Happy New Year

Hope this year brings everyone great reads and lots of joy!

Craziness

Or is it crazyness? I never know and I'm too lazy to google.

So, I missed an email or two apparently and let my domain expire. Thankfully, they gave me a second chance and I renewed it.

I'm not sure why I did, though. It's not like I ever blog anymore. I'm sure half the people that once read me have headed for the hills. There are a lot of bloggers I read daily who are long gone too.

The other problem is the spam on the comments. It's awful and I know munu isn't doing anything about it because they're now something new and I tried moving over to the new concept but it just never happened. (I'm sure I wasn't following directions but then again, I never do)

So....should I redirect my domain to a shiny new blogger account?
It would be weird but I've been using blogger for a book blog and it's pretty neato.
It's not like the old days where it went down more than a 2 dollar whore.

Well, 2009 is coming to a screeching halt. Some of us are glad it's over and ready for a new year to begin. Some of us are pretty ambivalent about it.
2009 wasn't horrible for me. It was horribly busy, though!

I find myself taking responsibility for others to the point that it zaps up ALL my time.
I can't say that I'm going to spend LESS time doing for others in 2010 because I can't deal with that kind of regret. Part of me thinks that's why we're on this planet anyway...to help others.
Another part of me wants to just stay home and read books day in and day out.
(and maybe throw a little shopping in the mix)

So, yeah, 2009 wasn't a bad year. I found lots of joy in a lot of little things.
I have amazing dogs and a weird cat.
I have love in my life.
I have good friends.
I have a great mom and a few good sisters.
I have an amazing nephew here and one in heaven waiting on us.

I'm not making any resolutions. They never work. I do have a list of books that I RESOLVE to read this year but that doesn't count as a resolution, does it?

I do want to work on the fear. I have a fear that something is going to go terribly wrong. It's not debilitating but it keeps me from truly appreciating when something is going right because I'm constantly waiting for the shoe to fall (drop?).

Other than that, I'd just prefer life to be status quo. It's all good.

Happy New Year, kitty kats!

And this is why I have a problem with books....

So, recently, I was reading a book review at Books for Breakfast about The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George which I have read and loved.
So much that I bought her Helen of Troy book but it's been in my neverending TBR pile forEVER.
When Kristin mentioned reading that one next, it inspired me to do the same and she even suggested we have a read-a-long on our blogs.
This is where I reveal my book problem:  I have TOOOOOO many books and they are not cataloged correctly and are scattered throughout shelves in my small apartment.  Books aren't just books, they are furniture and decoration in my apartment.
But anyway, I realized that the Helen of Troy book I have is not the Margaret George novel but The Memoirs of Helen of Troy by Amanda Elyot.

So, what do I do?  Do I read that one and compare notes with Books for Breakfast?  Or do I go out and buy a copy of the book I originally wanted?
I'll confess that I really, really want to go out and buy that book.
Hey...I could do both....read the Amanda Elyot version then the Margaret George version.
Oh boy, this is starting to sound like homework. Put a due date on it and I'm done!

The New Years Resolution is not looking so hot...

Part of the 2010 Reading Resolutions Challenge was to come up with some resolutions of my own.
I said I'd TRY not to buy more books....sometimes it just doesn't work out that way.
I got three gift cards to Barnes and Noble and one to Borders.
Well you know I have to spend them...and right away!

The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen

I'm still reading this one but felt bad about the lack of posting during the Christmas holiday.  I had tons of time off and planned on reading a lot but on my last day before Christmas vacation, a bunch of drama took place at work leaving me in a total funk all through the holiday.
When I'm depressed or worried, I just can't concentrate enough to read.
I did a lot of shopping and movie watching with my time off.

Before all of this, I started reading The House in Paris and fully intended to finish it.  It wasn't what I expected but is surprising me with how lovely the story is even if it doesn't seem to be leading to a happy ending.
I love the way Elizabeth Bowen writes not just about Paris but the unusual people who reside in this boarding house.

