I enjoy getting out of the norm from time to time. Me and the cc are always on the road. Is gas expensive? Yes! Should we go places less? Probably... but I don't want to! You only live once!

5. Music. I will never be a music junkie, but it is still very important to me for relaxing reasons. When I am overwhelmed with things music always makes me feel better. It also helps with things I don't like... cleaning and cooking.

6. Order. My books, movies, etc are in PERFECT order. My sister thought she would be nice once and she REARRANGED my books. I was horrified. Her boyfriend thought I looked like I was going to cry... But, it drove me crazy! I had to rearrange them back to the way they were.

7. Water. I couldn't imagine not being away from the water... I also like lighthouses, sailing ships, and other ocean-related things. I don't like to swim, though... And, well, I don't really like to DRINK water. I just like living near it.

7 Things I DON'T Love

1. Hot Dogs and sausages. I think this explains itself. How do people eat these things? Yes, I probably eat lots of other stuff that is equally as disgusting, but gross.

2. Slow people. I am way too impatient for my own good, I know. I do TRY, but I hate waiting around for people! This applies to traffic... I want to at least go the speed limit people!

3. Shoveling snow. I hate, hate, hate shoveling snow! I can handle snow, but I hate that you have to shovel it. It takes forever and is just a pain.

This is hard... I am not in a cranky enough mood for hateful things...

4. Crowds. I did not go near the malls on Christmas Eve, or most days leading up to it, because of this fact. I feel closed in and I hate it. It also lends to the slow people and other general annoyances... I would not live through Black Friday!

5. Cooking. I am a lot better than I used to be, and I have experimented a bit, but generally I hate cooking and wish I didn't have to do it!

6. Cleaning. I think this is a most people thing, right? I don't mind laundry and a few other things, but I hate vacuuming and doing the dishes.

7. I thought I was done with the last one. *thinks* Mornings. I am not a morning person. I prefer staying up late and sleeping in the next morning...

Advent Calendar: The Strange Synopsis Christmas Movie Quiz

Yes, the very bad Advent Calendar co-host actually is posting her post! I am impressed, too! I wanted to take a moment to send a BIG thank you to Marg for all the work she has done for the last part of the tour. I started a new job and let me tell you, don't start a new job before Christmas.... I have been lurking, but I am hoping this weekend to catch-up with all the posts I missed. Happy Holidays to everyone! If Marg hasn't replaced me we will be back with it again next year and I hope that everyone will join in again! It's a lot of fun. Anyway, to my post:

Once a year, like clockwork, Carl and I come together to bring you the Advent Calendar post for Christmas Eve. Generally we try to do a little something to clear out the holiday planning cobwebs and hopefully bring a smile to your face. This year our minds have concocted:

The Strange Synopsis Christmas Movie Quiz

On each of our sites you will find a list of movie synopses, each representing a Christmas/holiday film. To make things a bit easier, each list is followed by the answer pool, in random order. Each answer corresponds to one of the questions. You will find the answers to each quiz on the opposite site. So, the answers to Kailana’s Quiz are on Carl’s site and the answers to Carl’s Quiz are on Kailana’s site. Confused yet? Good! Take another swig of nog and lets begin.

