Review: Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

Another funny kids book.  I picked up this one because a third Bruce book is coming out in September (Bruce's Big Move, due out Sept 26, 2017, according to Goodreads) and was being discussed in one of the Upcoming Releases webinars I was listening to.  Almost right after listening to that one, I spotted Mother Bruce on the shelf and had to give it a try. 

 

Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

 

 

 

My Rating: 5 of 5

 

Plot Summary:

 

Bruce the bear is a grump, through and through.  Doesn't like anything, anyone.  But he does like eggs.  However, when stealing from Mrs. Goose for eggs for his latest recipe, something unexpected happens: the eggs hatch.  Bruce is now parent to four goslings, so what's a bear to do?

 

Thoughts:

 

This one isn't a deep picture book, but I wanted to write it up anyway.  What makes this book great are the illustrations and the sense of humor.  A little silly, a little sarcastic, laugh-out-loud funny for kids and adults.  That balance is always a hard one to achieve, but this one manages beautifully.  While the text is funny (Bruce loves eating gourmet recipes found on Pinterest, for example), it's really the illustrations that steal the show (he goes shopping for his recipes in the forest using a shopping cart).  His attempts to raise the goslings, despite not liking anyone or anything, are priceless (even when they are stubborn teenage geese).  And the goslings always have that spacy look on their face, four little feathered heads concentrating on four different fluffy thoughts.  Made me giggle every time.

 

 

 

For story times and lessons, I've seen online how teachers and librarians have used this book to introduce terms such as hibernation, migration, and imprinting, and to talk about adoption and unusual families.  My story times are usually for the 3-5ish age group (preschoolers and young kindergarteners), and this would be a good story time for my older kids.  The story's probably a bit too involved for little-little guys (our toddler time, or my younger preschoolers), and the idea of dinner hatching might be a little stressing.  My older kids would get a kick out of Bruce though!

As I mentioned, Bruce #3 is coming out in the fall.  For those interested, Bruce #2 (Hotel Bruce) came out last fall (2016). 

Overall:

 

This is one of those books that kids will like and parents will enjoy reading to them.  I think it'll be a good older kid story time book too.  While the plot isn't deep or complex, it is fun, and the illustrations are just too cute.  And don't we all know someone like Bruce?  I laughed out loud several times while reading this (slightly awkward when reading quietly at one's desk at work) but you just can't help it.  Bruce and his goslings are a hoot!  I'm definitely looking forward to Book 3 coming out in the fall!

Review: Death at Wentwater Court (Daisy Dalrymple 1).

With my long commute to and from work, I've found that I can get in a good 20-30 minutes listening to an audiobook while I'm driving.  Sometimes on the way home, I listen to All Things Considered instead (yes, we have NPR again!!) but if I'm in a good book, then it's definitely the book.  With almost an hour of listening time each day while I'm driving, I'm finding I can get through an average book in a week or two of commuting.  Obviously, I'm expecting it will take a lot longer when I tackle Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall - I think that one's over 20 hours!  This one, though, was a light and fluffy one, a change after the Napoleonic battles of Sharpe and the 95th. 

The first in the Daisy Dalrymple mystery series: Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn

My rating: 3.5 of 5 (closer to Really Liked It, but definitely have a few issues keeping it from 4 solid stars)

Plot Summary (as per Goodreads - yes, it is a bit flowery, as summaries go):

This first installment of a cozy mystery series transports listeners back to the bygone era of 1923 Britain, where unflappable flapper and fledgling journalist Daisy Dalrymple daringly embarks on her first writing assignment—and promptly stumbles across a corpse.

No stranger to sprawling country estates, wealthy Daisy Dalrymple is breaking new ground in having scandalously traded silver spoon for pen and camera to cover a story for Town and Country magazine. But her planned interviews with the inhabitants of Wentwater Court give way to interrogation after suave Lord Stephen Astwick meets a dire fate on the tranquil skating pond. Armed with evidence that his fate was anything but accidental, Daisy joins forces with Scotland Yard to examine an esteemed collection of suspects and to see that the unlikely culprit doesn’t slip through their fingers just as the unfortunate Astwick slipped through the ice.  

Story Comments:

Oh, look.  Lara has found another cozy historical mystery series she likes.  Quelle surprise!  (/dry sarcastic tone).

 

But seriously, though.  I like Golden Age mysteries, I like historical mysteries, I like British mysteries, and I enjoy a good cozy mystery.  While I also enjoy the puzzle presented in grittier "modern" mysteries or in hardboiled detective stories, I enjoy the simplicity and neat ends of a cozy mystery when I'm looking for a bit of escapism.  This definitely falls into that category.  If you like Mrs. Bradley, Lord Peter Wimsey, or especially the Phryne Fisher series, you'll probably enjoy this one too.  The Maisie Dobbs series and Rhys Bowen's Royal Spyness books  are others that I've heard fall into this category, though they are still on my To Read list.

 

Daisy is a pretty likable heroine.  She's clever and sympathetic, the type people naturally confide in, which makes her well positioned to be an amateur detective - people involved in the case just open up to her.  She's not perfect though, as the conclusion to the mystery demonstrates. Her police counterpart is Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher, another very clever and capable character - no bumbling flatfoot here. There is the interesting dynamic of the well-born Honorable Miss Dalrymple and the more "common copper," which we'll probably see more developed in future books - at least, I'm hoping so!  A lot of the other characters were pretty standard types in this sort of story: a villain to be killed off, and enough other characters to create some mystery - characters both likeable enough to support and questionable enough to consider them as suspects in murder.  My favorite side character was Daisy's childhood friend and sometime suitor, Phillip.  As he's constantly described: sweet, but not the sharpest knife in the drawer (or words to that effect).  Hopefully we'll see him pop up again as well.

 

The plot itself is a pretty standard cozy mystery.  Not the actual events, but the whole "if they'd just talk to each other this wouldn't be nearly so big of an issue" type of plot.  There were a few side story arcs which felt almost unnecessary.  For example, the whole jewel robbery storyline felt very underdeveloped somehow.  And as almost required by the cozy mystery genre, there is a romance looking to develop.  Daisy will probably be seeing a good bit more of DCI Fletcher as the series proceeds.  I'm looking forward to that, especially with how the ending took their characters - besides the class differences, will the case's conclusion here prove an obstacle to the budding romance?  I'll just have to keep reading and find out, won't I?  And yes, like many cozy series, this is one which has to be read in order. 

 

The book is well written, with a good vocabulary and period slang incorporated well (I've read some where the period jargon was used so heavily that conversations were actually hard to understand).  There are some light moments, and a good amount of humor, but there's still a good amount of mystery.   I was actually betting myself on picking out who would be the culprit, and I was wrong, so that means there were enough red herrings to keep me guessing.  That being said, it was still pretty fluffy, not a "heavy" read.  The style of writing is very similar to Golden Age authors; if you like Dorothy L. Sayers or Margery Allingham or Ngaio Marsh, this will be a good one to try.

 

The period feel is emphasized by some details - make-up, fashion, some slang usage, the cars, etc. - and also by current events.  Daisy is a working girl because her brother was killed in the War (as was her fiancé) and her father passed away in the flu epidemic; the result was that a cousin inherited the title her father had held.  That doesn't mean it's a piece of Historical Fiction.  There is a good bit of artistic license in the period details, too, in order to make the story actually work.  Reminds me of Downton Abbey - some period details very accurate, but others are a bit more fast-and-loose in order to make the stories work.  Doesn't mean you enjoy it any less, as long as you take it for what it is.

