Giving up

I'm not a quitter. Generally. Sometimes though, the pain does not outweigh the gain, and I am putting Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell to rest. I have tried twice to read this book and for some reason just can't get through it. So I'm sorry, but I know when to say when. Maybe some other day I will be able to pick it back up and finish it, but for now, with all the other books on my shelf, I've decided to move on to something more interesting. I've chosen SuperFreakonomics as my next read. And so happy now!

Thursday Next

I'm officially hooked on Thursday Next. She is a fierce Special Ops literary detective with cajones the size of Texas. In a past post I compared her to Stephanie Plum, and I was again noticing parallels when Thursday's Grandma enters the scene:  "I got mixed up with some oddness in my youth, and the long and short of it is that I can't shuffle off this mortal coil until I have read the ten most boring classics." The rest of Thursday's family can certainly give Stephanie's a run for her money with a brother leading a multi-view religious group, an innovative inventor Uncle Mycroft, and a father who has been time traveling for the past seventeen years as a rogue agent with the Chronoguard.  Thursday fights for her husband to return from an eradication process designed to blackmail her, is apprenticed to Miss Havisham from Great Expectations as a Jurisfiction agent - the literary detective force that lives within the fictional world, and saves the world from total destruction. Thursday is fearless, a bit impulsive, and has a strong moral compass. She's my heroine.

I am entranced by this series. Jasper Fforde's writing style mesmerizes and tickles my cerebral fancy. This is truly a series that cannot adequately be described, but must be experienced for oneself. My only decision now is how quickly I want the journey to end. Do I turn around the read the next Next novel, or pace it so I can finish them by the time I leave for spring vacation?

Random book/life stuff

I finally made it through the books my friend gave me. I added about 40 or so books to my to-read list. I haven't had a chance to add them to my blog list though - nor on my Goodreads bookshelf - because it has been a busy weekend. I actually cleaned the WHOLE bathroom at the same time. This is not normal for me as I usually just clean the parts that "look" dirty when I think it needs it. Then I only spend five minutes a time on cleaning instead of the 30 to 45 minutes the deep clean took. But now my daughter is not complaining that it smells in there and she has no excuse to avoid the potty chair. Yes, we have entered that most wonderful phase, a bit late it feels to me, of toddlerhood. Potty training. They say no child goes to kindergarten in diapers. And they say children will let you know when they are ready. Gracie is 3yrs 2mos old and she claims she is not ready! I convinced her to wear panties this weekend and she peed on the floor twice. It didn't seem to phase her much. Thankfully she did tell me about it. But I asked every half hour if she wanted to sit on the potty and the answer was a sound NO. I thought if I caught her first thing in the morning and put her on the potty it might be a good time (since she stays dry through the night) but we about had a knock down drag out right there. Not pretty. Not one of my better super-mom moments. So I guess I will just leave a variety of diapers, pull-ups and big girl panties for her to choose from and when the diapers are gone, they're gone. Now I must grade tests while the child is napping, between loads of laundry, ordering the book A Time to Pee by Mo Willems from Amazon, and getting the rolls out to rise for a semi-home-cooked meal tonight. I did actually get a chance to watch the movie "One Day" last night. Don't waste your time. The book is much better. The only redeeming quality is that Ann Hathaway plays Emma EXACTLY as I had pictured. I think Jude Law would have made a much better Dexter, and the plot was short-changed all around.

Blog title stolen subconsciously

I just want to clarify - I did NOT purposefully snag the title of a book for my blog title. But now I must admit that I must have subconsciously "borrowed" this. I am not the most creative person, and I wanted something better than "Book Fiend" and I dredged this up - OBVIOUSLY it was something I had seen recently that stuck with me. I hope I'm not labeled as a fraud!! My apologies Jasper Fforde! Imitation is the best form of flattery right?

Fforde is Ffun

I bought this book as a Christmas present for my dad along with the next 4 books in the series. I got them at the Book Rack for a great price, but suspiciously they did not get wrapped and packed along with the other gifts headed for Florida. I kept telling myself I would hurry up and read it and get it sent before it was too late, but it never happened. Then I decided as long as I've waited, I might as well read Jane Eyre first. I'm hoping I can finish the series before I visit over spring break. That's when I've promised Dad he would receive them. Thankfully he and his fiance always have a lot of books on their night stands as well (yes, I come by it honestly) and he swore he was in no rush to receive these. I think he was excited that I found them for such a great deal and that I am reading them too!

So was it worth all the waiting and guilt? AB-SO-LUTELY! This book is the biggest mosh-up of genres I have ever read. It has time travel, science fiction (but not too much), mystery, thriller, comedy, and intellectual repartee. It is like Stephanie Plum with a master's degree. The Wall Street Journal describes it as "filled with clever wordplay, literary allusion and bibliowit, combining elements of Monty Python, Harry Potter, Stephen Hawking and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But a quirky charm all its own." I would probably say not equal parts of those elements - less Stephen Hawking and more Monty Python - but definitely quirky and certainly charming.

