Saying Goodbye to Trish's Reading Nook - TSS

It is with much sadness that today I say goodbye to Trish's Reading Nook. I have been blogging here just shy of three years with 367 posts. Many of you have probably noticed my absence over the past five months. I've had some incredibly happy things happen--a new house and a new position at work--that have kept me busy and some sad things that have prevented me from spending too much time online. In the past five months I've experienced major blogger burnout and for a multitude of reasons I've decided it's time for me to hang up my hat here.

The past three years have been amazing. I've met some wonderful wonderful people and I've been stretched and pulled in directions I could have never imagined. The love of books in this community has been a constant joy for me and I would have never experienced this joy if not for blogging, reading challenges, and different blogging events such as the 24-hour-readathon. I've read things I never thought I'd read and been introduced to authors I was unfamiliar with. I've added hundreds of books to my shelves and even more to my wishlist. I've met bibliophiles from all corners of the world and connected on all different levels. And I've read more than probably all other years combined. I wouldn't trade these experiences for anything.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to leave me a comment, took the time to get to know me and allow me to get to know them, took the time to participant in my reading challenges (Classics Challenge, Non-Fiction Five Challenge, and even the 100 Mile Fitness Challenge). Thank you to the publishers and authors who have sent me books over the past two years. And finally thank you to the community for taking me in and allowing me to grow with you. According to Feedburner I currently have over 500 subscribers and I'm constantly baffled as that number continues to climb and grow even as my blogging has waned. I would have never imagined so many people would take an interest in my thoughts on books! And let me tell you that's a tough thing to give up--quite scary actually.

But with 500 subscribers also comes the pressure of maintaining this blog. Self-inflicted pressure, of course, but nonetheless. Without going too much into the negative (because, really what does it matter what my opinions are about the evolution of book blogging over the past several years), I simply feel as though I need to scale down a bit and simplify my blogging habits. I have started blogging again (although not bloghopping yet) and after months of mulling things over I've decided the best thing is to combine my efforts into one blog. Friends have asked if it might not be simpler to transfer my other blogging to this blog, but I kind of like the idea of a fresh start. And it is tough knowing that I've put hours and hours into this blog and hours and hours more into cultivating relationships with other bloggers and maintaining my place within the community. Of course I'll always consider myself a book blogger because that's how I started, but I don't want to be just a book blogger any longer. I want to have freedom to blog about what I would like to blog and I don't feel that I have that here. Silly, I know, but if you've been following for a while you know that my feelings are not always rational. :)

I'd love to invite you to visit me at my other blog: Love, Laughter, and Insanity. It is a blog where I post about personal aspects of my life but I have transfered all 367 posts and 7,000 comments from this blog over there--and in a way book blogging is personal as well. I do hope to continue blogging about books because I love writing about my feelings of what I read. I do plan to start bloghopping again--my apologies for not being around much these past five months. Whether or not you've missed me I have missed you and the interaction. Simply put I've felt overwhelmed and have needed to take a few months to clear my head and find my place. I partially feel like I'm running away from this blog, but I need a place that can be inclusive of all my blogging.

Plans for this blog. I'm not sure. For now I'm going to devote it entirely to the Non-Fiction Five Challenge. If you're signed up for the challenge, no worries--nothing will change. I'll probably change the name of the blog from Trish's Reading Nook to NFF and after that...I don't know. Honestly I don't want to think that far in advance.

Classics Challenge is currently going on at its own blog (same as past two years).

Man--if I hit that "publish post" button this is really official huh? :)

Best Wishes and Happy Reading,

Executive Decision

So, I made the executive decision today to get rid of the blogroll on my side bar. It was TERRIBLY outdated and definitely does not include all the blogs I love to read. And really, I just can't keep up with you kids (um, or my new discoveries). I've been seeing this "Top Commenter" widget around the blogs I haunt and thought that might be a good substitute--except it still doesn't include all the blogs I love! It's there, though--on the sidebar below my 2008 reads.

But I don't believe it is accurate. First, I'm not sure how far back it goes--22 comments just doesn't seem right since I've been blogging for over a year. Second, I don't believe it accurately accounts for my top commenters. Most are there but some aren't. One name on the list I've never even seen before. Well, I've seen the name because a few blogger friends have that name, but the link is a place I hadn't discovered until now. Which brings up a question--does it lump same names together??

What are your suggestions for dumping the blogroll? How can I share with you the blogs that I love so much? I do this occassionally through the awards I pass on but that doesn't cover everyone! I know some of you make a list of the monthly visiters and while I think that's awesome it seems like a ton of work!! I guess maybe I should have saved that blogroll before I so hastily clicked delete. Ha ha--do you even care? :D Sorry for the ranting guys!

The Maggie picture is just because. It's actually an old one--I think from when I still lived in Lubbock almost two years ago! I'm not sure what she's looking at--maybe the dog under my desk, but at least her eyes aren't all freaky. :) I tried taking a few snapshots last night but I couldn't get any where her eyes weren't glowing. Any thoughts on how to take non-glowing eye pictures?

