The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Not a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

Nothing like the home team playing in (AND SWEEPING) the World Series to seriously interfere with one’s reading agenda! (and I’m not normally a baseball fan at all… but ya gotta go with the flow). Back to the books! What’s on the agenda for this week?

From last week:

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell: I finished my re-read of this beautiful book. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.

I finally got a chance to attack my pile of library books. First up: Breed by Chase Novak. A great choice for pre-Halloween reading — boy, is this a disturbing book!

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Another couple of very good chapters.

And this week’s new agenda:

I should be done with Breed either today or tomorrow, assuming I can stomach it.

Next up: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Finally! I’m hoping to get this one read before it’s due back at the library next weekend.

And after that? One of two young adult novels waiting for my attention: Either The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater or Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin.

My son and I have started a new kids’ book by Eva Ibbotson. So far, so good! He does tend to bail on books after a few chapters, so the fact that we’ve gotten about a third of the way through it already is a good sign.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon: Chapters 60 and 61 this week, and it’s my turn to write chapter summaries for our group re-read. Must put on my thinking cap!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

22Oct2012

The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Busy week ahead, so let’s dive right in. What’s on the agenda for this week?

From last week:

Quality over quantity, for sure! Real life (and by that, I mean the portion of my life that does not revolve around books) got in the way, big time, and it seemed that reading was relegated to the back burner — a most painful and frustrating situation for me. Here’s hoping that the coming week is a little less crazy. So, last week’s progress:

The Diviners by Libba Bray: Done! Loved it. My review is here.

And that’s really it. I caught up on a few weeks’ worth of the New York Times book review sections, but made no progress on any other books.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Moving forward, getting closer to the end.

And this week’s new agenda:

Due to a weird confluence of coincidences (did I just make that up? sounds weird), The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell has been on my mind. My daughter just finished reading The Sparrow this past week, and was blown away. My husband, who relies on me for his book recommendations, is ready for something new, and I’m pushing The Sparrow on him. In addition, I’m going to hear Mary Doria Russell speak this week about The Sparrow! As a consequence of all this, I’ve decided to ignore my library stack and re-read The Sparrow myself. This is one of my very favorite books, which I’ve read once on my own and once as part of a book group. It’s been about five years, and I believe it’s time to treat myself to a re-read. I can’t say it enough times — if you’ve never read this book, what are you waiting for?

Assuming I finish up by mid-week, next on the agenda will be Breed by Chase Novak and then Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Sadly, I’ll be returning some books unread to the library this week, as there simply isn’t enough time for me to read them all before their due dates. Back on the request list they go!

My son and I finished up the book we were reading together (his review is here; my review is here) — looking forward to picking out some new bedtime reading material.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon: Our online re-read is up to chapters 58 and 59 this week, and they’re good ones. My turn to write chapter summaries is next week. Gulp.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

15Oct2012

The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

The fog horns are blowing, the skies are grey. What more could you want on a Monday morning? Perhaps a stack of books, a hot cup of coffee, and a warm quilt?

From last week:

Well, it felt like a productive week…

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller: I really and truly loved this book. Lovely writing and a haunting story. My review is here.

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison: Finished a few days ago. Enjoyable and moving, a quirky, sad novel of friendship, loss… and a road trip. My review is here.

I hit the library and picked up my various and assorted hold books, which — inconsiderately — all decided to become available in the same week. I’m going to have to set up a spreadsheet of due dates to help me strategize reading order and set a page-per-day minimum. Kidding… but it might help.

I ended up deciding that The Forgetting Tree was something I’d like to read at some point, but it didn’t need to be right now, so back to the library it went.

Finally, over the weekend, I started The Diviners by Libba Bray, which is just the bee’s knees! An occult mystery set in jazz age Manhattan… delightful!

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Keeping on, keeping on.

And this week’s new agenda:

I should finish up The Diviners in the next couple of days. After that, it’ll be time to attack the library pile again.

The next three on the stack are Breed by Chase Novak (sounds like good, creepy horror), The Red House by Mark Haddon, and A Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman. It’ll just depend on my reading whim on the day I have to choose.

