Spice of Life Reading Challenge

About the challenge
Hosted by Rebecca of Rebecca Reads

I have been trying to be self-disciplined and not sign up for more challenges, but when one comes along that's right in line with something I've been thinking about doing already, I allow myself to go for it! This challenge is one of them.

I'm choosing the "Sampler" option of the challenge--choosing four books in four different categories. Here are the categories, and my probable choices:

Cookbooks Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen by Elizabeth Andoh (This is actually part of another project I've joined in on--"Washoku Warriors" hosted by La Fuji Mama, in which we will try a new recipe from the cook book each month.)

Non-fiction I haven't decided this one yet, although I've got my eye on a few.

Memoirs, autobiographies or essays Animal, Vegetable Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver (I've wanted to read this for a while even though I've heard it's preachy. I could probably use a good scolding when it comes to my food consumption)

Fiction: The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister (I received this from a giveaway a few months ago and have heard great reviews.)

As usual, I will keep track of my progress in the right sidebar.

So Brave, Young and Handsome

Author: Leif Enger
Narrated by: Dan Woren

Originally published : 2008 (Random House Audio)
Length: 8.5 hours
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 3.5/5
Amazon Rating: 4/5 (103 Customer Reviews)
Goodreads: 898 ratings, 3.69 average rating

This is a tough review to write because it is an audio book that I listened to at the beginning of the year and my memory is hazy. I had tried to take notes while listening, but decided that's just too impractical. Audio books are my housework survival tool, and it was difficult to stop and dry soap bubbles off my hands to go and type a chapter summary. (I do have incomplete notes from the first half.) I'll just share my general impressions of the novel.

The story is about Monte Becket, a struggling writer living in Minnesota in the early 1900's. He meets the enigmatic outlaw Glendon Hale, who wants to return to Mexico to make amends with his wife that he left many years before. The restless and frustrated Becket joins him, and they encounter a few adventures along the way.

I neither hated this book nor would wholeheartedly recommend it. While the writing is excellent, the story didn't make a big impression on me. I loved Peace Like a River, which I still think about from time to time. This one has sort of turned to mush in my mind. Monte's personal quest throughout the book kind of reminded me of the movie City Slickers--trying to find that "one thing" that matters. I will anxiously await another book by Enger, because I do enjoy his style of writing and the mood he is able to create. I'm holding out for another one like Peace Like a River. I know it's coming!

Other thoughts:
Book Nook Club
Shelf Love (with a discussion about audio books)
Thoughts of Joy
As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves
Bloggin' 'bout Books

If you have a review that I missed, let me know!

Words of a Reader

I have been hoping my 10-year-old daughter would catch the reading bug eventually. She was a very early reader, and I just assumed that went hand in hand with loving to read--wrong! I do try to be realistic and remember that just because I'm obsessed with reading, my kids won't necessarily be, and that's okay (maybe even good :-)). But she's finally caught it. I loved this note I found on the white board a couple of days ago:

Of course my son had to go in a little later and do some editing:



I'm happy to report that she got the book from school and finished it last night.

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Author: Gary D. Schmidt

Originally published : 2004
Length: 224 pages
Award: Newbery Honor 2005, Printz Honor 2005
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 4.5/5
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 (37 Customer Reviews)
Goodreads: 602 ratings, 4.13 average rating

There are some authors that for me are "love at first read." Gary D. Schmidt is one of them. I can't drool over Wednesday Wars enough, and I loved this one almost as much. His strength is in combining poignant depth and satisfying complexity with captivating stories. He even manages to weave in some great literary allusions.

Lizzie Bright is also an excellent piece of historical fiction. It is set in 1912 Maine, where Turner Buckminster is not only the new kid in town--he's also the minister's son. In Phippsburg, Maine, conformity is the name of the game. And money. The town elders plan to force the nearby islanders, a poor community founded by former slaves, out of their homes so that they will have more success with tourism. Turner befriends a young islander, Lizzie, and together they engage in a futile attempt to save the island. It's based on the true story of the descruction of Malaga Island.

As an award winning children's book, I have no idea if kids or teens will like it, but I really could care less. I love it, love Schmidt, and plan to read as much of his stuff that I can get my hands on!

Other reviews:

Bermuda Onion
Beth Fish Reads
Literary Fangirl

Any other reviews out there? Let me know.

