Back to normal

Life is getting back to normal now. My vacation is over. My nephew and I went to stay with my parents in the panhandle of West Virginia and I took day trips. After getting a new heat pump back in May, thats all I could afford. While I was visiting a state park in Maryland, I lost my digital camera. Idiot me walked off and left it sitting at an overlook. When I went back it was gone. The thing is, I'm not even sure where exactly I left it. I asked the park rangers, but of course no one turned it in. So...if anyone found a digital camera at Gambrill state park at the end of June, let me know!

Then July 1 was my birthday. Then the 4th. Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

I just finished The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. Don't worry. Its not a typical Stephen King! There is a paperback publisher releasing books under the "series" title of Hard Case Crime. They are all of these old noir type fiction. You know...the hard boiled detective, etc. Some are re-releases from the 30's. Others are new. This is one of them. The summary is this:
One day in early spring in 1980, a man is found dead on a beach on a small secluded island off of the coast of Maine. No cause of death is apparent, and neither is his identity. Who is this man? Why was he sitting on a beach at night without a coat, How did he die? Two local newsmen, and a graduate student in forensics try to find answers, but instead are left with just more questions. I would recommend this one to any mystery lover.

10 Things!

Wow! I have been gone a long time. Life just intruded I guess. This was a challenge from Beading Gal. 10 things that I like starting with the letter K. And what a challenge it was! I must confess that I cheated a bit. I used a dictionary!

1. Kid...or one kid in particular: My 8 year old nephew. He is the greatest kid I know and a lot of fun to be around.

2. Kitties...This is for my two cats, Bella and Calvin. I never considered myself an animal person in the past, but I really like these two.

3. Kin...Family is very important to me. They are my support system.

4. Knapsack...OK, I fudged this one a bit. This is because one of my favorite things to do is find some quiet woods and take a hike (carrying my knapsack of course!)

5. Kickboxing...as an example of exercise. I like to keep active with exercise DVDs including dancing and kickboxing.

6. Keyboard...and all of the computer stuff that it is connected to. I use a computer all day at work, but I love to get on the internet at home and read blogs. I may not always comment but I do lurk.

7. Kitchen...well, I hate to cook, but I LOVE to eat. I really love chocolate, but that does not start with a "k."

8. Knight...another stretch. This is for one of my favorite types of books to read: fantasy. Pure escape.

9. Knowledge...this stands for my job as a librarian. Even though I complain about it, I really do love my job and helping people find the answers they need.

10. Keeping quiet...this is just my natural temperment. I like to do quiet things, like read, watch movies, hike, etc.

OK...DONE! But I did cheat a tiny bit.

Weight Issues

I've been away for a while, getting ready for a work presentation in about a month. This post is not about books, but it is something that bothers me.

Today as I was teaching a senior citizen how to use the internet, she made a comment about her daughter and proceeded to pat me on the arm and say "she has weight problems like you, no offense." Well, I pride myself on holding my tongue, especially since it would probably backfire if I said anything back to her. But as I was driving home it bothered me a bit more.

Now, I KNOW I have a weight problem. I try to eat healthy, but I do not handle stress well. She is NOT telling me anything new, but isn't it just a bit tacky to point it out? Especially since it has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Why is it still acceptable to make comments about people's weight? Because I have lost the weight before and I will do it again. She will ALWAYS be rude and tacky.

50 Book Challenge

There is a challenge that is going around the web: The 50 Book Challenge. I'm not sure who originated the idea, but David Harris talks about it in his Salon.com blog. The idea is to read 50 books in a year and keep a list. Actually you are supposed to blog the titles, but I am not going to blog about every single book I read! I counted today and I have read 15 books since the beginning of the year. I know it sounds like I don't do anything else, but I promise you that I do go outside and get fresh air once and a while ;-)

So what am I reading now? I just skimmed through Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen by Naomi Moriyama and William Doyle. I say skimmed, because she has lots of recipes in the book and I did not really read those! The author talks about the healthy lifestyle of the Japanese and how people can duplicate it at home. The recipes looks like they take more specialty ingredients, and I don't cook anyway, but she did give me some ideas about eating more healthy.

Blustery Day

We are having the strangest weather here! December we had a cold snap. That was the month that we got 3 snows. January is much warmer than usual. We have had 50-60 degree weather. EXCEPT for yesterday and today. EXTREMELY strong winds. And very cold too.