Super Commenter Award :)

I've been lucky to have been awarded a few little gems over the past couple of weeks but this one really means a lot to me for a number of different reasons. So first, thanks to Dar, Jeane, and Nymeth for passing on the award to me--it really means a lot!

Part of the reason why this award means so much is because I do try to leave comments as much as I can. I get behind in life (um, like I am now), but I spend a lot of time reading through blogs and trying to leave thoughtful comments. I know how much I love and appreciate getting comments and know others must feel the same way and without a comment who knows you were there anyway? So thank you ladies, for noticing. I wish my comments could be a little more brillant, but sometimes a 'Hey, I was here' is all I can manage. Wow, maybe I can win the "cheese" award as well!

That brings me to another thing--I have almost 100 subscribers to my blog. I don't know how that compares to others, I'm not bragging--but really, who the heck are you people?? :) I would LOVE to come visit you--so leave me a comment letting me know you were here when you were. I've purposely left the number of blogs that I subscribe to at a manageable level so that I CAN visit everyone and leave comments as much as possible--but I still love to discover new blogs!

So, without further babble, I'm going to pass on the Super Commenter Award:
Nymeth at Things Mean a Lot
Dar at Peeking Between the Pages
Debi at Nothing of Importance
Laura at Reading Reflections
Literary Feline at Musings of a Bookish Kitty
Joy at Thoughts of Joy
CB at Ready When You Are CB

Some of these are new to me, some are old to me (and some of the very first blogs I discovered--Nymeth and Joy). Thank you gals and guy for being such great commenters. It means so much to know to know that you're there and even when I post rubbish I get your support. :) The rules say to pass it on to seven individuals.

SO, after getting back from Toronto I'm, of course, behind. I still have my thoughts on The Complete Persepolis to report and will finish up Neverwhere tomorrow--but I'm going out of town AGAIN this weekend (just a short trip, but no computer). I'm going to try and go through my Google Reader to try and catch any goodies from when I was gone, but with over 200 posts I can't read them all (AND I feel guilty when I can't comment as much as I want!!). Can everyone please hold their posts until next Tuesday so I can get caught up please?? That would be just perfect. :)

Two Memes, and Award, and Giveaways!!!

Giveaways first since they are the most fun and easiest to write about:

***Trish from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin? is giving away 14 books! Go check her out before July 19th!

***Literary Feline from Musings of a Bookish Kitty is celebrating her 2 year bloggiversary with a 14 book giveaway as well. You have until August 2 for hers.

I'm sure there are others but I'm still going through my google reader. When will life slow down!!
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TWO MEMES:

I've been tagged by Amanda at Life and Times of a "New" New Yorker for a Quirkiness Meme

Rules:

1. Link the person(s) who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged

Unspectacular quirks, endstop.

1. Like Amanda, I also make up ridiculous songs--not so much make them up as just sing at random. In particular, I sing to my cat, my husband, and my food. Or sometimes just a random word--"meme" is a word I can hear myself singing outloud. Most times (read: all times) it is pure nonsense. And, I'm a horrible singer. ;)

2. I LOVE musicals and listen to them often in the car and sing and cry along with the music. I even have soundtracks for plays I haven't seen yet! My favorites are Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and Miss Siagon (I have seen these three).

3. I have to sleep with covers on at all times no matter how scorchingly hot it is in my bedroom. It is OK to let one foot out of the covers but NEVER both!

4. One of my favorite things in the entire world is a freshly made bed. I LOVE it!!

5. I am deathly afraid of spiders--so much so that a few weeks ago when going to my car after work and seeing one on my roof by the driver door, I actually crawled in through the passanger seat to avoid the spider jumping on my back, biting me, and dying.

6. I'm a food junky and get really moody if I haven't eaten in a while. I have always thought that this was related to being hypoglycemic, which I don't really know that I am, but really, I think I just love to eat. I can tell, though, if I'm starting to get grumpy and always warn hubby--watch out, I'm about to get bitchy if we don't eat soon.

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FIVE THINGS MEME

I was also tagged by Jeane from Dog Ear Diary for the Five Things Meme

What was I doing 10 years ago?
The summer before my senior year of High School--probably at a family reunion in Southern California (Oceanside)

Five snacks I enjoy in a perfect, non weight-gaining world:
Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream, ice cream, double stuffed oreos. :)

Five snacks I enjoy in the real world:
Mints (the lifesaver ones!), hot tomales, crackers, gum (cinnamon at work, mint otherwise), BBQ Baked Lays

Five things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Quit work 2. Cook 3. Read 4. Cook 5. Read :) My life is pretty simple

Five jobs that I have had:
Old Navy Clothing, Carhop at Sonic, Office Manager at Fire Department, Teaching Freshman English at Texas Tech, Account Manager for Equine Event Insurance (not my current job but I am still in insurance)

Three of my habits (soon you will all be thinking I'm neurotic):
--see Quirkiness Meme above. In addition I keep multiple spreadsheets for the same thing--not entirely sure why. Two things I keep spreadsheets for are my books/reading and bills/finances.