The biggest downside to me was the ending.  After presenting such a suitable victim with lots of potential motives, the actual solution felt... rushed, I suppose?  Like as if the actual detecting stopped and the solution was just dropped into Daisy's lap.  It felt as if Dunn cut a few corners in both plot and accuracy to finish up the story quickly.  This type of cozy mystery often incorporates a good bit of artistic license, or standard suspension-of-disbelief - think of an average Lord Peter Wimsey story.  How the crime happened was way more important than the actual real-world probability or feasibility of it happening in that particular way.  Even taking that into account, the conclusion still didn't feel real, somehow.  Basically, don't just suspend disbelief - chuck all disbelief out the window when you start getting close to the end and just roll with the events as they're written.  WITHOUT ANY SPOILERS, yes, this was the early 1920s, and some things were done a certain way, and class and wealth still played a very large roll in social dynamics, but the police would still have had some procedures and actual rules to follow.  It felt like Daisy (and Dunn) had just waltzed right over/past them.  One other Goodreads reviewer said that it felt like Dunn had come back to working on the novel after a period of absence, and just wanted to hurry up and finish the book.  That seems a pretty accurate description, actually.  This is the first in the series, so I will cut her a bit of slack for that.  There are at least 20 Daisy Dalrymple books right now, so I'm assuming that Dunn'll grow in confidence in the mystery genre as she works more in it.  A lot of series take a book or two to really get their feet under them, so to speak.  I enjoyed Daisy, Alec, and the other characters and the rest of the story, so my frustrations with the conclusion won't prevent me from picking up the next one in the series.  But, this ending (with my associated frustrations) is what keeps me from giving this one a full 4 stars.

Audiobook Comments:

Bernadette Dunne was the reader for this one, and for the majority of the series, I believe.  This is the first time I've listened to her, and she's not bad, though nothing exceptional.  There wasn't tons of distinction between the voices of the different characters, particularly the women, but I did like her version of Daisy's voice.  I read the reviews on Audible before trying this as an audiobook (a bad narrator can be very off-putting, even for books that you love).  Several people have commented on the quality of Dunne's British accent and pronunciations - some very negatively so!  Being an American myself, it wasn't jarringly bad for me to listen to.  Too many years in Latin classes did tell me that the words "pater" and "mater" were mispronounced, but that was the only one I caught, and it wasn't frequently enough to be either overly irritating or distracting. I'm sure if I was a Brit, I'd probably be more bothered (I know that bad TV/movie Southern accents drive me nuts). 

Overall:

 

I enjoyed it.  Though not entirely satisfied with the ending, I enjoyed it enough that I've got the second in the series ready to read (listen to).  Take it for what it is, though.  It's a fluffy historical cozy mystery series - a "potato chip" read (can't read just one), a palate-cleanser between darker or weightier stories, an enjoyable bit of escapism.  Think Dowton Abbey, remember. Books can be just fun, you know.  Don't read it if you're looking for extensive historical or procedural detail (or accuracy).  And if you're looking for a really hard-core heroine or a very gritty story, this isn't the series for you; try The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or Harry Hole or Wire in the Blood instead.

Review: The League of Unexceptional Children by Gitty Daneshvari

Children's services includes more than just story time and picture books.  I also get to order the middle-grade books!  So my reading list just gets more and more eclectic.  It already included classic and cozy mysteries, urban fantasy, romance, traditional fantasies, the occasional nonfiction, and has now expanded to picture books and elementary school chapter books.  Which is not a problem at all.  Of course there are classic kids books that I still love rereading - Avi, Roald Dahl, M.M. Kaye, Patricia Wrede - but there are a lot of really good authors writing for kids and young adults today.  And really, "it's for my job!"  :)

This week's read: The League of Unexceptional Children by Gitty Daneshvari

 

 

My Rating: 2.5 of 5 (between It's OK and I Liked It)

 

Plot Summary (courtesy of Goodreads):

Are you average? Normal? Forgettable? If so, the League of Unexceptional Children is for you! This first book in a hilarious new adventure series is for anyone who's struggled to be noticed in a sea of above-average overachievers.

What is the League of Unexceptional Children? I'm glad you asked. You didn't ask? Well, you would have eventually and I hate to waste time. The League of Unexceptional Children is a covert network that uses the nation's most average, normal, and utterly unexceptional children as spies. Why the average kids? Why not the brainiacs? Or the beauty queens? Or the jocks? It's simple: People remember them. But not the unexceptionals. They are the forgotten ones. Until now!

Comments:

Well, they do say that spies shouldn't be like James Bond, but blend into the background instead.  Why couldn't average, nondescript children be used the same way?  And with that idea, Jonathan and Shelly find themselves roped into saving the United States when a security breach at the White House ends up compromising all existing agents in the field.  The newest members of the League of Unexceptional Children have to learn the ropes and save the world all at the same time!

Somehow the adventure never really clicked with this premise, though.  It's not that this is a bad one, but it just doesn't come together somehow.  There are some great mysteries and adventure stories for this age group (heck Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys are both in this same section of our library).  So it is possible to have some exciting adventures or suspenseful mysteries and still be suitable for a middle-grade audience.

The characters are kinda weak.  Granted, Shelly and Jonathan are supposed to be nondescript and forgettable, but thankfully, they do grow up a bit with their successful mission.  Shelly got kinda irritating after a while, honestly; she's a chatterbox with no filter on her stray thoughts popping out of her mouth.  Sometimes a bit funny, but sometimes a little tiring.  The adults are more caricatures of old adventure/spy story characters than actual characters - the boss talks like a film noir cop, for example.  The morbid nurse is just a little weird, personally.

The humor worked pretty well, though - best part of the book in my opinion.  While the whole book is a take on society's focus on Exceptionalism, there are parts that are laugh-out-loud funny.  There were just absurd moments, straight up slapstick - the League's messaging system via produce, for example.  My favorite bits were the satirical points about living in Northern Virginia, though.  Having grown up in Virginia myself, with family on the Maryland side of DC and several good friends in suburbs in NoVa, I've visited the DC area enough to be familiar with the suburbs.  And as mentioned, with friends living there, I got some insider commentary on life in Woodbridge or Stafford or some of the other DC suburbs.  The Stepford mentality seems pretty accurate, and made for a very funny (for me) backdrop to the kids' adventures.

As an adult reading this, it was a so-so book, but middle school students who feel that they themselves are pretty unexceptional might enjoy it more than I did.  I know that I don't fall into that particular demographic - no longer a middle-schooler and never having been an Unexceptional (definitely more of a Brain).  But, someone who feels themselves to be very average might enjoy that aspect of the story, giving the book a little bit more of spark than what I felt for it.  I definitely wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, but it wouldn't be my first recommendation either.

It is the first book in a series (there's one more out now, and another due out in the fall), so here's hoping that the author can find her footing a little more solidly in this world through the subsequent books.  There are well written parts of the story, and some very sly humor, but not quite enough pieces coming together to really click for me.  A shame, when it's such a fun idea.

Overall Thoughts:

This is a cute book with a fun premise, using a network of the average and nondescript children for espionage and adventure.  It was pretty funny, but it missed on the suspense and adventure side of things.  Yes, it's possible to be all of the above - a funny story with adventure and mystery too - but the suspenseful side never really clicked together, and at times it felt more rushed or forced than anything else.  I wanted to like it, I really did, and it's not that it's a bad book, but it's not great either.  It's fun, a quick read, but not really memorable.  In it's own way, unexceptional.

