Picturific Challenge

My read-a-thon book is Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (Yes, I'm STILL reading it - I took a concert break this evening).  Jenny suffers from Generalized Anxiety Disorder and her father is a taxidermist so she has a somewhat strange fixation with real "stuffed" animals.  These two images, when combined, summarize at least two of the major themes of the book.  Ok, I know my photoshopping abilities are minimal, but you get the idea.

Images found here and here

Rereading Mini-Challenge

When it comes to rereads, my first pick is always the entire Cat Who... series by Lilian Jackson Braun - familiar comfort reads.  ...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer is a huge book (over 1000 pages) so I don't reread very often, but when I do, it's always a totally immersing read.  The third reread favorite is The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch by Marsha Moyer - a simple story filled with beautiful word-pictures.

The Weird Sisters Challenge

The Weird Sisters Challenge is now closed.

Congratulations to Judith @ Leeswammes' Blog

You are the winner!                      

Image from the cover of
 the book by Eleanor Brown

My sister, Teri, and I have lived in different towns, and often different states, our entire adult lives. Our homes are currently 194 miles apart.  Teri is joining me at my house for the Read-A-Thon, so together we're sponsoring the Weird Sisters Challenge. 

We've spent many hours on the road and phone keeping in touch, but there was always so many family-related topics to discuss during our precious time together that books often got left out.  So, in 1998, we began the "TandT Bookclub" (for Teri and Tami, because we're incredibly creative women).  The format has changed through the years, but the basic idea is that we take turns selecting a book to be read within a specific time period.  The person who chooses the book is responsible for planning some sort of activity to go along with the reading - making a recipe from the book, lunch at a location inspired by the story, a craft, or just discussion questions.  (We confess, we don't always get this part accomplished - distance is an issue there, too, but that's the general concept.)  

The Challenge is to tell us how you share your love of books with family or friends who live at a distance. You can submit a picture, humorous anecdote, or just a description of how you keep that reading connection going. 

The challenge will be open for two hours (till 5:00 CT).  Winner will receive a copy of The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown and a "family" photo frame.  This challenge is open to all countries.  

Read-A-Thon: Part II

Not the most productive morning :) - a little too much dozing and talking and tweeting and . . .  But it's time to start the second half of my reading day, so here's to fresh starts.

Still reading Let's Pretend This Never Happen by Jenny Lawson, and The Secret Life of Dresses by Erin McKean.


P.S.  51 degrees outside and I still feel like a popsicle. May have to wash dishes just get the circulation to return to my fingers.


Hour 8 Update: I have been reading aloud to Dave from Let's Pretend This Never Happened. It's sort of like Junie B. Jones with F-bombs. :)  

Read-A-Thon: Opening Meme

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  I'm at my home - also known as "Green Acres" - in  southeast Nebraska, USA.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?  Loving Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson.  Looking forward to Mariana by Suzanna Kearsley

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? My sister, who's reading with me, and I are both on Nutrisystem.  We will be munching on Herb Roasted Garbonzo Beans and other healthy options.  No bag of half-stale cheese puffs this year. :(

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  My usual phrase to describe myself is "Ex-librarian in search of a library", which is still true, but I'm also a wife, mother, grandmother, newbie gardner, crafter, and champion procratinator

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?  This is my 4th read-a-thon and the first one to include following along on Twitter.  I'm trying to limit myself to 5 minutes/hour - but we'll see. :)


And I would just like to add that it is incredibly COLD in my house this morning, but I'm refusing to start the furnace cause it's April and we shouldn't have to be running the furnace and later I'll be complaining because it's too hot, but for the moment I'm freeeeeeeezing! so if I fail to check in later, someone come thaw me with a hairdryer.  Thanks! I know I can count on you!

Hour 3 Update:  Still reading Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson.  Awesome!  Having difficulty staying awake, so more coffee, a brisk walk around the house, and back to the books. 


Hour 4 Update:  Not much reading this hour.  Kept getting distracted.  So, I'm going to switch books for the next hour.  Hilarious mini-challenge going at Reflections of a Bookaholic.  You should check it out.

The Read-A-Thon Begins

Good morning!  The spring Read-A-Thon is here.  I've got the coffee on and my stack of books ready to go.  My sister, Teri, is visiting me for the weekend to join in, so I hope we can avoid too much chatting and get some reading done.  Later this afternoon, we will be co-sponsoring a mini-challenge, so keep an eye out for that.  Our read-a-thon will end at 6:00 p.m. because we have concert tickets for this evening, but I'm pumped for a day of reading and blogging.

My TBR pile is way beyond what can be read in a day, but here's the top picks that I'll most likely be choosing from:

Already started:  Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
                         The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKeon
                         The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark

Next up:  The Bird House by Kelly Simmons
               Mariana by Susanna Kearsley
               The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
               The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas (Book Club Pick)
             
Hope you're wide awake - wherever you are - and ready to start a day devoted to books!

Calico Joe by John Grisham

At long last, America's favorite storyteller takes on America's favorite pastime. In this surprising and moving novel, the careers of a golden boy rookie hitter for the Cubs and a hard-hitting Mets pitcher take very different paths. The baseball is thrilling, but it's what happens off the field that makes Calico Joe a classic.

Definitely not your typical Grisham book, but variety is spicy or whatever. This book was satisfying both for sports enthusiasts and lovers of an emotional story.  Calico Joe is the story of a career cut short by one moment of anger, pride and jealousy. But it's more about a man trying to help his abusive father make peace before he dies.

Joe Castle and Calico Rock, Arkansas reminded me of Doc Graham and Chisholm, Minnesota in Field of Dreams - the hometown hero.  In fact, the whole thing had a bit of Field of Dreams flavor - and that's a good thing!  There is a lot of sports jargon and game details in the story that might be tricky for non-baseball enthusiasts, but the story behind the games is the focus.

The book is, of course, well-written - it's Grisham, after all - but the ending was a bit of a dribbling grounder.  Everything gets wrapped up and it's even a "good" ending - but it could have been better.  I'll explain why in the next paragraph, but it contains some spoilers, so be warned.

*SPOILER ALERT* If you read between the lines, you catch that Warren's biggest beef with Joe was that Paul idolized Joe rather than his father.  Warren found the scrapbook on Joe and he was jealous.   Paul's guilt for his unintentional contribution to Joe's injury is at least part of what drove him to make the trip.  Warren and Paul touch on it briefly in their final showdown but I felt the ending would have been better if the scrapbook had been addressed openly.  

I gave Calico Joe four out of 5 stars.