I also label the backs of my pictures after I get them developed even if it is obvious when the picture was taken and who is in it (Yes, I have lots of pictures of hubby and myself labeled "Trish and Scott" I guess just in case one day I forget who we are).

I save EVERYTHING. Especially true when we are on trips--which sometimes includes silly things like receipts! so that one day when I decide to scrapbook, I will have plenty of things to include other than pictures. It is absolutely ridiculous!

Five Six places I have lived:
Provo, UT; Toronto, ON; Plano, TX; Rexburg, ID; College Station, TX; Lubbock, TX

Yay! Memes are fun so tag yourself and let me know if you do either/both of these!!!

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EXCELLENCE IN BLOGGING AWARD

There is nothing better than coming home from a trip, feeling bad about neglecting the blogworld, feeling overwhelmed with the housework/workwork that has piled up, feeling like you have to pull your hair out to stay sane to find that people are still thinking about you.

Two EXCELLENT bloggers have given me this award and it made my day(s). I'm cheating and returning the award back to these two. I've loved getting to know these two gals over the past couple of months and I hope that you'll go check them out.

First is Bethany from B&b ex libris. I found her personal blog a few months ago when looking for people's reactions to Salinger's Nine Stories. I started lurking a bit--as she did with my blog, and then one day she told me she was going to start a book blog! I was thrilled! And since then she's started her own challenge (Orbis Terranum), reviewed exciting and different books, and stayed up with me during the 24-hour-readathon. So glad you joined us in this bookblogging world, Bethany!!

Second is Corinne from The Book Nest. Corinne is a new-t0-me blogger (relatively), but she reads such a variety of books that I can always find something that we either have in common or that I want to add to my shelf! Her reviews are thoughtful and her comments are sincere and I look forward to getting to know her better. And, she's a challenge junky like myself!!

Thanks gals for the shoutout!! It really did make me feel great. :)

24-hour Read-a-thon: YAHOO

Ow ow ow owowowowow...stop twisting my arm!! When my friend, Laura, first mentioned this read-a-thon to me, my first thought was...not sure that sounds so fun. Even at my young age of 26, I struggle to stay up past 10:00 at night. Usually my evening ends with hubby and I watching a movie or TV show and me falling fast asleep. We joke that I can't stay awake during any movie--last night I fell asleep during Hairspray!

When I told hubby that I was interested in joining this little shindig--he immediately laughed and told me I couldn't make it two hours. Probably not. My attention span is incredibly short and I can usually only read for an hour at a time--and only a few hours a day.

But--what kind of challenge would this be if I just quit before I even started? So, I'm going to attempt to do the read-a-thon. I'm late signing up, of course, and Dewey's website The Hidden Side of a Leaf is down for some reason (grrrrrr!!), but here I am.

I do have to go shopping with step-mom and sister at noon, so I think I'm going to bend the rules and start a little earlier than 11:00 (I'm central time). But, I got some of my weekend duties (i.e. cleaning the bathrooms) done last night and so all I have to do today is tend to laundry and maybe a little ironing (during which I can finish Hairspray).

I'm going to temporarily abandon Tess of the D'Urbervilles, which I'm enjoying but frankly too exhausted from work to read right now. Instead, I'm going to attempt to read some of the shorter books on my shelf. The plan is to start with The Translator (about 180 pages), then Saint Therese of Lisieux (about the same length), and then maybe a Jodi Picoult book. That's probably overzealous of me and I probably won't make it to a second book, but I thought I'd be prepared so I won't stare at my bookshelf aimlessly looking for the next book.

So...yay!

Six Random Things About Me and Weekly Geeks #1 Part 2

First, I want to thank everyone who responded to my last post about the challenge questions. I've got something going going and I hope to make my challenge annoucement in the next few days! I'm so excited (and a little scared). Eeeeks!

I was tagged earlier today by CJ and ThisRedHeadReads to provide six random things about me. So, here goes:

1. Although I am a Texan through and through, I wasn't born here (born in Utah) and I lived in Toronto from ages 2-9. When I moved I could sing the Canadian National Anthem in French!


2. My husband, Scott, and I met in College Station when we were next-door-neighbors. We only lived next-door to each other for two months before he moved away to Corpus, then Harlingen, then Tahoe. It was almost two years before we lived in the same town again (College Station), but I guess those first two months sealed the deal.


3. I was never a great student in English. I was good, but I didn't particularly care for it until Senior year when I read Wuthering Heights. I've always loved to read, though.


4. I am a Texas A&M Aggie--I bleed maroon. Scott is a Texas Tech Red Raider, so he bleeds red. I guess our kids will bleed a combination of red and maroon (hopefully more maroon! At least it won't be orange...). Whoop!