Did I really need to read Jane Eyre first? No, probably not. If you read it years ago in school, or not at all, you would still enjoy this book. Having read it though did enhance the story and I'm thinking that if you read the cliff notes version (here is a link to a good summary:  http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/janeeyre/summary.html) you would enjoy it just a little more. So if you are a Stephanie Plum fan, a fan of words, or just in the mood for a refreshing change of literary pace, I'd recommend you check this out. 

2012 Ginormous Reading List

I have had the unexpected pleasure of receiving a butt-load (an "I need two seats on a plane my butt is so big" butt-load) of books from a good friend of mine, who has excellent taste, and has now exponentially increased my "to-read" list. As I go through the books, (and I'm not all the way through yet by the way), I'm finding new authors I'm sure I'll love and I'm cringing with the thought of having to choose what to read next!! So I'm going to put my list in print and see how it compares with what I end up reading this year. The scary part is knowing that there will be new releases coming out (two sequels that I know of this summer) that will also get added to the list. And there are some classics I would like to read. So this is definitely not set in stone:

Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde (currently reading #1 The Eyre Affair)
The Strain trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
The Tattooed Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
A Perfect Spy by John Le Carre
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
The Devil's Teardrop by Jeffrey Deaver
Zero Day by David Baldacci
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
Smoking Seventeen by Janet Evanovitch
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovitch
Still Midnight (Alex Morrow #1) by Denise Mina
Darwin Slept Here by Eric Simons
The Forgotten Founding Father by Joshua Kendall
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
True Grit by Charles Portis
The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
A Discovery of Witches sequel (#2 in the trilogy) by Deborah Harkness
The Passage sequel (#2 in the trilogy) by Justin Cronin

Many of these authors write books that are part of a series of 10 or more books and with the exception of Janet Evanovitch, I only listed the first in the series. So, assuming that I like THOSE books, then this list is going to get much longer!! Holy cow, I'm already overwhelmed.

Here is the REALLY funny part of this story. I was off work today and since I had an appointment this morning, I took my daughter to daycare. With my extra free time this afternoon, I so wanted to go to the bookstore. Isn't that crazy? I have all these books at my fingertips and I couldn't believe the will power it took to steer my car somewhere else. The best explanation I can give is that I LOVE BOOKS and reading. I just need to remember that I don't need to BUY a new book, just take one I already have and get a coffee and enjoy the relaxing change of scenery to curl up and read.

If you have read any of these and it didn't live up to your expectations, please pass along! I already crossed one off my list because of someone's disrecommendation (? is that even a word?), In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson (although Devil in the White City is awesome).

Can't believe I forgot this one...

As I was discussing books with someone a couple of days ago, I realized I forgot a 2011 favorite... 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I finished it very close to the end of the year, so I will use that as my excuse. Definitely one of my favorites by Stephen King for the mere fact that I wasn't scared shitless while reading it. (Nope, not into being scared shitless.) He does a remarkable job of telling a story about time travel without getting all hung up on the science of it (i.e. wormholes, quantum physics, etc.) Not that there is anything wrong with the science of it, I just found it refreshing to be able to focus on the storyline and not get distracted with the actual possibility of it happening. Oddly enough, I just watched a program on Nova called The Fabric of the Cosmos that does talk about the science of it, so it coincided nicely with the timing of my read. I would definitely recommend this book to a) any King fan and b) any time travel fan. There were a couple of aspects of the story that I am still a little fuzzy on (I won't go into details as I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't yet read it), but I will attribute this to the fact that I sometimes read too fast as I'm anxious to find out what happens next. And I usually read before going to sleep, which means I'm tired and frequently disrupted by my night-owl three-year old climbing into bed with me. This book may also have to go on the re-read list for 2012.

I've noticed that on several of the blogs I've been reading, bloggers like to give a synopsis of the book they are reviewing. Well, for anyone expecting that from me, you have been warned: I'm not that kind of blogger. For one, there is usually a really good synopsis included on the actual book, and I will admit that my writing would pale in comparison to what has already been written by someone else. (I'm a math major who likes to read. Which will also explain any grammatical errors that any of my posts may contain.) Also, the main goal of this blog is to document my journey; my thoughts and feelings about what I read, not to spend a lot of time (and it would take me a lot of time) summarizing.

