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March 2009 Book Challenge - Page 4

post #61 of 229
3/9/09 at 12:55pm
The Problem With The Puddles by Kate Feiffer

Parents who can't agree on anything, an 8 1/2 year old girl called Emily by her father, Ferdinanda by her mother, and Baby by everyone else, an older brother named Tom, two dogs both named Sally. When they leave their country house to go back to their city house, the Sallys are left behind. This book alternates between the Sallies trying to get back to their family and the family trying to get back to the Sallies.

I had this to review for amazon. It's a cute enough book -- not the greatest but cute.

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post #62 of 229
3/9/09 at 2:24pm
#33 The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Good stuff. Jackson, Mississippi -- 1962. Interaction between white women and their "colored" maids.

Friends are here, all for now. Anybody else reading this?
post #63 of 229
3/9/09 at 2:35pm
14. Legacy (The Sharing Knife, Volume Two) and
15. Passage (The Sharing Knife, Volume Three) by Lois McMaster Bujold

I'm really, really enjoying this series. It's just really wonderful, interesting fantasy with a sweet love story and elements of SF first contact stories, but minus a lot of the annoying fantasy hallmarks (i.e. too many characters or names that sound the same, over-reliance on setting). I'm very much looking forward to reading the next (final?) volume, I'm on the list at the library.

16. White Witch, Black Curse (The Hollows, Book 7) - Kim Harrison

Ok, so reading this book I realized why I like to wait until a whole series is completed before starting to read it - I can't freaking remember what happened in the previous books! This particular installment was difficult because suddenly the author decided to call upon details of I believe THREE short stories that were published in anthologies, which I (and I imagine a lot of other readers of the series) hadn't read. There were a LOT of holes because of this. So now I'm scrambling to get a hold of those anthologies from the library so I can fill in the gaps - not the way I generally like to read books to say the least. I think one day I'm just going to have to sit down and reread this whole series in sequence. It's a great series, but man, I think mama brain is finally taking its toll.

17. The Official Ubuntu Book, 3rd Ed - Benjamin Mako Hill, et al

So I got a wretched rootkit virus on my computer last week and the only way to get rid of the thing was to pretty much nuke my operating system and start over - this required me to either a) purchase a replacement copy of Windows XP (mine came loaded on my laptop, so no disk to replace it) or b) switch operating systems. I chose b, and replaced my XP with Ubuntu, which is a Linux operating system. I LOVE it! So the book is great, VERY basic, geared to the normal windows kind of desktop computer user (not for command line fanatics). It comes with two disks (one desktop edition, one for servers) so it makes installation really easy (although you can download Ubuntu legally for free from www.ubuntu.com). If anyone is looking to switch operating systems and dive into the wonderful world of open source and free software, I can't recommend Ubuntu - and this book - highly enough.



1. One Foot In the Grave - Jeaniene Frost 2. Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead 3. Parenting a Free Child: An Unschooling Life - Rue Kream 4. Lord of Misrule (Morganville Vampires, Book 5) - Rachel Caine 5. Sunshine - Robin McKinley 6. Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) - Jim Butcher 7. Magic to the Bone - Devon Monk 8. Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs 9. Impossible - Nancy Werlin 10. I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone - Stephanie Kuehnert 11. Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand - Carrie Vaughn 12. At Grave's End (Night Huntress, Book 3) - Jeaniene Frost 13. Beguilement (The Sharing Knife, Volume One) - Lois McMaster Bujold 14. Legacy (The Sharing Knife, Volume Two) - Lois McMaster Bujold 15. Passage (The Sharing Knife, Volume Three) - Lois McMaster Bujold 16. White Witch, Black Curse (The Hollows, Book 7) - Kim Harrison 17. The Official Ubuntu Book, 3rd Ed - Benjamin Mako Hill, et al
post #64 of 229
3/9/09 at 2:49pm
13. The Yellow Wallpaper
14. Above All, Be Kind
15. Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots
post #65 of 229
3/9/09 at 5:04pm
Ok. So I adored Graceling. Does anyone know any other books that are similar? I would love suggestions!
post #66 of 229
3/9/09 at 5:19pm
I have been sick since Wednesday and unable to read. During my delirium, I considered returning all my books because I was convinced I would never be able to read again (had headaches and nausea). I am slowly getting back in the saddle but I am way behind now.
post #67 of 229
3/9/09 at 5:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Avecilla View Post
13. The Yellow Wallpaper
I LOVE this story!
post #68 of 229
3/9/09 at 6:31pm
Fledgling by Octavia Butler.

I was not as pleased with this story as I hoped I would be. I just didn't find it compelling. I'm not much of a sci-fi buff, but I can usually get into anything if it's well written and moves quickly, even if it's far-fetched, as this was (53-year-old amnesic, genetically modified vampire). I guess I had a lot of questions at the end. And it seemed like more of an outline of a plot than a rich text. It's relatively recent (2005) so I think I'll give some of her earlier work a try. Recommendations welcome.
post #69 of 229
3/9/09 at 6:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by katmann View Post
Fledgling by Octavia Butler.
It's relatively recent (2005) so I think I'll give some of her earlier work a try. Recommendations welcome.
I haven't read Fledgling, but Butler's book Parable of the Sower has to be one of the scariest books I've ever read. It's kind of a way too realistic, dark view of one future for our country (very timely right now with the economy the way it is). I would definitely recommend it, but don't blame me if it gives you nightmares or makes you want to start burying money in jars in your backyard!
post #70 of 229
3/9/09 at 9:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bufomander View Post
#33 The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Good stuff. Jackson, Mississippi -- 1962. Interaction between white women and their "colored" maids.