Review: Sharpe's Rifles (book)

I blame Mom for this one ending up on my To Read list.  Not that it's a bad thing, but it's definitely her influence that got Richard Sharpe and a historical war/adventure series on my radar - not my typical sort of book.  She was hooked on the BBC series ages ago (by ages, I mean her copies are on VHS), and thereby spread the love into subsequent generations.  Because Crazy is inherited ;)

So, for the first Sharpe I'll be reading: Sharpe's Rifles: The French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809 by Bernard Cornwell

My rating: 4 out of 5

Plot Summary (courtesy of Goodreads):

"Bernard Cornwell's action-packed series that captures the gritty texture of Napoleonic warfare--now beautifully repackaged.  It's 1809, and Napoleon's army is sweeping across Spain. Lieutenant Richard Sharpe is newly in command of the demoralized, distrustful men of the 95th Rifles. He must lead them to safety--and the only way of escape is a treacherous trek through the enemy-infested mountains of Spain."

Story comments:

This is the 6th book in the Sharpe series, if you're going by the internal chronology.  It's the 9th by publication date, and the 1st that was made into a TV episode.  So, take that for reference. 

The Sharpe's series is a really good historical adventure series.  For both the TV show and the books, it's a good one to try if you've enjoyed the Horatio Hornblower stories or the Aubrey and Maturin books (the Master and Commander series).  Or vice versa - try those if you like Sharpe.  Just land adventures as opposed to ones at sea.

Cornwell didn't write the Sharpe series in chronological order.  It's one of those commonly asked questions on book sites like Goodreads - "do I read these in chronological or publication order or does it matter?"  Well, personal preference, I suppose.  I started with Rifles as I like the men in the 95th.  Figured it's as good a place as any.  As mentioned above, this is the 6th chronologically (set in 1809), but 9th by publication.  Looking at Goodreads and Amazon reviews, some people found this a bit frustrating.  It means that continuity can be a little off, that characters might not have quite the same presence or developed personality that they did in a earlier/later book, that things referenced might not make 100% sense, that the writing style might not be quite the same.  That makes sense from a writer's perspective - it's a bit of a challenge to keep things flowing completely smoothly when the "next" adventure was really written 8 or 10 or 12 years after a particular story.  Heck, even some series written chronologically have trouble keeping all the details straight and having the characters develop smoothly.  In the grand scheme of things, though, it's not a big deal most of the time.  At least not to me - though there are series where names are inconsistent between books, major details, that sort of thing; then it does get to me.  For Sharpe, it's not a series that has a tight overarching storyline anyway.  Sharpe and the others get promoted, the war proceeds, and events in previous novels are mentioned, but it's not like you need to read the series in completely chronological order in order to follow along.  Just pay attention to the dates given in the novel and remember, "oh yeah, this is before/after (battle name here)"

Just because there's not tons of overarching storylines, doesn't mean there's not a lot of development within the story too.  The characters certainly grow within the individual stories too.  Sharpe starts the story kinda depressed, actually.  He's a fighting soldier, raised from the ranks to an officer, and has been relegated to quartermaster.  So, going from fighting to paperwork and supplies, with no respect from above or below.  Yeah, he's not a happy guy.  He's kinda an antihero to start, not a dramatic born leader ready to inspire men into battle.  Through circumstances, he's now in charge of the men who don't respect him, who have no reason to follow him, and who are stuck in the mountains in winter with not nearly enough supplies.  And honestly?  As a reader, I'm not even sure I liked him and would have followed him.  He grows in confidence and in his leadership, though, and by the end of the story, they really are Sharpe's Rifles.  No, that's not a spoiler - if he didn't grow into being an officer, the series wouldn't really have anymore to do, would it?  A lot of characters are introduced in this one who I know will appear in other books (I have watched the TV show a number of times, after all).  We'll see how their development goes.  The most noteworthy was Sgt Patrick Harper, who will become Sharpe's best friend and ally.  Here, he leads a mutiny and gets into a knockdown-dragout with Sharpe, before eventually getting promoted and gradually coming to respect his Lieutenant. There's the uneasy truce and trust there, but not the close friendship yet, so we'll see how they come to trust each other more as the stories proceed.

Reading other reviews on Goodreads, even people who like the series have split opinions on individual books.  Some like this one, some aren't as fond.  Like most series, I suppose.  Even if the series overall is a good one, individual books can vary. Not having read any of the others yet, I don't have an opinion one way or another.  I suppose that in later posts, I might have more opinion on which Sharpe book is my favorite, but as it is...

Cornwell definitely does his historical research.  Even though the Historical Note at the end of the book basically said, "this isn't how the events really happened," there's a lot of research that's obvious in the details of the fighting, the uniforms, the weapons, the setting.  It is very easy to picture the scenes, given all the description and Cornwell's eye for detail.  For the actual events... the French occupation of Galicia and the British retreat are pretty accurate; it's just the actual events of the story that Cornwell took liberties with. I suppose if you're wanting complete historical accuracy, that might be disappointing, but certain liberties should be allowed in order to make a good adventure.  It's not like he was using lasers or dragons or even machine guns, right?

At times all the historical detail can get kinda tedious, actually.  Mom calls it techno-babble (she uses that description a lot with Tom Clancy books), and just specifies that in Sharpe's stories, it's Napoleonic techno-babble.  If you don't mind a lot of historic detail in your adventure, then it won't be a deal-breaker.  But if that sort of thing turns you off from a book... well, you've been warned.

Favorite quote?

Harper commenting on Sharpe: "He'll fall in love with anything in a petticoat. I've seen his type before. Got the sense of a half-witted sheep when it comes to women... It's a good job he's got me to look after him now" (p.265).

Your hero, ladies and gentlemen: sense of a half-witted sheep.  Not even a full-witted sheep!  And it's true.  Though there are some recurring female leads, Sharpe really is a Napoleonic James Bond (though less suave - more in the new-girl-every-book sense).

A few points comparing it to the TV series:

• Sharpe has black hair???  No.  He is Sean Bean, end of story.
• I missed Teresa.  When the TV writers were adapting the stories to film, they brought her into this story, instead of introducing her later (she first appears in the novel Sharpe's Gold, 9th in the series chronology).  Louisa Parker wasn't bad as Sharpe's love interest - she did have a bit of spark to her - but she wasn't La Aguja. 
• Besides Theresa's appearance, there are a lot of other differences in the events of the book versus the TV episode - a whole chunk of the main mission in fact.  But, quite honestly, there's only so much marching through frozen wasteland that you can film and keep a story entertaining, and large cavalry charges do take lots of horses, extras, and choreography.  So, for filming purposes, the changes are rather understandable.  The "take-homes" are the same - characters are introduced, the gonfalon is raised at Compostela, Harper and Sharpe fight and then come to terms, and Sharpe grows into his role in command of the 95th.  Everything's now set up to head to Talavera.