1. Guy lassoes the moon, marries blonde sweetheart. Financial crisis pushes guy to deep six himself in the local river before rescue arrives in the form of a divine messenger (no, not Obama!).
2. Average Joe, best known for his questionable home improvement skills, inadvertently kills a beloved gift giver, gains a new career path, and along with it a pretty extreme glandular disorder. Meanwhile, psychologist’s desire for weenie whistle finally fulfilled…try not to think of the psychological implications of that one!
3. Red-headed baby raised by vertically challenged family with a penchant for rhyming names. Grows up. Gives kids presents if they sit on his lap and give him a kiss. An unfortunate incident with a duck-on-wheels leaves him a wanted outlaw. Choo-choo train thaws out frigid old crank. Man’s best friend is a honking penguin.
4. Depressed kid with self-esteem issues chooses sentiment over sense in picking out Christmas tree. Verbal abuse ensues. Best friend with fabric fetish waxes eloquent on the true meaning of Christmas. Depressed kid triumphs.
5. Guy hurts arm in war, milks injury for the rest of his life. He and his buddy perform cross-dressing musical number, count blessings, have a tendency to break into song and dance without the least provocation, and, despite bumps in the road, get the girls in the end.
6. Starship captain (in another life) granted opportunity to change course. After three late night visitors, cries out, “Make it so!”.
7. Y-chromosome challenged household celebrates Christmas while father is at war. Put on plays. Shock the neighbors with their tomboyish ways. Time passes and all but one young lady leaves the home to pursue her own path. Another Christmas finds them together again before tragedy strikes. One of many lessons is that it is preferable to marry for love, rather than money.
8. Despite evidence to the contrary, this film purports that a kid playing with a loud toy is actually enjoyable for a new mother and her infant child.
9. Kid dreams of a weapon of not-so-mass destruction, hounds steal turkey, a major award is won…and lost. The potential for violence exists on every daily journey to and from the institute of learning, and the injustice and fury builds until a young man has his very first “oh, fuuuuudge!” moment.
10. Family, including some not wanted, descends upon one man’s castle as he attempts to light up the neighborhood and have an old fashioned Christmas. Even if it kills him. The family feline discovers electricity, an employer makes a decision that ends up haunting him, and a cousin makes every embarrassing relative you’ve ever had suddenly look so much better.

So there you have it. Now, as an aide, here are all the answers to the above synopses in random order. If you don’t know an answer, move on to the next. Perhaps process of elimination will help with the more obscure hints and/or films you are not as familiar with.

1. A Christmas Story

2. Little Women

3. It’s a Wonderful Life

4. A Christmas Carol

5. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

6. The Santa Clause

7. The Little Drummer Boy

8. A Charlie Brown Christmas

9. White Christmas

10. Santa Claus is Comin to Town

Try your hand and then head over to Carl’s site to check out his Quiz and to find out if your answers to my 10 questions were correct. Afterwards, head back over here to check out your answer’s to Carl’s Quiz.

No fair peeking.

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Here they are:

1. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

2. Miracle on 34^th Street

3. The Family Man

4. Frosty the Snowman

5. A Muppet Christmas Carol

6. While You Were Sleeping

7. Love Actually

8. Elf

9. Shop Around the Corner

10. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Thanks so much Carl for another fun year! I look forward to what we come up with next year!

Two More Challenges!

I need more challenges like a need a whole in my head, but I am signing up for them anyway! I really should cut myself off after this because I haven't been reading so much the last part of the year, but we will see what happens!

The Essay Reading Challenge 2010

Here are the basics:

~ Join anytime, but don’t start reading until January 1, 2010. The challenge ends November 30, 2010.
~ If you read a book of essays, that book can also apply to any other challenges you are working on.
~ Choose a goal of reading 10, 20, or 30 essays, and then write a challenge post, linking back to this post. Feel free to copy and paste the above image into your challenge post.
~ Copy your challenge post’s link into Mr. Linky below.
~ You don’t have to list your essays ahead of time – just have fun reading throughout the year.
~ I will put up a page for the challenge in my left sidebar, and add a Mr. Linky for essay reviews and wrap-up posts as the year goes on.
~ Everyone who completes the challenge and writes at least one review will be eligible for the giveaway prize: A copy of Best American Essays 2010.
~ New for 2010: You can earn extra credit – and an extra entry in the giveaway – by writing an essay of your own and leaving the link at the challenge page.
~ I will put up a wrap-up and giveaway post sometime early in December – that’s why the challenge only runs through November.

I am going to aim for 10 essays. I have no idea what yet, but I will add this challenge to my sidebar!

Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon (16 essays)

Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon (39 essays)

Graphic Novels Challenge 2010

So - rules and guidelines:

• The challenge starts on January 1st 2010 and ends on December 31st (but we don't mind you starting early.)
• You don't have to make a list beforehand (but you can, of course! Lists are great because they give ideas to people who aren't sure what to read. And if you do make one, don't feel forced to stick to it!)
• We simplified the levels of participation: you can be a Beginner (3 Comics or Graphic Novels), Intermediate (3-10) or an Expert (10+). You're more than free to adjust your level of participation after the challenge has begun.
• There will be mini-challenges! Look for a post with more info on that soon.
• Overlaps with other challenges are totally fine.