Friends are here, all for now. Anybody else reading this?
I have this in my TBR pile. I heard it is very good!
post #71 of 229
3/9/09 at 9:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Keeta View Post
I haven't read Fledgling, but Butler's book Parable of the Sower has to be one of the scariest books I've ever read. It's kind of a way too realistic, dark view of one future for our country (very timely right now with the economy the way it is). I would definitely recommend it, but don't blame me if it gives you nightmares or makes you want to start burying money in jars in your backyard!
Thanks, I'll check it out. Unfortunately my library only has Fledgling and no other books by her. Guess I'll have to check the used book store.
post #72 of 229
3/9/09 at 10:23pm
Not loving the book I'm reading now, but I won't let myself not finish it. Do you always finish books you start, or is it my compulsive nature?
post #73 of 229
3/9/09 at 11:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by basmom View Post
Not loving the book I'm reading now, but I won't let myself not finish it. Do you always finish books you start, or is it my compulsive nature?
This is a compulsion that I know all to well! I can't not finish a book. Good or bad, I just can't!
post #74 of 229
3/9/09 at 11:32pm
The Big Girls by Susanna Moore

This was recommended last month -- at some point I realized I had read this before but I didn't remember what happened and I was so into the story that I read it again anyway. This is a disturbing book about various people associated with a women's prison--including inmate, guard, psychiatrist, etc.
post #75 of 229
3/10/09 at 1:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by basmom View Post
Not loving the book I'm reading now, but I won't let myself not finish it. Do you always finish books you start, or is it my compulsive nature?
I used to have to finish everything I started, but then, I read something Nancy Pearl said (can't remember what exactly) and I began to feel alright about letting go of certain books if I wasn't enjoying them. I think that approaching it with the mindset of "not now doesn't mean not never" kinda helps me too. Even though I know some of them are really not ever books.

#7 The Underground by Kat Richardson

My least favorite of the series so far. I just couldn't get into the backstory on Quinton and had a lot of trouble picturing the scene since she took so many liberties with Pioneer Square and the Underground.
post #76 of 229
3/10/09 at 9:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kbond View Post
.....I think that approaching it with the mindset of "not now doesn't mean not never" kinda helps me too. Even though I know some of them are really not ever books.

Ooooh, I like that approach! I may just have to adopt it!
post #77 of 229
3/10/09 at 10:22am
#13 - Everyone Worth Knowing by Laura Weisgerber

Well, that was palate-cleansing! Pure fluff, by the author of The Devil Wears Prada (which I haven't read, although reviews say it's better). Just what I needed, post-Atwood...
post #78 of 229
3/10/09 at 11:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by basmom View Post
Started Deweyby Vicki Myron, because, like I said, I'm a sucker for a good animal story. This book is ok, but maybe should be titled, A History of Spencer, Iowa, the memoir of Vicki Myron and, Oh Yeah, There's A Cat That Lives in the Library!
Just wanted to come back and say that this made me laugh, even though I haven't read the book.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kaliki_kila View Post
I have this in my TBR pile. I heard it is very good!
Re: The Help by Kathryn Stockett -- Yeah, I enjoyed it -- it was a pretty long book but really flowed for me (if it wasn't due back really soon and we weren't leaving for a trip on Friday, I probably wouldn't have even thought about how long it was.) I liked some of the little things she added in that happened to be happening around that time -- Like zip codes coming into being and ppl saying no one was going to use them and how struck one of the main characters was by Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin'.

Quote:
Originally Posted by basmom View Post
Not loving the book I'm reading now, but I won't let myself not finish it. Do you always finish books you start, or is it my compulsive nature?
I definitely used to finish every book -- picture me as a 7th grader trudging through Dicken's Old Curiosity Shop (not an assignment) -- but in the past 4 or 5 years I've started allowing myself to stop every once in a while -- maybe one book out of every 15, sometimes more, sometimes less....
post #79 of 229
3/10/09 at 12:02pm
19. The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy

I read this because DH did and said it was the best Ellroy's ever done. However, I found it tedious and too much like his other books to really enjoy. Knowing Ellroy's background story about his own mother, I felt like this book was an act of therapy for him, a way to exorcise his own demons. I wish he could have found another way to do that because I didn't like coming along for the ride. The whole Elizabeth Short story/murder/background made me uncomfortable. I think this man doesn't understand women and doesn't know how to write about them. (I felt this way about LA Confidential as well)
post #80 of 229
3/10/09 at 12:26pm
I give a book 60 to 100 pages--if it's not grabbing me by then--it's outta here.

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