2010 April » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Dewey's 24 Hour Spring Read-a-thon: Starting Post

Posted by Anastasia on April 10, 2010 28 Responses »

Apr 102010

It’s the beginning of the spring read-a-thon, and I’ve written this post in advance so I don’t have to worry about my typing at 6 in the morning (although it’s not bad after downing a cup of coffee). This is going to be my starting post, and the one that I’ll keep updating throughout the day with my progress. I expect I’ll post a few more times for surveys and possibly mini-challenges, but all my stats and such will be kept here. And then, when I’m ready to give up, I’ll do a concluding post summing up everything. I’m writing part of that in advance, too, because I don’t have much confidence in my coherence after more than 12 hours of reading.

Also, because I can never seem to get up the energy to write proper reviews for books read during a read-a-thon, I’m going to try and write mini ones after finishing a book. Tiny ones, ones that won’t take up too much time but will still convey whatever I want to convey about a book, in a succinct manner. (Can I even be succinct? This might be harder than I originally thought…)

So! Let’s start.

Other important posts: The Prep Post | Fall 2009′s 24HRAT stat post (for comparison)

Note: all times are MST. Last updated: 1:15am

Reading stats

Start time: 6am! Yay.
End time: 1:07am
# of books read: 7
Total hours read: ~14h31m
Total pages read: 1,501

Reading Log

Time: 6:00am
Book: Bombos VS Everything Vol. 1
Food: Coffee
Notes: Extremely stylish little graphic novel that has a lot of potential, I think. I wasn’t necessarily wowed byt he plot, which is basically “dude wants to be a great fighter,” but the art and world are fascinating and I definitely want to read the next volume (if there is one).
Rating:
192pp/20min

Time: 6:30am
Book: Spy High: Mission One
Food: Coffee (reheated)
Notes: It’s on the edge of too much spoof/cliches (red-headed jokester character, blond bombshell character, Asian martial artist, etc) and not enough new stuff–I mean, c’mon, a baddie whose name is Frankenstein and he makes mutants?– but it was exciting and watching the team grow closer was fun. It’s a little bit better than the CUPID books, actually. I liked the futuristic sci-fi stuff, especially (reminded me of The Supernaturalist).
Rating:
196pp/1hr36min

Time: 8:30am
Book: Earthlight Vol. 1
Food: Bagel with cream cheese
Notes: Started off kind of slow, but the end was such a cliffhanger that I definitely feel the urge to read the next series. It’s set in the future on a space station, which is interesting, but I’m more interested in the characters and what their lives are like up there. We got a little bit of an idea of what the station (and future Earth) is like, but the characters were introduced so quickly I never really got to know them as much as I wanted to. And I think too that too many subplots were crammed in there all at once– they could have been spread out a bit more and that would’ve made them more effective. But hopefully with the second volume that’ll change, and I’ll find out more about the three main characters.
Rating:
192pp/22min

Time: 9am
Book: The Club of Queer Trades
Food: Tea (African red bush), slice of lemon loaf cake
Notes: The intro says this isn’t one of Chesterton’s best books, but I suppose it’s as good an intro as any. It’s absurd, a detective story with an insane detective who solves crimes that aren’t really, and it’s hilarious. I had a lot of fun with it, though at least two of the stories were somewhat boring, and I look forward to reading more of Mr Chesterton’s books later on.
Rating:
146pp/2hrs10min

Time: 11:40am
Book: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Food: Cheerios, macaroni salad, banana, glass of water
Notes: A truly excellent book, with a fantastically lovable and quirky protagonist. I do so love my lady scientists! Especially ones in Texas, in the year 1899, when everything in the scientific world is so new and interesting. And I loved how it really felt like a Texas book, especially in the dialogue, which never resorted to dialect (which I hate). Great stuff!
Rating:
338pp/3hrs12min

Time: 4:20pm
Book: Perloo the Bold
Food: orange, coffee, chocolate truffles, supremely delicious dinner provided by my mother (bacon!!)
Notes: A surprisingly sweet book with rabbit-ish creatures and a moral that I can’t quite figure out, but I think it’s something like “fighting is bad, be true to yourself, your enemies are really more like you than you think, and people who scratch themselves a lot are bad news.” I’d like to read more books set in this world, because it’s highly entertaining (Avi’s books generally are).
Rating:
225pp/1hrs51min

Time: 8:00pm
Book: Bertie and the Tinman
Food: frozen lemonade, Smarties, tea, cheese + crackers
Notes: Funny, fun, and supremely enjoyable. It read like a behind-the-scenes look at the real Victorian society, where people had affairs all over the place and the Queen was terribly frightening and so on. Plus, excellent mystery! It was a great read, one that shouldn’t take nearly as long as it did for me to read it.
Rating:
212pp/~4hrs25min

Notes

4/9/2010 9pm: I’m not at all sure about my reading choices, now. I can’t help but think I need more variety. Maybe I have some more books hidden away somewhere? Also, my mom went to the grocery store today, so now we have lots of things to snack on. Including BANANAS! It’ll be hard sleeping tonight, I can tell you that for sure. I’m already all sorts of excited.

