A Sunday Outside of Books

Happy Sunday! Since this post isn't bookish, I didn't feel right using Sunday Salon in the title.

Yesterday I headed down to the lake for a quiet weekend of R&R. I haven't been reading a ton lately, but I have been reading more than I did in June. Unfortunately, I still haven't been bloghopping a whole lot in the past two weeks. Although my days have gone back to normal at work, and I have my reading time back (in the mornings and at lunch), my evenings have been full of non-bookish things.

Remember that quilt I talked about a few months ago? The top is now finished--just need to add one more strip for length and then it's on to the scary task of quilting, which I've never done by machine before. This is only my third quilt and the past two I've hand-tied. Other than being petrified of machine quilting, I am in love with the colors and design. Is it bad to say I'm pretty darn proud of myself? :P

Even Maggie likes the quilt

The [mostly] finished top:

In addition to quilting, I've been taking a cake decorating class at the local community college. It's kind of a pain because I have to bake and ice the cake ahead of time, which is part of the reason why my evenings have been full--very time consuming until I get the hang of it.

My first decorated cake:

Isn't he cute?

And just because, a Maggie picture--she loves lying in the sun. Usually she crawls behind the blinds and sits on the sill.


What do your summer days look like outside of books? I hope everyone is having a wonderful and relaxing Sunday!

One simple bookish question: Would you consider Catch-22 a classic? I'm torn about it since it was published in 1961, but I want to count it for the Classics Challenge since it doesn't fit on any of my other lists. What do you think? Is there a cut-off year for classics?

Sunday Salon 9: Why Do We Blog Survey

Good morning and happy Sunday! Hope everyone's having a great weekend so far. We've finally come into full blown summer in Dallas and I feel like I'm wilting. Don't know what that means for August!

I saw this over at Molly's (Cozy Book Nook) and I couldn't resist doing this little survey for this week's Sunday Salon. I've been thinking about these types of questions a lot lately, so I hope you'll join in and do the survey as well.

Why Do We Blog?

1. How long have you been blogging?

I started blogging in June 2007. I can't believe it has been almost two years! (technically I had a blog in grad school for one of my teaching courses--if you pop over you'll see my last assignment which was a literacy autobiography. Kind of fitting that my last entry there was about reading and this blog is dedicated to reading. Most of the other posts are mostly my woes of teaching freshman English at Texas Tech. Kind of funny to look back on. I should save these posts before they vanish into neverneverland).

2. Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging about reading when I stumbled upon another book blog through Yahoo Book Clubs. I was intrigued that there was this whole other booking world on the Internet. Honestly, I wish I could remember what exactly I thought when I started discovering book blogs. I don't know that I thought I would still be blogging two years later or that this world would become such an important one to me.

3. What have you found to be the benefits of blogging?

Many benefits! I've talked about this a lot lately, so I'll keep it pretty brief (ha! can Trish keep anything brief, you're thinking?)

**Interaction with other readers all over the world. Really, if you guys weren't so awesome, I'm not sure I would still be blogging.

**Record of my reading thoughts. I did this on paper once upon a time, but I got lazy with it. And I can type faster than I can handwrite.

**Challenges! I've always been an eclectic reader, but I've now realized my boundaries are limitless.

4. How many times a week do you post an entry?

I usually end up with two posts a week on average but I think I'd like to be at three a week. Right now I think I'm averaging one Sunday Salon post and one book review. I'd like to get two book reviews up a week, but I haven't been reading that fast. Truthfully, I don't understand the need to post something every day, but I guess if I read faster or if I had something interesting to say I would?

5. How many different blogs do you read on a regular basis?

Right now I am subscribed to 85 blogs in my Google Reader. But about a dozen of these are family and friends and some are just challenge blogs, so maybe 65-70 book blogs. Some I read religiously when I get a spare moment, some I just skim through. I've been subscribing to a lot of blogs lately and then taking some off and resubscribing to more. It's a constant cycle, but I will always have that handful that are my favorites.

6. Do you comment on other people’s blogs?

Yes!! Get ready for a long answer because I am really passionate about commenting. I don't think I'm the best commenter in the world, but I do try really hard. It's tough to keep up with so many blogs, especially when some of these have posts multiple times a day. I'd like to be able to comment on everything but I can't. And you all know I'm really hard on myself about this. I've been a little bit better about my self-guilt lately, especially when I realize that not everyone comments on every one of my posts. It's just impossible to be everywhere all the time. But if I had to guess? I'd say I leave at least 50-100 comments a week? Wow--would be interesting to keep track of this!

Part of what makes blogging so worthwhile for me is the interaction with other bloggers and I get this through commenting, especially when the blogger comments back to my comments as I try to do here on my blog. I've really gotten to know other bloggers through comments and I feel like my personality really comes out in my own comments. Sometimes snarky and sarcastic, usually enthusiastic, mostly interested and caring. I think my posts have become a lot more personal over the past few months and my voice comes out more and more, but I'm still a huge fan of comments--leaving and receiving. Even though we can say that we blog for ourselves, isn't it more fun when blogging becomes a discussion or dialogue between two people who are interested in the same thing?