Monique and the Mango Rains

Author: Kris Holloway, John Bidwell

Originally published : 2005 (Waveland Press)
Length: 240 pages
Personal Enrichment Rating: 4.5/5
Amazon Rating: 5/5 (61 Customer Reviews)
Goodreads: 369 ratings, 4.21 average rating

I've spent the last couple of hours reacquainting myself with this powerful book and researching information about and interviews with the author so that I could collect my thoughts for this post, but this video really provides a great introduction to what it's all about:



If you don't have time to watch the video, in a nutshell, it's about a Peace Corp volunteer (Kris Holloway, author) who forms a close friendship with Monique, the midwife of a Mali village. It's very readable, and you feel like you're right there as everything is happening. Halloway respects and absorbs much of the culture, but cannot look upon the violation of the universal rights of women without wanting to make a difference. The telling of her experiences in this book gives her a way to do this, while at the same time sharing the remarkable life of Monique Dembele.

This is definitely the ideal selection for a book club, particularly if it consists of women. Not that male readers would not find it valuable, but there's the potential to feel a connection with women in any place in the world. When it comes to my turn to host book club, I'll share our experience.

Website for Monique and the Mango Rains: Includes author interview, links to NPR interview, reader's guide, and how you can help.

Other reviews:

Books on the Brain (Who I won this from. Thanks, Lisa!)
Devourer of Books
Maw Books Blog
The Bluestocking Society
A Striped Armchair

If you have one to add, let me know.

Ireland

Author: Frank Delaney
Narrated by: Frank Delaney

Originally published : 2005 (Harper Audio)
Length: 20 hours
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 4/5
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 (108 Customer Reviews)
Goodreads: 650 ratings, 4.01 average rating

In the true spirit of storytelling, I listened to this on audio. It was a good choice--the author reads it brilliantly. He weaves Irish folk tales and historical accounts with the events in the life of the O'Mara family. Young Ronan O'Mara hears a traveling storyteller when he is nine, and it begins a quest both to learn the history and tales of Ireland and to find the storyteller himself, who always seems just out of Ronan's reach. Along the way he learns about himself, as well as some surprising things about his family.
I noticed on the back of the book that a couple of reviews resort to lists of adjectives to describe this novel:

"Dramatic, adventurous, heroic, romantic, slyly comic" (Philadelphia Inquirer)
"Gentle, poignant, charming, droll, tragic, triumphant, wise and unforgettable..." (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

It's really hard to resist, because the author manages to include such a wide variety of material. "Sprawling" is the word that comes to my mind.

Try it out an audio. And, just a warning, I needed Kleenex at the end. I won't say if they were happy or sad tears.

Summer Vacation Reading Challenge

Summer's here! Time to join in on Molly's Summer Vacation Reading Challenge. I'm choosing the Globe Trotter option:

Globe Trotter: You will commit to reading 6 pre-selected books during this time frame, but you may substitute up to 3 books due to changes in travel plans. Cross-overs for 5 out of the 6 books are allowed, but ideally one book will be read for this challenge alone.

Since summer is supposed to be full of lazy bliss (unknown here in this household), I'm choosing the books on my TBR List that I feel will be light, fun getaway kind of reads:

1. Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery (Prince Edwards Island, Canada)
2. Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery (Prince Edwards Island, Canada)
3. Extras by Scott Westerfeld (Future?)
4. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King (Wales)
5. Queens Own Fool by Jane Yolen (Scotland)
6. The Scarlet Pimpernel or The Courts of Love by Jean Plaidy (France)

We'll see if any of my "travel plans" change. It was hard to choose. Enjoy your summer, everyone!

#Bloggiesta End

Probably the biggest shock for me was that it was all fun! I kind of went in with the same attitude I would having studying for a final--grab some snacks, get a few friends to study with, pull an all-nighter, get done what needed to get done, make it as painless as possible. You know, a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down. But I really enjoyed myself. It made me wish I could spend a large chunk of time each day on my blog, but that is just impossible right now. Maybe at least I could pick one day a week that is "blog day."

Anyway, enough rambling. As I said before, I'm horrible at the timing thing. I had a little timer so I could keep track, but I would go do something else and forget to turn it off, or when I started again I would forget to turn it on. Plus after 99 minutes it restarts at 0 and that got me all messed up. I'm not real great with numbers in any way, shape, or form. I'm guessing I participated about 16 hours, and my goal was 18. But maybe I did 18--I'll never really know.

