Monday, May 14, 2012

Monday Malarkey, including a writing workshop, reading update and fancy pants

First the fancy pants:

I saw a cat photo that was similar to this and thought it was so cute that I snapped a shot of Isabel's fancy pants. I hope she doesn't mind if I share with the world.

The writing workshop:

Simon Van Booy is teaching a writing workshop in the Berkshires of New Hampshire in June. For details, click on that first sentence (which leads to his website) or Download the PDF. I am, of course, a huge admirer of Simon, both as a writer and a person. If I could attend, I would. I had fun fiddling with that photo of Simon, taken at his reading in the Boston Public Library in 2011.

And, the reading update:

I have been fairly quiet because I haven't had the urge to write, since Kiddo returned home; and, last week I had Rebellious Reading Brain. None of my ARCs were appealing to me. So, I took a break from the ARC stack to read the following:

Pure by Julianna Baggott - I put Pure on my wish list a couple months before it was published, after reading about the bidding war over the manuscript and the early sale of movie rights to the book, then my friend Tammy sent me her copy. Thank you, Tammy! Pure was just what I needed -- a wildly original combination of post-apocalyptic and dystopian reading, the first in a trilogy. It's very dark, but I liked the fact that even the "Pures" in the dome are living in a dystopian world, although the "wretches" outside think life in the dome must be perfect.

Tammy and I had a really fun discussion about Pure. We both detected different themes. Tammy noticed a WWII influence (the Detonations, based on the aftermath of Hiroshima and the attempt to create a superior race) and I thought the author was making a statement about today's America (pre-Detonation, the red-flag-waving Pures were diluting women's rights, for example). I'm tempted to reread Pure and highlight the parts I thought related to our current society because I rushed through the book so quickly that I didn't mark a thing.

Two Wars by Nate Self - The memoir of an Army Ranger whose chinook was hit by an RPG during a mission to recover a man who fell out of a helicopter in Afghanistan, told in the usual fashion. First a prologue teaser scene as Self and the other Rangers are shot down, then all the way back to why the author joined the Army, his training at West Point, romance and marriage, early Army postings, the crash and firefight, then the aftermath.

Two Wars is a Tyndale book and therefore has a Christian bent, which I liked. The training part was a bit slow, I thought, but I was never tempted to put it down. I wanted to read about the crash and I'm used to the slow build-up in a war book. Huzzybuns is also reading this book and I enjoyed talking to him about it as I was reading. The only real let-down was the PTSD section. The author really didn't go into much detail about his post-traumatic stress experience. The crash and firefight are extremely gripping.

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd - I think this one is a middle reader, although Amazon says it's for ages 8 and up and I can never remember exactly what a "middle reader" is. Salim is visiting his cousins in London and goes for a ride on the London Eye. When the ride ends and Salim doesn't get off, cousins Ted and Kat decide to investigate his disappearance.

I've had The London Eye Mystery on my wish list for a couple years and just finally got a copy on Saturday. I gobbled it down on Sunday before we left the house to see The Avengers and have loaned it to my son's girlfriend. What makes The London Eye Mystery really special is the fact that Ted is autistic and the way he functions makes it easier for him to see clues that the adults have overlooked. A very satisfying little mystery that's ingenious and very entertaining. Autism is never mentioned specifically, but Ted does comment that Einstein may have had the same condition.

I also read half of The Queen: A Life in Brief by Robert Lacey, last night, and will likely finish that up, today. The good news is that it's one from the ARC stacks. Hopefully, I've exited my ARC-resistant phase. The Queen is about Queen Elizabeth II and the author apparently apparently writes only about royals. It's distilled from two of his larger works about Queen Elizabeth, a small bite of a book written especially for her Diamond Jubilee year and it's a pretty breezy read.

In other news:

I still am finding that I don't feel much like sitting at the computer to write, so posting may be a little sporadic, although I hope not. I have several reviews to catch up on. I'm going to skip writing full reviews of Pure, The London Eye Mystery and Two Wars.

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

16 comments:

  1. First off, I obviously love the fancy pants!

    I'm interested in Pure because it seems like either a love or a hate book, and I want to know where I'd stand.

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    1. Aren't kitty britches the cutest? :)

      Pure definitely seems to be a love or hate book. I read a bunch of reviews to see what other people thought and while I agree with some of the criticisms, it was just the right escapist read for me. I really enjoyed it.

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  2. I just lent Pure to a really good friend, and he is having an amazing time with it. I didn't read it before I lent it to him, but he assures me that I must. It sounds like there is so much in there to discuss, and I am excited that I will have someone to talk it over with after I am done! I also love your kitty photo. She must have been very comfortable, just chillin like that!