Audiobook comments:

The narrator for the Sharpe's series, and thus for this book too, is Frederick Davidson.  He does a lot of classics and a good number of mystery series, as well as the Sharpe's series, so I've definitely encountered his readings before.  Never really had any issues with his voice before, but I honestly wasn't crazy about his reading this time.  He has a very flat sort of delivery, a bit dry and pinched at times, which was fine for a lot of the narrative.  It actually really suits some of the other books I've listened to (I though he was the perfect voice for The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth - very much like the 1960s-70s British newscaster-type voice that appeared in the movie).  It wasn't so much the narrative portions that bothered me here, as much as his accents and the associated voices.  The Spanish voices were very deep and gravelly, and sometimes hard to understand, but it was the Irish voices that bothered me the most.  They all went up in range, getting higher.  Which is fine, I suppose, except I really like the Irish characters (and their actors) in the TV series, and a higher voice just didn't work with what I had in my head, or even in the text.  Sgt Harper is constantly described as such a big man, and he's played by Daragh O'Malley in the show - again, a very big guy (he's 6'4" according to IMDB).  A high voice just doesn't fit with that sort of build.  And then there's Hogan, played by Brian Cox in the series.  And I'll be honest, Brian Cox has one of those voices that I could just sit and listen to him read a phone book (also Patrick Stewart, Benedict Cumberbatch, Morgan Freeman... ).  So that's a hard mental image/expectation to beat, or even live up to. 

At any rate, higher tenors just didn't work for either Hogan or Harper, at least IMHO, and that kinda grated on me a bit.  Otherwise, though, Davidson did a pretty decent job with the story, and his reading won't be a deterrent to listening to the rest of the series.

Overall comments:

The story itself is a 4 of 5.  The audiobook version might get docked a half star or so, mostly because of the voices.  But either way, that still is enough stars that it's worth a try.  If you like historical novels or adventure stories, these are good ones to add to your reading list.  Lots of well described battles, good characters, and certainly an eye for periodic detail.

Review: Telephone by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jen Corace

As you know, dear reader, I finished my library science degree last year, and am now working in a real-life library.  What you might not know yet is that I handle children's programming there.  I've been tracking the books I read as part of several reading challenges, but I'm also keeping notes (via GoodReads) of books that I'll use for story time, STEM programs, my next book order, etc.  An unexpected side effect of that, is that my Total Books Read list for this year is already over 100!!   I've already had to update my expected/goal number twice, and I'm still ahead of schedule!  Looks like I'll be upping it again soon - gotta keep the motivation up after all ;)

 

No, not all of them are picture books! I've always got a book on my Kindle App for on the go, and an audiobook going in the car, plus several others at any given point in time, so a lot of what I've read so far this year would be considered "my" books as well.  But, there are a lot of picture books for story time in my list, I will admit.  And some of them are really clever and deserved to be chattered about just as much as my thoughts on my latest mystery.  So expect to start seeing a smattering of picture books and mid-grade reads appearing here too. 

 

First up:  Telephone by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jen Corace.
 

Plot: A fun illustrated version of the game Telephone, the message transmitted courtesy of an eclectic collection of birds on a phone line.  Will the message get to Peter Pigeon in time to make it home for dinner?  And will he even understand it when it reaches him?

 

I enjoyed the different birds, and how their hobbies obviously affected what they were hearing.  In a larger sense, it's the idea that what we are personally interested in will color how we see (or hear) the world - one of those Big Picture Ideas snuck into kids' picture books :)  I also enjoyed the connections between certain birds and their activities - the cardinal with a baseball bat, for example (any St Louis fans out there?).  My favorite birds were the (spherical) turkey and the owl.  The facial expressions were great!  The owl just looks so deadpan, listening to the Crazy that has reached him on the line.  And I also liked the two little penguins up on the wire with Peter at the end.  Just like the turkey - what are they doing on that phone line?

Extra Bonus?  Chronicle Books has a wallpaper with the owl on it for free on their blog!

 

 

 

Personally, I enjoy Mac Barnett's works quite a bit.  He was a presenter at the Texas Book Festival a few years ago when I was able to attend, and just cracked me up (he was presenting with Jon Scieszka, another favorite, so definitely enjoyed myself).  I've found that his books have a quirky, rather absurd sense of humor, and this one's no exception. 

 

Jen Corace's illustrations are wonderful.  They aren't Heavy Artistic pictures, or overly detailed, but they carry a lot of the story themselves - the ostrich with the feather duster?  The worry on the turkey's face?  Her illustrations add that depth to the simple story.  The simplicity of the illustrations make it a good choice for a story time too.  Books that have incredibly detailed illustrations are wonderful in their own way, but they can be a little too much for 20 4-year-olds at a time.  Barnett himself summed it up well: "Her birds are so bold and bright and charismatic, and can command the attention of a rowdy mob of kindergarteners, but there’s plenty of clever and delicate details you can study with a quiet kid in your lap."

 

As an adult reading the picture book, it's silly fun, but a little simple for me, missing that bit of oomph that would really make it a classic.  However, this is a good story time book, one that will tie in nicely with activities with the kids.  I'd have preferred a little more similarity between the garbled statements as they passed between birds, especially as I'll be reading it aloud at story time, but you could still see how one statement warped into the next. 

 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 (somewhere between Liked and Really Liked)

A quick bookish project

So, playing with my beading supplies, and ways to use the odd bits of leftover ribbon I've got stashed, and found this idea online.  There are tons of variations, of course, as simple as it is.  Searching on Etsy provides multiple ideas, as well as searches on Pinterest or in the blogosphere.  Flamingo Toes, for example, is a crafting inspiration favorite of mine (and has more than one version, as you see), but there are tons of others too.  Everyday Beauty by Andrea Singarella , Adventures of a DIY Mom, A Creative Life by Debbie Saenz, Rings & Things, Shelterness, Country Living, Intimate Weddings... the list goes on.  Oh, not all those are instruction sites - some are just finished projects or photos of things available in their shops.  Still, as simple a project as this is, that's really enough.

The instructions can be found on several of those websites, or at least variations thereof.  A lot of the variation comes in the attachment of the beads to the ribbon - are beads on both ends of the ribbon?  Are they attached by crimp bead or by larkshead knot or sewn into a fold in the ribbon?  More personalization can be added by the ribbon and bead choices.  Fancier ones use velvet ribbons and sparkly beads or old jewelry findings.  I used what I had in my stash :)

  

So what did I do?

1. Start with a length of ribbon that is longer than the book(s) you would be using it with.  I just used the lengths I had left on some of these (I was stash-busting after all).
2. Add a ribbon clamp to each end.  Ribbon clamps can be found at jewelry or craft supply stores, or just big-box stores.  They come in different widths, usually corresponding to standard ribbon widths.  I think I got a multi-size pack from Wal-Mart, so it doesn't have to be fancy if you don't want it to be.
3. Add beads to the loop on the ribbon clamp.  These are just attached on head pins, like I attach dangles to my stitch markers.

And, ta-da!  All done and in use!

 

Once you're a librarian...

You can never NOT be a librarian!

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to get back to reading.  Ok, so maybe not a resolution so much as an aim to return to normalcy.  I'm a bookworm (surprising in a librarian, right?) and yet haven't really been able to read over the last few years.  Grad school kinda dominated my recent reading, so I'm getting back on track and tackling the reading list that kept growing even as I was buried in articles for school.

To that end, I'm taking on some reading challenges!  Yes, more than one.  Because it's me.  But they are each different, and they'll all getting me reading, both things on my To-Read list, and some new stuff that might or might not be something I'd normally grab off the shelf.

