It’s 10:30 (hour 2.5)and I’ve finished my first book, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor. LOVED IT!
I spent 30 minutes cheering and 15 minutes preparing this hour 2 mini-challenge.
These are the four books I chose to represent the four seasons. I ‘ve read and love all four. What about you?
Thanks for the fun challenge, Darren!
I’m so excited! I’ve set aside the next 24 hours for all things books, reading and Read-a-Thon.
Opening Meme:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? the Cleveland suburbs
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Finishing up Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? I have knockout cake waiting for me in the frig
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I love the fun, community and, yes, the challenge of participating in the whole 24 hours. I’ve only managed the whole 24 twice before so we’ll see how it goes today.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? I am planning a VARIETY of bookish things today. Reading books, listening to books while I clean and cook, reading my regular blogs, cheering other readers, and building my yearly bookwall of unread books. Here’s last year’s wall and start to finish it takes about 4-6 hours so I’ll be doing it in spurts when I need to move around. (and I’ll start after my 4-year-old has left for grandma’s for the night).
I’ll be doing different posts fairly often. Happy reading everybody!
The Snow Child. Finished 4-21-15, rating 4.25/5, fiction, pub. 2012
Unabridged audio read by Debra Monk. 10.75 hours.
Finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart–he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm, she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season’s first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning, the snow child is gone–but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them. from Goodreads
Whenever I read books set in Alaska, I become immersed in the barren, yet lush and beautiful landscape and this was no different. Ivey’s words describing Alaska were mesmerizing. In the beginning, when Mabel and Jack were first learning their way in the new, wild country, the often depressing tone of the story was mirrored by the hard nature of Alaska and I was drawn in. As the story moved from dark to light, so did the reality of Alaska’s land.
The story was based on a Russian folk tale of the snow child but I wasn’t familiar with it. This skittish girl who Jack and Mabel, who were still longing for children in middle age, saw more and more frequently was real, or maybe she wasn’t. In the end, did it matter?
I loved the struggle of living off the land and their outspoken neighbor Esther. I also loved how the words drew such vivid pictures in my mind that I can still see Alaska in my mind over a week after finishing the book. The writing wasn’t sparse, but emotions and intentions were described in such a simple way that the story seemed somewhat magical.
Was she a snow child or just a girl? That’s what kept me reading when the story dragged and the ending was both a surprise and expected. Not bad for a debut novel, I’d say!
Recommended for anyone looking for something a little different.
If I’m in town I always have the Read-a-thon on my calendar. What is more fun that spending 24 hours straight reading and connecting with others who are doing the same thing? It starts for me at 8am on Saturday, but each time zone around the world is different, and I always try to make it the whole 24 hours. If you are interested in joining me and hundreds of other readers then you should go and sign up right now!
I love the mini-challenges, both as a participant and a challenge maker. For the first time in 3 years I was not chosen to be a challenge host 😦 I was disappointed, but admit that it did free up an hour making it and close to that in choosing a winner. In honor of the Read-a-Thon, I’m posting one of my past min-challenges (some of you may remember it!). I just need the titles of the books in my clock.
One Day, A Tale of Two Cities, Three Cups of Tea, Four Agreements, The Five, The Sixes, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Hard Eight, Nine Dragons, The Tenth Circle, 11/22/63, The Twelve, 24 Hours.
The Residence. Finished 4-20-15, rating 4.5/5, history/politics, 320 pages, pub. 2015
Thanks to Trish at TLC Book Tours for inviting me to be a part of this book tour. I received the book in exchange for my thoughts (and thankfully my thoughts are good :))
America’s First Families are unknowable in many ways. No one has insight into their true character like the people who serve their meals and make their beds every day. Full of stories and details by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived through the voices of the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers, and others who tend to the needs of the President and First Family.
These dedicated professionals maintain the six-floor mansion’s 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, three elevators, and eight staircases, and prepare everything from hors d’oeuvres for intimate gatherings to meals served at elaborate state dinners. Over the course of the day, they gather in the lower level’s basement kitchen to share stories, trade secrets, forge lifelong friendships, and sometimes even fall in love. from Goodreads
I like keeping up with current politics, so reading this book that spans 50+ years of White House inside information was fun for me. The stories from the full-time and part-time workers who make the first family’s time in the White House run smoothly were told with pride. I loved hearing about the bullying Johnson, the warm Bushes (the first ones there), the partying Clintons, the domineering Nancy, and secret scene of the Obamas first night in America’s house.
I had no idea that the White House was designed by James Hoban, who won a competition planned by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and that it was built on the backs of slaves being paid in pork, bread and whiskey. In 1941 the annual budget was $152,000 and today it comes in around $13 million. That’s a lot of inflation! I was surprised to learn that with all that money in the budget the first family is still required to pay for their move into and out of the White House and pay for all the food that they and their friends eat (I always assumed we were feeding them). President Carter didn’t think so much tax payer money needed to go to flowers (in other administrations $50,000 for state dinner flowers was the norm) so he sent the staff out to parks to find flowers, with one staffer even being arrested. It was stories like these that had me chuckling.
