Book Blogger Hop, July 17th

Question: Do you listen to audiobooks?

Answer: Do I ever! I always have an audiobook in my car to listen to while I commute to work.

I just finished listening to To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee read by Roses Pritchard (my family and I listened to it together.)

Yesterday I started listening to X: a Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz read (partially) by the author and by Dion Graham.

Shoved onto the back burner by the other two books is The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh read by Arianna Delawari. I've only just started it and will commence listening as soon as I am done with X.

Here are a few of my favorites if you want to get started:

• The Egg and the Spoon by Gregorie Maguire
• The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
• The Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
• The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Daughter of Smoke and Bones series by Laini Taylor
• The Inheritance Cycle (Eragon) series by Christopher Paolini
• In a Sun Burned Country by Bill Bryson
• Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, read by Dick Hill

Book Blogger Hop, July 10th

Question: Are you a member of a book club? How many? Where do you meet?


Answer: Yes, I am a member of two books clubs.

• My church book club has been going for twenty years (I just realized) and all the gals who currently attend are members of the church. We have invited others but they tend to fade away if they are not linked in to the church first. We meet monthly, on the 3rd Tuesday of each month in the evening, and rotate around through the different homes. The gal who is hostess for the moth also leads the discussion. The majority of our books come from the library book club kits. We sign up for the kits up to a year in advance then pick up the kit from the library and have to return it within two months. It works really well because it cuts down on the expense. Also the librarian who selects the books for the kits usually (not always) does a good job finding books which facilitate good discussions. The kit contains 15 books and a discussion guide. See what I mean about convenient? Contact your library to see if they do something similar. Our library system probably has over 200 books in kits now. For a look at our megalist of all the books we've read for the twenty years check out the link. MEGALIST Book Club selections 1995 to present (and beyond.)
• My second book club has been going for around 10 years. It is made up of gals who all worked together at an area high school. Even though several have since retired, or in my case, moved schools, we have stuck together. We are a closed group and have all been together since the beginning. We meet once a month, on the 4th Wednesday in the afternoon, rotating between our houses and occasionally restaurants or Indie bookstores. A discussion leader is assigned monthly and that person is usually not the hostess. We spend time at the end of the meetings selecting up-coming books. We usually try to select at least three months in advance to allow people time to get the books from the library or to purchase them.

I think the reason for the longevity of both groups is two-fold. 

• One, we have a scheduled day of the month that doesn't vary. If someone comes in the group and wants us to shift our meeting time, we tell her sorry. This way everyone gets the date in their head and on their personal calendars. If you are having trouble keeping a club going it might be because you haven't a fixed a date. Try it and see if it helps. Mine meet the 3rd Tuesday in the evening and the other meets the 4th Wednesday in the late afternoon.
• Two, we spend part of time talking about things not related to books. All the gals in both clubs are now friends of mine because we visit and share about our lives. If someone doesn't show up, we miss them. This does take a while to develop, so patience is required.

Are you a member of a book club? How is ours set up?

Friday- August 26

It's Friday.  Time for blogging fun.

*First Line Friday at A Few More Pages.
*The Friday 56 at Freda's Voice.

"Look up the Plaza Regent, Blink, in the shivery morning light. Count the floors---take your pick." -Opening lines

"And only when she feels her foot going to sleep does she decide to get up. It hurts. She has to lean on the tilted pony and shake the pins and needles out of her leg. 'Owww!' she cries out loud, and then laughs. There she was, expecting to be bludgeoned to death, and here she is now, moaning about a few shooting pains." -p. 56

"The sky over Kingston looks like someone stuck a giant syringe into it and sucked out all the color."---p.181 

"By the time you've waded to shore dragging that fool boat behind you, you're about as tired as a human can be. It's a deep tired, deeper than your bones. It's a give-up kind of tired."---p.257

I haven't even started this book yet, but by the opening line and the quote from page 56 I'm not even sure what to expect.  I have heard good things about the book, though, so I shall jump into it soon and find out. Interestingly, as I snooped around a bit more I notice that a lot of the book is written in second person. That is something that isn't often seen in YA Lit.