I know that I said I don't usually read award winners or "message books" as I call them, but I just finished A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, and it was EXCELLENT. In the late 1940s, in a small town in the south, a young African-American man is accused of murder and sentenced to death. He had gone to the local store with his friends when they decided to rob the store and murder the owner. Even though the young man, Jefferson, did not participate in the murder, he was there and the town wanted someone to be held accountable. Jefferson is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins is an African American man who grew up in the town, but left to go to college. He returned to teach in the plantation school. The his aunt and Jefferson's godmother ask him to go speak to Jefferson. It seems that in an attempt to save the life of Jefferson, his lawyer claimed that he was not smart enough to plan a robbery and murder. He was not man enough to do it. Now Jefferson refuses to eat. His godmother wants Grant to teach him how to be a man. To have pride in himself. Grant does not want the responsibility, but visits Jefferson anyway. Mostly just so he does not have the pressure from his aunt and Jefferson's godmother. And during these visits, not only does he teach Jefferson, but he learns a lesson himself.

Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

Nora Sinclair has it all. Men want her and women envy her. She's beautiful, wealthy, has a great apartment and a wonderful job as an interior designer. She even has two gorgeous, rich men who want to marry her. Now, the only question is...who should she kill first?

Enter FBI Special Agent John O'Hara. Nora's banking transactions to the Cayman Islands have attracted the attention of the government, and the FBI is starting to think that Nora might have killed her fiance, and possibly her first husband. O'Hara poses as an insurance investigator to trap Nora into revealing herself. He did not expect to fall for her. Now O'Hara has let his guard down and Nora is planning on taking advantage of it. The honeymoon is over.

I have to do a presentation in March recommending books and I thought about doing this one. This is my rough draft of my booktalk. Any recommendations? This book is a very fast read. Short, quick chapters that make you want to keep turning the pages.

What books have been absolute page-turners for you?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone! I have a feeling that 2006 is going to be so much better than 2005! I usually hate to make new years resolutions, since I am SO bad at keeping them, but a new year means a new start. Here's to a happy, healthy, and peaceful new year!

Marley and Me

Ok...I am a self-confessed cat-person. I like their independence. I like that they keep the house mice-free (I HATE rodents) and I like that they are neat and loveable (at least mine are) but this book reminds me of why dogs are so great. Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan is a WONDERFUL book, even if you are not a dog person. Marley is a yellow lab who is owned by the Grogan family. He is big, goofy and loveable, but eats non-stop, including items that are not food, jumps on people, scratches up drywall, crashes through screen-doors, and was actually kicked out of obedience school. BUT he is the world's sweetest dog and this is his story.

It is so touching to read how Marley loved this family, and how he was so patient with the kids. It reminded me of the dogs that we have had in my life. If you love dogs, this is a great book!

Happy Holidays

I just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays (whatever holiday you celebrate). May our next year be peaceful and prosperous!

Fun site:
In case you did not get to go out and look at Christmas lights, may I recommend the following site:
http://www.uglychristmaslights.com
And will someone explain the whole palm tree Christmas display to me? I saw severla houses with a lighted palm tree in the yard. I don't get it.

Things that annoy me about Christmas

Ok, since Beadinggalinms posted about what makes her happy about Christmas (and I responded!) I am going to post what annoys me about the holidays.

1. Traffic...my library is on a major road past a huge shopping center and a mall. It takes me almost twice as long to get home because of everyone going shopping.

2. Crowds...people seem to lose their minds in stores. Kids screaming, parents ignoring them, and people standing in the middle of the aisles in a daze. Hello? We are trying to get by.

3. Christmas parties! Uggh. Not that I am invited to any other than the one at work. Which is probably a good idea, because my idea of h*ll is being forced to socialize at a party.

4. My lack of control! There are just too many good things to eat.

Ok...done complaining for the moment.

Funny book:
This is one of my absolute favorites!
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
The end of the world is at hand. There is just one small problem, agents of h*ll have lost the antichrist. Luckily for us, the antichrist has been allowed to grow up normally and the representatives of heaven and h*ll have both decided that they kind of like earth. This book is one that makes me laugh out loud. Watch for appearances by the four bikers of the apocalypse: Death, War, Famine and Pollution (Pestilence quit in a huff with the invention of antibiotics!).

Crashing

We had our staff Christmas luncheon today. Since we are a public library, we had to spread out the celebration over 2 hours because we still had people to help. I ate too much and now I have crashed from the sugar high!

Fun link of the day from the Test Pattern http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4326967/ blog:
Snowball Fight: http://www.elfmovie.com/swf/snowball_fight/index.html
Hit the elves with snowballs.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to B! My nephew will be 8 years old tomorrow (December 17th). He is so excited! There is a week between his birthday and Christmas, so we always make sure that he gets birthday presents and he gets Christmas presents. AND the b-day presents are NOT wrapped in Christmas paper!