So, here they are:

Goodreads has an annual reading challenge.  This is a straight quantity challenge - you set the number of books that you'd like to read, and log them with Goodreads as you begin and finish them.  It will track the books and let you know how many you've read and if you're on pace to reach your goal.  Goodreads is a free account, and there's an app as well, if you'd like to log on the go.  Goodreads is a pretty handy account to have, anyways, if you haven't looked into it.  I like it for this challenge, for tracking my reading, and for making notes for books to read in the future.  I also use it to tag ("shelve") books to possibly use in storytimes in the future.  I don't use it to catalog my home library; my LibraryThing account is still best for that. Goodreads doesn't let you log multiple editions of a single title, so it's a challenge to inventory my collection.  After all, I've got 4 copies of the Hobbit, among others...

Funny side story:

I was telling a friend here about Goodreads (she hadn't encountered it) and she saw my Currently Reading shelf. 

"You're reading seven books right now??" 

"Yeah..."

(Is that odd??)

Zach found a challenge from The Goodwill Librarian on Facebook, to read 26 books with these different characteristics - over 500 pages, written over 100 years ago or in the last year, etc.  It averages out to a book every two weeks.  I like challenges like this because it will stretch my reading.  When I read for escape or comfort, I tend to go to the same authors or genres.  Lists like this expand my reading.

Another "expanding" reading challenge is the one my childhood home library system is running this year: a reading marathon.  Yes, the pun was intended :)  The idea behind the marathon is to read 26.2 books in the year.  Again, that's a book every two weeks.  The 0.2 book allows you to start a book and abandon it if it turns out to be something that you reeeeeeally can't get through (no need to make yourself suffer, right?  It's supposed to be fun!).  They have an Extra Mile challenge too, keeping with the marathon theme.  The Extra Mile, like the Goodwill Librarian, gives you 26 types of books to read, different categories again, to push your repertoire, expand horizons, all that fun stuff.  For those of you from that area, the categories are pretty much the same as the Summer Reading Program Bingo.  Not that that's a bad thing - the same categories can still push you to read something new - but yes, they might sound familiar.  And some of the categories do overlap with the ones in the Goodwill Librarian's list, too, but not all of them.  And since my Goodreads goal is well above 26 books this year (I do work in a library, after all), I'll be able to check off items on both lists :)

Obviously being a librarian, I'm very pro-reading, pro-books and media.  Kinda comes with the territory.  There are tons of reading challenges out there - a quick Google search turns up dozens online.  You're sure to find one that meets your needs and interests.  Read all Jane Austen books in a year, read a certain number of banned books (check the ALA for lists of popularly challenged books), read from the BBC Big Read (over 10 years old now, but still a GREAT list), PopSugar has one, and dozens of blogs do too.  I like challenges like these because there are always new authors or new titles out there to try.  As much as I love rereading favorites ('visiting old friends'), it's always nice to read new ones too, maybe make some new favorites. 

Review: Cross Kill by James Patterson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Plot Summary:

From GoodReads:

Along Came a Spider killer Gary Soneji has been dead for over ten years. Alex Cross watched him die. But today, Cross saw him gun down his partner. Is Soneji alive? A ghost? Or something even more sinister?  

Nothing will prepare you for the wicked truth.

The story begins with Alex Cross and his partner John Sampson working at a community soup kitchen.  Shots ring out and kitchen workers are injured.  In tending to them, the two men are also attacked by the shooter.  Sampson is shot in the head, and Cross in the chest, protected only by his Kelvar.  Even more of a blow, Cross sees the shooter as a man whom he saw die over ten years previously (for perspective, Along Came a Spider was the first Alex Cross book, while this is #23.5).  While Sampson fights for his life in the hospital, Cross hunts for the shooter.  He doubts his eyes and his memories, trying to find answers about one of the worst criminals he has encountered in his long career.

Story comments:

This is one of the first Alex Cross stories I've read (or listened to). I think it might even be the first, though it seems hard to imagine, as many Cross stories as Patterson has written.  Maybe I'm just familiar with the few which have been made into movies.  At any rate, there it is. 

Book Shots are novellas, really, designed to be single-sitting (or single-day) reads.  They are written to fall in-between the full-length novels in the series.  This one, for example, is listed as #23.5 in the Alex Cross Series.  In terms of listening length, I listened to the audiobook during my commute to work, and it took me less that a week.

Part of the story centers on Sampson's shooting and recovery. It honestly felt like those sections dragged a little, lots of hospital visits and emotional build-up over whether Cross would lose his childhood friend and partner.  Good emotional build-up (especially in such a short book), but not having read others in the series, I just didn't have the same emotional investment in John Sampson that others might have. 

I also was probably more interested in the mystery of the man rising from the dead to shoot at Cross and his partner. That side of the story really drew me in. There were so many questions and potential twists and clues and suspense, that the big reveal at the end was a bit of a let-down, quite honestly. The solution seemed a bit simple and rushed, but it is only a BookShot after all.

My BIGGEST frustration was by far the huge cliffhanger! I don't mind books in a series carrying subplots over between books; characters do have to develop, after all, and some series create an archnemesis (a Big Bad, to quote Buffy) or extreme set of circumstances, which may take several books to solve or overcome.  I am not, however, a fan of huge cliffhangers where you MUST go out and get the next book to find out what happens in the main plot. Just makes it feel like you've read an excerpt of a book, and not a book in itself (at least in my opinion).  If you don't mind these, or are already well-invested in Alex Cross and his world, then you probably won't mind the cliffhanger nearly as much as I did.  For me, it was almost a, "Wait, what just happened??" moment.  At which point the audiobook credits began playing...

Audiobook comments:

Ruben Santiago-Hudson does a good job putting emotion into the character, and I enjoyed listening to him. Of course, Alex Cross now looks like Capt Roy Montgomery (Castle) in my mind, but that's a minor issue. My only real complaint was that they put in sound effects for the sirens, gunshots, etc.  Other books I've listened to just had the narrator say something ("bang!", "crack!", etc.).  The actual noises were very startling, especially if I was listening as I did something else (driving, running, etc.).

Overall comments:

As I said, this is my first Alex Cross book.  I'm interested to read more, starting at the beginning.  Even though I know Soneji died in that book, I'm interested in Patterson's writing now.  The suspense and tension he built in the story was very well done.  My minor complaints are really partially my own fault - who starts a series 23 books in, after all?  The biggest reason I gave it only three stars was the cliffhanger at the end.  It'd probably have another star from me if that wasn't there (side note: the plot twist was a good one; I just wish it had been developed and resolved in this book instead of the next).  If you're already sucked into Alex Cross's world, or if you don't mind huge cliffhangers in your books, then you'd probably not mind that nearly as much as I did.

Something to show for all my schoolwork

So after all the posting during the conference this summer, I was hoping I'd have more momentum to keep writing through the fall.  Well, it partially worked.  

I've done a great job writing for my classes!  Unfortunately, little time (or mental energy!) for other writing.  This semester has been a very, very busy one.  I've had two courses, plus my practicum.  Basically, I was full-time grad student who was also working full time.  Like I said, very, very busy!  

But, I have a project to brag on now!  My practicum was spent at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, a university in the next town over, working with their digital resources librarians.  And as a result of my work this semester, I've created a digital collection!  I talked through the template with the librarians, and we created the fields, determined how we wanted to catalog and present the metadata (information on the item and how it's displayed on the page or not), and then I actually did it.  I've cataloged about 50 issues now, all up on the website.  Call me dorky, but I think this is really cool.  I'm honestly quite proud of it :) 

"My" collection is for The Baylorian, a student literary magazine.  The Baylorian is a literary magazine now, but it didn't start out that way entirely.  Back in 1912, it also had campus events and news, jokes and cartoons, odds and ends.  Over time, it evolved to be a more traditional student literary magazine - more poems, essays, and short stories, and less Hints on Headgear (no really - hat fashion tips, May-June 1921).  It's always been student created, though, which makes reading through them fun. Zach says it's not really schoolwork if I'm having this much fun reading them, but what can I say?  They are fun!