Blogger Hop...Follow Friday...TGIF!

“How many books are currently in your To-Be-Read (TBR) Pile?”

Answer: I'm sure I have over 50 books here at home that I want to read, many I've had on"the pile" for years.  Also, I am a high school librarian with over 12,000 books in my collection.  Of those books, I would love to have the time to read over half of them, so theoretically I have over 6000 books on my pile, but would take me over 60 years to read at 100 books per year.  Ha! 

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Follow Friday: Take a minute to check out other blogs and follow those that you find fun, exciting, interesting.  The featured blog this week is: Rhiannon Paille.  Congratulations.

Parajunkee

Q. Genre Wars! What's your favorite genre and which book in that genre made it your favorite?

A.: I like edgy, realistic YA literature: My favorites in that genre are any books by John Green (Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns are my favorites); Going Bovine by Libba Bray; Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes; and Stolen by Lucy Christopher.

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Hosted at GReads!

This Friday's Question:

And I Quote: What are some of your favorite book quotes?

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I am a collector of quotes.  But this time instead of going into my book of favorites I am going to give you my favorites of the week.

"His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor's image blurred with my sudden tears. 'Hey, Boo,' I said. " -To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

"The echo of her laughter is the second sunrise I awaken to each day, and at night I feel it is more than stars looking down on me." -Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

"She opens her wings and takes me in. The song plays on and lights are so bright they seem to be alive. Dulcie parts her lips to kiss me and there's music. It's a note in an actave I've never heard before but I somehow know has always been there. A note of endings, of beginnings. A note you have to be ready to hear...She grins wide then. It's like the sky can't take anymore and it explodes, all particles and partner-particles and perhapsatrons, something new being born- a whole universe of yes and no and why the hell not?" -Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Friday!

Today's meme from Crazy for Books is:

"What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?"

Plot might entice me to pick up a book but characters keep me reading.  My book group had an excellent discussion on this topic after we read the book Olive Kitteridge.  Olive is not a very likable character yet the book,  a series of vignettes all involving Olive, is excellent.  Is it possible to like a book if you don't like the main character? If you think your answer is no, think about the book Lolita.

Friday Blogger Hop

Question of the Day:    
"What very popular and hyped book in the blogosphere did you NOT enjoy and how did you feel about posting your review?"

 I am always very conflicted about posting a negative review.  In fact, I have basically decided that I will follow the Mrs. Thumper rule:  "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  So even if I don't like a book much I try to find and mention some positive aspect of that book.  An example of that is my review of Evermore by Alyson Noel.  I didn't care for the book, but my students like it.  That is the aspect I will focus on.

I'm thankful for Fridays and blog hops!

Today's Blog Hop question is:
"Since Thanksgiving is coming up next week, let's use this week's Hop to share what we are most thankful for and what our holiday traditions are!"

I am thankful... 

1. that my Dad is recovering from his open heart surgery and seems to be on the road to restored health.
2. for my husband of 28 years.  He is truly my best friend.
3. that I live in an area with fabulous libraries that provide so many resources to its citizens, especially during this bad economic time for so many people. I love reading books I don't have to pay for.
4. for a warm home and a good job.
5. for my daughters and my many friends.
6. that I can sleep in tomorrow! 

A few highlights/traditions for Thanksgiving week:

1. College-aged daughter to come home on Tuesday.
2. Hubby and I will shop for food bargains to pop into the freezer since we won't be cooking at home this year.
3. Church service Wednesday night.  Thankfulness to God for His bounty in our lives.
4. Travel to Oregon to join my parents and sister and her family for Thanksgiving dinner.
5. Overeat.
6. Friday.  Get up early for store bargains then go to the Oregon v Arizona football game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.  Go Ducks!

What are you thankful for and what will you be doing this Thanksgiving holiday?

Friday. Friday. Friday!

Happy Friday.  Happy hopping.

Question of the week:

"Where is your favorite place to read? 