5. If you've been reading my blog long enough--I think there are a few of you--then you already know that Bridget Jones is a type of heroine in my eyes. Yup, it's true.


6. You've seen the pictures of Maggie, my cat, but we also have a dog, Lexi. She really didn't want me to take her picture and she has scary eyes in the photo, but otherwise isn't she sweet? I'm told she is an English Lab, so she is much smaller than regular labs. I like to think that her and Maggie are friends, but truthfully, Lexi is very scared of the cat. Silly dog!

Weekly Geeks #1 Part Two--yes, you read that right--I'm not onto Week #2 yet!

On Friday I was a little pressed for time, so I wanted to take a few minutes and talk a little more about my new discoveries:

Andi - Like many of the bloggers below, I've seen Andi's name a lot as it seems we read the same blogs. I had to laugh a little when I chose to visit her for weekly geeks and saw my name as one she selected (I had no idea!). I guess we Texas girls need to stick together!

Debi is an organizer like I am. She has a number of different blogs and I browsed through a lot of them amazed at her thoughtfulness that she puts into her daily routine.

Valentina - As soon as I visited Valentina's blog, I was thrilled to add another book to my wishlist--The Declaration. What can be better than that? She writes great reviews and reads a variety of different books.

Ravenous Reader - I enjoyed reading through her bookish ravings. In addition to reviews, she also speaks her mind on anything a bibliophile like me can think of. Definitely a great blog to browse.

Gautami Tripathy - as I browsed through Gautami's blog, I quickly realized that we have similar tastes in books. She's also a challenge addict like me. Strength in numbers?

*****Stay tuned for the challenge annoucement. I need to make a few final tweeks to my button (thanks to everyone who offered to make one for me! but I decided it is high time I figure it out!). I hope to have the post up soon.

Weekly Geeks #1 and Challenge Questions for YOU

WEEKLY GEEKS #1

I've procrastinated--again. This is not to say that I'm looking up five random sites on Friday morning before work. I wish I could spend some time writing up a few things about these bloggers, but I have that pesky thing called work... I've visited many and spent some time browsing around and found these gems:

Andi from Tripping toward Lucidity

Debi from Nothing of Importance

Valentina from Valentina's Room

Ravenous Reader

Gautami Tripathy from My Own Little Reading Room

And I want to make a special mention of the following blog. She's not new to me, but she's new to blogging. Most of my family and friends kind of look at me funny when I tell them that I have a blog--even my reading enthusiast friends. But Laura was curious and interested and now she has a blog of her own! Go check her out:

Laura at Reading Reflections

CHALLENGE QUESTIONS FOR YOU!

I'm thinking about hosting a challenge and have a few questions for all of you challenge goers:

1. What format of challenge entry do you prefer?
* Separate blog where you can post your actual review
*Separate blog with Mr. Linky
*Mr. Linky on hostesses blog

I have found that I don't post my reviews anymore on challenge blogs just because I don't have the time, so I'm thinking one of the last two. But...I don't know whether to do the Mr. Linky on my blog or the challenges own blog. What do you think?

2. How the heehaw does one make a button?? Is special software required?

Um, I guess that is it! I'm thinking of a challenge between July and December, but I haven't decided for certain. I'm getting a little pressure from Laura (see above) to host one, but really...it scares me a bit. :)

Alright--off to work (and an hour in traffic!). Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Bookish Babble [Shelves, Challenges, and Giveaways]

Dewey posted pictures of her bookshelves on Sunday, and I wanted to show her that she is not alone in her crazy collecting. Hello, my name is Trish and I am a bookaholic.

Both of the shelves above are in my office. The one to the left has my school books on the bottom shelf, Challenge books on the top shelf, and most of my hardback books. Except for the bottom shelf, this is my unread bookshelf. The shelf to the right contains the books I have read (with the exception of the top shelf which is a Dickens collection I just "saved" from my in-laws' shop--aka big giant shed in the sweltering Texas heat with silverfish and spiders galore--not a store shop). To make room for Dickens I've started to double stack--which I hate. Hmmm...maybe I can talk hubby into a new bookshelf for my birthday?? I got this one for this past Christmas.

This shelf is much smaller and also contains unread books. The top shelf has a few old books--the ones in the middle are half of my Balzac collection from 1909. The other half is still in a box from my moving around. My Aunt Fran had an AMAZING library--over 10,000 books. When she passed a few years ago, my grandmother saved these books for me--and also a Dickens collection that is currently at mom's house. Some are in better shape than others, but they are my personal treasures. I loved my Aunt Fran.

I have another shelf in my kitchen with a few hardbacks that I've read and my cookbooks--and then my other "nice" books including my Mark Twain collection on my fireplace mantle. What can I say? I love books. I know this is probably excessive--but I also know my library is probably small compared to some of yours. I keep telling myself that I need to stop collecting books--I obviously don't have the room anymore. I have a little over 500 books in my library. I've read about half of them.