The staff does their best to make each and every family, regardless of party, feel at home. They take pride in serving not only the first family but representing the United States at state dinners and when taking care of the dignitaries from around the world. I loved these behind-the-scenes looks at the best and worst of times. I was shocked at the complete chaos on 9-11.
I was struck by how Brower wrote about the discretion of the workers on one page and then included unflattering tidbits about the children a page or two later. I felt like the Chelsea and Secret Service story was disrespectful in a way that she tried to avoid in the rest of the book. There was another story of some bong-loving sons that I felt didn’t need to be included either. She went out of her way to paint them in a positive light later, but I wish she could have saved the unflattering stories for the President and First Lady.
Definitely worth reading for anyone with an interest in history, the White House, or even current politics.
Oh, and there’s still a few days to enter the Goodreads giveaway.
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
I went to bag day at our library book sale (something I try to avoid because I don’t need any more books). I picked up 11 books for $2, cha-ching!
AND they had a nice used copy of one of my favorite books, The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende. I picked this up for one for you, dear reader friends. Would you like to give it a try? Let me know you’d like in the comments and I’ll have Gage choose a winner on Thursday.
House of Spirits by Isabel Allende.
In one of the most important and beloved Latin American works of the twentieth century, Isabel Allende weaves a luminous tapestry of three generations of the Trueba family, revealing both triumphs and tragedies. Here is patriarch Esteban, whose wild desires and political machinations are tempered only by his love for his ethereal wife, Clara, a woman touched by an otherworldly hand. Their daughter, Blanca, whose forbidden love for a man Esteban has deemed unworthy infuriates her father, yet will produce his greatest joy: his granddaughter Alba, a beautiful, ambitious girl who will lead the family and their country into a revolutionary future.
Here’s what else I picked up
Petals on the River by Kathleen Woodwiss. I picked this one up because she’s a romance author I’ve always wanted to read and then I saw that the hero’s name is GAGE! Had to have it.
Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood. I really like the quirkiness of his first book and I’m hoping for the same with this one.
Read It and Weep by Jenn McKinley. Haven’t read the series but I want to!
The Paris Affair by Teresa Grant. I admit that I picked up this one based on the cover alone.
I Dare Me:How I Rebooted and Recharged My Life by Doing Something New Everyday by Lu Ann Cahn
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. Really liked the first one so excited about this one!
Field of Prey by John Sandford. Didn’t realize I was behind on the series until I found this one!
Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen.
You on a Diet by Drs. Roizen and Oz
None of these are new. Have you read any?
Don’t forget to leave a comment if you want to win The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende.
Gage has plenty of places for books, but sometimes, when the books start spewing over the places I need to walk, I make him go through his entire library and give a yea or a nay. Yea and we keep it;nay we give it to other kids by donating it. The nay pile is never very big and this time around I thought he did great with nine. Sometimes there are books I think he might like but we just haven’t read them at the right time so I make him read it one more time to decide.
The first one I knew he’d probably reject but since it’s all rhyming words and that’s something we’re working on right now (this concept is proving difficult for some reason), we read it anyway. Play Day by Bruce McMillan . And, as expected, it was placed in our giveaway pile.
The second was one that Jill sent us last year, The Bedtime Book for Dogs by Bruce Littleworth and illustrated by Paul Heath. 32 pages, published in 2011.
It’s about a dog who wants to play but his human friend is busy so he takes himself out for a play date. He carries his own leash, opens the door, and goes to the park. But even as he plays he is lonely because he doesn’t have a friend to share in the fun. When he returns home he is happily greeted by his friend with a treat.
The illustrations are colorful and simple. There aren’t a lot of words and the story is short. I didn’t care for the takeaway of not being able to enjoy the park because he was by himself though but it was a fun book.
When I asked Gage to find me his favorite part of the story was, he decided on this…
He liked when the dog opened the door and let himself out. Of course this would be his favorite part, because this is the other bad lesson of the book, the dog is being naughty! Just recently Gage has decided it’s okay for him to go out into the garage without anyone knowing, where before he would patiently wait by the door until mom or dad was there, so the fact that this bad dog let himself out made Gage laugh, but not this mama.
After reading it this time he decided he wanted to keep it after all 🙂
Let’s see if you can match these Shakespeare characters with the play they appeared in.
No Googling or looking at other commenter answers. Yes, we’re going by the honor system 🙂 Play every week or just one time, you are always welcome 🙂 It only takes once to be eligible for a prize.
Leave your guesses as a comment. Good luck!!
Choices-As You Like It, Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, The Tamining of the Shrew, King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth
1. Mercutio
2. Petruchio
3. Lysander
4. Miranda
5. Goneril
6. Hamlet
7. Marcus Brutus
8. Duncan
9. Desdemona
10. Rosalind
Answer’s to last week’s headshot quiz here.
vs. 
