It is a beautiful sunny day in Texas - cold by our standards, but sunny and bright. Nice after all the rain we have had.
Started reading Second Summer of the Sisterhood last night. I enjoyed the first book so I used my 40% online discount from B&N and ordered it. I haven't gotten very far in it but I am sure I'll like it since so many of my students have. The discussion has come up as to whether or not Bee had sex with the older guy or not in the first book. I thought she had, but I guess I need to go back and read it again as not all readers thought she had. Maybe I will find out if she did or not in the second book.
Also ordered the audio books of The Hobbit and the Lord of Rings series. Couldn't pass them up at 40 % off. I wish books on CD weren't so expensive. I saw the first movie and loved it, but I haven't read the books since I was a teenager so it is time to revisit them. I remember working in the university library and curling up with them during my breaks, reading in the stacks. That's how I found them to begin with - I was shelving books. So many of the wonderful things I have read through the years I have found serendipitously. I can't walk into a book store and walk out without buying something. I have been addicted to reading since my mom found me in the closet reading my older brother's language arts book. Guess I was four or so.
All for today.
Friday, November 28, 2003
After Thanksgiving dinner yesterday I couldn't stomach (ha! ha!) the old Shirley Temple movie my husband Steve was watching so I curled up with the ARC (advanced readers copy) of Alex Flinn's new book NOTHING TO LOSE. It is set in the Miami area as are BREATHING UNDERWATER and BREAKING POINT. Although it is a quite dark book it brought back pleasant memories of my own teen years when we used to wait for the carnival to come to the area in the summer. There was nothing to do in rural Upper Michigan in the summer but go to the lake or wait for the carnival! It was so daring to flirt with the carnies as they were taboo to the local girls. It was also "cool" to have one of the guys from the neighboring towns win something at the games and give it to you.
But, I never thought of escaping to the carnival as Michael does in NOTHING TO LOSE, nor did I have to deal with an abusive stepfather. In telling the story, Alex alternates chapters between now and last year when Michael's stepfather was killed, supposedly by his mother in self defense. So then why is Michael the one running away? The answer becomes clearer as the evidence builds. Alex does a great job of building the suspense and keeping Michael real through it all.
Now an off the subject of books topic. Why do we drive an hour across town in Holiday traffic to a sale that we are sure the items we want will be gone? Steve does this with Frye's all the time. We drove all the way to N. Houston to discover that nothing he needed to build his son a computer for Christmas was in stock any longer. Of course not - they were the "come on" specials that were probably gone at 7 a.m., if they even had more than 2 of them in stock. And I would NOT have been willing to drive up there at that time of the morning. However, at noon it was a pleasant break away from work for me, but I just don't get it. This is the same place that he had to bring parts back three times while rebuilding my computer because they didn't work. Maybe it is something about computer geeks! Go figure.
That's it for today. Hope anyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying the rest of the Holiday weekend.
But, I never thought of escaping to the carnival as Michael does in NOTHING TO LOSE, nor did I have to deal with an abusive stepfather. In telling the story, Alex alternates chapters between now and last year when Michael's stepfather was killed, supposedly by his mother in self defense. So then why is Michael the one running away? The answer becomes clearer as the evidence builds. Alex does a great job of building the suspense and keeping Michael real through it all.
Now an off the subject of books topic. Why do we drive an hour across town in Holiday traffic to a sale that we are sure the items we want will be gone? Steve does this with Frye's all the time. We drove all the way to N. Houston to discover that nothing he needed to build his son a computer for Christmas was in stock any longer. Of course not - they were the "come on" specials that were probably gone at 7 a.m., if they even had more than 2 of them in stock. And I would NOT have been willing to drive up there at that time of the morning. However, at noon it was a pleasant break away from work for me, but I just don't get it. This is the same place that he had to bring parts back three times while rebuilding my computer because they didn't work. Maybe it is something about computer geeks! Go figure.
That's it for today. Hope anyone reading this had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying the rest of the Holiday weekend.
Thursday, November 27, 2003
Happy Thanksgiving!
Decided it was time I set up this blog so that I can keep talking about the books I am reading. I may talk about books other than YA, but that is mostly what I read, or adult books that have YA appeal.
I recently read Earth Logic by Laurie Marks and have been thinking about if this is appropriate for teens or not. As a middle aged woman I enjoyed it, but I can't help but wonder if teens would, even teens who are fantasy fanatics. The characters are all 35 or older - ancient by teen standards. Too bad since the first one in the series, Fire Logic, introduced the characters when they were young enough for teens to relate to. I love these books because they are set in a world where family means those who you love and love you, not based on biology. Children are parented by all adults in the family. Adults may be in same sex relationships or not - it isn't relevant either way.
Okay - enough for my first post. Just want to make sure this is working. I just set up and excited about using it.
Decided it was time I set up this blog so that I can keep talking about the books I am reading. I may talk about books other than YA, but that is mostly what I read, or adult books that have YA appeal.
I recently read Earth Logic by Laurie Marks and have been thinking about if this is appropriate for teens or not. As a middle aged woman I enjoyed it, but I can't help but wonder if teens would, even teens who are fantasy fanatics. The characters are all 35 or older - ancient by teen standards. Too bad since the first one in the series, Fire Logic, introduced the characters when they were young enough for teens to relate to. I love these books because they are set in a world where family means those who you love and love you, not based on biology. Children are parented by all adults in the family. Adults may be in same sex relationships or not - it isn't relevant either way.
Okay - enough for my first post. Just want to make sure this is working. I just set up and excited about using it.
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