Turkey Day Questionnaire

Do you have an Thanksgiving day traditions?

Other than eating way too much food and watching the football games? I also like to start my Christmas cards after dinner.

List three dishes that are on your family's table every year.

My mom's chestnut and sausage stuffing, biscuits, and cranberry sauce.

Pumpkin pie or Pecan pie?

Pumpkin.

Will you watch a football game today?

Yes. My beloved Seahawks are playing today so I'll be watching and wearing my blue.

Do you plan to exercise today?

I might go to the gym once I finish typing this up. It depends on what everyone else wants to do.

Ham or turkey?

Tough call. I like both but always turkey on Thanksgiving.

Will you go shopping on Black Friday?

Nope. I rather stay home and relax. Sounds stressful.

Do you take a nap on Thanksgiving?

Usually no. I'm doing all the cooking so I get very little rest time til after the meal is put away.

Do you share things you are thankful for a the dinner table?

No, we're an ungrateful bunch.

Do you cook the whole dinner, just the bird, or just a side dish?

I love Thanksgiving food. We stay home so I can cook the whole meal. I look forward to this every year!

Have a happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it. For everyone else, happy Thursday!

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

This month is not like last month. Unless I read almost all Thanksgiving weekend, I won't have a month like last month. I'll be lucky if I read 10 books this month. Not sure what happened. Busy month.

The Moor's Account
I saw The Moor's Account on one of those best of 2014 lists that have started to pop up. I added it to my queue.

What did you get this week? Add your link below.

Teaser Tuesday-Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Even thinking about the pit made long-ago venom hum and burn his throat; effortlessly, he conjured the image of warning-striped insects prowling the thin skin between his fingers. He had nearly forgotten how horrifying and compelling it was to relive the moment."
pg 34 Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Into The Deep
I read Replay last year. I didn't think I would read another book by Grimwood. But Seth MacFarlane tweeted about Into The Deep being a better book. So I decided to check it out. Sometimes you find book recommendations in the oddest places.

What did you check out this week? Claire's got the linky.

Teaser Tuesday-The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"I had parked the car in the mostly deserted Muir Woods lot, where May, Jazz, and Quentin had promptly gone ahead, choosing retreat over dealing with my mood. This left Tybalt with th unenviable duty of trying to coax me into a party I had no interest in attending." 
pg 2 The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire 

Awesome and Awkward Thursday

Awkward

-While two out of three of my personal goals for the year are in progress, I really hoped that I'd be further along. My third goal will be complete this month and I'll share about it then. 

-My addiction to Flying Saucer Pizza. I've been searching for the best pizza and I've found it. I'd love to say it's a rare treat but I find myself there once a week. Tai loves that they have Rogue root beer on tap.

Awesome

-I was able to clean out my closet and donate some too big for me clothing. Yes, one goal is weight loss and I'm making good steady progress.

-Life has been a little less crazy. I'm enjoying some more stay at home weekends. 

-Tai and I have been going to see a lot of movies lately. Last weekend we saw Big Hero Six and Interstellar. We enjoyed both and would both of them again.

What's been awkward and awesome in your life lately?

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Just a couple this week. Still have a lot to read! I hoping for a few quiet weekends to get some reading done.

We Are Not Ourselves
I spied We Are Not Ourselves on a couple of award lists. Thought I'd check it out.

The Winter Long
The next in the October Daye series.

What did you get this week? Add your link below!

Teaser Tuesday-The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 "She hoards the blue sticky stuff like a miser in a story. Whenever she takes a picture down, or puts a new one up, she scrapes up every last bit that's stuck to the wall and puts it back on the little round ball of the stuff that she keeps in her desk."

pg 2 The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

I added Lies We Tell Ourselves to my library queue because it was getting terrific buzz. And rightly so. Talley wrote a difficult book beautifully. It was hard to read but I could stop reading it because the writing was so beautiful.

It's 1959 in Virginia. Sarah is a senior in high school. Lies We Tell Ourselves opens on her first day of school. Sarah is one of the first African-American students to attend Jefferson High School. The governor of Virginia shut down the schools for the past 5 months to avoid integration. But the courts overturned him and Sarah and nine other African-American students walk into Jefferson High.

Linda watches Sarah that day. Linda and her parents are segregationists. Linda firmly believes that Sarah and the other African-American students are there to ruin her senior year and her life. All Linda wants to do is graduate so she can marry her sweetheart. Then Linda's life can start.

Not only does the Lies We Tell Ourselves tell the story of these young men and women intregrating an all white high school but it also tells the story of Sarah, a young woman struggling to find where she belongs. Not only is Sarah integrating this school but she is gay. Sarah is a Christian and believes that there is something wrong with her. I deeply enjoyed reading Sarah's journey. Talley made these characters leap off the page and draw me into their lives. I read the bulk of Lies We Tell Ourselves in one sitting.

I would highly recommend Lies We Tell Ourselves. Not just because of the rich historical detail (which was painful to read at times) or the beautiful writing, but because it was a damn good book. Others who shared their thoughts on Lies We Tell Ourselves: Miss Literati,  The YA Kitten, and Jess Hearts Books.
This was my sixteenth read for the Historical Reading Challenge.