My son and I are getting closer to the end of his current read-aloud, Merits of Mischief, which he is continuing to enjoy and I am continuing to… not. I can’t wait to be done with this one.

This week’s chapters in my group re-read of Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon promise plenty of agony and action for the beloved main characters. We’re up to chapters 56 and 57.

I’m hoping to squeeze in a little time over the weekend for a re-read (or at least a skim-through) of The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell in preparation for an upcoming book discussion. The Sparrow is one of my all-time favorites, and I’ve read it more than once, but it’s been a few years and a refresher would definitely be helpful.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

8Oct2012

The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Monday, Monday… another week, another stack of books to plow through.

From last week:

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling: Done! My review is here.

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller: About 40 pages to go. Lovely writing. I’ll share my thoughts in the next day or so.

In the world of children’s books, my son and I finished Chomp by Carl Hiaasen, which was fun and funny. My review is here. We’ve started a new book called Merits of Mischief, which I’m mostly finding odd and a bit disturbing, but the kid is enjoying it, so onward we go.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Loving it.

And this week’s new agenda:

My stack of library books keeps growing, as all of my long-term requests seem to have arrived at the same time. Unfortunately, I doubt I’ll get through them all before they’re due back.

Once I finish The Dog Stars, I have quite a bit to choose from. For my next book, I plan to read The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison. Despite the title, this is not a how-to guide for nannies, but a novel that sounded quite good from the early descriptions I’ve seen so far.

After that, it will be either The Forgetting Tree by Tatjana Soli (unless I have to return it before I get a chance to read it) or possibly The Red House by Mark Haddon. We’ll see how the mood strikes me when the time comes.

Meanwhile, my library pile still includes a couple of YA novels I’ve been wanting to read (The Diviners by Libba Bray and Seraphina by Rachel Hartman), and — miracle of miracles — I’ve just received notice that a copy of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is now available for pick-up (and I started at #682 on the waiting list for this one).

As always, I’ll be looking forward to this week’s chapters in my group re-read of Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon: Chapters 54 and 55 on deck for this week. Lots of danger. Lives are at risk. It’s hard to stop at just two chapters.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

1Oct2012

The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

The weekend is over, and now the sun comes out! Here’s hoping that I can squeeze in some outdoor time while the sunshine lasts. And… onward with the Monday agenda:

From last week:

The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan: Finished! I was swept away by the harsh beauty of the writing. You can check out my review here.

I made no progress with my library books, and it’s all J. K. Rowling’s fault! More on that below.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Need I say it? This book is fascinating, even the 2nd time around.

And this week’s new agenda:

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling! It finally arrived on Friday (a day later than expected, thanks to an Amazon screw-up). Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to read over the weekend, but now it’s full steam ahead. After the initial shock of seeing JKR use language that would never pass muster at Hogwarts, I’m enjoying the book.

Assuming I finish the Rowling book within the next few days, I’ll dive back into my stack of library books. Next up: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller.

My son and I are only a couple of chapters away from finishing Chomp by Carl Hiaasen, so we’ll be scouting out our next bed-time read.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Chapters 51 and 52 on deck for this week. Drama. Betrayal. Adventure. Danger. Yup, this book has it all.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

20Sep2012

Scoring big at the Big Book Sale

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Nirvana. Paradise. Garden of Eden. The Promised Land.

If you’re a book lover living in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can get to heaven simply by heading over to Ft. Mason this week, where the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library are holding their 48th Annual Big Book Sale. According to the event website, over 500,000 items are on sale, all benefiting the SFPL’s literacy programs. It’s an amazing event, truly. Filling a warehouse-sized building, there are tables and tables filled with books of every shape, size, and subject, from tattered to pristine, from fiction to the most esoteric of topics and then some. For most of the sale, all hardcovers are $3 and paperbacks are $2 — but if you want the biggest bargain of all, stop by on Sunday when everything is $1.

Tuesday night was member preview night, which I’ve attended for the past several years. Doors opened at 4:00; when I arrived at about 3:30, the line snaked all the way around the building and down the side of the adjacent pier. I couldn’t help but get a thrill walking by all the early birds on the way to the back of the line — these are my peeps! A crowd full of book folks! People as crazed as I am, showing up with boxes, tote bags, and granny carts, chattering excitedly about what they hoped to find and what tables they planned to hit first.

