BBAW meme

I'm running a little late on this ....!

1) What has been one of the highlights of blogging for you?Reading challenges! I started blogging just to have a place to express myself; I envisioned spreading my innermost secrets out like a deck of cards and reviewing my life with a critical eye. But then I found a reading challenge and it took my blog a very different direction. I occasionally post about "life" but the books really keep me busy!
2) What blogger has helped you out with your blog by answering questions, linking to you, or inspiring you?I'd have a three way tie here with bermudaonion, Beth Fish Reads, and the Literate Housewife. I am probably a speck on their scope but they have been important to me.
3) What one question do you have about BBAW that someone who participated last year could answer?I'm still at the point where I don't even know what questions to ask!

Anyone But You by Jennifer Cruise

From the Amazon product description: Part basset, part beagle, all Cupid . . . can a matchmaking hound fetch a new love for his owner?

For Nina Askew, turning forty means freedom -- from the ex-husband whose career always came first, from their stuffy suburban home. Freedom to have her own apartment in the city, freedom to focus on what she wants for a change. And what she wants is something her ex always vetoed -- a puppy. A bouncy puppy to cheer her up. Instead she gets . . . Fred.

Overweight, smelly and obviously suffering from some kind of doggy depression, Fred is light-years from perky. But for all his faults, he does manage to put Nina face-to-face with Alex Moore, her gorgeous, younger downstairs neighbor.

I picked this one out hoping to read it and The Art of Racing in the Rain for Jennifer at the Literate Housewife's Dog Days of Summer week. She had this cute logo that I'll stick here so you can see it and if you'd like...click on over and check out what everyone who did get their reading done had to say! I didn't even get The Art of Racing in the Rain started so now I'll have to decide if I am going to read it or save it for next year!

Anyone But You was a fun, romantic escape. I liked all the characters, especially the dog, Fred. I could identify with the over forty heroine. Although I am married, the idea of freedom to do what you want is appealing - don't we all sometimes feel restrained by our roles - worker, wife, mother? A little fantasy about a hunky young doctor downstairs was a delightful diversion!

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

From the author's website: Strength in What Remains is the story of Deo, an African immigrant who survived the genocide in his home country, Burundi, near Rwanda. The first part of the story alternates between Deo's past in Burundi, and his more recent time spent in New York City. These parts are each in turn horrific and hopeful. As Kidder describes Deo's challenges in each location we can compare and contrast the parallels like having to sleep outdoors as part of the culture in Burundi and then as a homeless person in the city.

The second part of the book is in Kidder's voice as he and Deo revisit the places of Deo's past. The story really slowed down for me here. The first part of the book was a challenging read emotionally and a somewhat confusing read with the switching back and forth but I was so fascinated that I stuck with the story. In the second half, the challenge became sticking with it even when my mind wandered, the story was still good but somehow having it filtered through Kidder it seemed to lose it's sense of urgency.

Even with the loss of momentum at the end, Strength in What Remains was a satisfying read. This is a good story and an important one to tell. It adds to our knowledge of what man is capable of - both the evil of the genocide and the compassion of those that helped Deo to heal.


I read this book for the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.

Wondrous Words Wednesday August 26, 2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join in the fun by clicking on the logo to go to bermudaonions.



These wondrous words are from The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg.


"I turned off the engine and checked myself in the visor mirror. I didn't look deranged, as I feared I might; I could feel my over eagerness knocking about me. I thought surely I would look at least somewhat exophthalmic." p. 10
exophthalmic - adj. Of or relating to exophthalmos. Marked by prominence of the eyeball.


" But not tired enough to sleep. I'd need to be somnambulating before I went to the bedroom." p. 49
somnambulate - verb (used without object), -lat⋅ed, -lat⋅ing. to walk during sleep; sleepwalk.


"Later, when we talked about it, we agreed we had felt her.....beneficience, you know? We had felt her telling us it was all right - that she was all right." p. 119
beneficence – noun 1. the doing of good; active goodness or kindness; charity.
2. a beneficent act or gift; benefaction.