Things are so much better at work so I think I can go back to my books now.

I can't wait to see how this is going to end.

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

Ok, so I finally finished this book.
I did get a little upset with something that happened and I put the book down for a while, but my curiosity got the best of me and I started reading it again.
The book did redeem itself in a way and the ending was a major cliffhanger which means we'll be waiting for a LONG while before we know what became of Jamie and Claire, Lord John, Young Ian, Bree, Roger and Jem.

I was thinking of starting the series all over again but how can I do that when I've got mountains of books in my TBR pile?

My Very First Reading Challenge

This is my first challenge and it's being hosted here.  What a great idea!

Read the following books:

A Dance to the Music of Time Vol. 1 - Anthony Powell
Moonstone - Wilkie Collins
Ashenden - W. Somerset Maugham
Carbon Diaries - Saci Lloyd
Safe at Home - Alyssa Milano
Shooting the Sh*t - Kevin Smith
The Path of Razors - Chris Marie Green
The Wild Things - Dave Eggers
The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri

The House in Paris - Elizabeth Bowen

Grotesque - Natsuo Kirino

*Update*  Added Helen of Troy - Margaret George

Do the following things:

Try TRY to control my book buying. (Even though I found a new wonderful second hand bookshop)
Read the books I own and not stop one book to start one I just bought.
Try to be better about keeping up with my reading blog.
Be a better commenter.
Find more time to read and less TV.

VERY Bad Jinx!

I was messing around with the blogger templates and lost my widgets!  It sounds so dirty but it's true.
I'll try to remember all the books I've read since starting this blog but don't hold your breath.

Bad Jinx

What a horrible book blogger I am.
But to be honest, I haven't been reading much.  This holiday season has been caaaahrazy!
I also got in the first four seasons of The Office on DVD so when I am able to squeeze in some "me time", I tend to watch a few episodes of that.
I did pick up something as a reread:  28 Barbary Lane by Armistead Maupin who is one of my favorites.
This is a collection of sequels to Tales of the City....that's the best way I can describe it since all of his books started out as serial stories in The San Francisco Chronicle.
I've loved his Barbary Lane characters for so long and suddenly last weekend, I wanted to visit with them again so I grabbed this particular copy that I found in a second hand book store in Lawrence, Kansas last year.
But even with that, I'm barely finding time to read.

However, I have a whole week off for Christmas and I intend on reading my ass off!

Book 'Em

I have a clear opinion on this story.

Two Lexington, KY library workers were fired for withholding a copy of THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN: BLACK DOSSIER from an 11-year-old girl.
Actually, one of them kept the book checked out to herself for a year, keeping ANYONE from checking the book out.
It was only when the 11 yr old put a reserve on the book, that the software didn't allow her to renew the book so she was forced to involve another worker who helped her keep the book from the kid.

Her reason was the book had disturbing images and seemed inappropriate for children.

Like I said...I have a very clear opinion on this:
It is not the responsibility of the library or the librarian to censor reading material.

Recently, a patron complained of a book that had a lot of sexual situations and foul language and was shocked we carried a book like that in our library.
Again, we are not responsible for the content of a book, nor can we censor what our patrons read.
This wasn't a children's book, it was an adult story collection in the adult section of the library.
Correctly classifying a genre is the end of the library's responsibility.

Just like the book in question...it was a graphic novel, not a children's book. There is no word on whether the 11 yr old had parental permission to check out a book like that.
However, in this case, it doesn't matter because this library employee had the book for a year so no one could borrow it.
She was making the decision for everyone.

I truly believe that the parents need to be the ones paying attention to what their kids are reading just like they need to monitor what they watch on TV and what they eat.....I know I'm asking a lot of parents, aren't I?
Besides...unless the kids are reading Killing Your Parents for Dummies or The Complete Idiots Guide to Patricide, you shouldn't have such strict rules for reading materials. At least they're reading!

