unwritten rule

The unwritten rule by Elizabeth Scott

of course, if you don't just read a paperback teen romance, something everything that happens in the book isn't happy, but i took the risk on this one and it was worth it.

210 pages

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley

1 volume unpaged (probably about 100 pages)

Birthday roundup

It's that time again (hence the many fill-in posts today trying to get caught up) when I celebrate another year of reading (measured from the first birthday when I started this blog.)

In skimming through my past year of entries, I notice that I am more likely to abandon a book, especially an audiobook, if it isn't absolutely captivating me. Also, our library introduced late fees for the first time last October, which has been motivating to either finish or return unfinished my library books by the due date.

Many of the things I made time to read this year were favorite authors or quicky teen romances. I didn't branch out or do much risktaking with new authors or genres. I also watched almost no television this year, and I have to admit that I haven't missed that at all, although the craft/photo editing time that comes along with tv/movie watching is missed. Audiobooks while cleaning the kitchen are a safer bet for getting things done.

Earlier this week I realized that I am needing a reading technology that isn't quite integrated yet -- a perfectly/magically synced device that would let me read a paperback book and also a digital version on my backlit phone for night time and also an audiobook version for driving and chores time. I'm much too tired to handle three stories at once, but it is pretty much impossible and expensive to coordinate the same book in three formats like that (at least at this time).

So -- the totals for my 31st year as I turn 32 tomorrow...

Best I can tell from my apparently sketchy record keeping this past year,

69 books read/listened to
110.5 hours listened for audiobooks
16625 pages read

stupid marketing departments

The new Jennifer Crusie Bob Mayer book WILD RIDE -- I was so looking forward to it -- they have written two action adventure romances together and I enjoyed both of them a lot. Books often give away too much on the inside cover description, so without reading about the story, I got the book from the library's 14 day shelf, saw a roller coaster on the front (I love amusement parks as a fictional setting!) and dived right in.

The characters -- Mab, who is painting and restoring an old amusement park, and Ethan, who is a returning veteran with a bullet next to his heart and all of his military skills at the ready -- grabbed me right away and I was starting to really get into the amusement park setting

until page 21

when FREAKIN' DEMONS started talking to minor characters.

Here's the deal. If you are going to genre-hop, that is just fine and perfectly within your rights as a creative author of imaginative fiction. But don't pretend you are writing the same old stuff and trick your adventure-romance fans into buying your new demon filled crap-- just SAY SO ON THE FRONT OF THE DAMN BOOK.

The back cover copy is all quotes about cutesy action adventure witty dialogue romance attributed to the past two books these authors wrote together.
The front cover, there is a small black bird sitting on the roller coaster, otherwise has NO indication that this is a paranormal book. If I liked paranormal books (which, it might now be apparent that I do not, especially without fair warning) this book wouldn't appeal to me because the cover art doesn't look anything like all of the other paranormal books that are marketed to me these days.
I didn't read to page 22.
And I spent several days ranting to other librarians, my family, and pretty much everyone else, along with the innocent Jiffy Lube guy who was present when I got to the infamous page 21, about the horrors of tricky marketing cover art and the ill will that this bad choice of cover art is going to create for a lot of readers who are either upset they wasted money on a book they wouldn't have chosen otherwise, or will never know about this new paranormal book from hot popular authors.
Geez people.

I read only 21 pages

Food Rules

Another older one I forgot to post here.

As a child of the suburbs in the 1980's, I was raised on canned soup and canned vegetables, boxes of au gratin potatoes to be reconstituted in the oven, colorful cereals, bright orange macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, frozen dinners, soda and chips and almost anything that could be "cooked" in the microwave. And it was all delicious.
As a adult, I've accumulated over 30 years of information from food industry advertising, but very little food common sense. The news media seems to constantly be announcing some new miracle food or diet that can solve all the worlds health problems, and the health claims made on food packaging, coupons, commercials and advertised by the food industry's marketing departments are overwhelming but not very helpful.
Sometimes, what I really need to hear is a message more like this one:
"Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself."
or
"Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does."
or
"Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry."
Last year I read (and recommended here) Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto in which he recommended that we "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." His new book, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, is like a more useful and more memorable version of the scribbled notes I took while reading the last book. With 64 memorable food rules and a brief explanation of each, this small paperback book is a quick read with an important message.
The fresh broccoli, beets or bananas in the produce section may not flaunt their nutritional value with charts and shiny packaging, but as Michael Pollan would say (and he does in Rule #25) "Eat your colors" and those bright green, red and yellow fruits and vegetables suddenly look a lot more appealing!
112 pages

Food Rules

Another older one I forgot to post here.