This is a semi-regular feature where I talk about which was better, the book or the movie. I read the 1902 classic in February for the Classics Club and watched the 1939 movie in March. Most of the time I don’t know which will come out on top until I’ve worked my way through some of the criteria, and this is one of those times. Let’s see how it all pans out.
The Story/Plot There’s a mad hound on the prowl in the moors of England and he’s killing the renowned Baskerville family. When a concerned friend seeks out Sherlock Holmes for help, the detective sends his trusted assistant, Dr. Watson, to the spooky manor on the moors with the latest Baskerville descendent. It’s a lonely place with few people, so the cast of characters is made up of the odd ducks that would want to live in such a place. While the movie stayed fairly true to the book by only changing the sequence of some scenes, there was one glaring plot point that was so much better in the book. I don’t know why they changed it, maybe it was too juicy for the 1939 screen? Thumbs Up- Book
The Visual The movie was able to show the absolute desolate setting of the moors, but the hound they showed was no match for my imagination. Since this was way before the ability to do it justice on film I won’t hold it against the movie. Thumbs Up- Movie
Characters vs. Actors Most people are familiar with Sherlock Holmes and his trusted friend Dr. Watson and these days it is because of the Sherlock Holmes films featuring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. In the beginning, when this film and others were made, it was Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. As I was reading the book I was picturing my own versions of Downey and Law and it worked for me. It’s hard for anyone to quite match Downey’s manic and genius as Holmes. Bruce as Watson was not at all what I expected from reading the book, he seemed more like poor comic relief than an intelligent assistant. Thumbs Up- Book
The Ending The ending, while mostly the same, was missing part of the great reveal I mentioned in the plot. There was a scandalous revelation and a scene showing a severe beating of a woman and I don’t know if they decided that the movie goers at the time just didn’t want to see that or what. The end suffered for it. Thumbs Up- Book
And the winner is…the Book!!
Now it’s your turn to vote
Other book vs. movie polls you can still vote on: (It Ends With Us) (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) (The Sun is Also a Star) (We Have Always Lived in the Castle) (Good Morning, Midnight/The Midnight Sky) (Before I Go To Sleep) (The Little Prince) (Charlie St. Cloud) (Far From the Madding Crowd) (The Girl on the Train) (Tuck Everlasting) (Northanger Abbey) (Me Before You) (And Then There Were None) (Still Alice) (The Blind Side) (The Fault in Our Stars) (The Hound of the Baskervilles) (Gone Girl) (Jack Reacher) (Ender’s Game) (Carrie, the original) (Under the Tuscan Sun) (The Secret Life of Bees) (The Shining, the original)
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
A good week for the mailbox!
The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson (from Harper Collins)
Denver, 1962: Kitty Miller has come to terms with her unconventional single life. She loves the bookshop she runs with her best friend, Frieda, and enjoys complete control over her day-to-day existence. She can come and go as she pleases, answering to no one. There was a man once, a doctor named Kevin, but it didn’t quite work out the way Kitty had hoped.
Then the dreams begin.
Denver, 1963: Katharyn Andersson is married to Lars, the love of her life. They have beautiful children, an elegant home, and good friends. It’s everything Kitty Miller once believed she wanted—but it only exists when she sleeps.
The Daughter by Jane Shemilt (from Harper Collins)
Jenny is a successful family doctor, the mother of three great teenagers, married to a celebrated neurosurgeon.
But when her youngest child, fifteen-year-old Naomi, doesn’t come home after her school play, Jenny’s seemingly ideal life begins to crumble. The authorities launch a nationwide search with no success. Naomi has vanished, and her family is broken.
The Precious One by Maria de los Santos (from Harper Collins)
In all her life, Eustacia “Taisy” Cleary has given her heart to only three men: her first love, Ben Ransom; her twin brother, Marcus; and Wilson Cleary — professor, inventor, philanderer, self-made millionaire, brilliant man, breathtaking jerk: her father.
Seventeen years ago, Wilson ditched his first family for Caroline, a beautiful young sculptor. In all that time, Taisy’s family has seen Wilson, Caroline, and their daughter Willow only once.
Why then, is Wilson calling Taisy now, inviting her for an extended visit, encouraging her to meet her pretty sister — a teenager who views her with jealousy, mistrust, and grudging admiration? Why, now, does Wilson want Taisy to help him write his memoir?
Girl in the Moonlight by Chaeles Dubow (from Harper Collins)
Spanning several decades, moving through the worlds of high society, finance, and art, and peopled with poignant characters, Naked in the Moonlight takes us on a whirlwind tour, from the wooded cottages of old East Hampton to the dining rooms of Upper East Side Manhattan to the bohemian art studios of Paris and Barcelona. As he vividly brings to life Wylie and Cesca’s tempestuous, heart wrenching affair, Charles Dubow probes the devastating depths of human passion and the nature of true love.
The Residence:Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Anderson Brower (from Harper Collins for a blog tour)
America’s First Families are unknowable in many ways. No one has insight into their true character like the people who serve their meals and make their beds every day. Full of stories and details by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived through the voices of the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers, and others who tend to the needs of the President and First Family.
Stacy's Books 