NON-FICTION FIVE CHALLENGE

Joy is again hosting the Non-Fiction Five Challenge (click on her name to take you to the challenge link). This was one of my first challenges last year and I loved it! I felt that it really stretched me and pulled me out of my comfort zone. So...I am excited to join again this year.

My picks for the 2008 Non-Fiction Five are as follows:

**The Innocent Man - John Grisham

**A Rumor of War - Philip Caputo

**The Translator - Daoud Hari

**'Tis - Frank McCourt

** In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

Alternates (yes, because I can...)

**The Autobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux

**Anne Frank Remembered

**Or Whatever Else I Feel Like (Yeehaw!)

GIVEAWAYS!!

Kim L of Big.Blue.Adventure. is celebrating 100 posts. Go here for details. (Oh, ya...Kim totally rocks for hooking me up with the BFF award)

Natasha from Maw Books is also celebrating 100 posts. Go here for details.

Jeane of Dog Ear Diary is giving away 2 Book Mooch books. Click here to enter the drawing (wait...do we have to be a member of Book Mooch?)

Stephanie from The Written Word is giving away 5 adorable canvas bags and one copy of Comfort Food. See here for details.

Random Book Thoughts

I'm still reading The Left Hand of Darkness and feeling very impatient with the book and my reading progress this month. Hopefully I'll finish the book by Friday, but that will make 4 (mostly short) reads for February. And that's fine. I'm just impatient. Ha! Ohhh, and I don't even want to get started on my progress on Eragon (audiobook). I'm on disc 5/14. Bleh.

But in other booking news, I received two books this week! Joy was so kind to send me a copy of 'Tis after reading my review of Angela's Ashes a few weeks ago. I was so excited to receive the book! And then, I also received my prize book, Half of a Yellow Sun, from Michelle for the Decades Challenge. Thank you so much ladies for making my week!!In addition to those books, I also discovered some abandoned books in my in-laws storage. We were putting some equipment in the shop a few weeks ago and there in the dust and dirt and who-knows what else was a collection of Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. I already have a pretty nice set of Dickens, so I asked hubby to hint to mom-in-law that if the books are just going to waste away in the shop and be eaten by silverfish, I would be happy to give the books a home. Hubby was down in Coleman a few days later and brought me back ALL of the books. Not sure what I'll do with the Dickens yet, but I'm thrilled with the Mark Twain set (all in all its a medium U-Haul box two-thirds full of books!!). Hmmm...need a new bookshelf. :)

And finally, I discovered Google Reader this week. Where the heck have I been??? I love reading everyone's blog, but sometimes I get bogged down with life and find it difficult to keep up. But, now all I have to do is look at my Google Reader and see who has new posts! I'm not sure if I'm any quicker at reading everything, but I feel so much more in the know. Ha ha! I guess it's the little things. Thanks Google, for making my life so much easier!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

Non-Fiction Meme

Gautami at My Own Little Reading Room has come up with a non-fiction meme and tagged CJ at My Year of Reading Seriously, and CJ urged me to do this one. Without further ado:

a) What issues/topic interests you most--non-fiction, i.e, cooking, knitting, stitching, there are infinite topics that has nothing to do with novels?

I don’t read a lot of non-fiction and what little I do read still feels novelish (memoir, autobiography, biography). I am interested in lots of different topics, but I usually just search the web. My coworkers joke around that all they have to do is express a little interest in a topic and a few minutes later I will come back to give them a full report of the topic. What can I say, I’m curious. But not curious enough to read a whole book—not now anyway.

However, I do own and have read a lot of non-fiction/essay books dealing with writing, teaching, and other literature/history related topics. One of the most interesting books I had to read for grad school was Governing the Tongue: The Politics of Early Speech in Early New England (link to amazon).

b) Would you like to review books concerning those topics?

Except for the odd memoir or biography that I’ve read since blogging, all the reviewing I’ve done has been for school.

c) Would you like to be paid or do it as interest or hobby?

What? Get paid? As far as I understand, if you get your review published in academia, it isn’t a paid thing but more of a CV thing…

d) Would you recommend those to your friends and how?

I am guessing that the books referred to above that I own are only interesting to those interested in teaching, writing, literature theory (e.g. Post-Colonialism, Post-Modernism, etc), and the history of literature/language/etc in general. And most of the writing books are based on theory (for teaching writing) or technical writing rather than fiction writing. Readers of my blog: believe it or not, I do know how to write decently. I tend to get a little lazy, though, when blogging. Ha ha!

e) If you have already done something like this, link it to your post.

I only have paper reviews written for school (well, they are saved on my computer but not in blog posts).

f) Please don’t forget to link back here or whoever tags you.

CJ urged me to do this, but I wasn’t officially tagged—so, I’m not officially tagging anyone. Easy as pie!

