2172 down, 47828 to go.

So I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and I loved it! Finally, a book I could get excited about reading. My only regret is that I finished it in one day and have to move on. The story is about a writer with writer's block who begins corresponding with a man on the island of Guernsey who happened to find her name and address in a book she once owned. Through their correspondence, she discovers the background of his "literary society", finds a number of new friends, breaks through her writer's block, and learns about World War II from the Channel Island perspective. The story was cute, funny, poignant and moving. Overall, definitely one I would recommend if you haven't read it yet.

Now I'm moving on to Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. This is a book that has intrigued me for quite a while, so we'll see what I think after...

1932 down, 48068 to go

Since the last time I posted about my reading progress, I've finished two books, gained a bit on my goal, and have almost hit 2000 pages read.

The first (and by far the better) was The Iron Lance by Stephen Lawhead. It is part of his Celtic Crusades series. I had read another series by Lawhead, The Song of Albion, during high school and loved it, so I thought I would try out some of his others. While it is definitely not a quick read since it is thick with vaguely royal characters with very interchangeable titles, it was a interesting look at the Crusades. While I knew that the Crusades were overall very bloody, I had no idea the magnitude of the carnage involved. Even though I don't feel motivated to dive right into the next book in the series, Lawhead will probably be an author I revisit later in the year.

The other book I tackled was Michelangelo's Notebook by Paul Christopher. The teaser on the back of the book calls it a "breathtaking thriller," so I was motivated. After finishing the book, however, I think it can be relegated to the pile of DaVinci Code wannabes. While the premise seems interesting (young art historian stumbles across smuggled art and delves into a world of danger and intrigue), the entire plot seems very shallow and pointless. The author makes half-hearted connections between events, kills people who barely seem relevant, and leaves you with quite a let down in the end. One of the historical angles that could have been very interesting if developed (Pope Pius XII's illegitimate child) is, for the most part, ignored and simply inserted as a reason to kill off a few more characters. Overall I can't find this book worth the time and effort it took to read it.

Next on my list is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. So far I've read the first letter and already been giggling, so hopefully things are looking up.

Spin Cycle: Pet Peeves

So this is my first week on the Spin Cycle, and the topic is Pet Peeves. I'm not sure there is enough space in this blog for all of my pet peeves, so I think we'll go with a top three and leave it at that.

1. As an English teacher, my main pet peeve has to be bad grammar and spelling. I'm not sure if it is the fault of modern technology or just plain laziness, but it seems so ridiculously common to not care about proofreading. Honestly, how much longer does it take to write "people" instead of "ppl"? For those of you I may occasionally text or email, I apologize if I seem a bit overly proper or wordy, but I believe in actually using language.

2. Silly as it seems, I am also annoyed by people who don't smile. Some people seem to go through life on autopilot. You know the type: head down, always in a rush, always with a frown. I happen to have a fairly adorable daughter who loves to make people smile. When she meets one of these automatons, she behaves in her usual precious manner. She is, however, very upset when she doesn't get a reaction from those people. All she really wants is to make you smile, so do me a favor and at least crack a grin!

3. My final pet peeve is constant cell phone usage. From the person in front of me in line at the store who won't hang up and acts like the cashier is being rude by doing her job to the couple at the next table on my night out who talk loudly, not to each other, but into their phones, the excessive use of cell phones runs rampant. I don't understand when other people became so important and why their meaningless drivel can't wait until after shopping, dinner or driving their kids home from school, but I really wish they didn't have to disrupt my day with it.

I could go on and mention a lot of other things that get under my skin, but I'll leave it at that.

1075 down, 48925 to go

I finished The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean, and I have to say, I could have done without it. The story is about an elderly woman with Alzheimer's who has flashbacks to her life in WWII Russia. While I like the concept of the story, I don't feel like it was used well. If I were in this situation and my mother, grandmother, whoever, started talking about living in a cellar and eating glue, I would have asked questions. Instead, the entire family seems very detached, and no one really wants to talk about anything, let alone what is going on with the mom. Mom never volunteers much information about her past, and even when she claims that her son is the son of Zeus, we get no explanation for this claim. Overall, I was disappointed and let down by the premise of the book.

Next up is Stephen Lawhead's The Iron Lance, the first book in his Celtic Crusades series. We'll see if he can make me want to read the others...