I did this challenge this year and read a LOT of them! I am sure I can handle 10+, but since I don't want to stress myself out next year I am just going to go with 10.

1. Mercy Thompson: Homecoming by Patricia Briggs
2. Amulet - Book One: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
3. Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere by Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry
4. Dracula Adapted by Michael Mucci, Ben Caldwell, and BIll Halliar
5. Black is for Beginnings by Laurie Faria Stolarz
6. The Baby-Sitters Club: A Graphic Novel - Kristy's Great Idea (Book 1) by Raina Telemeier
7. Jack of Fables: Book Five - Turning Pages by Bill Willingham
8. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle
9. Redwall: The Graphic Novel by Brian Jacques
10. Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Death and Dementia Illustrated by Gris Grimly
11. The Photographer: Into War-torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders by Emmanuel Guibert
12. Outlaw: The Legend of of Robin Hood by Tony Lee
13. The Unwritten - Volume 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
14. Jack of Fables - Volume 6 - The Big Book of War by Bill Willingham
15. Fables - Volume 13 - The Great Fables Crossover by Bill Willingham

16. Courtney Crumrim - Volume 1 - The Night Things by Ted Naifeh

17. Bone - Volume 4: The Dragonslayer by Jeff Smith

18. I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly & JM Ken Niimura

19. Bone - Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border (Volume 5) by Jeff Smith

20. The Muppet Show Comic Book: Meet the Muppets by Roger Langridge

21. Stitches: A memoir by David Small

22. Mercury by Hope Larson

23. Bone - Old Man's Cave by Jeff Smith (Book 6)

24. Bone - Ghost Circles by Jeff Smith (Book 7)

25. Jack of Fables Volume 7: The New Adventures of Jack and Jack by Bill Willingham

26. Bone - Volume 8 - Treasure Hunters by Jeff Smith

27. Bone - Volume 9: Crown of Horns by Jeff Smith

28. Fables - Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love by Chris Roberson

It's me!

This is just a general post... I am feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. I think all the stress of the last few months is catching up with me. I tend to get quiet in December anyways, but if I am really quiet I am still alive! I just have too many thoughts running through my mind and blogging is not coming naturally. I also haven't been reading and commenting on blogs. I am just going to hibernate until January. Think of this as an unofficial hiatus. If I post, I post! If I don't post, it would probably be a good thing. I will likely do best of lists and there are still a couple more challenges I want to sign up for; plus there is always the Virtual Advent!

Anyway, don't forget about me! I seem to think that if I don't post a lot I will come back to silence, but that is silly. I hardly posted at all in 2008 and people still read my blog! lol

Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto

Today is a buddy review with Amanda from The Zen Leaf. I needed another read for the Japanese Reading Challenge and she owned this book, so seemed a good a choice as any! I have the first part and then you can read the second part on her blog.

Banana Yoshimoto's novels have established her as one of Japan's finest and most popular writers, and an acclaimed and best-selling literary star all over the world. Now she delivers three novellas that develop her , sophisticated, resonant, and artfully simple vision, in Asleep, a book that is already an international best-seller and may be her most charming since Kitchen.

Banana Yoshimoto has a nuanced and magical ability to animate the lives of her young characters, and here she spins the stories of three women, all bewitched into a spiritual sleep. One, mourning for a lost lover, finds herself sleepwalking at night. Another, who has embarked on a relationship with a man whose wife is in a coma, finds herself suddenly unable to stay awake. A third finds her sleep haunted by another woman whom she was once pitted against in a love triangle. Sly and mystical as a ghost story, with a touch of Kafkaesque surrealism, Asleep is an enchanting new book from one of the best writers of contemporary international fiction.

Amanda: Hi Kelly! Well I suppose I'll just start this thing by asking what your overall thoughts are on the whole book before we split into talking about individual stories.