Most libraries have this same policy; children can only check out children's books, young adults can check out young adult books.
Adults, you're on your own. You'll have to be your own babysitter.
Librarians are not your moral leaders.
Some of them have sex(!) and tattoos.

The Fallout

Everyone's talking about Adam Lambert's performance on the AMAs Sunday night.
There have been several complaints about the content of his routine.

Ok, he had men in bondage attire on leashes, then he shoved one of their faces into his crotch and humped it a little.
I think he did the same to a chick on the way up the ramp.
Then he fell and took it well. He redeemed himself by grabbing his male keyboardist and french kissing him for about 20 bars.
Whatever.

Yes, we get it, you're gay. I mean....it's not a huge secret is it? We sort of figured that out before you told Rolling Stone.

We live in a world where they are still talking about Janet Jackson's boob at the Super Bowl. Just one boob and five years later people are still bitching.
That's extreme, I think.

However, I'm on the fence in this Glambert situation. On one hand, I think he has the right to express himself artistically and if that requires dudes faces in his crotch, then so be it.
But then again...it's prime time TV. Kids are watching...should they be forced to endure gross open mouth kissing between two people? I don't know.
I don't even want to see that between two heteros unless I'm watching porn.
Then again, I don't mind seeing same sex kissing in porn either! HOT!

Anywho...Adam got what he wanted. We're talking about him!

Oh and by the way....Good Morning America just axed his upcoming performance on their show.
I think that's pretty harsh, don't you?

What have YOU done?

Things I've done are in bold.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

The Wild Things by Dave Eggers

I purchased The Wild Things while on a regular trip to Barnes and Noble.
I actually started it when I had jury duty on Monday and didn't want to lug the giant tome that is a Diana Gabaldon novel.  This book is much shorter and definitely lighter to carry in my handbag!
I was immediately drawn into the slightly grown up version of everyone's favorite Where the Wild Things Are story.

Dave Eggers is one of my very favorite writers so I have faith that he'll do this childhood favorite justice.

An Echo in the Bone - STILL

Yes....I'm still reading it. Bits and pieces..bits and pieces!
I was a bit underwhelmed with the beginning and the middle parts of this book. Now, towards the end, it's picking up speed and really starting to "wow" me.
But something happened in the book last night that made me put it down.
I don't want to spoil it for Gabaldon lovers but it really has tested my faith in the whole Jamie and Claire saga.
I kept thinking, "You have GOT to be kidding me! Please don't let this happen."
The pages are dwindling so I know I'm nearing the end which means a major MAJOR cliffhanger for another three years or so.

Funny how emotionally involved we get. I guess that's the work of good fiction.

An Echo in the Bone

I'm almost done with this book. I have been taking my time with it because Diana Gabaldon needs so much time between books. Also, because I have been so busy, keeping me from reading as much as I'd like. This is kind of depressing to me; I am afraid I won't live long enough to read all the books I want to read.

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon (in progress)

I was sick with the flu the day this came out but as soon as the doctor said it was ok for me to be around other humans, I ran to Barnes and Noble to grab my copy!

I became hooked on the Outlander series several years ago.  I read Outlander and never looked back.  I read the first four of these giant tomes in just two or three weeks.
I've actually reread the first three books more than twice.  It's that good!

The last two books have seemed a little tedious and exhausting.  I know Diana Gabaldon puts a lot of work and research into her books and that's why it takes so long but with each book, more and more characters are introduced and it seems like the focus is slowly starting to leave Jamie and Claire and even Brianna and Roger. 
I didn't even care for Brianna and Roger at first but they started to grow on me. 
However, in An Echo in the Bone, so much time is given to Lord John and William and not nearly enough on those we've become hooked on.

I'm sure Gabaldon has her vision and far be it for me to complain.  I'll still keep reading because I just HAVE to know how this will end even if we don't want it to ever end.

Sookie Stackhouse...

In the last week, I read #4 and #5 in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.