Part of the fun was looking at what has changed and what hasn't over the past 100 years.  Most of the issues I was cataloging were from the 1910s, after all.  Every time there was something which was so very, very dated, there would be something that was still very true today.  Jokes about freshman vs seniors, or men vs women, for example.  Take away the slightly dated wording or vocabulary, and you'll have something you might hear on a college campus today.  When the articles were on serious topics, that was even more striking.  The more things change, right?

Some highlights:

• I love the names.  Seeing as we started with the oldest ones first, I was cataloging issues from the 1910s, 20s, and 30s.  Some of the names are very characteristic of their time, so sound very dated now (lots of Frances, for example, and a surprising number of Minnie).  And some are good ol' stereotypical, small-town Texas (Lula Belle worked on the staff for several years, for example, and Ethelyne). And then you take them as a group, with five or six names on a staff... it just makes you smile.  Of course, in 100 years, people will probably be thinking the same thing with all the Mikayla, Bella, and Madison now.
• 1920s debate speeches  There were several collegiate debates in which UMHB participated, and the Baylorian later published all four speeches (two affirmative, two negative) from each debate. The topics: immigration reform (June 1922), and the purpose of the electoral college (should we keep it? May-June 1921).  Take away the specifics on the immigrants and their country of origin, and you could hear the exact same arguments being used by candidates today.
• On Being a Twin (Fall 1931) shows that my niece and nephew would probably be fielding the same sort of questions 80 years ago as they do now.  For example, on trying to distinguish themselves from each other: "Another brilliant idea of ours is to wear different clothes at times. The attempt is futile. The world then wants to know why we do not dress alike if we are twins."
• My favorite issue of all has to be November 1916.  In the campus events news, there were write-ups of two -count them, 2- possum hunts.  The Senior Class hosted one, and so did the Fine Arts department.  Each had a write-up too.  Excuse me: 'possum hunts.  The apostrophe was apparently still standard at this time.  Remember too: at this point, the school was still Baylor Female College, an all-women's institution.
• November 1916 also had an advertisement for a Turkey Trot in Temple, TX.  In 1916, this apparently referred to REAL turkeys!  Mr. Jarrell, owner of Jarrell's Mississippi Store, was planning to "turn loose a drove of fine turkeys from the roof of his building, Catch 'em and they will be yours."  Funnily enough, Temple still hosts one of the Turkey Trots in the area, though nowadays it's a Thanksgiving Day 5K.  We ran it last year :)

So there you have it.  A brief sampling of the fun times (and extremely dry sense of humor) which have been filling my fall.  Read and enjoy.

IFLA WLIC Day 1 - The Penguin has Landed!

And it's a reeeeally long flight from TX to SA!

Three flights actually.  And that's been almost entirely my last day and a half.

But it was not entirely uneventful, and I'll share a few things here as I try to calm down for sleep (yay jet lag!)

• I am a catastrophizer.  Really, though, no surprise there.  Everything worked out just fine, even with my long flight landing late in Johannesburg, I'd still allowed myself plenty of time for Customs before my connecting flight.  It was just amazing me again how wildly my imagination can spin worst case scenarios.  Especially when I'm traveling on my own halfway round the world (funny, go figure).  

• Motivational socks help combat the catastrophizing.  They also get compliments from TSA security guards :)

 

• The South African flag really can look like a rainbow.  The reflection of the wing tip on the South Africa Airline plane as it reflected on the wing was really rather pretty.

• Speaking of South African Airline, they treat you pretty well!  We even got dinner on the 2 hour flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town!   On a lot of short flights in the States, I don't even count on drinks on a flight that short, let along expect a hot meal!

• It's been so long since I've had a chance to focus on a fun book, I forgot how fast I read.  I finished my book on the long flight (the 2nd leg of the 3).  So yes, day one of the trip.  Now I've nothing left to read for the trip except a text book, a guide book, and whatever light-n-fluffy thing I have saved on my Kindle.  :( 

• I had some time to knit (of course I brought a project - what did you expect?)  And I started Citron, a shawl from Knitty a few years ago.  It's been sitting on my queue, and with the mindless pattern and the lace-weight yarn, it made for a good travel project.  For those interested, I'm using the possum lace-weight that Sarah and I dyed a few years ago.  I've a bunch of the green left, so this is perfect for it.  I made it through the first two shawl sections on my flights.  What can I say, I'd finished my book!  I know I'll slow down now that it's getting wider, but here's a first glimpse :)

 

The best comment I heard through all the traveling was in the very first airport.  A young jetsetter businessman type saw me knitting as I was waiting.  "Oh perfect airport hobby - no charging!"  A good comment on its own, but it made me laugh because I was sitting charging my phone, on which I'd saved the pattern I'm working from!  Signs of the times, maybe?  Either way, it made me smile.

At any rate, busy day sightseeing tomorrow before the conference really starts on Sunday, so I must get to bed.  Think I've finally wound down enough for that :)

Review: Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits

One of my resolutions this year is trying to read more.  My goal is 2 books a month, and so far, that's a pretty good average pace.  Average, because I never read one book at a time, so it's not always an even 2-a-month.  For example, I didn't really finish much in June, because I had 4 books going, so I'm on pace to make up for that in July :) 

This one was one that was a free download on Amazon Kindle (click the picture below to go to the Amazon page): Pride, Prejudice, and Cheese Grits by Mary Jane Hathaway.

Summary (courtesy Amazon's page):

Shelby Roswell is a history professor on the fast track to tenure until her new book is crushed in a review by the famous historian, Ransom Fielding. She struggles to regain her momentum only to discover that Fielding has taken a visiting professorship at her college. The place that was once a refuge from the poverty of her past is now a battlefield of Civil War proportions.

Ransom is still struggling with his role in his wife’s accidental death six years ago and was hoping a year at Shelby’s small college would be a respite from the reminders back home. He never bargained for falling in love with the one woman who would give anything to make him leave. Together Shelby and Ransom learn that home is never very far away, and when you least expect it, love arrives.

With a cast of Civil War re-enactors, an evil wedding planner, antebellum mansions, and several mysterious diaries, 'Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits' will take you on a touching and hilarious ride through a modern South you haven't seen before. NOW WITH RECIPES

Yes, I got the one with the recipes too.  The only appearance of the cheese grits, as a matter of fact (they don't play any part in the story).

Free Kindle books are nice, but I'm still not going to waste my time, even if I haven't wasted money, on a book that's not worth it.  So, I always start with the other Amazon user comments, just to get an idea if it might be interesting.  Beyond that, I read it to make up my mind on my own :)

One of most frequent complaints in the the Amazon reviews questioned the Pride and Prejudice connections.  It honestly didn't bother me too much.  Hot-headed heroine, awkward hero, lots of butting heads and misconceptions.  At that level, it really didn't bother me.  There were scenes that were straight out of P&P, though.  Funnily enough, those were the scenes I liked the least.  Just didn't fit, somehow.  (Slight spoiler alert)  The party that Shelby goes to with her mom and sisters and the disastrous matchmaking attempt was straight-up Mr. Collins.  And that honestly bothered me.  It's a modern story, but that scene just seemed so... anachronistic.  I mean, I have friends who have received "You're not getting any younger" type comments from friends or family, but in this day and age, 27 is not absurd, especially for someone in academia.  PhDs aren't overnight degrees, after all.  Her mother getting frantic about her 27-year-old daughter turning down a date with a guy in his early 40s just seemed out of place.  Yes, Shelby did behave on the ruder side, but the guy was pretty much insulting everything she'd worked for and cared about.