4/10/2010 8:57am: I’ve been trying to start reading my books at quarter intervals, because it makes it easier for me to keep track of how long I’ve been reading something. Doesn’t leave me a lot of time to update this post, though!

11:14am: Taking a small break from reading because I’m starting to get a headache. Will probably spend it visiting other ‘thonners and playing on Twitter.

2:56pm: Starting to slow down a bit. Also, I’m ravenously hungry, which is strange. I need to make up some more snacks and have them at the ready for my next book.

11:23pm: SO. TIRED. But I won a prize! I’m excited and yet want desperately to go to bed. But I JUST gotta finish this book first (80 pages left to go!).

Under the jump are some memes I decided to do! Continue reading »

Dewey's 24 Hour Spring Read-a-thon: The Prep Post

Posted by Anastasia on April 9, 2010 10 Responses »

Apr 092010

Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon is tomorrow, and my starting time is 6am. In previous read-a-thons I’ve complained about the starting time, and always slept in and started later. But in this read-a-thon I’m going to make a real effort to wake up at 6 (which I’ve been doing already for months now) and read ’til at least midnight (I’m not sure I can make it past that). I’ve chosen my books, though I think I’m going to add a few more later tonight, and I’ve informed the family what’s happening.

So, let’s talk some more about what exactly I’m going to do!

The blog plan

I think for this read-a-thon I’m going to post twice, once when I start and once when I finish. In between I’ll update the first post with tallies and totals and whatnot. And maybe a survey or two, if I have time. And of course I’ll be updating my Twitter account regularly, too!

The reading plan

Here’s what I’ve gathered together from my shelves (and one library book pile):

They are: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate; Steam Detectives volumes one, two, and three; Spy High Mission 1; Perloo the Bold; Bertie and the Tinman; The Club of Queer Trades; The Eye of the Warlock (unfortunately the 3rd of a series, but hopefully that won’t matter); The Dreaming volume one and two; The Grail Tree.

I’ve also got tons of more graphic novels waiting around, which I’ve just discovered in a box in the storage room, so I can always read those too, if I want. And if I don’t finish the book I’m reading today (A.A. Milne’s autobiography) I’ll do so tomorrow.

I feel really confidant about this read-a-thon. In other read-a-thons I kept getting distracted by the TV, but I’m going to try to NOT turn on the TV and I think that’ll, uh, do the trick. Oh, which reminds me:

Read-a-tips

There are a lot of these lists already, but that won’t stop me from making my own! Here’s what I’ve learned from doing two previous read-a-thons: Continue reading »

Mini-Reviews: The Godmother Tree & The Last Guru

Posted by Anastasia on April 9, 2010 No Responses »

Apr 092010

34. The Godmother Tree by Ruth Wallace-Brodeur
Publication: HarperCollins (1992), Hardcover, 120pp / ISBN 0060224576
Genre: Middle Grade
Rating:
Read: February 20, 2010
Source: Bought
Summary from Amazon:

When ten-year-old Laura moves with her family to yet another new farm, Laura slowly begins to build connections to the place, to her family, and to herself.

Review

I have a soft spot for books about farm kids, and this book ain’t no exception. It’s super sweet, a little look into the life of a kid who’s trying to find herself and of a family who’s trying to stick together even when things get tough. I think I just made it sound depressing, but it’s really not. It reminds me a bit of Bloomability, so if you like that book you’ll definitely like this book!

And

Find your own copy @ Amazon

Crappy cover picture taken by moi with PhotoBooth because I’m too lazy to go to the scanner.

35. The Last Guru by Daniel M. Pinkwater
Publication: Bantam Books (1978), Hardcover, / ISBN 0553151339
Genre: Middle Grade
Rating:
Read: February 20, 2010
Source: Bought
Summary from Amazon:

One harmless bet on a horse race starts a chain of events that turns a 12-year-old into one of the world’s richest people and a spiritual guru.

Review

I bought this at a library book sale some months ago because I recognized the name of the author and thought it might be good. Well. It’s not. It’s very 70′s, and I can’t help but feel that the whole point of it being written was to warn people (or just kids) off self-help books/gurus.

And, okay, if that is the point? That’s fine. But at least make the rest of the book good. It’s kind of like a Roald Dahl book except stripped of everything that ever made a Roald Dahl book good. Oh well.

And

Find your own copy @ Amazon

Daily Stuff (2)

Posted by Anastasia on April 8, 2010 No Responses »

Apr 082010

Spotted on WordPress.com’s front page: Top 10 Underrated Fantasy Stories Before 1937. Includes one of my favorite fantasy books, which I sort of wrote about before, The Princess and the Goblin!

Over at Presenting Lenore, Lenore posts about bad behaviors book bloggers fall prey to.