I won't even bother with a big write up because this isn't exactly Nobel Prize winning literature but they are sure tons of fun!
I was having a hard time getting back into the swing of reading.  It was like I couldn't focus (blame the iPhone!) but this was just the fluff I needed!

I was sick with the flu all this week and on Tuesday, Diana Gabaldon's newest in the Outlander series was released.  I was stuck in bed so I couldn't run out and buy it but the moment I was well enough to go back to work, I was in Barnes and Noble grabbing my copy!

Can't wait to get started!

Distractions

This is why I haven't been blogging or reading.
I'm completely and utterly obsessed with my new iPhone.
Instead of reading, I just sit and play with it; the settings, ringtones, internet, apps...oh my God the apps!
Plus, I have Stanza, the awesome book reader app.
I realize I probably need an intervention but I'm hoping I can get back to reading before iPhone rehab is necessary.

Somerset Maugham was a perv?

Not long after I posted about my year-long obsession with Maugham, I found this article linked on another blog.
Apparently, W. Somerset Maugham was a depraved individual.

The most louche of all the expatriates who congregated on the beautiful stretch of coast between Nice and Monaco before World War II, the prolific writer held court at his fabulous mansion, the Villa Mauresque, in glamorous Cap Ferrat.

Nude bathing parties, drugs, lashings of champagne and nightly seductions of the local lads . . . Almost everyone who visited was shocked by his decadence.

Frankly, who's surprised? Aren't all brilliant writers somewhat insane?

Show me a normal writer and I'll show you a very bored reader.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Dammit. I guess I'll have to stop reading Swann's Way because I was on reserve at the library for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and it just came in.

I've heard nothing but good things about this book and the sequel so I definitely need to get caught up.

So...down goes Proust (temporarily) and I'll start the new book today.

Too Many Books!

After my post about Proust, In Search of Lost Time and Swann's Way, I decided to hit Barnes and Noble after work to find the second volume, In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower aka The Budding Grove. I like having the second volume nearby so it'll feel like I have a reward at the end of Volume 1.
I found a copy but it was a Modern Library version and I sort of wanted a Penguin Books version to match my first volume. But I thought, "At least I know it's here and if I can't find the other version, I'll get this one."
I actually carried it around the store a bit before finally putting it back.

A few hours later, at home, I was on the phone with a friend and he was in the middle of a long story when I found my gaze wandering my rows and rows of books. Suddenly, my eyes focused in on something that I thought said Proust. I knew Swann's Way was right next to me so what could this be?
I jumped up and grabbed it, not believing my eyes. It was a hard bound copy of In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower.
I owned it all along.

This, my friends, is my problem.

Swann's Way

I started to write that I, obviously, enjoyed punishing myself because I'm once again embarking upon Proust.
But the only reason I think it might be punishment is the sheer size of the project. In Search of Lost Time consists of 7 HUGE volumes so it's not a quick read, for sure.
I picked up Swann's Way two years ago and started reading it. Proust has this talent of making one sentence last at least two pages. That's difficult for my small brain to process sometimes, so after a handful of pages, I gave up.

But one of my goals in life is to read it all so no time like the present, right?

I intended to begin where I left off but in two years, I had no memory of what I had read before so back to the beginning I went.
I'm glad I did because I am sinking into it much better than I did the first time.

I might have to take a break or two or fifty during my quest but before I die, I will read the entire thing!

Happy vs Miserable

I bought 14,000 Things to Be Happy About many years ago. When my grandmother died, it was the first time I had been so affected by death and just couldn't imagine being happy again.
So, when I saw this book, I grabbed it and became charmed by it.
It lists simple things like:

• reading the newspaper
• childhood friendships
• Easter eggs
• mint

etc...

I've kept it all these years and would browse through it now and then.

This year, at TLA, I went by a booth and discovered this book:
I cracked up! It's been years since I "needed" the other book and I've survived countless other tragedies so the fact that there is a whole book of things to be miserable about is hilarious.
For example:

• Performance-enhancing drugs
• Catholic guilt
• Glowing red rodent eyes
• Farmer's tans

etc...