Kelly: Hi! I have to say that I wanted to love this book. There was just something about it that made me think I would, but then I finished it earlier today (Tuesday) and promptly the stories have left my head. I honestly will have to have the book close by to remember what happened, which is really bad! The third story probably stuck with me the best. There were aspects of the stories that I really enjoyed, but otherwise I probably will forget I have even read this book in the future. There was just nothing about it that was so amazing that it will stick with me forever. How about you?

Amanda: Well...let me just say, first, that I rescued this book from the throwaway pile at Half Price Books not long ago. I'd heard other people talking about Banana Yoshimoto in the past, but had never been interested in trying her books. I've not read a lot of Japanese literature. After reading The Housekeeper and the Professor, though, which I loved to pieces, I was really looking forward to trying more Japanese authors. This seemed short and quick, easy to read, and I'd heard it was simple and good. I wanted to like it. I expected to like it. But then I started reading, and was just bored. Sometimes almost offended by some of the things in the stories. By the end, I admit, I was skimming. I doubt I'll remember anything from these stories. I don't even remember anyone's names at this point, and I just read them.

I suppose we ought to break into sections for the individual stories? Or would you like to add anything else about the book in general?

Kelly: I have to be honest and admit that I saw you were going to be reading this book soon, so I added it to my library pile because I am in the Japanese reading challenge and am having a hard time finding books to read for it!

The first story is called 'Night and Night's Travelers'. I found this story a bit random. I think she was trying for some suspense by not telling everything right away, but I was just uninterested by it all. What did you think about it?

Amanda: Okay. Night and Night's Travelers. First let me say - since I'm not sure we have the same edition - that the back of my book was very misleading. What it said was that all three stories were about women who were bewitched into spiritual sleep. What it said about this story in particular was that a woman mourning for a lost lover starts sleepwalking. Maybe I just completely misunderstood the story, but I don't remember any sleepwalking at all! I mean, the narrator's cousin stays awake a lot at night, but she's not sleepwalking!

Because that was the first story in the book, it was the one I paid the most attention to. At this point, I still was assuming it was automatic that I'd like the book. I'm not sure why I just assumed that, but I did. It was a quick read, but in the end, I didn't feel like anything happened. The story didn't go anywhere, and I had no emotional response to it at all. And again, there was no betwitching, no "spiritual sleep," no "Kafkaesque surrealism" (which the back of the book also misleadingly said). I was disappointed. I wanted those things, especially the surrealism. I wonder if my disappointment was greater because of the misleading blurb? How about you? Did you have conflict with the back of your version?

Kelly: First I should say that I am weird and never read the back of the book. I was totally not sure what this book was about at all. I had heard of the author, so that was really all my criteria was for reading this book. I watched the first part of your response show up on my screen, though, so while you were typing I read my own back of the book. It says the exact same thing! So, yes, that is very misleading because if there was sleepwalking going on I entirely missed it. Unless it was a metaphor. Otherwise, that description makes no sense. So, I went into this book not really knowing what to expect and I was still disappointed.

Like you, since this was the first story in the book, I paid a lot of attention to what was going on. I knew we were going to be reviewing it, so I wanted it to be clear in my mind. Also, like you, I was less than enthused. I didn't feel like there was really anything going on and I couldn't sympathize with the characters at all. I just didn't care... It was just there and I read it and that is really all there is for me to say about it. It isn't even as if I can say I hated the story. I just didn't care enough to like it or hate it.

Amanda: I know what you mean. I didn't hate it either. I just didn't care. Which is strange, because many of the characters in it ought to have been interesting. I skimmed back through for their names - I'm bad with Japanese names, plus the characters just didn't stand out for me - and really, Mari, Yoshihiro, and Sarah were all interesting characters. Or they could have been. The problem, I think, was Shibami - the narrator. She was completely uninteresting, and since this was all told from her point of view, the other characters just kind of died out. For me, at least. I wonder if maybe this had been told from Mari or Sarah's point of view, would it have been more interesting? Maybe. I don't know. But as it was, it's already fading from my mind.

However - if it's okay to move on to the second story, "Love Songs," - I didn't find "Night and Night's Travelers" offensive. It was just there. "Love Songs," on the other hand, was plain awful to me. What did you think?

Head on over to The Zen Leaf to see the second half of the review!