7. Do you keep track of how many visitors you have?

I do use Google Analytics, but I don't think those stats are really indicative of anything useful. The amount of visitors I receive is pretty constant, dipping a little on Friday and Saturday and spiking a little on Sunday and Monday. My two biggest spikes since keeping track are during the read-a-thon and that ARC post. I don't know how many visitors a "normal" book blog receives a day, so it doesn't really matter to me either way. And most of my visitors are probably random search engine hits. It's funny to me to see my most hit on posts--they are usually the same posts each month and they are older ones. Portrait of a Lady (maybe my first book post and it is awful), A Rumor of War, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Keeping Faith, Snow Country. Interesting, huh? Part of me thinks it's high school students wanting information for papers. Ha! Anyway, this is why I don't put a huge stock in visitors.

8. Do you ever regret a post that you wrote?

No. There have been a few times when I've been reluctant to hit the "publish post" button and a few times when I've gone back to my post and edited things, but I don't regret anything I've posted. Although, I've wondered about some of my comments on other people's blogs. I'm a playful and snarky person by nature and my tone is sometimes misconstrued, when I'm teasing the other blogger. But I think by now most of you know that I'm poking you in the ribs a bit. :) I always wonder if I've offended someone, but I can't worry about it too much. I guess I just have to know that my intentions were good and that's what matters. Right?

9. Do you think your audience has a true sense of who you are based on your blog?

I hope so. I used to be really guarded when I first started blogging, not wanting to get too personal. But as I started getting to know bloggers better, I felt more comfortable letting my personality out a little more. Now I'm full blown rambly Trish like I am in real life. Aren't you sorry! Although my blog is book based, I have talked a lot about myself and while we can't really know know know someone we haven't met and interacted with face to face, I'd like to think that if we met, the dynamics would be the same. In some sense I'm even more me here and in my comments than I am in real life. What? There are no pretenses here. I can be who I am and you can take it or leave it. Doesn't always work that way in real life.

10. Do you blog under your real name?

Yes. When I started my book blog my name was "Bookaholic" but as soon as someone responded to me by that name, I changed it to Trish. I didn't like the anonymity. Maybe it was just the negative connotations of the name.

11. Are there topics that you would never blog about?

Yes. Religion and politics immediately come into mind. But since this is a book blog, I don't have to worry about that. :)

12. What is the theme/topic of your blog?

Um...books?

13. Do you have more than one blog?

Yes. I also have a personal/travel blog but I'm lazy and don't update it often. I still laugh at the thought of someone who writes about books for fun as being lazy. I've thought about doing a blog about working out, but I think I'd be too lazy to update that one too.

**Molly originally did the survey for a teacher Ms. Mazzola--you can leave your meme link over at Ms. Mazzola's original post

On another note, my fingers are getting restless, so I'm gonna make another quilt! I feel like I've kind of reached the big girl leagues with my fancy cutting mat and rotary blade that I got on Lisa's suggestion. My design will be a disappearing nine patch, but I think I picked too many bright colors. Really--I have NO idea what I'm doing! Of course I'll keep you posted. I've thought about doing a Friday feature like Lisa does about In Real Life stuff, but I'm not sure I can commit to another post--especially on Fridays. Hmmmm....

Watchmen - Alan Moore and a Baby Quilt!

Title: Watchmen
Author: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Date Finished: Feb 27, 2009 #9
Published: 1985 Pages: 416
Rating: 4.5/5

Wow. What to say, what to say. I went into this reading with a little bit of excitement and a whole lot of fear. The only graphic novel that I've read is Persepolis, and this, to me, seems far more intense. Just flipping through the pages left me greatly overwhelmed. But what can you do--just take it one page at a time.

I became curious about this book when I first saw the movie preview. I have to admit that I hadn't heard of it before then. But now that graphic novels are all abuzz I started to see it listed more and more. Someone actually suggested it for the "future" classics list last year--I still hadn't heard of it then.

What is Watchmen? Watchmen begins with a murder and then an exile. It appears that someone is targeting heroes (most of whom retired when the US banned vigilantes) and killing them one by one. A few of the old Watchmen group get together at first to save themselves, but it may not just be themselves who are in danger. You know I hate summarizing...and really, the less you know, the better. :)

Several things surprised me about this book. First, I am astounded at the complexity that the author and artist achieved. The book contains twelve volumes, and at the end of each volume is a little snippet of secondary information. Sometimes journal entries, sometimes bits from a retired hero's book, sometimes interviews. But even though those few pages at the end of each volume added needed background information, the actual picture text part is where the depth comes from. The book is multilayered, switches points of view, is at the same time poetic and frightening. Really--compelling.