Seven Deadly Sins of Reading

I spied this meme on Trish's blog. It sounded like fun so here we go.

1. Greed. What's your most expensive book?

I don't know if I have one. A long time ago, I bought first editions but I gave that up years ago. I don't buy a lot of books. Most of the ones I buy tend to be paperback. My aunt did give me a beautiful copy of Oliver Twist so that has to be the most expensive one.

2. Wraith. What author did you have a love/hate relationship with?

Jodi Picoult. I used to love her books. Read each of them as they came out. But now I find them formulaic. I've resisted reading her books for years but I can feel myself softening. I know I'll start reading them again. Kind of like an old blanket but isn't what it used to be.

3. Gluttony. What book have you devoured over and over again without shame?

If we are going back to my earlier days then the book would either be any Babysitter's Club book or Sweet Valley High Saga about the Wakefield's of Sweet Valley. I read those books monthly until I was in high school at least. I don't reread as much any more. I did just reread Ready Player One for the second time.

4. Sloth. What book have you neglected due to laziness? 

Wow. There's not enough space to write down every book I haven't read due to laziness. But it's safe to say that any book over 500 pages is going to make me become lazy. The first thing I check is how long is this book. Anything over 500 pages gets shoved down my tbr list unless someone insisted I read it. Even then there is a good chance I won't.

5. Pride. What book do you talk about in order to sound like an intellectual reader?

I gave up doing this a while ago. I don't care if I sound like an unintellectual reader. Reading is my hobby and I don't have to read literature to make anyone happy. If you don't like what I read, go somewhere else.

6. Lust. What attributes do you find attractive in a male/female character?

It's kind of the same for both: stubborn, a little sarcastic, witty, a sharp tongue. Looks don't matter much to me anymore.

7. Envy. What book would you most like to receive as a gift?

The entire Harry Potter Collection in hardcover. I hope to reread those again someday.

October Book Tally

The Girl With The Windup Heart by Kady Cross
The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer
Rites of Passage by Joy N Hensley
Sex Criminals Vol 1 by Matt Fraction
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (reread)
Beauty and the Blacksmith by Tessa Dare
Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger
Big Little Lies by Laine Moriarty
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
This Night So Dark by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
The Spectral Engine by Ray Fawkes
Coffin Hill Vol 1 by Caitlin Kittredge
A Bintel Brief: Love and Longing In Old New York bu Liana Finck
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast
Holy Terror by Frank Miller
The Devil Wears Kilts by Suzanne Enoch
Drama by Raina Telgemeier
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
Golden Girl by Sarah Zettel

Twenty books this month. What a month! Although I didn't read a whole lot for the Read-a-thon, I still read a lot this month. Plus I finished the Book Bingo Challenge! Yay! Another month like this and I'll have a 150 books read before Thanksgiving. A lot of great books too. Big Little Lies was so fantastic. I've been telling everyone to read it.

Stats:

Romance Reading Challenge This month: 4 (Beauty and The Blacksmith, The Devil Wears Kilts, Perfect Chemistry, and The Governess Affair ) YTD: 26

Historical Reading Challenge  This month: 2 ( The Governess Affair and The Devil Wears Kilts) YTD: 15

What's In A Name Challenge This month:1 (Perfect Chemistry) YTD: 5

Yearly Total: 130

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Just one for me this week. I've still got quite the stack!

Four

I'm pretty excited about this collection of short stories about Four. I've read a couple of them but it will be good to finish the whole collection. 

What did you get this week? Claire's got the linky this week.

Teaser Tuesday-Endless Chain by Emilie Richards

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"This scene was too reminiscent of another in her past, the same high-intensity, testosterone-fueled prequel to violence. For a moment she wondered if she could escape without being seen."
pg 16 Endless Chain by Emilie Richards

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

I added Perfect Chemistry to my library queue to satisfy the school subject part of the What's In A Name Challenge. While I didn't find it perfect, it was enjoyable.

Brittany is the most popular girl in school. She's dating the football star and everyone wants to be her. But Brittany knows she's living a lie. Her parents barely care about her. Her sister, Shelley, has cerebral palsy and is Brittany's best friend. Lately, Shelley has been acting out. Brittany's parents want to move her to a facility in Colorado. If Brittany can continue acting perfect until graduation, she can find a way to improve her and Shelley's lives.

Alex is the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. He joined a gang when he was young to help protect his family. He still tries to protect his brothers from joining a gang even though they think it will help them. Alex knows his future is set. He'll graduate college but never leave the Chicago suburb he was born in. Alex is willing to make these sacrifices to help his brothers get ahead. Even though Alex knows he's more than a thug.

Ok, the boy from the wrong side of town and the golden girl trope. The things that stood out in Perfect Chemistry were Brittany's sister and the racism that Alex felt. Those moments made the book more than just a tired story. I wish Elkeles could have focused on those parts more. Brittany and Alex jumped off the page when they were dealing with more real world things than when they were acting like Romeo and Juliet. Overall, it was a cute read but I really felt like Elkeles could have pushed things more at times. Others who shared their thoughts on Perfect Chemistry: A Little Shelf of Heaven, Howdy Yal, and Nose In A Book.
This read satisfies the school subject category of the What's In A Name Challenge.