The Changing Face of Book Blogging

In a few days I will have been blogging for 4 years! It is really hard to believe. I was supposedly doing my blog reading either, though, and I got to thinking about how blogging is a lot different now than it was four years ago. For starters, there are a lot more bloggers now than there were when I started! I just read the blogs in my blog roll on my sidebar. I didn't need fancy programs to keep up with everything. Now, I could probably read about twice the amount of blogs that I do now and would still not visit everyone. I am going through a period now where I am marking all as read more than doing any blog reading. It's a bit sad, really.

Then, there are the bloggers that don't blog anymore. It's sad.

When I started blogging there were really no review copies of books. Now, there is a feature called Mailbox Monday and I see people receive like 20 books in the mail and a lot of them are review copies. I remember how excited I was when publishing companies started contacting me to review for them. I still very rarely contact them. (Although, I did contact Penguin Canada, but that was an exception!) Reviewing books is a nice aspect of book blogging. I read a lot and my finances are not really of the type where I can afford to buy everything I read... So, it has helped me a great deal! This year I re-added the library to the mix, too. Review copies of books are a lot of fun, though. I get so excited when I get books in the mail. It is like Christmas!

It does bother me when new blogs either start up just to receive review books or they have been blogging for about a month and expect large quantities of review books. I honestly think reviewing books should be earned. That is my personal opinion, though.

On the review copy theme, there are now things like Blog Tours and companies that set up blogging tours. That is a very new thing. I do admit that sometimes I find Blog Tours tedious. I don't mind if it is spread out over a month, but one book being reviewed on several blogs all on the same day drives me crazy! If it is spread out over a period of time I will read the various reviews, but if you slam me with same review over and over again on one day I can pretty much guarantee that I stop reading after a while! There are exceptions. There is new thing called the Classics Circuit (I don't have the URL handy) and I think it is so cool! I mean, blog tours for dead authors is a fun idea, really.

Another thing that brings to mind is Reading Challenges. I remember when there were only a couple reading challenges. I remember me and my blogging friends at the time having unofficial ones every so often and Carl's challenges have been around as long as I have, but now, now it is just insane! I join them, yes, but I am starting to get a bit afraid of them. There are so many it is a bit over-whelming. I join too many, but there are still so many I could join... Just as scary is the amount that some of you join. I think I have too many, but I am small potatoes compared to other people!

All this really is leading up to me hating the fact that blogging is not always fun. There have been big... debates... this year about various issues. I feel like an outsider because I really don't care and very rarely say things, but I do hate that the issues have to be there. I think I will leave it at that. The last thing I want to do is stir up trouble.

Part of me really hates the fact that blogging sometimes seems like a popularity contest. I despise the Followers function on Blogger, for example. I love that people read my blog, don't get me wrong, but I don't feel the need to broadcast to everyone how many people read my blog. It's just not my thing. I also don't check blog stats or freak out about the amount of comments that I receive. The charming comedian is often telling me I am very laid back, and I guess I take that approach to blogging. That does not mean that I am oblivious, though. Just because I am quiet does not mean I am not paying attention! Sometimes I do get sad when my commenting is down, but not enough that I really seem to do much about it... That is just me hoping that I am not blogging for myself. That gets a bit dull!

I could go on and on. I notice a lot of changes in just the last year; let alone the last four! And, I was trying not to insult anyone. I hope I accomplished that! This is mainly just observations on things. I do know for sure that I am very grateful to everyone that reads my blog and I am happy to have met all the wonderful people I have met through book blogging. Thanks for making book blogging a mostly fantastic experience! I am going to shut up and go read now...

Week In Review

Random Thoughts

I am posting today after all! I was cleaning up my sidebars to get ready for next year and decided to wrap-up a couple of challenges. So, this post was born!

It snowed last night. Our first significant snowfall of the year, actually. Well, actually, it snowed in January, February, and March; but you know what I mean. I am both happy about the snow and not. At least it wasn't enough to shovel, but soon shoveling will start and I was so sick of shoveling last year! It was never-ending! I am not anymore excited about it this year. They are saying there is not going to be a lot of snow, but you really never know. I hope it doesn't snow on New Years this year. We had a snowstorm last year and I want to do something this year.