Anyway, enough rambling. I mean it this time. Here's what I accomplished, and what I didn't accomplish:

High Priority Reviews
Dear Mr. Henshaw
A Visit to William Blake's Inn
A Gathering of Days
Ginger Pye
Monique and the Mango Rains (to be published Tuesday, June 23)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (to be published Wednesday June 24)
Ireland (to be published Monday, June 22)
Omnivore's Dilemma
So Brave, Young and Handsome
Briar Rose
(Post reviews on Newbery challenge site)

Lower Priority
Officially sign up for a couple of challenges I've been eying:
Narnia Challenge
Summer Reading Challenge (scheduled to publish Sunday, June 21)
Take a Chance

Update challenges on sidebar

Other reviews:
Larklight
Sammy Keyes books
Anne of Avonlea
Ten Star Trek episode reviews for 42 Challenge
Exercise DVD review for fitness blog

Housekeeping
Change name of book blog?
Figure out how to get the date back on family blog
Change layout of family blog
Update garden blog

Challenges Completed
Clean up your feedreader (Book Lady's Blog)
Grade Your Blog (Bookish Ruth)
Opinions and Lists (Beth Fish Reads)
Go Forth and Comment (Fizzy Thoughts)
Update a key page or post (Devourer of Books)

I don't know if my reviews are coherent. I found myself losing it on spelling as the time went on. I plan to try to do at least one of these each day until they're done.

Thank you Natasha for putting this on. Great idea! It was very organized and I really liked how the challenges were available throughout the whole challenge. Muy bien!

Bloggiesta Update

Well it's Saturday morning, and here are my thoughts halfway through Bloggiesta:

• I feel good already that I got some reviews done. I've learned that my blog isn't fun anymore when I get too far behind!
• I'm horrible at keeping track of time. I don't even know how many hours I worked yesterday, maybe 8? I'm just going to focus on my list.
• I ate too much yesterday. Must watch that today!!!
• I love a lot of the bloggers out there that spend the time to make their blogs excellent and try to expand their readership. They're awesome! I'm just not one of them. My blog is very casual and that's okay with me. I do love the visitors, comments and followers I get, though. But I think if I had too many, it would stress me out!!!
• Focusing on my blog so much is much more conducive to responding to comments. I really love to do that, but am often distracted by other things.
  

So before I begin another day of blog tasks, I'm going to take a shower and try to look decent. (I can often see my reflection in my laptop, and it can be scary at times.)

Spring Reading Thing Complete

Just in the nick of time I have finished the Spring Reading Thing hosted by Callapidder Days. Incidentally, we've had really cloudy weather for a couple of weeks, and now that summer is upon us, the sun has come out. I actually liked the gloomy weather, but what can I do?

Here's what I read for the challenge. I picked out some Newbery Award winners so I could make a dent in that list:

A Single Shard by Park
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Cleary
A Visit to William Blake's Inn by Willard
A Gathering of Days by Blos
Ginger Pye by Estes
I, Juan de Pereja by Trevino

My favorites were A Single Shard and Ginger Pye.
Now I'm off to officially sign up for a summer challenge! The madness never ends!

Ginger Pye

Author: Eleanor Estes

Originally published : 1951 (Harcourt Brace & World)
Length: 306 pages
Awards: Newbery Medal 1952
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 4.5/5
Amazon Rating: 4/5 (74 Customer Reviews)
Goodreads: 690 ratings, 3.87 average rating

If I give a short description of this book from Goodreads--

"Meet Ginger Pye, the smartest dog you'll ever know. Jerry Pye and his sister, Rachel, feel pretty smart themselves for buying Ginger. It was the best dollar they ever spent. Ginger steals everybody's heart . . . until someone steals him!--

you might think what I thought: "Why would I want to read a dog story?" I don't really like dog stories. The ones I have read have been either a little boring (Shiloh) or traumatic (Stone Fox-read aloud, big mistake). Or certain movies come to mind that require boxes upon boxes of tissue (Old Yeller, Marley and Me). I just wanted to give this a try because it's stamped with that gold Newbery seal.
Surprisingly, I loved it. It's quirky. It's funny. I loved the story. And the dog isn't really in the story that much because, well, he gets stolen. That sounds heartless, I know. But I think with the whole mood of the story you know that everything will be okay in the end. It is not without its tragic moments, but I think that's what makes it into a great book rather than just a good one. It was refreshing to read a Newbery that was just simply a wonderful story written wonderfully well.

