Vacation Day Four-Twelve -- Mission NOT Accomplished

And then vacation got busy and my reading dwindled...

Oops. I should have known. I did manage to read five books during break:

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini by Paul Fleischman
Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman (audiobook)
White Cat by Holly Black (audiobook)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

I really enjoyed all of them. During break I started three others:
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
Moominpapa at Sea by Tove Jansson
Does Anybody Have a Problem with That? by Bill Maher

While I've still not completed any of those I did take a brief break and read Ender's Game for my RRVWP book club and really enjoyed it. I am hopeful that I'll get back to these three again soon since I am also determined to read Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout in the next few days before the Great Reads Book Club at the library next week.

Already January is half done and I managed to pick up another fine stack of tantalizing books when I was at Half Price Books in the Twin Cities over Christmas break.

Vacation Day Three... Audiobooks

Merry Christmas!

Today my sister and I drove to see my dad for the afternoon and I was thrilled to discover her willingness to listen to a book. Since I was equally excited about all the choices I'd picked up at the library for my holiday, I let her pick.

First we listened to the full cast recording of Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman -- a prequel to The Golden Compass. The main character was Lee Scorsby and in this episode we also get our first glimpse of the armored bears-- Yorick Bernison, in particular.



Then on the drive home we started White Cat by Holly Black. This is a young adult story of a boy named Cassel whose family is full of "curse workers." So, I guess you'd call this part of the fantasy genre too. We got nearly to the halfway point and as I am packing for my trip to The Cities tomorrow I hope to hear the rest of it. Perhaps my pal, Rebecca and I will listen to another one on the drive there--I have some other gems picked out.

What's been particularly fun this holiday break is seeing my sister devouring books via her kindle. In fact, when she got home she downloaded White Cat on audio so she could continue to listen to the story at home. It's fun to have people who share my enthusiasm for books and reading.

Vacation Day Two... More Books!

Well, Behemoth is done and as satisfying as it could be with its unresolved ending. I do love the Steampunk genre and this book's alternate history (set in a version of WW I). The Darwinists and the Clankers, the Beasties and the Stormwalkers are actually a lot of fun for the likes of me.

I've finished my Houdini book too and I can wholeheartedly say that I love the juvenile nonfiction genre tremendously. Or perhaps it's just Fleishman whom I admire. For a girl who thirsts for knowledge the book serves up just enough to whet the appetite and then if I can't resist I can always dig deeper. I've had similar experiences with the Catherine Gourley volumes on "Images and Issues of Women in the Twentieth Century" and Elizabeth Partridge's fantastic biography of Woody Guthrie. As a wee Christmas present to myself I did indulge in another Sid Fleishman biography -- Sir Charlie, but that is for another day.

Today's a day for multiple volumes and possibly no finishes as there is this thing called Christmas Eve happening at my mom's tonight.

Today I officially started the following books:
Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
Moominpapa at Sea by Tove Jansson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Vacation--Day One, Book One

A few weeks ago I planned to take on the challenge of reading a book a day over Christmas vacation. Then I started planning some reading choices. Well, I'm already behind before I begin because I'm in the MIDDLE of a book I was going to read for the challenge. Will I put it aside to pursue today's daily book? I'm afraid I just can't do that. Instead I will not take this challenge so literally as to assume I will complete a book a day each day... and instead aim for a grand total of 12 (or 13 since I'd already started Behemoth before the challenge). I am a fan of reading a multitude of books at once anyway.

I'm currently reading Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld














and today's read in my #bookaday challenge is ...

Escape! The Story of The Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman

Book a Day Options

So the hard part about finding 11 books to read over break is that I have to choose from the 555 in my Goodreads "to read" category. Last night, I started pulling unread books from my shelves and I had to stop when I got to about 25 titles. So, no matter what, I'll have no trouble FINDING great titles... I just may have some trouble NARROWING my options.

Care to help? Feel free to weigh in on these titles.

1. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (young adult fiction)
2. The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke (short stories)
3. Men and Gods by Rex Warner, illustrated by Edward Gorey (myths)
4. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (memoir)
5. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (memoir)
6. White Cat by Holly Black (young adult)
7. Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus (children's)
8. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (young adult)
9. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (young adult)
10. A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami (fiction)
11. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (juvenile/young adult fiction)
12. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (memoir)
13. Escape! The Story of The Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman (young adult nonfiction)
14. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (nonfiction)
15. Big Fish by Daniel Wallace (fiction)
16. Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (juvenile/young adult fiction)
17. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson (nonfiction/roman a clef)
18. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (fiction)
19. Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell (mystery)
20. Moominpappa at Sea by Tove Jansson (juvenile fiction)
21. Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James swanson (young adult history)
22. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
23. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (juvenile/young adult fiction)
24. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (fiction)
25. Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle (3 Young Adult holiday romances)

UPDATE:
Books in red, I completed for the challenge
Books in green, I read BEFORE the challenge began. :)

A Book a Day

Since I love a good challenge, I'm going to try for a "book a day" over my holiday break. For me that's only 11 days... 11 books.

If you choose to participate, you can share your progress and your titles on Twitter with the hashtag #bookaday.

Donalyn Miller, of Book Whisperer fame, is leading the charge. Now I just have to decide which choice morsels to devour over my brief break.

Miller reminds us that anything is fair game... novels, nonfiction, picture books, graphic novels, your challenge, your pick. With that in mind I should be in good shape. After all, I think I have more than 500 titles on my "to read" list.