The other big complaint in the Amazon reviews were about proofreading mistakes.  Looks like I downloaded a later edition, because it wasn't an issue.  There were still some, and a few continuity things that nagged at me, but otherwise, don't be put off by that criticism. 

As for the story itself...

It is Christian romance.  Meaning, no steamy scenes.  Lots of banter, smoldering looks, and a kiss or two before the wedding at the end.  It is listed as Religious Romance in the categories down near bottom of the Amazon page.  I hadn't really noticed it, but I'm up for Austen in any form.  If you're not, or you're looking for something steamier, this isn't the book for that. 

On that same note, it's not a beat-you-over-the-head preaching sort of story.  A character is looking for forgiveness, another for strength, characters pray and from time to time, talk about the importance of faith in a relationship. And that's about it.  No moralizing, not really heavy handed proselytizing.  I didn't find it distracting from the story at all. 

I liked the lead characters.  Shelby, the heroine, is outspoken, honest, pretty but not "everybody hates me because I'm too pretty" (yes, I recently tried to start one whose heroine was like that.  I couldn't finish it).  And yes, I have a partiality for nerdy, sarcastic, curly redheads :)  The hero, Ransom, is suitably awkward and proud for an Austen hero.  I liked them, honestly.  I powered through the book in 2 days, so it kept my attention pretty securely. 

I liked the best friend as a character, too.  A lot of the other secondary characters seemed very underdeveloped, though.  They just kinda appeared for a scene and then disappeared.  Tasha, the romantic rival, was entertaining, if aggravating, but then my personality tends more to Shelby's views than Tasha's.

I felt the disasters were a little rushed, especially at the end.  The video especially seemed to just come and go with little development.  Things just kinda happened and then never mentioned again, like the author was trying to fit in too much.  Like the faux pas at Ransom's aunt's party?  And the back-to-back disasters towards the end felt very rushed.  Everything worked out alright, and for the most part, no loose ends.  Just felt like things kinda happened and then were gone, no lasting repercussions.

My biggest complaint was the questionable Southern geography.  The book is set at the fictitious Midland College in the fictitious town of Spartainville, MS.  So, they talk about going to Oxford for shopping and so forth.  No problem, there's an Oxford, MS.  The heroine's hometown is Flea Bite Creek, though.  Though it's never mentioned where Flea Bite Creek is in the book, there really IS a Flea Bite Creek.  In South Carolina.  South of Columbia, actually, about 9 hours from Oxford, MS.  Resulted in a few issues for me:

• Her "regular weekends home" seemed off to me.  I've done the 8 hr drive from Greenville, SC to Virginia Beach, VA very regularly, and it's makes for a very draining weekend.  Add two more hours for the round trip... Hard to believe.
• With the 9 hr distance, the dismissive way people talked about Flea Bite Creek just didn't fit.  If you're going to be dismissive about a tiny Southern town, you're going to do so about the ones nearby, not ones 9 hours away.  People always talk about what they know.
• Also, characters mentioned Savannah and Charleston as destinations like they were just a couple hours away.  From Oxford, MS, these cities are each about 10 hours away.  People tend to be 'out of sight, out of mind' so seemed a little weird.  It's like being in Atlanta and regularly talking about Baltimore as a destination.  The Southeast uses a relatively small radius, as a region; things are more compact.  I've learned in Texas, an hour and a half drive is nothing.  "Oh, it's just in Austin."  In the Southeast, that same hour and a half would pass a dozen more towns than what would be in the same stretch in Texas or further west. 

I realize it's a stupid complaint for a work of fiction, but I spent two years looking at Southern maps for my job, including for some job sites in Oxford, and it bothered me. It was as if the South was just a nebulous region in this story, everything all kinda near each other.  Probably not something that would bother too many other people, but there you go.  One of those little tickles in the back of your mind in the story that wouldn't go away.

Overall: 3.75 of 5.  Glad it was a free book, but I'm always glad of a free book.  I don't know if I'd've bought it, but it was pretty good  and it did draw me in.  It's a Christian romance, as mentioned, so nothing steamy, but the characters are cute together.  Likable leads, and in all, a nice, fluffy, fun read.  Just some quirks that made me wonder if the author had spent much time in the South...

A Back-dated Test Knit

This was a test knitted pattern done a while ago, solidly in my non-bloggy-chatty period. I saw it on the Test Knitters forum board and just couldn't resist. Even with all the color work! It just screamed my name. Books AND hand mitts (I'm always cold at work, and it's even worse in my hands if I'm at the computer a lot). Too perfect to pass up!  Anyhoo, since I just finished the Surprise Cowl, to match a recent test knit, I felt motivated to write up this test knit too.

The Yarn:

Most of the yarn I used was Patons Stretch Socks. The books and the shelves were other sock yarns, not Stretch Socks, but in the same weight. Just stash yarn, so nothing more specific. The Stretch Socks (being stretchy, after all) had to be held with a loose touch. Pulling it too tightly stretched it out and would affect the gauge. So, use a gentle touch. Otherwise, nothing really to striking to mention about any of the yarns.

The pattern works best if there is a good amount of contrast between the background and the books. So, I have dark books (purple, dark rose, burgundy-brown, and navy) on a mottled cream background. The shelves are, of course, brown. The background can be a little darker than what I chose, if you like, just as long as you have some good contrast to the books. No navy mitts with dark green books, or cream mitts with butter-yellow books. You get the idea.

The other thing to consider with the background yarn is that it needs to be relatively plain. No bold stripes or busy patterns. Once again, because you'd lose the books to the background. It would be a lot of work for books you couldn't see!

The Pattern: 

Reading Mitten by Lotta Groeger (my project is Raveled here).

This is a great pattern for using up lots of odds-n-ends of sock yarns (and c'mon, who doesn't have those?) The books don't need to match, and each book uses a yard, give or take. So, long-length repeats of variegated sock yarns are perfect for the books! I actually went to the skein I was using for the books and cut off the number of lengths I needed, just snipping the yarn as the color changed. But that would be just as easy to do if you're working from multiple skeins of leftovers. I did find it helpful to cut the lengths of yarn for the books, so that I could handle them, lay them out, and decide what color I wanted for which books (try not to have like colors adjacent, that sort of thing). The duplicate stitching was by far the most time consuming part of the whole project!! But, when the alternative was stranding multiple colors on teeny-tiny US 2s, working in the round... I'd rather do the duplicate stitch!

Notes, Alternations, etc:

No modifications, really. This one was pretty much as-written.

I made the Size Small mitt (6 inch hand circumference), and it fits my tiny hands just fine. I cast on and bound off with US 4s, not the 2s I used to reach gauge in the rest of the project. I tend to cast on and bind off rather tightly, so the larger needles were needed. Other than that, I reach gauge just fine with the US 2s. Did feel like I was going to snap them in half the whole time, though - been a while since I worked with needles that small!