I can't wait to use both of these books with my teen journaling kids. Because nothing is more miserable than being a teen!

Up at the Villa by W. Somerset Maugham

I began and finished Up at the Villa in one day. It's quite a short book, therefore, it was a quick read.
It's more of a crime and suspense story than any of the other Maugham books I've read.
I don't like to give the meat of the book away, I will say that it's about a recently widowed woman, Mary, who is staying at the villa of a friend in Florence.
She is caught between three men; her older suitor, a swaggering ne'er-do-well confidante and a very unlikely one night stand.

There is something so comforting and satisfying about W. Somerset Maugham. I can spend a whole day, buried in anything he writes.
Although, I'd have to say The Razor's Edge is my favorite so far, The Painted Veil and Of Human Bondage really haunted me for days after putting them down.

Started and finished Up At the Villa by W. Somerset Maugham today. Will write more later.

Starting Up At the Villa by W. Somerset Maugham today.

Recent Purchases

Using my Barnes and Noble membership coupon, I got 15% off of The Path of Razors by Chris Marie Green and I also purchased Up At the Villa by W. Somerset Maugham.

For about a year, I've been having a love affair with Maugham. I've been to used book stores looking for copies of his short stories and other novels. Love him!

The Strain

by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

I have to start off by saying I like vampire books. Oh yes, I've been obsessed with the Twilight series (until I read Breaking Dawn - yuck) and I've read Nancy A. Collins' books, the Bluebloods series and several of the Sookie Stackhouse books.
But I've never been a true horror fan. I am not a Stephen King lover- although I think Dolores Claiborne and The Stand were truly genius. I can count about 3 Dean Koontz books that I really like...so horror just isn't my favorite genre.
I received an advance reader copy of The Strain at TLA and didn't get to it for a couple of months.
This is definitely horror and it's definitely a vampire book but it's nothing like you imagine.
There is no swoon-worthy bloodsucker here. The starring vampire is bonechillingly frightening and you may have nightmares after reading this book.
I couldn't put it down. I've never read del Toro or Hogan but if they are as good separate as they are together, I can't wait to read everything they've written.

Apparently, this is going to be a trilogy. I am not a patient person when it comes to waiting on the next book in a series. I hope they hurry!

Blindness

by Jose Saramago.

The idea and premise for this book is good. A large group of people are "infected" with some virus-type thing that causes sudden blindness and fear of an epidemic causes the government to segregate the blind and all of those who have had contact with them and then just leave them to their own devices.
The very idea is horrifying but I couldn't finish the book.

I'm sure it's simply a personality issue but Saramago's lack of punctuation really confused me. I kept wondering which character the dialogue belonged too.

I'm of the mind that life is too short to struggle through certain books, so I abandoned this one.

I noticed on Amazon that there is to be or has been a movie based on Blindness. I look forward to watching the movie more than trying to read the book again.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

This David Sedaris book is his latest. I'm a huge fan and have read pretty much everything he has written. Naked will always be my favorite and Me Talk Pretty One Day is a close second but I really enjoyed Flames.
This one seems to delve deeper into Sedaris' social anxiety disorder as he gets older.
Whereas in the first few books, I enjoyed (is that even politically correct?) his stories that described his adventures with OCD.

Towards the end, Sedaris counts down his reason and techniques for quitting smoking. He moves to Japan, of all things, to distract himself! His stories of taking Japanese language classes and the hilarious Japanese to English translations all over Tokyo are awesome.

I finished this book in two days.

Score another one for David Sedaris!

The Reagan I Knew

I don't normally read political books or much non-fiction but this book intrigued me and when I told a friend about it, he sent it to me for my birthday.
I'm still working on it but it's pretty interesting.
I was expecting more of a Reagan bio...although I don't know why considering William F. Buckley, Jr. titled it "The Reagan I Knew", not "The Reagan Biography".
WFB included many letters from both Ronald and Nancy Reagan, plus his own letters to them.
It's a nice peek into the relationship WFB had with the Reagans and his court-side seat for Ronald Reagan's rise to the presidency.