My friend and I used our waiting time wisely, scoping out the map of the floor plan and plotting our order of attack: Start with science fiction and fantasy, then horror, then move on to regular fiction. Time allowing, we’d probably split up after that: me to kids’ books, graphic novels, and science; her to literary criticism, travel, and occult. Of course, once the doors opened, we were swept up in the mass rush for good books, four hours flew by in the blink of an eye, and I never did make it much further than fiction. C’est la vie.

I went to the sale with a very short wish list this year. Having spent this past weekend putting books on my new bookshelves, I went to the sale damned sure that I’d keep my purchases to a minimum. I have plenty to read in my house already!*

*I’m quite certain that if I bought no new books and took nothing out of the library for an entire year, and spent the year reading only those books already on my shelves which I haven’t read yet, I would not run out of reading material by the end of that year. I actually thought about setting this up as a challenge for myself — my year of no new books! — but where’s the fun in that?

However, my good intentions flew out the window once I entered the sale. My tally for the night: 44 books for $88. I never did find the book I most hoped to find. (Note: If you go to the sale and happen to spot a copy of Doc by Mary Doria Russell, grab it for me!)

I did walk out with quite a satisfying haul:

For someone who professes not to be a fan of short stories, I sure ended up with a bunch of short story collections. Among them, four (4!!!) books of Stephen King stories, Sherman Alexie’s Ten Little Indians, Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories, a Norton anthology of science fiction, and a big fat volume entitled Treasures of Fantasy.
I managed to pick up some mint condition copies of classic works of science fiction by Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein, and Greg Bear.
Lots of people seemed to have off-loaded ARCs this year. My finds included ARCs of Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, and The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe.
I found lovely hardcover copies of The Thorn Birds and The Good Earth, both books I read and adored years ago, but which I’d lost or misplaced in various moves over the years.
I replaced a few books, lost when loaned out to friends who never returned them… you know who you are. Don’t worry, all is forgiven. Just don’t ask to borrow any more books.
Picked up — dirt cheap — various volumes in series I’ve been meaning to read, including books by Karen Marie Moning, Seanan McGuire, Patrick Rothfuss, and Jasper Fforde.
Plus, several other fiction titles, some very new, some I’ve always wanted to read, some I’ve read as library books but always wished to have on my shelves.

Ahhh. The pleasure of being surrounded by people who adore books, pawing through stacks and piles of paperbacks and hardcovers, looking for the gems among the thousands of books on display.

Then there are the books which I have already and love insanely. Every time I’d see a Diana Gabaldon book, I’d have to touch it and say hello. (Don’t judge me; I wasn’t being creepy or anything.) Whenever I came across something by Christopher Moore, I’d have to stifle a giggle — just seeing his books makes me laugh.

Of course, on the flip side, every time I came across a book I’d bought during the past year for more than $3, I wanted to kick myself. When will I learn? Every year, I leave the Big Book Sale resolved to not buy any more books until the next sale rolls around. Sadly, I never manage to live up to my resolutions.

What more can I say? Awesome event, great selections, amazing bargains, and all for a good cause. Check it out!

13Sep2012

Random book news of the day

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I’m having a hard time settling on just one topic today. Maybe I’m just too tired — my ten-year-old woke me up at 3:15 am after a bad dream, asked me to sit with him while he went back to sleep (which he did almost immediately), then I tossed and turned for about an hour or so. Whine, whine, whine… poor me. At any rate, I’ve just been killing time bopping around the web, and here are some cool, random, or unusual tidbits I’ve stumbled across:

Did you have any idea that The Time Traveler’s Wife had not already been released as an e-book? This is one of my all-time favorite books, and I know it was a huge bestseller, so I find this rather puzzling. However, according to the Associated Press, the e-book version will finally be released on October 10th — about nine years since the book was first released in hardcover.
Carlos Santana is writing a book! Not, thank heavens, a cutesy kids book, like some celebs have done. (“Look, I’m a writer!” Yikes). Santana’s memoir is due out sometime in 2014, and will be published by Little Brown & Co., the same publishing company that brought us Life by Keith Richards.
A new study shows that 55% of the people buying YA novels are not, in fact, young adults. Or maybe they are young adults, but not “young adults” as in the target demographic for young adult fiction — which would be teens. Boy, that convoluted sentence makes my teeth hurt. In any case, over half of the buyers of YA fiction are over age 18, and most are in their 30s and 40s. (Guilty!) Does this surprise anyone? Based on wholly unscientific data — which is that lots of my grown-up friends and fellow bloggers adore YA — this doesn’t seem particularly shocking. If you’re interested, you can read more about the study here.
The 57th edition of the Guiness Book of World Records has just been released. Because we really, really need to know just how tall the world’s tallest mohawk is. (Answer: 3 feet, and it’s been growing for 15 years).
A book returned 78 years past its due date would have cost the borrower over $6,000 in fines, had an amnesty program not been in effect. You can read more about the Chicago Public Library’s amnesty program here; here’s a snippet which I found charming:

The rare edition of Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” had been checked out in 1934. According to Reuters news agency, Harlean Hoffman Vision found the book in her late mother’s possessions and wanted to bring it back, but she wanted to make sure she wouldn’t go to jail for having had it so long. “She kept saying, ‘You’re not going to arrest me?’ and we said, ‘No, we’re so happy you brought it back,’” Ruth Lednicer, the library’s marketing director, said. The library’s fine amnesty – dubbed “Once in a Blue Moon Amnesty” – began on Aug. 20 and ended Sept. 7. The value of the 101,301 items returned was estimated at $2 million. Several of the recovered items were checked out in the 1970s and 1980s, the Chicago Tribune newspaper reported.

Oops, maybe I shouldn’t have made fun of celebs who write children’s books. Jessica Lange’s book for kids, It Is About A Little Bird, is due out in 2013. Stop thinking about Constance on American Horror Story! I’m sure the book will be wholesome and lovely and not in the least bit creepy.
Apparently reviewers granted the privilege of getting advance copies of J. K. Rowling’s upcoming new release (and guaranteed international bestseller) The Casual Vacancy are subject to restrictions so strict that they’re not even allowed to talk about the fact that restrictions exist. Not exactly shocking, given the uber-security surrounding the Harry Potter releases. I know we’re all going to be reading this book. The question is, will we like it? Check back with me in early October!
And finally… according to this LA Times piece, you can get that embarrassing copy of 50 Shades of Grey off your bookshelf! Mail your copy to O/R Publishing, and the first fifty respondents will be sent a copy of 50 Shades of Louisa May as a replacement. Now that’s what I call a good deal! (said with a slight smirk and a just-barely-audible snort)

My web browser has crashed twice, causing me heart palpitations over potentially lost pearls of wisdom. This must be a sign from the gods of sleep that my time at the keyboard has come to a close.

Good night, all… and may your dreams be filled with cushiony armchairs and excellent reading.

3Sep2012

The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

You might think an agenda has no business showing up on Labor Day. What can I say? A reader’s work is never done! It’s time to take stock and plan for the upcoming week.

From last week:

Every Day by David Levithan: Read as fast and furiously as I possibly could. See my review here. The short version? I loved it. Add this one to the list of YA fiction that everyone should read.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray: Finally finished, after several stops and starts. My review is here, but the bottom line is that, despite several laugh-out-loud moments and some truly snazzy writing, I just didn’t enjoy this one nearly as much as I’d hoped.

In graphic novels, I ended up diving into the Jack of Fables series by Bill Willingham (a spin-off from the incredibly wonderful Fables series). I’m on #4 of 9, and so far, I’d say… amusing, but not essential.

My son forced me to read the comic/graphic novel he gobbled up, Giants Beware! by Jorge Aguirre. Quite funny and spirited — definitely a good choice if you’ve got middle-grade readers to entertain.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Need I keep saying it? Terrific book, terrific chapter discussions!

And this week’s new agenda:

I’ve simply got to make some headway with my stack of library books. Next up should be Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker, which I’ve really been looking forward to.