As a child of the suburbs in the 1980's, I was raised on canned soup and canned vegetables, boxes of au gratin potatoes to be reconstituted in the oven, colorful cereals, bright orange macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, frozen dinners, soda and chips and almost anything that could be "cooked" in the microwave. And it was all delicious.
As a adult, I've accumulated over 30 years of information from food industry advertising, but very little food common sense. The news media seems to constantly be announcing some new miracle food or diet that can solve all the worlds health problems, and the health claims made on food packaging, coupons, commercials and advertised by the food industry's marketing departments are overwhelming but not very helpful.
Sometimes, what I really need to hear is a message more like this one:
"Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself."
or
"Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does."
or
"Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry."
Last year I read (and recommended here) Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto in which he recommended that we "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." His new book, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, is like a more useful and more memorable version of the scribbled notes I took while reading the last book. With 64 memorable food rules and a brief explanation of each, this small paperback book is a quick read with an important message.
The fresh broccoli, beets or bananas in the produce section may not flaunt their nutritional value with charts and shiny packaging, but as Michael Pollan would say (and he does in Rule #25) "Eat your colors" and those bright green, red and yellow fruits and vegetables suddenly look a lot more appealing!
112 pages

Being Nikki

I listened to the audiobook - maybe I was too embarrassed that I am starting to enjoy this series to actually post about it. I didn't review it for the library either. But I would totally read the third book when it comes out. Is that wrong?
Being Nikki by Meg Cabot - sequel to Airhead. About a brain transplant by an evil megacorp....
8 hours.

Life's a Beach

Found another one I missed -- not sure I have the energy to actually compare my library reviews to my personal site but it is becoming clear to me that I have taken the library reviews a bit more seriously of late... oops.

I've been enjoying a summer beach read all week as our (hopefully LAST) winter snow melts and imagining warmer locales.
Claire Cook, author of the popular Must Love Dogs, is back to doing what she does best -- writing about 40-something women's lives, romances, friendships and families.
In Life's a Beach,Ginger Walsh is 41 years old and she still hasn't figured out what to do with her life. She lives above her parent's garage, although her mother is pressuring her father to sell the house and move to a retirement village instead. She makes sea glass jewelry, although she suspects that her cat has a better artistic eye that she does. She drives around and babysits her older sister's kids, although she has a standard daily rate since this is an important source of income for her. She has a boyfriend, a cute glassblowing artist, although their relationship is so casual it might as well be nonexistant.
When a shark is spotted off the coast of their New England town, a horror movie come to film beach scenes and Ginger's nephew is cast in the film as a shark attackvictim. Since her older sister is busy having a midlife crisis about turning 50 and is caught up in her addiction to working from her Blackberry, Ginger is suddenly spending every day on a movie set as her nephew's guardian.
In this funny and all-too-human story, Claire Cook captures the two sisters perfectly as they each struggle to find themselves and both wonder if they have wasted too much time already. My favorite character is Ginger's father though, especially his antics visiting the town dump and bringing home "treasures" when he is supposed to be clearing out the house for his wife! This is a delightful read, and the audiobook narration by Kymberly Dakin is enjoyable and appropriately light. 7 hours listening.