Summer Reading

I started and finished Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.

Although Murakami can confuse the hell out of me, somehow, I don't mind because it's all written so beautifully.
I was geared up for this big reveal at the end and when it didn't quite come, I still didn't mind because I enjoyed the journey.

I just started Blindness by Jose Saramago. I had other books to read ahead of this one but this is a borrowed book so I only have so much time with it.

Summer Reading

I have temporarily given up on A Dance To the Music of Time.
It's not the book's fault. It's a little slow starting but a lot of books are like that. I think it's me.
I started reading a book that was a birthday gift from the much beloved Skippy. It's called The Story of Layla and Majnun.
I am enjoying the fairytale story style of the book.

After this I'm going to start the most recent David Sedaris book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames. I never miss one of his books.
I've been in the mood for Haruki Murakami. I think I have Kakfa on the Shore at home, waiting to be read.

I've been very distracted lately so it's been hard to read but hopefully that distraction will come to an end soon.

What are YOU reading?

Can't Resist a Good Meme

Got this from Gadfly :

What books have you read?

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - Yes

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien - No

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte - Yes

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling – Yes

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee – Yes (2 or 3 times)

6 The Bible – Some

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte - Yes

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell – I might have in highschool but I can't remember

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman – No

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens – No, but I have the book at home.

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott - Yes

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy – No

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller – No

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare – ehhhh… mostly… ish?

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier - Yes, several times

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien – No

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk – No

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger – yes

19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger – No

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot – no

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchel – yes, my favorite novel..several times

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald – yes

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens – No

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy – no

25 The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams – No

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh – No

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky – no

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck – yes

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll – yes

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame – no

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy – yes

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens – No

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis – No

34 Emma - Jane Austen - No

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen – No but I have the book at home.

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – no

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini – Yes

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres – No

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden – Yes, twice

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne – Yes

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell – Yes, I think I read this in highschool

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown – yes

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Yes

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving – no

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins – no

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery – no

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy – no

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood – Yes

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding – Yes, I think I read this in highschool

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan – I started it but never finished.

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel - Yes

52 Dune - Frank Herbert – No

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons – No

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen – No

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth – No

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon – no

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens – No

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley – No

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon – No, but I own a copy

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Yes

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck – yes

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov – No

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt – no

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold – no

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas – Yes-ish...I'm still working on it.

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac – no

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy – no

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding – Yes

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie – No

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville – Yes, I think I read it in highschool

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens – no

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker – No

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett – No

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson – no

75 Ulysses - James Joyce - no

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath – Yes, many times

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome – no

78 Germinal - Emile Zola – no

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray – no

80 Possession - AS Byatt – no

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens – no

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell – No, but I own a copy

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker – Yes

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro – Yes

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert – no

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry – no

87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White – yes

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom – no

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – No

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton – no

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad – No

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery – no

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Ban – no

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams – No

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole – yes

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute – no

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas – no

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare – yes

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl – no

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo – no

Kota Bonus Books:
101. The Beet Queen - Louise Eldrich – no

102. Clockwork Orange - Stuart Y. McDougal – No

103. Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein – No

104. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut – No

105. Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe – no

Gadfly bonus books:

Foucault’s Pendulum – Umberto Eco - No, but I own a copy
A Winter’s Tale – by Mark Helprin - No
Strange Matters – Tom Seigfried - No
The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey - No
The Lecturer’s Tale – by James Hynes - No
Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters - by J.D. Salinger - No

De Bonus Books:

Of Human Bondage - W. Somerset Maugham
The Thornbirds - Colleen McCollough
Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin
Suite Francaise - Irène Némirovsky
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers

You Can't Dial Down the Terror Alert....