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    1. Oh, Zibilee, you must read Pure! I thought it was a really fantastic read and, yes, a lot of great discussion material. If only because it gets such polarized reactions, I think it would be a fun book for a group read. I had such a terrific time talking about it with Tammy. You can come back here and chat with me about it, as well as your friend. :)

      Thanks! Yes, Isabel really knows how to relax. She's just ridiculously cute when she's resting. She sprawls and twists and sometimes just sags into the floor. She couldn't possibly be more adorable.

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  3. haha I can see me probably now taking a picture of Casey like that... Where I don't share people pictures on my blog, I only have Casey and scenery-type pictures.

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    1. Cats are so ridiculously fun to photograph (and scenery tends to cooperate nicely, although sometimes the weather doesn't). I'd love to see Casey's pants!! Haha! That sounds rude, but they are just so freaking cute. :)

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  4. This conversation cracks me up - - "I'd love to see his pants..." (Grins!!) Our minds could really go places if we weren't careful.

    Your reading sounds so diverse and amazingly fun. That's just the way I like it.

    I know what you mean about losing your bloggin-mojo but that's perfect too. Just sit back and enjoy the books, your kiddo and the kitties. That's what you're supposed to do anyway!!

    Hope your Mother's Day was a blast.

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    1. Except . . . I'm pretty sure Casey is a female cat. LOL Yeah, it did sound a little off-color.

      My reading is deliberately diverse. I tend to get bored if I start to stick with just one type of book (been there, burned myself out) so I try to mix things up.

      Thanks. I'm enjoying having Kiddo around, although I need to get him to clean his room before he starts working regularly! The cats and I *always* have fun. LOL

      Hope your Mother's Day was good, too, thanks!

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  5. Ooooh! The Sioban Dowd sounds excellent!! Gonna have to add that one to the wishlist for sure :D It's a title I've heard before, but didn't know anything about it. Pure sounds alright, but I'm just so over post apocalyptic/dystopian books. I really can't take another one, lol. Well..until Neal Shusterman comes out with his sequel to Unwind that is!! Have you read Unwind?? If not, you should! That's a seriously good book!! Oh, and there's Lenore's Level Two coming out eventually which of course I'll be reading :)

    Sorry to hear you've been in a writing funk lately my dear :( I can totally relate. I think I've just been in a "no motivation to do anything" funk. I'm moving this Saturday and whenever I'm not packing boxes or working all I want to do is sleep, lol. I DID however FINALLY finish a novel for the first time since March!!! And it was the Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac!! Loved it though I totally wasn't expecting that bit at the end that made me cry my eyes out!!

    And I'll end by saying that's an adorable pic of Isabel and I SO wish I could go to Simon Van Booy's workshop!

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    1. Chris,

      Believe it or not, I didn't pay much attention to the subject matter when I put The London Eye Mystery on my wish list. I have no idea who recommended it, but I'm glad I finally got to read it. It's a fun little book.

      Pure is a nice, unique take on the post-apocalyptic/dystopian (very dark) but I know what you mean. It's easy to burn out. I've deliberately spread out my dystopian reads so that I won't get sick of them. No, I haven't read Unwind. I've got a Neal Shusterman book but I'm not sure which one it is. I'll have to look.

      Yeah, I'm unmotivated. I get this way in the spring, when the trees are so full that our house is like a cave. It gets way too dark in our house and I have SAD so the darkness really gets me. Also, I hate the heat, but it's nice today. I should probably go outside.

      Oh, sorry, yes that last bit in Sleepy Hollow is rough. But, I thought the whole, "We may be dysfunctional but we're a loving family and we'll survive" theme was awesome.

      Thanks! Me, too. I'm sure Simon's an amazing teacher.

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  6. Pure was so intense and different! I had to suspend disbelief for a few elements, but other than that I thought it was a riveting story.

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    1. I had to work on suspending disbelief a bit, too, but it was such a fascinating and original story that I really enjoyed it and had trouble putting it down.

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  7. Just bored and browsing your blog at work. I enjoyed the Wahooing from last Wednesday! ;)

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    1. Hi Clarissa! Someone's on his way to see you if he isn't there, already. :) I wondered if you'd notice my purple wahooing. Glad you liked it!

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  8. I had Pure on my wishlist before it came out, and even had an egalley but didn't get to read it before it expired! Damn. Gonna have to put it on the library list or *gasp* buy it!

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    1. That's a definite downfall to egalleys. Pure is a very dark story but I absolutely loved it because it's so wildly original and gripping. I think it's worth owning because I want to reread it! It is a bit of a chunkster.

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