November 09 is…
Posted: 2009/11/01 Filed under: Confessional, Early Review, Fiction, Life, NonFiction | Tags: books, cooking, Early Review, india, librarything, montana, november, reading, trains, winston churchill, writing Leave a comment »November is a bundle of nerves dressed as confidence. I am trying to be brave in the face of unknown in Indecision City. Thanksgiving looms large.
For books the list is short. Two of the chosen titles are monsters (each over 500 pages long):
- Dingley Falls by Michael Malone (in honor of Malone’s birth month)
- Empire Express by David Haward Bain ~ in honor of National Travel Month
- Invitation to Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey ~ in honor of November being the best time to visit India
- Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling ~ in honor of November being National Writing Month
- Last Lion: Visions by William Manchester ~ in honor of Winston Spencer Churchill
I will be lucky if I get to Last Lion since Empire Express is over 900 pages long. The other book I’m hoping to get to if there is time is Last Best Place by various authors because the best time to visit Montana is November and I’ve always wanted to go.
For LibraryThing and the Early Review Program I am reading Ostrich Feathers by Miriam Romm. I was notified in early October I would be getting it but since the book actually didn’t arrive until October 24th I have decided to call it a November book. I also got word I will be receiving a November book. I guess I will be very busy!
ps~ I just received word my all-time favorite author, Barbara Kingsolver, is coming out with a new novel. Holy freak me out! I simply cannot wait! YAY!
February (2009) Was…
Posted: 2009/03/01 Filed under: Fiction, Life, NonFiction | Tags: birthday, books, childrens book, Fiction, history, media, NonFiction, psychology, sex, superbowl, trains Leave a comment »February started the month with a big ole bang. First, there was the Gee-I-Couldn’t-Have-Predicted-the-Winner-of-This-Matchup Superbowl. Then, there was me. Turning 40. Then, add in Smiley’s birthday, a rockandroll party and approval for financing, a memorial and a visit from mom… all in the first week! Like I said, February started with a bang! Then it turned into the wait and see month…which ended in a house!
For books it it was:
- Cult of Personality by Annie Murphy Paul. A fun, informative read!
- The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek by Barry Cunliffe. Not so fun.
- The Good Patient by Kristin Waterfield Duisberg ~probably one of my favorites of the list.
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker ~ really, really hard to read. So sad!
- Fool by Frederick Dillen ~ very psychological.
- The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman ~ very cute.
- Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban ~ speaking of cute!
- Not a Day Goes By by E. Lynn Harris ~ a very, very quick read in honor of Black History Month
- A Reconstructed Corpse by Simon Brett in honor of National Theater Month even though the acting in this mystery doesn’t take place on a stage…
- Tracks Across America by Leonard Everett Fisher ~ in honor on National Railroad Month
- The Powers That Be by David Halberstam ~ in honor of Scholastic Journalism month
As you can see, I did a lot of reading during that “wait and see” time! In the end, February was full of emotions as well as books and finally, finally a house!
I didn’t get to A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and I started When the Time Comes by Paula Span – an Early Review book (review coming in March).