I found the book I was looking for.

A large part of my Summer Reading List was A Dance to the Music of Time Vols 1-3 (still haven't picked up Vol 4 yet) but I soon realized that I couldn't find Vol 1.

Funny thing, memory. I could still SEE it in my mind, laying in my back seat but it wasn't there. I know I had started reading it and took it with me somewhere but as usual, I got distracted by newer books and never really got into Vol 1.
I searched all through my car with no luck but I was prompted to go out and wash it last night. GOD what a fucking mess that car was. Dog hair, straw wrappers, receipts and shopping bags all over the place. It looked like I had been living out of my car for about three years.

Anyway, the car was clean but I still didn't have Vol 1 of A Dance to the Music of Time.
Then I went through my apartment. Which in turn, prompted me to realize how fucking hideous things had gotten at home....books EVERYWHERE.
I had this extremely untidy stack of books in a basket next to my bed. There were books and DVDs sloppily stacked, precariously teetering on the edge, just waiting to cause a massive landslide of reading material and porn from Skippy.

I had a clean car now so I felt like I could do anything. I was going to fix this mess of books next to my bed.
When I picked up the basket, there it was: A Dance to the Music of Time Volume 1...right there, next to my bed...this WHOLE time.

So, screw the other books. I'm reading this one. I earned it.

You Decide

I finished The Strain last night.
I recommend it if you're into dark, horror type stuff. I wouldn't have said I was before reading it but I liked it.

Since my birthday, several books have been added to my collection.
All from Skippy:
The Reagan I Knew
Secret Identity
The Story of Layla and Majnun

I'm overwhelmed...what do I read next?
I'm thinking of staying on my reading list just so I don't get lost in the piles of books!
Maybe Carbon Diaries next?

Summer Reading, Happened So Fast

Ok, so I finished City of Thieves and loved it.
Might write more about it later.

Right now I'm reading The Strain and it's SUPER spooky and VERY engaging.

I'm adding a book to my Summer Reading List:
The Starr Report, because it's sexy to do so...or so says the man of my dreams, Skippy.

I have a feeling I'm going to be adding several more by tomorrow!

What Do You Think?

Will my blog implode if I post something after all this time?

I have no real excuse except I've been over blogging for a while.
I don't really have anything interesting to say nor the energy to make something up.
I've been a maniac on Twitter because I feel like I can handle 140 characters at a time. A blog...not so much.

I haven't even been reading much but I finally grabbed a book off of one of my many shelves of unread books and started reading again.

It was good....so I read another and am reading another and I feel like I have my book mojo back.

I made a little informal reading list for the summer.
I am free to add or take away from the list at any time but I think this is going to be The Summer of Reading.

City of Thieves (reading now)

A Dance to the Music of Time
Volumes 1 - 3
There are 4 volumes but they only had the first three at my favorite used book store so I thought I'd track down the 4th if I liked the first three.

Carbon Diaries
I got this as an advance readers copy and intended to read it a long time ago.

The Strain
Another advance copy that I've been meaning to read for ages.

What's on your list?

Tying the Knot

My lil boy Adam is doing it...
He's getting married in two days and I couldn't be happier for him.
It seems like just yesterday he was a horny little adolescent and soon he'll be someone's horny little husband.
Congratulations, Adam!!

I know....

I'm sorry. I am a horrible blogger. Hell, you can't even call me a blogger anymore, can you?
However, I've become a Tweeter...Twitterer? Whatever. I'm very addicted to Twitter right now.
The fad is reaching it's peak, though. I don't expect it to last much longer.
Much like life.

The Best Day of the Year

Life officially begins today.

One of my favorite things....

is when I finish a Moleskine journal and get ready to start another.
I usually always have one or two on hand but there is something about buying a brand new one to start fresh.
Also, it's always good to have extras around for an unexpected gift.

I forgot....

Sometime this month was my 6th blogiversary.

SIX YEARS, people!