Challenge Wrap-Up

I am getting my sidebar ready for 2010, but first I wasn't sure if I have wrapped up all the challenges that end up on December 31. Many I finished a long time ago and stopped keeping track of, but I still have the 2009 Pub Challenge and Herding Cats on my sidebar. I have also finished The Arthurian Reading Challenge. I might keep it on the sidebar, though, because it doesn't wrap-up until March and I might read a few more books that count for it.

2009 Pub Challenge - The object was to read 9 books published in 2009. Young adult were not allowed because it is a Pub. My list:
1. Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong 01/27/09
2. Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs02/03/09
3. Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin 02/17/09
4. Storm Glass by Maria Snyder 05/01/09
5. The City and The City by China Mieville 5/26/09
6. I Met the Walrus by Jerry Levitan 05/04/09
7. The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine 07/07/09
8. The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman 06/02/09
9. Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear 02/17/09

I enjoyed all the books I read for this challenge. The Armstrong, Briggs, Franklin, Snyder, and Winspear were books in series that I really enjoy. The only two authors that were new to me were Jerry Levitan and James A. Levine. The rest I have read other books by. I don't know if I can pick a favourite because several of those books will probably make my best of list for the year.

Herding Cats Challenge - This challenge ran from April 1st to December 31st. The challenge asked for 5 books, but I read 9 that would count.
1. One Piece: Romance Dawn by Eiichiro Oda
2. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
3. Nation by Terry Pratchett
4. Skellig by David Almond
5. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
6. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
7. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
8. Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest
9. Marcelo In the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

Another list of books that I really enjoyed! They all had something about them that I enjoyed, so I am glad that I read them. I didn't not like any of them, which is always good. As opposed to the list above, there were more new-to-me authors than ones I had read before. The only authors I had read before were Terry Pratchett and Diana Wynne Jones.

Printz Project

The Printz Project is an on-going project. So far for it I have read 17 books. I hope to read a lot more next year. I had more out from the library, but ended up returning them unread. For those interested in what I have read so far my list is as follows:

Jellicoe Road by Melinda Marchetta - 2009 winner
Nation by Terry Pratchett - 2009 nominee
Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins - 2008 nominee
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by Stephanie Hemphill - 2008 nominee
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yung - 2007 winner
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; Volume 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson - 2007 nominee
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green - 2007 nominee
Looking for Alaska by John Green - 2006 winner
how i live now by Meg Rosoff - 2005 winner
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson - 2004 winner
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly - 2004 nominee
A Step From Heaven by An Na - 2002 winner
Kit's Wilderness by David Almond - 2001 winner
Monster by Walter Dean Myers - 2000 winner
Skellig by David Almond - 2000 nominee
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - 2000 nominee
Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger - 2000 nominee

Advent Calendar

Don't forget about the Virtual Advent! It started December 1st, but it is not too late to join up for days that haven't happened yet. Be sure and follow along even if you are not planning to post anything.

Weekly Reads

I missed last week. In the last two weeks I have only managed to read the following:

Obasan by Joy Kogawa - For the Japanese and Canadian Reading Challenge. It is about the Japanese treatment in Canada during World War II. I both liked it and didn't... I was interested in the subject matter, but I wasn't crazy about Kogawa's writing method.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - Loved this book!

The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt - I am so happy that I read this book. It took me FOREVER! I just can't read chunksters from the library. It was my first Byatt and I both loved it and didn't.

Nova Scotia Book of Musts: The 101 Places Every Nova Scotian MUST See by Allan Lynch - I have been to a lot of the places mentioned, but I still have places to see! It was a very interesting book. I think I might buy my own copy.

Bone - Volume 3: Eyes of the Storm by Jeff Smith - The third book in the Bone series. I really enjoy this series! I think it is going to be next year before I read book 4. There is only one copy of that one and the list is rather long.

The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay - Okay, didn't like this book, but I have read Guy Gavriel Kay now! I discovered I was reading it but I was not retaining anything. I doubt I will read the sequels, but I do plan to try something else by him in 2010.

Truckers by Terry Pratchett - My first read for the Terry Pratchett 2010 Reading Challenge. I liked other books by him better, but I do plan to read the rest of the trilogy.