Reading Meme

Lisa tagged me for this fun meme a few weeks back. I'm just now getting to it, and I can see that many others have done it. So, if you read this, haven't done the meme, then tag yourself. :)

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews? Brothers Karamazov, although I’m not sure if that is an irrational cringe or not since it’s a hefty 800+ pages (which in my eyes makes it a rational cringe since I cringe at anything over 500 pages). I bought it last summer only to let it collect dust on the shelf, but I have heard great things about the book! One day…probably a long time from now.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be? Bridget Jones from…well…the Bridget Jones books. So she’s a little whiney sometimes, but aren’t we all? I bet she’d be a blast to be with while knocking a few back! I’ve always had an irrational love for Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights. Yes, I know he’s no good—but in my eyes that makes him the perfect bad boy. Mmmmm. :) Oh way, is this the same social event? I’d enjoy spending an afternoon with Liz Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love). So, maybe I could hang out with Liz—get some coffee and pastries, then head out to the bar with Bridge, and um…the rest with Heathcliff. Ha ha! Wow…

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realise it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave? Angela’s Ashes (which I’m currently reading). :) Pamela, which I could not finish for a grad class, was pretty boring as well. Howards End is by far the most boring book I’ve ever read. I have my prejudices, but I hate to speculate about books I haven’t read yet!

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it? Underworld by Don DeLillo. We had to read it for a Post-Mod grad course and I read 200/800 pages of it. It was a good book, just an extremely busy week and there was no way I was going to finish 800 pages in a week (when I was also reading books for my Post-Colonial and 18th Century Brit Lit classes). I think it was pretty clear to my professor, but I lived through the three hour class. Eeeks! :)

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t? Which book? I keep a pretty detailed list of the books that I’ve read, so I don’t get confused too often about that. But, I will get confused on which books I own and which ones I don’t.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (if you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead of personalise the VIP) This is difficult not knowing the person and what interests them. I think never a bad thing to start with something lighter to test the waters and then move into some of the heavier things. I think about this a lot when I’m thinking about which books I would recommend to certain people.

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with? French. Really no good reason other than I took a few classes in high school. And it seems like when I’m reading random books, French is the language that keeps popping up in little blurbs. Tender at the Bone, the last book I finished, had pieces of French—some of which I was able to decipher.

A mischievious fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick? There are a number of books that I would love to re-read, but I’m not sure about every year. Anyway, those that I would like to re-read include The Handmaid’s Tale, The Red Tent, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and The Poisonwood Bible.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)? I discovered The Book Thief first and foremost. There have been a couple of other books out there, but The Book Thief has certainly been the most impactful. Also challenges—a great way to organize my reading.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free. Lisa – your dream library sounds fantastic! I, too, would want somewhere really cushy. Right now I have the couch, which has a permanent imprint of my bottom; my car, which is not all that comfortable; and the bed, but the cat can’t cuddle with me on the bed. So a huge cozy couch or recliner where I could have a place for my beverage and still have room for the cat to snuggle up would be great. Someplace quiet so that if hubby is watching 300 or something equally scary and loud I can still have peace and quiet. I’m not picky about the books. I love all types of books. I actually don’t need any more books. :) but I would like to have matching bookshelves.

2007 Challenges

2007 Challenge Review

Blogging brought a whole new element to my reading--challenges. What I really like about challenges is the themes, which in a way reminds me of grad classes--like little mini classes that I don't have to write papers for. Also, challenges helped me with getting some of those OLD TBR books off the shelf as well as helping me determine what books to read next. On the other hand, though, I didn't leave myself enough room for whimsical choices, so I often felt burned out with books I had picked months in advance.

Non-Fiction Five Challenge (5 books)

Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich (Economics)

Thunderstruck - Erik Larson (History)

Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi (Memoir)

His Excellency: George Washington - Joseph J. Ellis (Biography)

The City of Falling Angels - John Berendt (Travelogue)

What I really liked about the Non-Fiction Five Challenge was that it nudged me into reading a genre I normally wouldn't touch unless assigned for school (and even then...?). The toughest book to slog through was definitely His Excellency; I honestly can't choose one that I liked the most--and not because I loved them all. Oh well!

By the Decades Challenge (13 books)

The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James (1880s)

The Awakening - Kate Chopin (1890s)

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (1900s)

Howards End - EM Forster (1910s)

Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton (1920s)

As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner (1930s)

Johnny Tremain - Esther Forbes (1940s)

Night - Elie Wiesel (1950s)

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1960s)

The World According to Garp - John Irving (1970s)

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler (1980s)

Fall On Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald (1990s)

The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood (2000s)

What I really liked about this challenge is that I was able to read pieces of fiction from a timespan of about 115 years. The differences between the earlier pieces to the later pieces is remarkable, really highlighting how the novel has developed. My favorites would have to be Fall On Your Knees and The Blind Assassin; my least favorites were Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and Howards End.

RIP Challenge (12 short stories)

Tales of Edgar Allan Poe - Edgar Allan Poe

I've been wanting to read this collection for a while, but I ended up really struggling with getting it read! My favorite stories were "Pit and Pendulum" and "Tell-Tale Heart"; there were several other stories (e.g. The Gold-Bug) that didn't strike my particular fancy.