A Gathering of Days

Author: Joan W. Blos

Originally published : 1979 (Prentice Hall)
Length: 144 pages
Awards: Newbery Medal 1980
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 3/5
Amazon Rating: 3/5 (40 Customer Reviews)
Goodreads: 253 ratings, 3.64 average rating

This Newbery winner is exactly what the title suggests--a gathering of journal entries throughout the course of over a year in the life of a fourteen-year-old New Hampshire girl named Catherine. Because it has the feel of an authentic diary of the time period, this would be great in an educational sense to give students a picture of life in the 1830's. Details about the food, traditions, household chores, etc. were interesting. As a story, however, it seemed rather flat. I kept expecting the story to take off in certain directions (like more about the "mysterious phantom" that Catherine leaves the quilt for) and then being disappointed when I realized that wasn't what the story was about! But I don't think that's what the author intended. From the author's note at the end I gather that she primarily wanted to provide a close-up view of life back then. And if the story is a little boring, well, so is life more often than not.

Dear Mr. Henshaw

Author: Beverly Cleary

Originally published : 1983 (Harper Collins)
Length: 144 pages
Awards: Newbery Medal 1984
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 4/5
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 (158 Customer Reviews)
Goodreads: 2,831 ratings, 3.74 average rating

Leigh Botts is the new kid in school, his parents have recently divorced, and he has to deal with a mysterious thief who is taking all the yummy stuff out of his lunch. How will he cope? He has been writing to his favorite author since second grade, and finds help in getting his feelings and frustrations down on paper--first directly to the author, and then eventually in his diary.

From laugh-out-loud moments to heart-rending ones, this book really captured my heart. I think I was a little surprised at that. It was very honest and poignant, with a realistic but happy ending. In the end I think Leigh learns that life is complicated, but he can handle it. All and all, I "licked" it. (You have to have read the book to get that and not think I'm totally disgusting.)

A Visit to William Blake's Inn

Author: Nancy Willard

Originally published : 1981 (Harcourt Brace, & Co.)
Length: 45 pages
Awards: Newbery Medal 1982
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 3/5
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 (15 Customer Reviews
GoodReads Rating: 96 ratings, 4.26 average rating

Inspired by her love for William Blake's poetry, Willard has written a collection of fanciful poems about an imaginary inn that Blake runs that is visited by some unusual characters, mostly animals.

These are meant to be read aloud, but I didn't. An appreciation for William Blake may enhance a reader's enjoyment, but I don't have one (yet). I did love the words and the rhythm of the poetry, but I must admit it was hard to focus on the subject of each poem. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be "The Marmalade Man Makes a Dance to Mend Us," in which the animals are encouraged to come together because "Dancing starts where fighting ends." I could definitely sense the author's talent, but I didn't necessarily enjoy it. I do feel that a poem needs to be read multiple times to really get to the heart of it (flashbacks of AP English test prep), but I don't see myself taking the time, and I don't see children taking the time either. But they may simply enjoy the sound and rhythm of each poem, and that will be enough.
My recommendation: This collection is worth a peek if only to see if you like it. It's quick to read through, but I would definitely suggest reading it out loud.

Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge

I'm signing up for this challenge hosted by Carrie of Reading to Know because I have been reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my two youngest, and I'm hoping we might be able to get to one more. Even though I read several of the books to my two oldest, they never really got into them, so I'm trying to see if I have any luck with the other two. There's no reason any of them have to love Narnia, but it was just such a big part of my own childhood, I guess I'm trying to somehow relive my life through them. My girls are loving it so far!
This challenge wraps up on July 17, while we're on vacation, so I'm not sure how successful I will be at a wrap up post, but I'll try.