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron - I was actually looking for a graphic novel by her, but this won the Newbery and I had been meaning to read it for a while. It was pretty good, actually!

My reading has slowed down! It's rather depressing...

Library Loot

Where I skipped a week this is a bit messed up. I will organize and post one next week, though! I think I might post a list of all the books I have out from the library.

Sunday Book Coveting

Next week I plan to start brain-storming what I am going to buy with Christmas gift cards. I get the same amount every year, so that means I can start choosing now!

Canada Reads 2010

I had all my posts for this week planned out and then I didn't actually post them! I don't know what is with me lately. I am hardly reading, I am hardly reading blogs, and I have hardly any interest in my own blog. So, I guess all my plans for this week will have to move until next week! I am not sure if I am going to do one of my Sunday posts tomorrow or not. My slowed down reading is kind of depressing me... I am just stressed period, I imagine!

The Canada Reads books for 2010 were announced, though. I have a little goal that I don't make official to eventually read all of these books eventually. This year I have all ready read three. Yay! I also have those Giller-a-thon aspirations... I have a lot of the books, but I need to actually read them! For some reason my reading always slows down at this time of the year. Anyway, the books up for the Canada Reads are:

Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald - Yay! Nova Scotia representation is always a good thing. Plus, this is a really good book. I still have to read her other book. I read her play earlier this year, though, and enjoyed it!

The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy - I actually read this book this year, but I didn't like it... I just couldn't connect with it. It wasn't terrible, but I expected better I guess.

Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland - I love Douglas Coupland. I am not sure about this book. I often think I need to reread it because I don't know if I entirely got it the first time I read it. I think he has better books, but I am happy to see Coupland on here period!

Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott - Requested this book from the library.

Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner, translated by Lazer Lederhendler - I wanted to read this when it came out, but didn't get to it. Requested it from the library!

Thoughts on the books? I have until I think March to read those other two books... That might be doable!

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Time for another buddy review! I am thinking of making these more of a regular feature in 2010. Do you like them? I like them because they are interactive. If anyone wants to do a buddy review with me in 2010, just let me know. If I still owe you a buddy review in 2009 it is nothing against you, it is my reading is suffering the last couple months of this year. I am hoping that January will see a rebirth and less stress, so cross your fingers for me!

This is a buddy review with Aarti from BookLust. We have been supposed to review together forever, but things always seemed to happen. I am glad we have finally had the chance to! We have more planned for 2010. (And I am sure I will review with Ana, Chris, and Heather. They were my most common buddy review co-hosts of 2009).

'We were all more or less thieves at Lant Street. But we were that kind of thief that rather eased the dodgy deed along, than did it . We could pass anything, anything at all, at speeds which would astonish you. There was only one thing, in fact, that had come and got stuck - one thing that had somehow withstood the tremendous pull of that passage - one thing that never had a price put to it. I mean of course, Me.' Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, is born among petty thieves - fingersmiths - in London's Borough. From the moment she draws breath, her fate is linked to another orphan, growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away ...A modern day Dickens, Sarah Waters is one of Britain's rising stars.

Aarti is in green and I am in white. This is the first part of the review, to read the continuation you have to go to her blog.

This was only the second Waters book I read, and I really enjoyed it! It is my first book for the Women Unbound Challenge and I think it's a great start for that one as you can really see how bound the two main characters- both young ladies- are by society and its strictures and laws. They really are at the mercy of men and of people more wealthy and powerful than they are. I always think I would love to travel to the past, particularly England. But always with the caveat of being a self-supporting, wealthy gentlewoman! Otherwise, I don't think it would be a very good life! And Waters really made it clear that even when a woman does have money, she loses all control of it when she marries. She also showed just how isolating life could be for girls. I think she did an excellent job.

That said, for some reason, I think I liked Affinity better than Fingersmith! I'm not sure if that is just a product of me having read Affinity first, but I thought the two main characters in that one were somehow more compelling to me. But the same themes resonate- that of lonely, isolated women seeking comfort in each other.