Something About Me Challenge (5 books)

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquirel

High Fidelity - Nick Hornby

Sea Glass - Anita Shreve

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

This was a fun challenge because it was so different and the books I chose were from a pool of selections from other bloggers. The only book on this list I didn't really like was Like Water for Chocolate. All the rest were books that I enjoyed a lot--The Thirteenth Tale and High Fidelity being two of my favorite reads for the year.

Classics Challenge (3 books)

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

Once I started paying more attention to my reading habits, I was surprised at how many classics I read throughout the year. This challenge was easy to fulfill and I liked Frankenstein and The Scarlet Pimpernel a lot; Little Women did not live up to my re-reading expectations.

Armchair Traveler Challenge (6 books)

Travels with Charley - John Steinbeck (America)

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)

The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien (Vietnam)

Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert (Italy, India, Indonesia)

The City of Falling Angels - John Berendt (Venice)

Snow - Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)

One of the goals I have is to really reach outside of my boundary comfort zone. Most of the authors that I read are North American or British and while the locales differ from story to story, I haven't exposed myself a lot to writers from different countries. While I didn't do this except for maybe Snow, this challenge certainly raised my awareness. A Thousand Splendid Suns was my favorite of the bunch; Snow was my least favorite.

2nds Read Challenge (3 books)

Thirteen Moons - Charles Frazier

Flesh and Blood - Michael Cunningham

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

Overall I enjoyed my second helping of these three authors, but none of them were as good as the first I read by the authors (Cold Mountain, The Hours, and Pride and Prejudice). But all three authors I would devour for a third helping!

Total Challenges: 7 (one challenge not listed: 07-08 Book Awards Reading Challenge)

Total Challenge Books: 35 (one cross-posted in two 2007 challenges)
New Authors: 22

Catching Up

AHHHHHH. With the new job, I've been able to keep my reading at a steady pace, but it seems like I can never find the time to blog about what I'm reading or read others' blogs about what they are reading. Thanks for sticking with me...if you still are. :) Hopefully I will have some GREAT catch up time this weekend. In the meantime, below are the reviews for Age of Innocence and Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Sometimes this weekend (maybe sooner?) I'll have another for Northanger Abbey. There just aren't enough hours in the days. How do YOU all find time to read?

Sunshine and Roses: BTT

This week's BTT is the reverse of last week’s question:

Imagine that everything is going just swimmingly. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all’s right with the world. You’re practically bouncing from health and have money in your pocket. The kids are playing and laughing, the puppy is chewing in the cutest possible manner on an officially-sanctioned chew toy, and in between moments of laughter for pure joy, you pick up a book to read . . .

What is it?

Honestly? I usually will pick up whatever book I'm currently reading. Right now I'm reading two books--Travels with Charley and Howards End. I had some great news yesterday about a job offer, so I came home and read Travels with Charley--the more entertaining book of the two. I don't think I really read for my moods, but I definitely don't want to read something that is depressing (or boring like Howards End) if I am in a superhigh mood.

Comfort Food - Booking Through Thursday

Okay . . . picture this (really) worst-case scenario: It’s cold and raining, your boyfriend/girlfriend has just dumped you, you’ve just been fired, the pile of unpaid bills is sky-high, your beloved pet has recently died, and you think you’re coming down with a cold. All you want to do (other than hiding under the covers) is to curl up with a good book, something warm and comforting that will make you feel better.

What do you read?

Hmmm, this is kind of a difficult question for me since if I am that down I will usually go for the movies instead of the books. If we are talking movies, my first picks would be Pride and Prejudice, Love Actually, Moulin Rouge, When Harry Met Sally, While You Were Sleeping. If I'm down, I don't have the energy to even pick up a book. I also don't tend to re-read books since I'm paranoid that I'm eventually going to run out of time and not be able to read all the books I want to read. Hmmm. :)

But a book that can always pick me up and make me feel loads better about myself and my situation is Bridget Jones. It is one of the few books that I've read more than once and will probably read again and again. I think good ole Bridge can make any down girl feel a little better.

What do you read/watch? Go here to play!

Stinkin' Challenge Update and Blog Question

Is it the time of the year? Is that why I am having total and utter challenge burnout??

I really really want to get some fresh challenges on my plate since I really don't want to read any of the books I have left, but I just can't commit knowing that I already have about 22 books left to read in 4 months!

I did find a new challenge for 2008: In Their Shoes hosted by Visally. Read any number of biographies, memoirs, and/or authobiographies in 2008. Easy peasy. :) I'm not going to even think about posting my books until closer to January, but oh whatever---I guess I will think and obsess about it a lot.