shades of grey

I read this in February but just realized I never posted about it here. -- This is my review from the library's website. 390 pages.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
The problem I have with trying to tell someone about an awesome fantasy novel is that a large part of the charm and appeal of the book lies in the amazingly complex world which the author has created. It can be very tricky to describe that new world without giving away too much detail or citing a dozen examples. So, for simplicity’s sake, I will defer to an excerpt from the publishers blurb:
It’s our world, but not as we know it. Entire cities lie buried beneath overgrown fields and forests. Technology from other time peppers the landscape, and there is evidence of great upheaval.
As long as anyone can remember, society has been ruled by a Colortocracy. From the underground feedpipes that keep the municipal park green to the healing hues viewed to cure illness to a social hierarchy based upon one’s limited color perception, society is dominated by color. In this world, you are what you can see.
Eddie Russett is on the verge of adulthood. His upcoming color perception test that will determine his place in society, his value on the marriage market and his career prospects. Eddie is ready to unquestioningly take this place in society as a Red, but unfortunately, first he is sent to conduct a chair census as punishment for a prank.
When he travels with his father to a town on the Outer Fringes, where the Rules of society are less strictly enforced, Eddie begins to realize that all of the black and white truths of his world are actually a palate of shades of grey. With help from an aggressive and intimidating girl named Jane, with whom he immediately falls in love, Eddie learns that while curiosity and questions can be dangerous, the answers may be the most frightening thing of all.
Interesting side note: The library’s subject headings for this novel are Color blindness-Fiction, Dystopias, Fantasy fiction, and Love stories. Not a combination of subjects I would anticipate seeing in too many more novels. Ever. Jasper Fforde is a strong satirist and delightfully witty, especially as the readers recognize some of the historical references from the Previous times.
I’m really glad I don’t live in Jasper Fforde’s new fantasy world. But I thoroughly enjoyed visiting and I look forward to his next novel, which I hope will continue Eddie’s story.

Wedding season

Wedding Season by Katie Fforde

For a wedding planner, Sarah is awfully cynical. In fact, she doesn't even really believe in love and marriage -- but don't tell her clients that! After having her heart soundly broken, she has thrown herself into her business and all of her hard work is paying off. Weddings are complicated and Sarah works closely with her suppliers, her caterers, her florists, her dressmakers, her vicars at local churches, her photographers, her reception hall managers. With two years of planning and effort, Sarah organizes a huge society wedding for a very picky bride. An American actress decides she wants a similar wedding, with all the same features but in only two months!
Sarah quickly reassembles her successful team of Elsa and Bron, women who have become her friends and confidantes as well as her coworkers.
Elsa, the dressmaker, dresses in black to remain unnoticed, but after being pulled in as emergency maid of honor at the society wedding, she is beginning to come out of her shell a bit. The best man from the society wedding even asked for her phone number, although she doubts he will call.
Bron, the hairdresser, is a woman of many talents, although unfortunately none of them include sticking up for herself to her bossy and unsupportive boyfriend. Bron can do hair and makeup and even makes wedding cakes for friends, but will she have the gumption to live on her own for the first time?
Sarah couldn't be more stressed, especially when her pregnant younger sister schedules her own wedding on the same day as Sarah's first celebrity client. With so many details to keep track of, Sarah tries to keep her distance from Hugo, the handsome and charming photographer. They kissed at the last wedding they worked on together and the last thing she needs right now is a man to distract her.
It's the Wedding Season -- equal parts romantic, funny, poignant and appealing. Enjoy!
424 pages

Plus I read Taming of the Shrew for book group, a side by side edition and on the computer. I would put it at about 75 pages.

BLACKOUT

The new Connie Willis novel finally arrived. After I paid full price plus shipping for the hardcover, I quickly realized I was never going to have time to read an actual book, so I paid another $9.99 for the Amazon Kindle edition on my iPhone, which I read in about a week mostly in late-night baby holding sessions of furtive reading in the dark over her head....

So, the book. Is lovely. I missed the world of Oxford's time traveling historians. And this book had just enough early mentions of Mr. Dunworthy, Colin (who is all grown up at 16 now) and their adventures in the middle ages with Kivrin that everything quickly felt familiar. And then the new characters, as they went their separate ways into the past and then gradually their stories intersect within the London Blitz....
The plot devices of Connie Willis -- people remembering wrong information, worrying about things, near misses, coincidences, and time travel malfunctions -- are all tied together by her constant refrains -- in this book, it's everyday heros and every citizen being part of the war effort.
Everything was going along dramatically until the "to be continued" hit me out of nowhere.
Now I'm not-so-patiently waiting for the second part to be published in October...
491 pages