I haven't read Affinity yet, so I can't really say anything about which is the better of the two. The other book I have read by her is The Night Watch. I bought it randomly when it first came out; even though I didn't really know anything about Waters or her books. I found my first read by her a bit different. It was set during WWII, and instead of being told in order the book started at the end and moved to the beginning. Fingersmith is told like a 'regular' story, so it is almost hard to compare the two of them. All I know is that when I was reading Fingersmith I kept wondering why it was that I let about 2 years go by before reading another Waters. There are so many twists and turns in her novels. Sometimes I would expect what was about to happen, but other times I was surprised. This is very much an edge-of-your-seat read. You never know what is going to happen with every flip of the page.

I agree this is perfect for the Unbound Challenge. I haven't decided if I will count it or not because I originally planned to only read non-fiction for the challenge. This book could really said to be about the restrictions put on women and how different their lives were from men. How different their lives were depending on their class structure, even. I thought Waters did a really good job writing a story that addresses these issues. We have one woman that lives with her uncle in what looks like the upper class structure, but then we have another woman that is raised by thieves. It was an interesting look at Victorian Society. Which of the main characters was your favourite?

I was trying to think of my favorite and I'm not sure! I thought Gentleman was fascinating in many ways. He had a cruel streak, but he also seemed to have some redeeming traits. I am not sure if I knew him well enough to say whether I liked him as a person or not, but I really enjoyed him as a character. I liked both Susan and Maud. They were drawn very well and really came to life for me. I thought Waters did so well to show the hypocrisy of Victorian society, showing Maud as this upstanding and very shy Victorian girl, but then having her work with her uncle on really disturbing and dirty reading topics. And Susan, who was raised on the streets and should have been really hard, was actually pretty idealistic and sweet.

There were a few twists that I expected, but a lot caught me off guard. I think one has to get used to that with Waters!

I enjoyed the way Waters portrayed the lesbian relationship as well- natural and based in trust. What did you think of that aspect? I don't think I can call it the romantic aspect, really, as the two weren't "together" for a good portion of the book, but it was certainly the central relationship.

Head over to Aarti's blog to read the rest!

And, don't forget that the Virtual Advent is in full-swing! Today is day two. Head over to the dedicated blog to see who to visit and follow on with the rest of the tour!

TwentyTen Reading Challenge and Dewey's Mini-Challenge

I wasn't going to join anymore challenges until 2010 was started, but then I remembered I meant to join Darren's challenge and hadn't yet, so first I should do that! (Also, I plan to join a graphic novel challenge and an essay challenge, so I suppose that will be before January, too.)

The aim is to read a total 20 books, over ten categories, in 2010. (Was this challenge based solely around the name? I’ll let you decide!)

Rules:

• Read 2 books from each category, making a requirement of 20 books total.
• The categories are intended to be loose guidelines only, if you decide it fits, then it fits. (Apart from those marked **)
• Categories marked with ** have tighter rules, and these must be followed.
• Each book can only qualify for one category.
• Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
• Books read from 01/01/2010 to 31/12/2010 are eligible.

Young Adult
1. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
2. Lament: The Faerie Queene's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

T.B.R. **
1. Industrial Magic (Women of the Otherworld Series, Book 4) by Kelley Armstrong
2. Broken (Women of the Otherworld Series, Book 6) by Kelley Armstrong

Shiny & New
1. The Fall - Book II of The Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
2. The Matter With Morris by David Bergen

Bad Blogger’s ***
1. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
2. Soulless (An Alexia Tarabotti Novel, Book 1) by Gail Carriger

Charity
1.
2.
(This is the only one I am not sure of. We don't have a charity shop here that sells books... Have to figure something out.)

New in 2010
1. Dracula in Love by Karen Essex
2. Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard by Robert Wright

Older Than You
1. My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
2. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Win! Win!
1. Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon
2. Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon

Who Are You Again?

1. A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

2. Down the Coaltown Road by Sheldon Currie

Up to You! - Books in On-Going Series
1.Frostbitten (Women of the Otherworld series, Book 10) by Kelley Armstrong
2. Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong


To get an explanation for each category, just head to Darren's blog!

Don't forget that the Virtual Advent starts today! Very exciting!

Also, here is the linky for the Dewey Reading Challenge Mini-Challenge. (Click on the link for the details.)