Curled up on the sofa, in bed, in the garden?"

My answer:

I pretty much love to read.  So where ever I am, I enjoy it, but if it is nice weather outside I really, really enjoy reading in the hammock in the shade under our Mountain Ash tree.  That is heaven for me.  This time of year, you'll usually find me snuggled up in the overstuffed chair by the gas fireplace.  And I always read in bed before going to sleep, but these days my bed is likely to lull me to sleep before I get too far in the book.  

How about you?

Meme 2:

Friday's Finest is a new meme from A Bookful of Thoughts.

Rules:
~Post a quote that really stuck to you after reading it in a book.
~Make sure it isn't a spoiler!
~If you'd like, expand on what you think it means and why you chose it.

"The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say. About anything."  -The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, pg 1.

The story takes place on a planet where all male thoughts can be heard aloud, even male animals.  So begins this marvelous novel, part one of the Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness.  I am just a few pages into the third book and I want to put everything aside and just read.  In fact, I think I will!  Happy Friday!

Friday Blog Hop...Share the Blog Love

The Friday Blog Hop this week asks us to highlight blogs that we enjoy and why..in other words..share the love.

http://www.crazy-for-books.com/

So here are a few blogs that I enjoy:

1.  A Book a Week...Becky over at A Book A Week writes crisp, concise book reviews without a bunch of fluff and distracting other tags.  I can read her reviews without having to scroll past long sections of text that don't help me decide to/not to read the book.  Simplicity reigns and I love it.


2.The Elliott Review... Jessi over at Elliott Review is always so kind and helpful, always answering questions I pose and encouraging me as a blogger and as a teacher-librarian (kindred spirits)

3. Roof Beam Reader...Adam over at Roof Beam Reader is a blog I enjoy because Adam brings the male voice to books and book reviews...he says he is in the 5% minority.  He always give thoughtful comments.  I appreciate that.  Plus Adam is a fellow teacher.  Yeah!

It's Friday! Book Blogger Hop Time!

Thank you Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books for taking my suggestion that we all give a link to one of our favorite blog posts in the past three months.  I love the idea of really getting to know other bloggers by their writing styles and the books they like to review.  So here goes...one of my favorite recent blogs was for the book The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork. I really admire the author's writing style and the integrity that he brings to his stories. Take a look.

Friday Blog Hop

Question of the week:  Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Yes and no.  If I am in a bookstore I am more likely to pick up a book with an intriguing cover than one that looks like every other cover or is bland.  But in my library, I try to teach students to read the inside of cover or the back of the book, depending on the type of book.  So I should practice what I preach.  Unfortunately, I think some reprints of classic novels have really boring covers.  For example: Catcher in the Rye has a white cover and dark colored title.  Boring.  I think lots of YA books have unfortunate covers.  The hardback book cover of a marvelous book: Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock, had a picture of a cow wearing a crown.  Who wants to read that? The publisher corrected that error for their paperback version of the book.  It shows two kids laying in the grass.  Much better.  High school students don't want to be seen reading any book that looks juvenile.  Publishers need to remember that.

Do you judge a book by the cover?

It's Friday! Book Blogger Hop Time!

August 26, 2010
Hi!  It is my second time on the Book Blogger Hop.  Please take your time looking around.  Comment on any reviews or join in any discussions.  Welcome!

Answer to the question of the day ---

Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

At first I used a rating system but abandoned it after I gave a poor review to a book.  A week later, the book was still on my mind and I started thinking about all the favorable features of the book.  I decided that I didn't want to go back and change my rating each time my thinking on the book evolved, so I dropped the rating system.  Do you think they are helpful or harmful?

Friday Book Blogger Hop ...First time!

August 20, 2010
Hi!  It is my first time on the Book Blogger Hop so I would really appreciate if you would spend a moment on my blog and let me know what you like or join in the discussions on my reviews.   Thanks.

Answer to the question of the day ---

How many blogs do visit regularly?

I have only recently started reading other book blogs.  I'm regularly visit between 5-10 but I am finding those numbers are creeping up every week.