Slacking Readers R Us

Okay,
So I am sucking on the reading list thing... I am not motivated at all to read anything new...
Tonight I plan to read more trash, lack of brain power on my part. I went to work, then class, then back to work for 12 whole parents to come and ask questions. Well, I actually talked to 3 whole real live parents. Exciting stuff. let. me. tell. you.
Okay will update again laters... prolly tomorrow when I have finished my book.
I also took "Patriot Games" out of the library on a read and return. This is one of my all time favorite books, well after Power of One by Courtenay. Sigh. Really need to find that book again....

The Reader, Reviewed

The Reader is a great book. 1.75 thumbs up! I did not read it with the plan of liking it, but well there you go. It had flow, good language usage, and an interesting story line. Even background characters felt like real people. They were only sparsely identified, it is true, but that seemed purposeful, as if to show their lack of importance to the narrator. The focus of this book is clearly the relationship between the boy and this woman, and its long term effects on the rest of his life. I was very impressed with the dialogue, the true feelings, and the imagery evoked by this novel. Short read too, only a few hours!

Book Rec List

Book Lists Recommendation from fellow worker-bees... man we are all totally bored!
The Reader by B. Schlink
The Rosewood Casket
19 Minutes
Freakenomics
1491
Buyology
Anything by Lee Child
Plum Spooky
Scarpetta
Outliers
Born Liberal, Raised Right
Blink
Mountains beyond Mountains
Cats Eye
The Scourge of God

Pensive Book Hunting

So, I am debating writing an author that I typically like her work, but this time felt unsatisfied with the results. I feel like she became more formulaic than normal, but oh well. I guess the real problem is that I do not want to do the work that is piling up all around me. This is a shame, because it is not like I am going to magically make it disappear. I could throw it all away and hope for the best, but somehow think people catch on to things like that...he he he
Okay, will hit the library today because I am officially out of new fiction AGAIN it is a little annoying. Maybe my new habit for February will be to read only recommended books. No more random choice novels, no more obsessively reading everything by an author I like/dislike, but only books that are recommended. These tend to take me a bit longer so I will go title shopping today and then put up a must read list later...

Book Reviews, the weekend of the 24th

January 25th,

Well it has not been the most productive of weekends, if one considers the large amount of work that remains to be done. But, I did get a lot of stuff done. I read several books and lost 10 dollars in poker. But this site is all about the books, so lets get into it. Of course, I am not reading anything too challenging, as we are full in grad school time and AP season. So I let my brain rest outside of work...

Swim to Me by Betsy Carter. This book was good but not wonderful. I think the characters needed to be a bit more developed. They were like flat characters with a bit of color, but not enough information to flesh them into a world based in reality. .5 thumbs up. This was readable, enjoyable, but was not strong enough to hold together. I do not believe I would have finished this over several days.
Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson. Okay, keeping in the genre of Gibson. Gibson usually has a weaker storyline, but bolstered by good characters, I would suggest the same is true here. I thoroughly enjoy Gibson, but this was not her strongest book. Very very very fun! I would definitely recommend this book to someone else. 1.5 thumbs firmly up!

Forever by Jude Deveraux. This was pretty good. I believe I am more partial to Roberts, but this was a strong showing from one of the authors who introduced me to lighter fiction. This was good, I hope that in her second book of this series (if there is one) she fleshes out the stories of her father and his wife. For being such important characters, they are remarkably flat. Normally, I think she really develops her characters well, but this was not a well done as normal. I feel bad that several of my reviews have been more on the negative side, but even for brain candy, these were weaker books.

Exam day, Three

So yesterday was considering and feeling overwhelmed by my lack of self awareness, especially in terms of being more ecologically aware. Noting that I read a lot of material but do very little, I resolved to change. So I went to the library and got out several books on gardening, and began to plan my spring/summer garden. How cool is that? I also found a CSA near here that will let me work off some (if I qualify) of the cost of getting local produce weekly. I would have to work a minimum of 12 weekends over the next 22, but it would be totally work it in my book. I really want to be receiving farm fresh food that is actually local, unlike our rather lame farmers market, where 3 groups leave on the supermarket tags!!!
Okay, other than some planning, I also read a book last night. (no shock there)
It was Into the Fire by Suzanne Brockmann. (1.5 thumbs up) I guess it was a bit formulaic, but that is why I keep reading her books, so I cannot discount that. Hmm, loss of .5 thumbs due to unfinished story lines... especially regarding Izzy and Danny. (What does he know, that he is not sharing, or is he so guilt ed up, he has no access to anyone)? Also, how does one remain close friends with two people when you hate the third person? Maybe that is a girly perspective and guys regularly do this, but not in my recollection...
Book for tonight/today? Unknown. I could continue with Vegetable Gardening for Dummies which I am working through, or move on to one of the 4 other gardening books I got. For fun fiction, I am going to read the Jennifer Cruise book I checked out. Something about bad dates... Will update when I finish the book.

Bored out of my gourd....

Bored, Bored Bored Bored
They say if you are bored then you are boring, but sometimes there is nothing one can do about it. Today (and this week for that matter) is all about watching students test. I am not supposed to interfere with them in any real way, but man I am about to go crazy! More frustrating is that I KNOW several students in this class totally failed the exam. Most did not turn in their graded reviews. So frustrating. I wonder was I this totally uninvolved in anything like this in school? I know I was an indifferent student at best, but this is ridiculous. Okay rant over.

I am reading several blogs and trying to incorporate these philosophies into my life. I read Crunchy Chicken and am considering starting several others. While these people are more extreme than me, I could deal with a little more passion in my life. I guess my issue is that I am feeling the pressure to be more responsible as an adult.

Separate note
Book Drive - over, more than 11,000 books collected for our school in Uganda.
Books read lately - major slacking on my part, but here goes for the last week,
Better Read than Dead by Victoria Laurie (1 thumb up)
Shogun by James Clavell (two thumbs strongly up) This is kind of a cheat, I have read it before.
4 books by Suzanne Brockmann (2 thumbs still up) Into the Storm, Christmas Tale, and two titles that currently escape me.
Of course I am also reading the QRI-4 and the Johnson book for class.

Need to find a new author to read. Will visit the library today (hopefully)

Starting out

Whew, rough day today. I finally decided to clean out my room and start decluttering. I followed some of the tactics recommended by FlyLady and others recommended by random google searching.
The boys were amazingly NOT interested in helping out, but on the plus side, they were not hindering anything....

Actually have my lunch packed for tomorrow,
Crazy Richard's PB and J
Organic Carrots
Apple
Pretzels
Dip

Snack:
Dried Fruit
1 piece of Chocolate

Well, goals for tomorrow met,
Have a great day!