Dashiell doesn't care either:

Short Attention Span Blogging

• I don't care what people say. I love to cuss. It makes me happy!
• I think I'm official an Apple lover. Anyone who knows me knows I love my iPod Touch more than anything and that I want to marry it and have it's little Apple babies. I love Apple even more now because after a freak glitch on Saturday, an Apple tech support guy called me about FIVE seconds after I clicked "ok" on the Apple support site. Then, during the whole process, he kept saying, "Now, if this doesn't fix it, I'm going to set you up for a replacement so you can go to your local Apple store and swap it out for a new one." Who does customer service like that? Usually you have to threaten to kill people to get anything fixed and then you just wind up with a restraining order or jail time.
• I am seriously over people. People are just the WORST. We live in a world of rudeness and people who don't think before they act/open their mouths. When I do encounter true kindness, I am floored.
• Why is Obama preempting American Idol? Why are we being FORCED to watch his State of the Union address? Don't worry...I felt the same way about our former President.

World Domination is just moments away

......Hemingway is plotting our demise from Cat Central aka the collapsible cat cube.

For Lack of Content....

You will just have to be content with the World's Cutest Dog, Dashiell:

For a Good Cause....

Skippy has inspired me to blog again.
This blog is called It's All About De but I'm slowly realizing that it's not ALWAYS about me. Sometimes we have to remember that other people are out there, suffering.
Thanks to Skippy, I am remembering that it's my duty in life to serve others.
That's why I'm getting behind his campaign to free Janine.

An adult film actress who admitted failing to pay taxes was ordered to serve 6 months in prison and pay almost $300,000 in outstanding taxes.

Adult film actress and former Penthouse model Janine M. James, also known as Janine Lindemulder, 40, of Huntington Beach, Calif, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Ore.

James pleaded guilty in August 2008 to charges she failed to pay outstanding federal income taxes.

This is a travesty. We can't allow my only lesbian fantasy to go down...and not in a good way.

If everything Obama says is true...we can keep Janine out of the pokey...YES WE CAN!

Happy Happy and all that

Yeah, I'm a little late ringing in the New Year with you guys.

I have been in a blog funk of massive proportions.
I'm reading you guys but when I go to write down my thoughts...well it just doesn't seem worth it.

I have no opinions on current events...I'm just giving up.

I have been reading a lot but it's mostly things I would NEVER admit to.

I spent way too much money for Christmas. I am a dangerous Christmas shopper because I buy one for them and one for me.

I bought a lot of books over the holidays and some I will admit to. I need to log all the new books, I just haven't gotten to it yet.

What I haven't talked about much on my blog is some trouble I have been having with my next door neighbor.
From the moment he moved in, he's been a thorn in our sides.
I have lived in my apartment complex for nearly 10 years and I've never had this kind of problem.
His music is loud, his TV is loud, his video games are loud.

We (the neighbors) have complained to the office so much that they finally sent him an eviction notice.
The problem is, he wouldn't leave.
The other problem is, they couldn't enforce it because of Hurricane Ike. There is no place to live.
The loud bass thumping noise continued.
This time we started calling the police and I'm pretty sure he was issued a ticket the Monday after Christmas. Suddenly, it's nice and quiet in his apartment.
I did get some good news from Santa (or the apartment manager). They were filing his eviction with the court after the first of the year.
THIS is good news. Apparently, all they needed was the police report to prove that it was more than our word against his.

I don't know when this is going to happen and I'm not completely holding my breath because I have a feeling something is going to go wrong with this, but if this does happen...I will be VERY VERY happy.
I feel like this guy has been living in my apartment with me. I feel like every song he listens to, I have to listen to.
When he watches a movie, I have to hear it. When he plays X-Box, I have to hear every freaking down on Madden NFL.
I will be glad to get my apartment back.

I've taken on the near-impossible task of reading Paradise Lost this year. I will count that as a New Year's Resolution...but that's it. No more New Year's Resolutions for me. My NYR is to not have any more NYRs!!!