The most difficult thing I had to overcome while reading the book was my impatience. I couldn't decide if I should read the text first and then look at the pictures or visa versa--it was very difficult for me to take in both at the same time. This sometimes created a choppiness that I didn't really like (because I was impatient for more!), but on the other hand, it was hard not to get caught up in everything single little thing that was going on. One of the things that I loved about the illustrations was how a picture would focus on something small, then the next frame would zoom out, and finally it would zoom enough to get the entire shot. Words are failing me while writing this review...but there is just so much!

The other thing that really surprised me was how interested I was in the content. I don't read action books. I don't like conspiracy. I don't like end of the world type stuff. I don't like unrealistic, science fictiony, hero swoops in to save the day, etc etc. Really--if that dang movie preview hadn't been so fantastic, and if I hadn't seen this book around the blogosphere, I probably would never have given it a second glance. But once I started reading, I was hooked. This was not fast reading for me. Each volume took me about an hour to read (28 pages plus 5 of non-picture text). But, I loved everything about this book except for the story within the story, which I found most of the time distracting and way over my head. :)

Is it for you? I don't know. It is absolutely, completely, utterly different from anything I have ever experienced before. I don't know that it has universal appeal, and there is a little bit of s*x and a lot of gruesome violence. But none of that "Pow!" "Bam!" "Holy Jeepers, Batman!" stuff one might expect from a comic book. Am I even allowed to call it that? Pick it up and read the first volume. You'll get a pretty good idea if you'll like it or not. I know that I'll read it again one day and gain an entirely different perspective.

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In other news...

Last night we welcomed to the world my niece, Emma Cathryn. She's absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. Both she and my sister are doing great. Below is the quilt that I made for Baby Emma. It took me about a month, but I'm thrilled at how it turned out. I hope Emma will love it one day as well. I machine sewed and hand tied the quilt. It is about 3.5x3.5 feet. The checked pattern is actually little butterflies (I think you can click on picture to enlarge).


And now...off to Hawaii (Oahu) for a week! Aloha Aloha. :)

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Author: Sherman Alexie
Date Finished: Jan 27, 2009 #5
Published: 2007 Pages: 230
Rating: 3.75/5

I can't remember the first time that I read a review for this book, but it had been on my wishlist for quite a while. Everytime I went to the used bookstore, I searched and searched, but I finally broke down and purchased a shiny new copy. I don't know what I expected from this book, but overall it was a really enjoyable read.

Absolutely True Diary is the story of Junior (or Arnold) who is in many ways a normal fourteen year-old kid. Except he is Spokane and lives on a reservation. His family is poor, his father is an alcoholic, his sister a recluse who hides in the basement, and Junior himself was born with hydrocephalus--or as he describes it, his brain is drowning in grease. It seems that all the odds are against Junior. Especially when he decides to go against his family's wishes and travel 25 miles each way to the "white" school outside of the reservation.

This diary, then, is Junior's story of trying to fit into a world where in many ways he is completely different from everyone else. But in the end, Junior is just a regular kid who has a crush on the beautiful Penelope, loves to play basketball, and dreams of one day becoming someone. Junior's writing is funny yet sarcastic and his diary is enhanced by really great cartoons.

While I didn't love this book as much as I had hoped, I find the reading greatly entertaining. If there was a sequel, I'd certainly pick it up. Junior, despite the fact that there are so many things going against him, gives hope that we can look past our skin colors and differences to come together. And if you're wondering--while this is YA fiction and one bookseller tried to tell me it is 7th or 8th grade, I'd recommend this one for older teens. I don't think I'll be passing this one on to my 13 yo brother just yet...

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Yes, I finished this book a week ago. I think this is the longest I've gone after finishing a book and posting my thoughts. So, what have I been doing with my time? I've been reading The Woman in White, and while it is slow going, I'm loving the book. In addition, I've been doing non-book type things. My sister is having her first baby in 3 weeks, and I'm making baby Emma a quilt. The pinwheel design is maybe a little ambitious for my second quilt, but I'm loving trying to figure everything out. I've got quilting on the brain and hope to make Scott a new quilt to replace his cat-hair infested fleece Texas Tech blanket I made him a few years ago (the other quilt I made was a queen size Texas A&M-pattern quilt).




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In addition to everything else that I'm behind in, I was tagged by Rebecca and Melody for this little meme. My apologies, ladies, for taking SO long to complete it:

6 Things That Make Me Happy

1. A Perfectly Sunny Day (warm makes me even happier!)

2. Hearing a song I love on the radio that I haven't heard in a while (even better when sunny outside)

3. Unexpected hugs and love from hubby

4. Finishing a book that makes me think for days after I've closed the cover

5. A really great cup of coffee (yes, I prefer my own)

6. A freshly made bed--I LOVE a freshly made bed...with no wrinkles

So, what makes YOU happy??