But on my current challenge front, I don't want to read any of my By The Decades Challenge books. Well, this is all fine and dandy, but I haven't been reading in any particular order, so I have big gaps in my decades (mostly 1970). The real downer is that four of these five books that I have left are also my Book Award Challenge books. So if I don't read them, I'll be behind it two challenges. Encouragement would be great here!! :)

My George Washington biography for Non-Fiction Five is REALLY boring!! If I can read a chapter every night I'll finish it before we leave for Alaska. Of course, last week I said that if I read a chapter every night I would have it finished by yesterday. Obviously since I'm halfway through ch 3/7 that didn't work out as planned. Urg!

The good news is that I am right on target for Something About Me, Armchair Traveler, and Literary Classics challenges. I'm thinking if I can get ahead on these, it will leave more room to read the others that I am dreading.

What keeps you reading?? Oh, I finished Bridge to Terabithia this weekend (not for any challenge at all). My review should be up tomorrow sometime...hopefully.

And now my blogging question: I am thinking about beginning a new blog--totally book UNrelated, but am having a difficult time with the formatting. When YOU as a reader are browsing blogs, do you prefer short blog posts (unlike this particular one) or more detailed posts? Now, this blog would be more for ME as a journal type blog--travel-specific (Adventures of Trish and Scott aka Hubby type blog), but I'm not sure if one post per trip would suffice--a rather really really long post--or shorter posts per event/excursion. Hmmmm...I'd love to hear your input!!

Holy Haitus Batman!

Well, I think its been about a month since I've blogged regularly. I finally got my Internet hooked up in the new house yesterday (Hubby and I are no longer in the sticks of Texas, but rather the Big D!!). So, I have been typing typing typing trying to catch up on everything that I haven't been able to say in the past month. These are pictures of my very sad empty bookshelf and the many boxes of books that I still have not unpacked (I do have a few shelves full now and all of my "challenge" books in order).












The kicker is that now that I'm all caught up and starting to get settled, Hubby and I are leaving next Saturday for our cruise to Alaska, so I'll be gone yet again. *Sigh* (Well sort of *sigh* since I'm rockin' excited!)

So, basically here's what I've been up to the past month (in reading anyway). The links will take you to the corresponding post:

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (mostly for fun and because I love all things Atwood)

The Scarlet Pimpernel for the Classics Challenge

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult (for fun and because I love most things Picoult)

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquirel for the Something About Me Challenge

My July reads summary

And also my final selection for the Something About Me Challenge

I am still setting up house and job searching, but hopefully I will get to catch up on everyone else's blogs that I love so much.

Thanks for sticking with me!

Best Moustache - Twirling (BTT)

HOLY THURSDAY BATMAN! I can't even remember the last Thursday that I was actually in town! So yeah...its Thursday! Which means tomorrow is Friday and then Saturday and hubby and I are headed to Taos for a week and a half. So, in honor of Thursday, here is today's BTT:

Who’s the worst fictional villain you can think of? As in, the one you hate the most, find the most evil, are happiest to see defeated? Not the cardboard, two-dimensional variety, but the most deliciously-written, most entertaining, best villain? Not necessarily the most “evil,” so much as the best-conceived on the part of the author…oh, you know what I mean!

This is such an interesting question--one that is going to take some deep digging.

I think that Bradley Headstone from Dickens's Our Mutual Friend is a great villain, but on the same token so is his "match" Eugene Wrayburn. I love love love this book (I can hear all my fellow grad students groaning!). Ok, now that I'm thinking this one over, Eugene seems much more villainous than Headstone even though I like Eugene more as a character. But he is conniving, conceited, deceptive, taunting--in comparison Headstone who should be the villain is just pathetic. OH, just go read the book!! Dickens writes such great characters in this novel.

Who do you think is the best villain?

Rockin' Girl Blogger

I've been feeling so unsettled (due to travel) and unaccomplished (due to lack of reading) lately, that I was thrilled by Stephanie's nod to me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger! My response was, "Sweet!"

In the spirit of things, I'm nominating these four ladies as Rockin' Girl Bloggers as well:

CJ at My Year of Reading Seriously caught my attention with her admirable plan of dedicating her year of reading to her mother. She writes great reviews, but shares some other great thoughts and tidbits as well.

Alyson at Bibliophiles Anonymous, like me, is relatively new to blogging. We share a lot of the same interests in books and other things which makes her blog a fun read.

Lisa at Books.Lists.Life and I "met" while we were both reading A Thousand Splendid Suns. Her passion and warmth really caught my attention and I've been keeping an eye on her blog ever since.

Mailyn at Pixelated Faeirie Dust is Rockin' because, well, she is. Her blog cracks me up and is a must see!

I'm pretty new to blogging, so I'm sure there are many others out there just waiting to be discovered! But thanks, ladies, for giving such "Rockin' Girl Blogs" to read.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Author: J.K. Rowling

Date Finished: July 23, 2007

Pages: 759

Rating: 5/5

I think in a few weeks or so I'll write a proper review, but right now all I want to say is Beautifully done. I couldn't expect any more (and wouldn't expect any less) from this book.

That's all for now--I just don't want to limit myself on what I can say without providing spoilers...