Criss Cross

Author: Lynne Rae Perkins
Narrator: Danielle Ferland
Published by: Harper Childrens Audio (2006)
Originally Published (2005)
Length: 5 hours, 8 minutes
Award: Newbery Medal
My Rating: 2/5
Amazon Rating: 3/5 (72 customer reviews)

This is a hard book to review--I've written something and erased it about ten times now. Can I just say that I didn't like it? The first disc was frustrating to listen to, because I didn't really know that there wasn't much of a plot, and I kept waiting for something to happen. The narrator's voice was completely wrong for the tone of the book. Once I accepted that this wasn't a plot-driven novel, it got a little better, but I have to admit that the only reason I continued to listen is because when I have an audio book in the car, I follow the path of least resisitance, which is to not take out the CD. There are moments when Perkins really captures the essence of adolescence, and looking back to when I was younger, I could identify with some of the feelings and agree that that is how things felt. I just am not sure that teens living in the midst of this time of transition in their lives would find as much meaning in it. It had more of a reminiscent feel, maybe because the setting is sometime around the 70's.
I assume this won the Newbery Medal because it was somewhat innovative. I think some of that quality was lost in the audio version (haikus, song lyrics, etc. that weren't so obvious listening to.) I much preferred Princess Academy by Shannon Hale that won the Newbery Honor for that year.
Bottom line: Writing about nothing may have worked for Seinfeld, but not for Criss Cross. If you've got the five hours it takes to listen to this audio book, watch about 10 Seinfeld reruns instead!

Breaking Dawn

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Originally Published: 2008
Length: 768 pages
Personal Enjoyment Rating: 3/5
Amazon.com Rating: 3.5/5 (3,601 Reviews)

After a trip to Barnes and Noble awaiting the midnight sale of Breaking Dawn, a detour to Walmart shortly before midnight where the price was less and the lines shorter, letting my daughter read the book first after which she loaned it out to a friend, and then finally borrowing a copy from my sister-in-law, I have finally read the much anticipated fourth installment of the Twilight series. And I was disappointed. Honestly what I loved about the others was the romance, and it just wasn't there in this one. If it had been replaced by some meaningful theme or out-of-this-world plot twist, it would have been okay. But I was very bored during the first 500 pages, and the finale, while a little more exciting than the beginning, was a little too "happily ever after" for me.

Life Beyond Books Personal Challenge

I love reading, and I've read so much more this year than ever. While writing sometimes makes my brain feel like it will internally combust, it is very satisfying to get my thoughts down in print and read other bloggers' opinions.

My problem is that I keep a list on the refrigerator of all the projects I need to work on, but I have not crossed anything off that list for a year! When it comes down to it, if I have extra time on my hands I choose reading over most anything else. But a lot of these are projects that are so close to being done, or ones that I have already invested money into, so I really need to get them done. So I thought if I made myself a challenge to complete them all and record it on my blog, then maybe there's some hope of crossing them off. Here are the non-reading things I want to accomplish by July 2009, and maybe when I complete them I'll tell about it:

• Vacation scrapbook for road trip of Summer 2007 (probably 85% done)

• Edit vacation video for road trip (75% done)

• Porch bench with interchangeable pieces for different times of year (patterns cost me $40 and I've cut most of the wood for the bench. Need to put it together and paint at least two of the seasonal parts)

• Make video of Fathers and Sons camping trips over the years (haven't started--would like to finish by Father's Day)

• Scan pre-digital camera photos to computer (haven't started--waiting for cool, new scanner!)
• Make a quilt for my youngest (she's the only one I've never made a blanket for, and I feel kind of bad)

So that's the plan. I'm going to put this list in the upper corner of my blog so that I see it all the time. Wish me luck!

War Through the Generations- WWII Challenge

Guidelines for this challenge hosted by Anna of Diary of an Eccentric and Serena of Savvy Verse and Wit:

To participate in the WWII Reading Challenge, you must commit to reading at least five books throughout the year. We plan to read more than that, and feel free to do the same! The books can be fiction or non-fiction, and they can be about any aspect of WWII. WWII should be the primary or secondary theme, and it doesn’t matter whether the book takes place during the war or after the war. (Please visit the WWII Reading List page for some recommendations.) You can count books you are reading for other challenges, so long as they meet the aforementioned criteria.

For more info or to sign up, click here:

I'm going for the minimum goal of five books. I will keep track in the right sidebar.

World Citizen Challenge

Eva of A Striped Armchair is hosting the World Citizen Challenge, focusing on expanding our knowledge of international issues. To find out about various levels of participation, click here. Since I am lacking in education beyond an A.A., I thought I would get in touch with my wannabe side and pick the postgraduate level--the word obsessive in the description was like a signal to me. I will read seven books from the following areas:

Politics
Economics
History
Culture or Anthropology/Sociology
Worldwide Issues
Memoirs/Autobiographies

I haven't had the time (or the knowledge!) to pick specific books. Eva will soon be providing lists of recommended reading, and then I'll keep track in the sidebar.

A to Z Reading Challenge - Countries Version

I loved doing the A to Z challenge this past year, but I know I couldn't do it twice! That's why I'm glad there are other options this year. For details, look here. I'm going to go with Option D:

"Read internationally A to Z (books representing 26 different countries) The books could be from international authors (writers from that country); however, it's fine if a book is only set in that country. If need be, instead of countries one could use cities, states, regions, etc. The idea is to use proper place names. If you'd like you could even use a few fictional countries.)"

This will be fun to fill in as I go throughout the year to see how many places I "travel." I'll keep track in my right sidebar.

Thank you Joy from Thoughts of Joy for hosting this in 2008, and Becky of Becky's Book Reviews for taking on 2009!

Themed Reading Challenge-2009

This challenge is hosted by caribousmom. The details are here. My plan is to read four books by Charles Dickens:

Bleak House
Hard Times
Nicholas Nickleby
The Pickwick Papers





These books may very well take a four-month chunk away from other reading, but I love Dickens. If I don't finish some other challenges, I'll blame him.