Depressing thought of the day

Its almost tax time. Today the library where I work recieved a shipment of over 21 boxes of federal tax forms!

Nasty Weather

The nasty weather continues! The storm that was moving up the east coast hit us here in VA today. Snow then sleet then freezing rain then finally all rain. Luckily the rain washed the ice away, and the temperatures were above freezing, but its bad enough driving in heavy rain showers. Could be worse I suppose. Further west in the state, they had much more ice.

The book I just finished yesterday is called Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Its yet another vampire book! This one is a romance. Even though its written for teens, its such a well-written book and nice story that adults would like it too. Bella moves to Washington state to live with her dad. There, she meets the gorgeous, mysterious Edward. They are both drawn to each other and Bella is determined to find out his secret. But the more she finds out about Edward, the more she puts herself in danger.

Christmas

I just realized Saturday that there are less than 2 weeks until Christmas! I still have presents to buy, none of them are wrapped and I'm going into more and more debt. Its really hard to be in the holiday spirit, especially since I am a Scrooge just about every holiday. In fact, I've always said that the Grinch and Scrooge were just misunderstood!

I'm still reading some manga (Fushigi Yugi: The Mysterious Play) and yet ANOTHER vampire novel. I swear I'm not planning this! They just happened to come in at the same time.

Fun site for the day:
Urban Legend Reference Page: http://www.snopes.com
All of those stories that happened to a friend of a friend and of which we're never sure are true.

Undead and Unwed by Maryjanice Davidson

I must be on a vampire novel kick. This is another unusual one. Humorous paranormal romance. Even if you hate vampire books, give this one a try. Betsy Taylor is having the worst day ever! She broke her heel, got fired, and to top it all off got hit by a car and died. She wakes up 3 days later in the funeral home wearing a tacky pink suit and knock-off pumps that belonged to her stepmother, craving blood. Betsy is a member of PETA and a vegetarian and can't stand the thought of hurting anyone. But Betsy is a rather unusual vampire. She can control the craving for blood, sunlight does not kill her, she can still wear crosses and holy water just tickles. All she wants to do is live her life. But then a group of vampires come around and start calling her the vampire queen and asking her to overthrow the current vampire leader, a centuries-old vampire. Whats a girl to do?

"Wintery mix"

Two posts today! More winter weather is headed our way here in Virginia. This time of the "wintery mix" variety. Meaning some snow and lots of sleet and freezing rain. Here's hoping that if we do get anything overnight that its at least enough to close the library! I have pictures of my earlier snow, but my internet connection is slow this evening. So they'll have to wait.

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

This is a teen book but very good. A different kind of vampire novel. In this novel, more and more of the earth's population is being infected with a parasite. This parasite drives them insane, makes them stay away from sunlight, and crave blood. The infected are called Parasite Positives, or Peeps for short. Cal is unusual. He was infected when he was nineteen and had a one-night stand with a mysterious woman he met in a bar. BUT, he has been able to suppress the insanity and blood-lust. He is a carrier: super-human strength, and able to see in the dark, but still maintaining his sanity. And as for blood, usually just eating lots of red meat helps.

Since the parasite is tranferred through bodily fluids, Cal must be careful not to get to close to anyone. If he even kisses someone, the parasite can be transferred. And unfortunately, the parasite really makes him crave intimate companionship. So he limits his contact to other carriers in a secret organization known as the Night Watch. An organization older than the county itself, dedicated to stopping the parasite invasion. Until the day he meets a woman named Lace on a routine assignment, who really starts to test his resolve.

"Significant Snow Event"

Our significant snow event lasted for about 12 hours, and ended up as about 3-4 inches. This is very unusual for my part of Virginia in December. If we get anything its usually freezing rain or sleet.

As far as books go, I've been reading a lot of manga and other graphic novels. I still don't understand why some teens ONLY read these, but the stories in some of them are good. The one that I've been reading is called The Mysterious Play by Yu Watase. Its about a modern Japanese girl who gets pulled into an alternate world (like ancient China) and it thought to be the priestess to a goddess. She must find the seven warriors in order to find her way home. The only bad thing is that I just finished volume 7 and the story is still going. I don't know what I would do if the library did not own these.

Snow

Uggh! We are under a winter storm watch. And it is coming in from the south so that usually means we will get hit with something. I don't DO snow! I am a big wimp when it comes to driving in it. And it will probably be just enough to make the roads messy and not enough to keep me home.