847 down, 49153 to go

I finished Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult today, and I have to admit I am once again perplexed by where she chooses to end the story. The story itself is about a man who was on death row for murdering a cop and his stepdaughter. While he is on death row, he finds out that the wife and mother of the deceased has another daughter who needs a heart transplant. His heart is, of course, a perfect fit. Picoult tends to add supernatural events to her stories, but many are without reason or explanation. Sure, I get all the Christ references, but some, like during his execution trial, seemed pointless. The more I read Picoult, the more predictable I feel her stories become. Even the death row inmate's "big revelation" was expected long before it happened.

Anyway, moving on. Next up is The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean. It is the first novel by this author, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. It is about an elderly Russian woman who worked at the Hermitage (an art museum in Leningrad) during the German invasion on 1941. Now as she is losing her memory, she has flashbacks to the war in Russia. I'll let you know what I think!

The Reading List

Today I set a goal for myself for 2010: to read 50,000 pages by the end of the year. Why? Because reading is one of the few things I am truly brilliant at. It makes me feel like myself and makes me feel like I have some vague control over my world for a few precious minutes. If I could find a career that involved reading good books all day long I would do it in a heartbeat. (Come to think of it, they wouldn't even have to all be good ones. I've read some real doozies in my time...) I am going to blog in order to hold myself accountable for what I am reading.

Today I finished Mercy by Jodi Picoult (400 down, 49600 to go). It was good, but not her best. I hate the books where she just drops off at the end. Yes, I know its supposed to leave you hanging so you can create your own opinion, but sometimes she leaves too many big questions in the air. Mercy is about a man who kills his terminally ill wife at her request. It definitely brings up questions about the right to die and the value of life. It is also about another couple who deal with the consequences of an affair. I wasn't happy with the way she dealt with the affair issue because she almost made it okay for the wife to seek revenge. I'm not sure what she should have done with it, but in a book with the recurring theme of keeping promises, allowing dark secrets to stay that way seemed a bit off.

Next up is Picoult's Change of Heart. We'll see if that one goes better...

The Triumphant Return... or... Why I Haven't Blogged in a Month and a Half

So it has gotten to the point that even my husband is asking if I gave up blogging. No, that wasn't my New Year's resolution. That happens to be to take down the Christmas tree sometime before Easter. Instead, I have no excuse but to say Christmas did it. Between trying to find presents, biting my nails over getting them here on time, and trying to make it to all of our celebrations, blogging just hadn't made the schedule. Since I am vegging on the couch listening to Joie play dinosaurs (Do you know what a deinonychusis? My three year old does...), Here is a recap of all the loveliness happening with us since we left off.

---Just before Christmas, my Nana started having heart problems. She ended up having surgery and finally got home from the hospital on Christmas Day. Because of her surgery and recovery, our Christmas schedule was rearranged and actually made for a much more relaxing and enjoyable holiday. Granted, we still celebrated eight times, but it was spread over four days and we never had more than three in one day. I could get used to that!

---For Christmas, Joie had requested a bigger doll house, a Lennie (from WonderPets), and a tutu. She received all three things, but not until the day after Christmas, which meant that all Christmas day I had to keep reminding her that Santa visited other houses like Grammy and Mimi's houses too.

---As a family present from my parents, we got a Wii and Wii Fit. Ryan is good at bowling and tennis, but I almost always beat him at golf. I don't really know why, since I usually just hit the ball randomly, but I tend to win. Joie likes bowling and playing soccer on the Wii Fit.

---Speaking of the Wii, it was the featured attraction of our New Year's celebration. On New Year's Eve, Grammy and PopPop came over to play. Ryan has video of Grammy hula hooping. Seriously. Ask him. He'll send it to you. We also took the Wii Fit with us to Mamaw and Papaw's house for their after New Year's party. Mamaw hula hooping? Priceless.

---Over the course of the past month, I've sent out some resumes and been rewarded with one interview. Hopefully I'll hear more in the near future, but just in case, I also tested for a census job. If I come knocking on your door, please be gentle...

Now as I sit here listening to Joie's new request to bake cookies, I think maybe we should leave the tree up a little longer. Tonight its supposed to start snowing, so we could use some holiday cheer :)