One thing I might add would be a word around the cuff, that long stretch of cream before the first bookshelf. "Read" or "Book" or something. I'm still deciding on that one. There are plenty of free charted alphabets out there, in a variety of gauges, that it would be simple enough to do. It would give wrist a little more structure, (more duplicate stitching), and it would immediately associate the book pattern above with reading (instead of a less bookish person just thinking "Oh, what a cool geometric pattern"). And it would help me tell the right mitt from the left :)

 

Overall: 

I really like this pattern. The mitts fit comfortably, and are not too bulky. The knitting went very quickly, so these might make nice gifts for family or coworkers or future grad school friends. Other bookish people :)

Pinteresting Wednesdays - shelf signs

A little home decoration this week on Pinteresting Wednesday.

 

This is one of those Shelf Word Frame Things.  I'd give an original inspiration pin, but there are so many variations out there, that it would be hard to pinpoint my exact inspiration.  Some use blocks or wood pieces for each letter, others (like mine) use picture frames, some use candles for each letter, and still others use those apothecary jars that are so popular.  Some are for holidays - "Boo" for Halloween, for example, or "XOXO" for Valentine's Day.  Others are more general, like "Home."   Like I said, lots of variations! 

Here, I humbly present my version "Read", made for our library at the house (the room with all my bookshelves and the main computer desk). 

Materials:

• Picture frames, enough for 1 per letter.  I got mine at the Dollar Tree.  I wanted them to be "a set but not matching" so they are each a different style, while all being the same photo size.  You can mix or match yours however you want, obviously :)
• Old book.  I used an old law text that was being discarded by the library where I work (if you look closely, you'll see that the pages all mean something to me by topic!).  Libraries and used book stores will be a great source for this part.  Make sure the pages of your book are big enough to fit inside your frames without gapping.
• Chipboard letters. I used chipboard instead of wooden letters or scrapbooking letters because they were the size I wanted, were not too big that they couldn't fit beneath the glass of the frame, were cheaper than scrapbooking letters, and
• Spray paint in desired color.  I used Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze.
• Glue.

Instructions:

1. Spray paint letters and frames desired color (prime if needed, depending on material, paint, etc).  As I mentioned above, I used the Oil Rubbed Bronze color on both the letters and the frames.  It took several coats to achieve a nice rich look, but I like the end result a lot.  Let dry completely.
2. Trim book pages so that they fit inside the frames.
3. Place your painted letters in the desired positions on each page.  I tried to keep mine centered in each frame, and (of course) lined up with the text of the pages.
4. Glue letters in place.  Let dry.
5. Place pages with letters in frames.
6. Arrange on shelf!  I love simple projects :)

Here you go, in place on top my bookshelves in the library:

Review: Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Happy blogoversary to me!  4 years now chattering away mindlessly.  Crafts, travel, books, movies... all those things that help keep me sane as we bounce around the country.  So, a post today!  Not a pattern or project instructions or anything incredible, but here's a book I've been dying to read since the spring, and we finally got our hands on a copy:  Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.

Plot: Meet Dexter Morgan, everyone's favorite monster. He’s a serial killer who abides by a code: he only kills bad people. Working as a blood splatter expert for the Miami police department puts perfect victims - murders, rapists, etc. - within his grasp. Not that anyone would suspect him. He’s handsome, charming, and over the years, has become adept at blending in with 'regular people.' His well-balanced life becomes unsettled, however, when the department starts working on a series of brutal murders, whose signature is eerily close to his own style. Dexter works to sort out the killings, trying to stay one step ahead of his co-workers, all while wondering if he's trying to solve his own crimes...

Yes, this is the inspiration for the Showtime series, "Dexter" (more on that another day, as it definitely deserves its own post).

First off, I love my husband. You might think that this is a complete non-sequitor, but bear me out. We got addicted to the show "Dexter" back in the spring, when we found it on Netflix instant watch. Burned through the first 2 seasons in about a week (we did have to go to work sometime!) and then could barely wait for seasons 3 and 4 to arrive in the mail. Altogether, I think we became all caught up on 5 seasons of the show in less than a month! Since we started with the show, I had done some reading on the author and had been trying to get my hands on a copy of the books. Our library in CA didn't have them yet (very small place, after all) and here in TX the post library did have them, but only one copy, which seemed to be checked out every time I stopped by. Where does Zach fit into all this? He came home the other day with a handful of library books that he'd been wanting to read, including Darkly Dreaming Dexter. And to make him extra special, I got to read it first :)

A fast read, and a fun one.

It's not a deep book. That was actually one of the biggest complaints on the customer reviews on Amazon. I guess based on all the subplots present in the show, and as dark as a killer as Showtime was able to make Dexter, some people were expecting more from the book. But, in all honesty, the book couldn't include as many subplots as the show is able to. Like "True Blood" vs. the Sookie Stackhouse books (another series I'm getting hooked into) - if it doesn't take you much more than 12 hours to read the book, how can you expect the same book to fill 12 hours of TV time?  The writers have to add additional subplots and character development if they are going to fill the season. 

So, yes, it is lacking some of the things that the first season had (I'm trying to keep my comparisons to just the equivalent season of the show) but on the same argument, the book offers benefits that the show can't quite capture. The character banter is present still in the books, and that's one of the aspects of the TV show that makes it so enjoyable. It's not developed to the extent as in the show, but more of the book is in Dexter's head, instead of in his office. To put it another way, there's more narration in the books, more conversation in the show. It's the nature of the media.

The hardest point about reading this book for me was comparing it to the show.  Not in terms of character development, necessarily, or "oh when are they making that joke" or anything along those lines.  It was in terms of plot points.  Yes, the characters are the same as in the book, the same personalities, the same 'feel' to them, but it's as if the book is a parallel universe to the show, if that makes sense.  More on the spoilers below, but there are several key plot points that are different between the two media (think "characters living or dying" sort of key plot points).  It made reading a little... distracting, I guess would be the best word.  I honestly had to read it twice to actually appreciate the book on its own merits, because on the first reading, I kept trying to anticipate events that either did or didn't happen.  A bad habit, I know, but it does happen.

Overall: 4 of 5. It's not the deepest puzzling mystery I've ever read, and it's not the scariest serial killer I've read (thank you, Hannibal Lector), and it's not the most ingenious puzzle solution I've ever read (that honor firmly belongs to Dorothy L Sayers), but Dexter's certainly an entertaining read. The narration is comfortable and chatty, and I like the alliterative play throughout. I'm pretty sure this series will be shelf-worthy, but I'd like to get my hands on more books in the series first to make sure.

Here be spoilers!!

You have been warned!

Extra spacing, as this is a mystery, and mystery readers are always extra-sensitive about spoilers!  :)

The Wikipedia page for the book includes a table of the differences in the show (at least the first season) and the book. Very helpful, as there are some definite differences - characters living or dying, etc. I'm interested to see how the books continue to differ from the show, especially in regards to the station politics.  LaGuerta's political maneuverings are a pretty big element of the show, and with her being killed off in the first book... makes me wonder how it'll develop.  Looking forward to getting my hands on the next book and finding out!

Happy Roald Dahl Day!

Every year, Sept 13 is Roald Dahl Day!  Sept 13 is (was) his birthday, so makes for a fitting day to celebrate.  In the UK, they plan all sorts of things!  Some areas even have a whole Roald Dahl Month of activities!  Fun!

My favorite Roald Dahl book was by far Matilda.  Probably a combination of the independent, intelligent female protagonist who loved books, combined with an inner desire to have telekinetic abilities (ranks up there with my desire to have my own dragon... some things I still haven't outgrown!).  Probably why the Roald Dahl books have lasted so long - who ever outgrows the desire to see outrageously appropriate bad things happen to bad people, and good things happen to good ones?