What's On Your Nightstand? August 2009

***This was supposed to be up at the end of August and now here it is the middle of September, let's just pretend it's still August!***
From last month's list I read and reviewed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (I think I will get to see the movie this weekend - hooray!) and Bridget Jones's Diary, the latter for the Everything Austen challenge hosted by Stephanie's Written Word. I didn’t have to read nearly as much of my boy's summer reading assignment selections as I expected - I guess they are growing up sniff, sniff! So I just read a smidgen of Holes, Pollyanna, and Treasure Island. I started and abandoned Reading Lolita in Tehran; it has gotten good reviews so I will give it another chance another time but I just wasn't in the mood for it right now. That leaves me still in need of an R book for the A-Z Reading Challenge . And - big news - yesterday was my one year blogoversary! Happy Blog Birthday to me, if you click back you will see I have had a giveaway to celebrate. (But I am so late posting this that it is done - boo, hiss.)Here's what this month looks like….

John Adams still anchors the bottom of the nightstand, no progress there. Next is Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder, an ARC from Library Thing that I have almost finished. It's a great tale about a young African man, Deo, who survived the genocide in his home country Burundi and again in Rwanda. It alternates between his life there and his new start in New York City - they are each horrifying and hopeful in their own way. Next is Nefrititi which is the August selection for the Facebook Historical Fiction book group. The author is available for questions Thursday so I need to get cracking on that one or I will miss out - all the book clubber's reviews so far have been great! Then I have The Art of Racing in the Rain - it's another I wanted to read this week for Jennifer at the Literate Housewife's Dog Days of Summer. If I called in sick the rest of the week maybe I would get both of these read on time!

My Blogoversary (and a Giveaway)

Happy Birthday to me! It's been a year today that I started this blog. I started the blog as an exercise in self-reflection but the book community sucked me in like a forceful whirlpool and I have enjoyed the ride! Blog netiquette would seem to dictate a giveaway and so I'm taking the giveaway plunge now. It really seems a bit silly since I have all of 9 readers - I could easily just mail you each a small sum and a thank you card! But I am a nothing if not a conformist so here comes the giveaway...

I was introduced this year to the world of audio books. I've supported this new addiction by haunting used book stores and the sale rack at Barnes & Noble whenever I have an excuse to drive the hour to the closest one. As I finished each one, I passed it on to my office mate, The Nurse, she listened to them and returned them to me where they have stacked up on my desk at the hospital probably causing the cleaning crew to wonder if I ever actually work. I'm donating most of them to the church bazaar but there are a few that are a little bit racy to donate. Hence the giveaway...

The Gently Used, Slightly Slutty Audio book Collection.

It includes...
Got the Look by James Grippando
The Unquiet by John Connolly
Long Lost by Harlan Coben
Undead and Unreturnable by Mary Janice Davidson
Lifeguard by James Patterson
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

If you would like to enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment. I don't know that I'll try to master using "random number generator", but I can put all the names in a hat and pull one out! And now despite the fact that it is my blogging birthday...I have to go to work! Thanks for visiting.

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Meet Bridget Jones -- a 30-something Singleton who is certain she would have all the answers is she could:

a) lose 7 pounds
b) stop smoking
c) develop Inner Poise



This was a reread for me for the Everything Austen Challenge. It was just as much fun the second time around. Having seen the movie, I had the characters firmly in place as Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant. I liked the book better because I liked her self-recriminatiosn as she logged her weight gained and cigarettes smoked - that didn't come across real well in the movie. On the flip side, I have to admit I really missed the line they added to the movie about Hugh Grant loving her granny panties!

Because this was the Everything Austen Challenge, I read the book this time knowing that it referenced Pride and Prejudice, and looking for the parallels. Obviously there was Colin Firth THE Mr. Darcy playing the new Mr. Darcy. There was the story theme of prejudging others - Bridget dismisses Mark Darcy wearing his Christmas sweater handknitted by his mother as arrogant and rude, just as Jane dismissed Mr. Darcy at the dance. And the storyline of the two male leads having a past together that leaves them as enemies with Mr. Darcy actually being the noble gentleman who comes to the aid of the heroine.


Just for the heck of it, let's finish with eye candy....