I just finished Jo Nesbo's Nemesis. I am a little irritated with myself because once again I started a series of books out of order. This book can be read as a stand-alone, but it does contain a secondary story line which I assume began with a previous book. Once I got past that, I was confronted with a situation I faced when I read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: I have a difficult time getting into these foreign (Norweigan?) novels. It takes about 100 pages before I'm fully "lost" in it. I don't know if it's a translation issue I have, or if it's a vocabulary issue. I am a visual person, and as I read I create a picture in my mind of the setting and characters. The unfamiliar names of both people and places make that more work for my brain, which is probably why it takes me longer to really get into the story. (It took me at least one chapter to figure out through context that a "skip" is a big garbage can.) Names like Trond, Stine and Aune are unfamiliar to me and I cannot go on autopilot while reading them. Thank goodness the main character's name was Harry Hole. Saved me some time there. The mystery/thriller part of the story was very engrossing and kept me guessing as to how it would end, which made the read worthwhile. I would say that if you were unable to get through Stieg Larsson's works, then this author probably isn't for you either. If you did enjoy the Girl series, then Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole books might be very satisfying for you too. I have enough on my to-read list for now that finding the first Harry Hole isn't a high priority, but it just may make an appearance this summer when I have more time to get through the stack on my nightstand.

Highlights of 2011

I thought to start off my 2012 reading blog I would include an overview of my top three from 2011.

The Passage by Justin Cronin was a book I highly recommended to family and friends. My mom said she loved it and had a hard time putting it down. My dad said just the opposite, that he could not get into it at all. It reminded me of The Stand by Stephen King in that it was rather long and had several characters with whom I fell in love. I found myself thinking about the story long after I read the last page. I can give a high rating to a book if I find it difficult to start another one right away. I like to let the satisfied feeling linger for a few days. The disappointing part was realizing I had to wait until the following year for the next book in the trilogy. This will be one that I would like to reread before spring.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness was hands down my favorite book of 2011. In fact, I did something I have never done before. Two days after I finished it, I still wasn't in the mood to start anything new. So I picked it up and read it again! I also friended the main characters Diana and Matthew on Facebook just to keep in touch with my favorite witch and vampire. The romance between Matthew and Diana definitely appealed to me. Neither character is perfect, both somewhat stubborn and independent, but they learn to compromise and it's as if the sum of their parts is bound to prevail. And my maternal side strongly responded to the dynamic between Diana and her parents. I enjoyed the unveiling of her mysterious abilities and the flashbacks to how her parents protected their only daughter. This is also the first of a trilogy and you can bet I will be purchasing the second book the day it hits the shelves.

The classic book The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas also made my top three. Another long book, I read this one on my e-reader. One of the odd sensations of reading a book through this medium is that you can't immediately tell how far along you are in the story. On the Kobo, it will tell you what percent of the book you have finished reading when you start reading or shut down. Perhaps this was a good thing, as I wasn't feeling any pressure to take on such a volume. I was oblivious to the time commitment I was making, and the story was engrossing enough to keep me coming back for more. I tried watching the movie, but was soooo disappointed I couldn't finish it. For me, books usually ARE much better than the movie and I did take that into account, but this strayed too far from the story line for my comfort.

As I begin my quest for the new year, I will most likely be comparing what I read against these top choices. Please feel free to comment if you have read, or would like to read, any of these. I hope to post a short list of my To-Reads for the near future. If you have any suggestions based on these favs, please share!

Resolutions

The beginning of another new year, and this year I decided I was NOT going to make any repeat resolutions that I've been unable to stick to in the past. So, no guilt about not attending the gym right away or throwing away that pack of smokes. This year my resolution is to start something that is fun and interesting for me to be involved in that doesn't focus on my job or my daughter, both of which happen to be the two biggest responsibilities in my life right now. Instead, I want to focus on something I truly enjoy, something that brings me pleasure, and that I know I will continue to do throughout the year. READING! Of course. Why didn't I think of it before? Many of my friends comment on how much I read and that I read a variety of books. So I'm using this blog as a way to document my journey.

I've been an avid reader since I was a child. I remember staying up until the wee hours reading Stephen King books as a young teenager. Usually because I was too scared to close my eyes. I recently joined Goodreads and enjoy the electronic format for "shelving" books on my to-read list. It's easier than those half scraps of paper left around the house and the bottom of my purse. I also bought a Kobo e-reader (before I knew Border's was going out of business) which came pre-loaded with 100 classics. Over the past few weeks I've discovered some other blogs from people who are doing reviews, challenges, and other things associated with reading. One site posted a challenge for 2012 and many people were sharing their reading goals for the year, such as reading 12 of this type of genre, and reading 12 more than what they read last year. I'm not sure how many I read last year. Goodreads says 19, but since I just joined the site, I don't think I was using all the functions properly. I know there were books I read that weren't listed under the nineteen. So, my goal will be of a bit different nature. I would like to continue reading what strikes my fancy and then blog about it. I would also like to continue following the other blogs I've discovered. If people happen to start following my blog, that would be great. More pressure for me to continue with my resolution.

So wish me luck. Happy New Year! 2012 is going to be great.