Also there’s this old Tor.com post, which I forgot about for a while. It’s about book bloggers being too nice, basically, and why they’re reluctant to write negative reviews for books. Also some stuff about writers who review, and what they go through when doing so.
Continue reading »

Rereading Holmes: A Study in Scarlet Ch 5-10

Posted by Anastasia on April 8, 2010 No Responses »

Apr 082010

Previously: Chapters 1-4

Bored in class one day, I decided to find a Sherlock Holmes story online and read it. I’m pretty sure I’ve read nearly all the Holmes stories before, but it’s been so long I can’t properly remember. I don’t normally write reviews for rereads, but though I’m not sure if this is a proper re-read or not I wasn’t particularly interested in writing reviews for the series. So I thought instead it might be fun to do a sort of compilation post of the things I noticed while reading whatever, much like when I was reading The Woman in White in January.

So! I’m calling this series Rereading Holmes, and I’m starting with A Study in Scarlet, the very first Holmes story. I’m reading this online copy, though I do have a complete Holmes book somewhere. (It’s hardback, double-columned and kind of unwieldy. I tend to forget where I’ve left it for months at a time.)

This format does sort of assume you’ve already a) read the book or b) seen a movie/TV show that adapts it. I don’t know how interesting this’ll actually be, but I’ve endeavored to try and spice things up by actually talking about what’s going on with the plot, instead of just random musings.

There’s rather a lot of spoils going on now, so I’ve stuck the post under this jump (which you won’t see if you’re reading this in a feedreader): Continue reading »

Thursday Tea (April 8): The Ladies' Paradise

Posted by Anastasia on April 8, 2010 No Responses »

Apr 082010

Thursday Tea is a weekly meme hosted by yours truly. To play along, all you need is some tea, a book, and the answers to these questions: what tea are you drinking (and do you like it)? What book are you reading (and do you like it)? Tell us a little about your tea and your book, and whether or not the two go together.

The book: I’m currently about halfway through The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola (also known as The Ladies’ Delight). I have to read it for a class, which automatically made me suspect I’d hate it (I generally do, whenever I’m forced to read a book for a grade), but actually– surprise! I really love it!

I don’t want to go too deep into what I enjoy about the book because I’d just be repeating myself when I review it, but I suspect part of the reason I’m liking it is because of the translation. It’s by Brian Nelson, and it is, I think, a really good one. It makes the text sound almost modern, which is infinitely easier for me to read, and yet it keeps the vibrancy and the, I don’t know, joie de vivre Zola put into his books.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to writing my review, and to finally have something to talk about in that class! (I haven’t finished any of the other books we were supposed to read, so I haven’t been able to participate in the discussions. But now I can. Ha!)

Here’s a summary:

The Ladies Paradise (Au Bonheur des Dames) recounts the rise of the modern department store in late nineteenth-century Paris. The store is a symbol of capitalism, of the modern city, and of the bourgeois family: it is emblematic of changes in consumer culture and the changes in sexual attitudes and class relations taking place at the end of the century.

The tea: I’ve still got a big pile of Super Irish Breakfast tea packets, so I’m drinking a cup of that this morning. It’s nice! I think I prefer SIB over Earl Grey and English Breakfast– it just tastes fuller, I think?

Do they go together? Oh, sure! For one thing, the characters drink a lot of tea. Not as much as British characters would, maybe, but they do drink quite a few cups, along with wine and coffee and cordial and so on. Now, does the flavor of SIB go with this book? That’s a tougher question. I’m going to have to dither between “yes” and “no,” because while the full flavor of SIB goes with the view of Paris that Zola is presenting (its backbone is commerce, basically? Which is a very solid sort of backbone, even with fluctuations like inflation) I can’t help but think that something more fruity would go better with the whole “giant superstore that is trying new things out in order to make people buy more” thing. Something surprising and new, to go with the surprising and new things Mouret is trying with his store.

Is that analysis trying to hard? I really need to get to class to talk about this book! But alas, I’ll have to wait until Tuesday. Dang.

What are you drinking/reading this Thursday?

Review: Heist Society by Ally Carter

Posted by Anastasia on April 7, 2010 10 Responses »

Apr 072010

53. Heist Society by Ally Carter (read by Angela Dawe)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (February 9, 2010), Audiobook / ISBN 1441826734
Genre: YA, Crime
Rating:
Read: February 26-March 2, 2010
Source: Library
Summary from Amazon:

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre . . . to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria . . . to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own — scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.

Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster’s priceless art collection has been stolen and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled off this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.

For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and, hopefully, just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s (very crooked) history — and with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

Review

I’ve been putting off writing/posting this review because honestly, I’m a little afraid. I think the general consensus is that this is a great book, with excellent writing and characters and plot. And I happen to disagree. Like, a lot.

I really didn’t like this book. I listened to it as an audiobook and while I’m able to forgive a lot of things because, for some reason, audiobook format makes me feel more kindly towards the book in general, I wasn’t able to forgive Heist Society. It’s not as bad as some other books I’ve read, but it’s certainly somewhere down around the bottom on the scale of How Awesome is This Book.
Continue reading »