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

Author: Michael Pollan
Narrated by: Scott Brick

Originally published : 2006 (Penguin Audiobooks)
Length: 16 hours
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 4/5
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 (515 Customer Reviews)
Goodreads: 18,391 ratings, 4.39 average rating

It has been a while since I listened to this, and the book is so dang popular I can never get it from the library to skim over to review. But I figured this seven-word review would cover the basics of what I thought about it:

Corn: Fascinating
Grass: Interesting
Hunting/gathering: Boring

My interest level sort of went downhill throughout the course of the book. Nevertheless, I would love to reread this and take notes someday. If you don't think you're bound to take the time to read it, consider watching King Corn, a very entertaining documentary that I believe was inspired by Pollan's chapters on corn.

Bloggiesta Goals

The Bloggiesta begins! My goal is to participate for 18 hours over the next couple of days. I think my brain may be fried by the end. I'm mostly focusing on getting reviews done (I don't even understand half of the other ideas listed, maybe I'll spend some time learning some new blogging/social networking vocabulary). I'm just going to cross off tasks as I finish them on this post:

High Priority Reviews
Dear Mr. Henshaw
A Visit to William Blake's Inn
A Gathering of Days
Ginger Pye
Monique and the Mango Rains (to be published Tuesday, June 23)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (to be published Wednesday June 24)
Ireland (to be published Monday, June 22)
Omnivore's Dilemma
So Brave, Young and Handsome
Briar Rose
(Post reviews on Newbery challenge site)

Lower Priority
Officially sign up for a couple of challenges I've been eying:
Narnia Challenge
Summer Reading Challenge (scheduled to publish Sunday, June 21)
Take a Chance

Update challenges on sidebar

Other reviews:
Larklight
Sammy Keyes books
Anne of Avonlea
Ten Star Trek episode reviews for 42 Challenge
Exercise DVD review for fitness blog

Housekeeping
Change name of book blog?
Figure out how to get the date back on family blog
Change layout of family blog
Update garden blog

Challenges Completed
Clean up your feedreader (Book Lady's Blog)
Grade Your Blog (Bookish Ruth)
Opinions and Lists (Beth Fish Reads)
Go Forth and Comment (Fizzy Thoughts)
Update a key page or post (Devourer of Books)

Bloggiesta Ole! Event

Natasha at Maw Books is hosting this timely event aimed at catching up on things or improving your blogs, social network profiles etc. Check out the challenge post for details on the many things you can do with this. It's very open ended, and will run this coming weekend, starting Friday at 8 a.m. and ending Sunday at 8 a.m. (your time). The idea is to work 18-24 hours sometime within the 48 hour time frame.
My blog is pretty much all review posts (I use that term very loosely), and things have been so busy I'm very much behind on reviews, so I'm going to focus on catching up on those. I'm so happy that I don't have a lot going on this weekend, I just need to make sure I'm prepared for Father's Day before it starts. It nearly killed me to not to participate in MotherReader's 48-Hour-Readathon. I had literal pain in my gut every time I read someone's update post who was doing it. (Maybe that's a warning sign of blog addiction?)
I will make a to-do list at the beginning of the event, and cross off things as I go.

Once Upon a Time III Challenge Complete!

What I read (nice short ones, or else I may not have finished):

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
High Druid of Shannara by Terry Brooks
The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien

My favorite was The Graveyard Book.

Also, a part of Quest the Third was to read Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. I just read it yesterday and found it laugh-out-loud entertaining. It was the easiest Shakespearean play I've read (I've only read five or six, so that might not be saying much.) I loved the set of "actors" and their interpretations of their play. I couldn't help but picture Steve Carell as Bottom, with his word choice mistakes and skewed perception of his talents. It had Michael Scott written all over it. I've got the 1999 movie coming from Netflix soon that I'm excited to see.

Thank you Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings for hosting this challenge!

Award and Spotlight on The Zen Leaf

Yay! I got another award! I'm going to cheat again and just spotlight the super nice blogger that sent it to me, Amanda from The Zen Leaf.

You may be familiar with Amanda from the group blog 5-Squared. She recently decided to go it solo with The Zen Leaf, which is already organized with all of her reviews of the past couple of years. This is the place you want to go if you really want the scoop on a book! As I state on my blog, I'm pretty easy to please and like most anything. Amanda, on the other hand, is much more discriminating, and really delves into the good, the bad and the ugly of the novels she reads. I'm always enlightened and get a perspective I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

I am in awe, and a bit jealous, of her reading list thus far this year. Check out her Books Read in 2009 list and see if you've read any of the same ones. I know some of my favorites are on there.

Thanks for the award, Amanda!