After that:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Frozen by Mary Casanova

Plus, I’ll plow on through and finish up the Jack volumes. Must see what that scamp gets up to next!

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Chapters 44 and 45 on deck for this week.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

27Aug2012

The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Continuing with the Monday agenda concept started a few weeks ago, it’s time to see how well last week’s reading agenda worked out and sketch out the plan for the coming week.

From last week:

Going Bovine by Libba Bray: As of early last week, I’d gotten about 2/3 of the way through this bizarre, funny book about a boy with mad cow disease. And then I hit a wall. It’s not that the book stopped being interesting or engaging in any way; I just reached a point where I felt like moving on. Going Bovine is still in my huge messenger bag that I carry everywhere with me, and I haven’t officially given up or anything. It’s just become a “not right now” kind of situtation.

Gold by Chris Cleave. Finished last night a few breath’s shy of midnight (hence the dark circles under my eyes and the failure to watch the True Blood season finale). The review should be along shortly. The fact that I went from half-heartedly picking up the book on Friday to staying up reading way too late on a work-night should tell you something about how I felt about this book.

In graphic novels, I ended up going with the Locke & Key series by Joe Hill. My library had volumes 1 – 4 available, and I gobbled them up. Dark, creepy, compulsively readable, Locke & Key has me hooked. Here’s hoping the wizards at the public library decide to order volume 5 pronto.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Two challenging, thought-provoking chapters. We’re really getting to the good stuff!

And this week’s new agenda:

Every Day by David Levithan: I’ve had this one on pre-order for a while, and it should arrive tomorrow. This was my Wishlist Wednesday book a couple of weeks ago; you can see why I want to read this one here.

Beyond that, for once I can’t say that I have absolute plans. I’ll try to get back into Going Bovine — would love to cross this one off my pending list already. Maybe a young adult novel from my to-read shelf: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer or Small Damages, perhaps. I have review copies of a few upcoming titles as well, so I should really start digging into some of those. (Thank you, Netgalley!)

In graphic novels, I have the Jack of Fables series ready to go, but seeing how I tend to start a series and then not come up for air until I’m done, I’d better try to get some other reading done first.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Chapters 42 and 43 on deck for this week. Like I said, the good stuff! And by the way, if you’re a fan and want to jump into the conversation, please do! Let me know if you need directions to the online group — I’d be glad to point the way.

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

20Aug2012

The Monday agenda

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Continuing with the Monday agenda concept started a few weeks ago, it’s time to see how well last week’s reading agenda worked out and sketch out the plan for the coming week.

This week’s fresh catch. Thank you, O Great Public Library!

From last week:

Ashfall by Mike Mullin: Thoroughly enjoyed this young adult novel of disaster and survival (reviewed on this site on 8/15/2012).

1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham: Fantastic addition to the world of Fables. If you’re a fan of the series, this is a must-read.

Small Damages by Beth Kephart: Still haven’t gotten my copy, but expect it any day. This one moves back to my to-read list for now.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Another couple of terrific chapter this week, with thought-provoking discussions, as always.

Non-agenda reading: Because there’s always room for change! Who needs to be confined by an agenda, when there’s a world of books out there? I also read Rape Girl by Alina Kline (reviewed 8/18/2012) and — for some light, fun diversion — Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories by Zack Whedon.

And this week’s new agenda:

Going Bovine by Libba Bray: I loved Beauty Queens by this author, and am finally getting around to reading this earlier young adult novel, winner of the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. I’ve read about a third of Going Bovine so far, and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Can a book about a boy with a fatal illness be funny? You see my dilemma.

I hit the motherlode at the library over the weekend, and now have some tough decisions to make. As far as I can tell, my next book will be:

Gold by Chris Cleave. The subject matter doesn’t really call to me, but I did love Little Bee, and I just found out that Chris Cleave will be speaking locally in October. Perhaps I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

In graphic novel world, I have a tough call to make: Start reading Joe Hill’s Locke & Key series, or stay in the world of Fables with the Jack of Fables series?

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (group re-read): Chapters 40 and 41 on deck for this week.

I’m sure I’ll also dig into a library book or two… in all of my non-existent spare time.

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.