Booking Through Thursday

If you’re like me, you grew up reading everything under the sun, like the cereal boxes while you ate your breakfast, the newspapers held by strangers on the subway, the tabloid headlines at the grocery store.

What’s the oddest thing you’ve ever read? (You know, something NOT a book, magazine, short story, poem or article.) Booking Through Thursday

This was a tough question! What finally came to mind was a series of signs I came across while visiting China. They were meant to "educate" people on safe behaviors. Some examples...don't poke others while biking in traffic, try not to trample people while fleeing, using a mop won't help you put out a building fire. Now, I'm not sure if this is what they actually said since they are in Chinese, but just LOOK at them!

Sunday Salon

This is my first salon in almost two years! I stopped blogging after my broken foot started to heal. Its taken me awhile to get back to blogging but I'm looking forward to it. I think the key for me will be to keep it simple to start. So, what have I been up to???

1. I decided on the Kindle. I really think it is a matter of personal preference. For me the deciding factors were

• "e ink" and no back lighting. My husband has some eye problems and I wanted to cut down on eye fatigue


• color screen didn't matter, nor did a touch screen since I already have an iphone


• it was lighter


• I found it visually more appealing.

I love it!!!! It is one of the best purchases I've made. For the first time since I was nine I went on vacation without physically carrying a book with me. This from the girl who took a 1000+ page hardback on the plane to China bcs I couldn't wait to read it. The convenience can't be beat. One issue I would like to see improved is the page numbering. My issue is that there isn't any. When you read there is a scroll bar across the bottom that tells you that you are "5% complete". You just don't know if that is 5% of 100 pages or 5% of 800 pages. I would somehow like to see real page numbers incorporated. I know this might be difficult to compare electronic page to actual page to electronic pages but I'm sure they could make it work somehow.

2. I'm trying to read more. Aren't we all? The Kindle makes it easier to read more and read more often. I read more in Febuarary than I did in January. I'll probably read as much in March as I did in Febuary. Some books just read easier than others.

The City & the City by China Melville ate up a lot of my reading time. While others books I was able to fly right through. I'm hoping to start adding reviews to my blog as I have time.

I'm currently reading Swamplandia! by Karen Russell and I have 28% complete. It started off very well. Right now it is starting to flag and flounder. I hope it picks back up.

My upcoming reading is: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

For Earth Hour

What's in a Name 4 Challenge

Between January 1 and December 31, 2011, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a number in the title: First to Die, Seven Up, Thirteen Reasons Why
2. A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: Diamond Ruby, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Opal Deception
3. A book with a size in the title: Wide Sargasso Sea, Small Wars, Little Bee
4. A book with travel or movement in the title: Dead Witch Walking, Crawling with Zombies, Time Traveler's Wife
5. A book with evil in the title: Bad Marie, Fallen, Wicked Lovely
6. A book with a life stage in the title: No Country for Old Men, Brideshead Revisited, Bog Child

The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.

Other Things to Know

Books may be any form (audio, print, e-book).
Books may overlap other challenges.
Books may not overlap categories; you need a different book for each category.
Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed but encouraged.

You do not have to make a list of books before hand.
You do not have to read through the categories in any particular order

My tentative book list:

1. Number:
2. Jewelry/Gem:
3. Size: A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)
4. Travel/Movement: Snow Falling on Cedars (David Guterson)
5. Evil:
6. Life Stage:

Books Awards Reading Challenge V

hosted by Michelle at 1Morechapter

Rules:

1.Read 5 books from 5 different awards during Feb 1, 2011 through Dec 1, 2011.
2.Overlaps with other challenges are permitted.
3.Choices don't have to be posted right away, and lists may be changed at any time.
4.'Award winners' is loosely defined; make the challenge fit your needs.

This had always been one of my favorite challenges in the pasts. I've decided to go back through my old challenges and list what never got read and pick from those reads. If I have time I'll try to add some new ones too.

• Holes: Louis Sachar (Newbery)
• Shiloh: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Newbery)
• Half of a Yellow Sun: Adichie (Orange Prize)
• We Need to Talk About Kevin: Shriver (Orange Prize)
• Guns, Germs and Steel: Jared Diamond
• Anil's Ghost:Michael Ondaatje
• The Shipping News: E. Annie Proulx
• Snow Falling on Cedars: David Guterson
• Life of Pi: Yann Martel
• The Throat: Peter Straub
• The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
• Plague’s Progress by Arno Karlen
• Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
• A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Spring Reading Thing 2011 Challenge

March 20th - June 20th hosted by Katrina at Callapidder days

Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this spring. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like. (Also, feel free to modify your list during the challenge if it’s not working for you.) Write a blog post containing your list and submit it to this post using the Mr. Linky below. Get reading! The challenge goes from today, March 20th, through June 20th. Check out other participants’ lists and add to your own to-read-someday pile! Write a post about your challenge experience in June, telling us all about whether you reached your goals and how Spring Reading Thing went for you. But remember: this is a low-pressure challenge that should be fun. As long as you do some reading this spring (and enjoy it!), that’s good enough for me.

My first challenge in 2011. Acutally, my first challenge is two years.

My Reading List:

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Rebecca Skloot 4.10.11
• The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers: Thomas Mullen
• The Clan of the Cave Bear: Jean M. Auel
• Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest: Stieg Larsson

Additional Books:

• Swamplandia!: Karen Russell (4.2.11)

Blogging Again???

I think I feel like blogging again. The past few days I've found myself cruising around my blog, reading old posts and comments, checking out old challenges. I was in a reading funk for a long time. I simply didn't feel like reading and really didn't feel like writing about. I'm ready to pick it back up...I think.

I redesigned my background. I removed a few of the old challenges that were taking up space along the sides. I guess now I just need to join a few challenges and write a few reviews. Time will tell how it goes.