Monday, January 24, 2011
Silly Lists Series: Mystery
9:30 a.m. / 09:30
Mystery may be a stretch for one of these books and for another, I'm honestly guessing its genre. All but one will be published sometime later this year.
Mystery may be a stretch for one of these books and for another, I'm honestly guessing its genre. All but one will be published sometime later this year.
Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers
Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
Somokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward
Previously: Introduction, Romance, Children's & Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, General Fiction, Christian Fiction, Nonfiction
Labels: books, Silly Lists
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Silly Lists Series: Nonfiction
7:00 a.m. / 07:00
This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson
Previously: Introduction, Romance, Children's & Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, General Fiction, Christian Fiction
Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg
Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms by Ethan Gilsdorf
Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street by Michael Davis
This I Believe: On Love edited by Dan Gediman
Labels: books, Silly Lists
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Silly Lists Series: Christian
1:00 p.m. / 13:00
Friendship Cake
Forever Friends Lynne Hinton
The Summer Kitchen Lisa Wingate
Tiger Lillie by Lisa Samson
In Search of Eden by Linda Nichols
Previously: Introduction, Romance, Children's & Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, General Fiction
Labels: books, Silly Lists
Friday, January 14, 2011
Silly Lists Series: General Fiction
10:00 p.m. / 22:00
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Matchmaker of Perigord by Julia Stuart
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Matchmaker of Perigord by Julia Stuart
Labor Day by Joyce Maynard
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson
Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts
The Incident Report by Martha Baillie
Previously: Introduction, Romance, Children's & Young Adult, Speculative Fiction
Labels: books, Silly Lists
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Silly Lists Series: Speculative Fiction
9:00 a.m. / 9:00
(mostly fantasy)
Shades of Milk and Honey by Robinette Kowal
Ruby and the Stone Age Diet by Martin Millar
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Catalyst by Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Labels: books, Silly Lists
Monday, January 10, 2011
Silly Lists Series: Children's & Young Adult
9:00 p.m. / 21:00
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
Holes by Louis Sachar
Sources of Light by Margaret McMullan
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
Peace, Love and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle
Lasso Your Heart by Betty Cavanna
Previously: Introduction, Romance
Labels: books, Silly Lists
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Silly Lists Series: Romance
1:00 p.m. / 13:00
The Heir by Grace Burrows
Born in Ice by Nora Roberts
Fortune's Fool by Mercedes Lackey
Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
Gone with the Nerd by Vicki Lewis Thompson
The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss
The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockmann
When I Fall in Love by Lynn Kurland
Goodnight Tweetheart by Teresa Medeiros
Previously: Introduction
Labels: books, Silly Lists
Introducing the Silly Lists Series
11:11 a.m. / 11:11
These are very silly lists because I won't read even half of the books on them this year. There are probably already more books than I can actually read in 365 days on the lists and it is inevitable that I will find more books I really, really want to read as the year progresses. None the less, I would like to share my silly lists of books to read with you in series of blog posts. Feel free to laugh, both at my choices and at the notion that I could actually read so many books in one year.
Labels: Silly Lists
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Muggy
10:00 a.m. / 10:00
The dice mug is actually Mr. Bitter's mug. He's my most frequent visitor and I decided he deserved a mug of his own.
This one says I HATE MONDAYS on the other side. I saw it sitting on top of my grandma's fridge one time and commented that one just like it had been my favorite mug in the staff room at work until the coworker who owned it, and most of the other amusing mugs, left and took it with her. So Grandma just gave it to me there on the spot. 
This one is from snappyjdog. She visited New York City and the U.N. around the time I was participating in a model United Nations my final year of college and she brought me some souvenirs.
My mom made this one. There are more like it at her house. She told me to take this one when I moved out. It is, of course, one of my very favorite mugs. 
This one came from my boss. We did a secret Santas thing two years ago and she had my name. I recently found the note that was with it and I will share and edited (for privacy) version of it with you.
I had intended to get you a gift card for Pier 1 and wrap it in the mug, which I bought at a Pier 1 when I was setting up my first apartment. I bought a different mug for each of my friends, and one for myself, and a few spares. The idea was that each friend would have his / her own mug at my house and feel a little bit more at home there. Anyway, this mug was the one that was mine and is the only one of that set still in existence. But it has always reminded me of Pier 1 and of really good friends and my first place. And it seems like the right time to pass it on. I didn't make it to Pier 1 to pick up the gift card, so I've included that special kind of gift certificate that you can use at most any store.The "special kind of gift certificate" was cash, if you couldn't guess. This one is one of my favorites too but it gets too hot in the microwave so I don't use it as much as some others. I need to start using my kettle more and then I can use this mug more. This was also the inspiration for getting Mr. Bitter his own mug.
Mugs from Target. That place is full of stuff you don't need but so, so want. I think I at least got the second one on clearance.
More mugs from Grandma. She gave me the God's Blessings Are Forever mug when I was confirmed in the 7th grade. She was my sponsor so she should be nagging me about not going to mass anymore but she doesn't, which is okay with me.
Holiday mugs: Saint Patrick's Day, Christmas, HalloweenAdmittedly, as an Irish girl (50%, anyway), I celebrate Saint Patrick's Day year round, more or less, but I'm not sure I've ever used that mug.
The Christmas mug is another one from my Grandma, I think. I've had it a long time and my brother has one too. I actually like it and usually get it out and use it around Christmas.
Smiley mugs. I have a thing for smiley faces, although not as much as I used to. I think these might have all come from the florist my mom used to work for.
Aside from that Christmas mug, which I hadn't exactly thought of as just mine until I moved out, this is my first mug. It has tips for saving the Earth on the other side. It is a rare example of something I asked for at the grocery and actually got.
This is one of those cool mugs that reacts to heat. It's a global warming mug, so when you put hot chocolate or tea in it, the continents start to shrink as the ocean fills up. I never drink out of it because I think I must have some how cared for it wrong and the coating that makes it do its trick is slightly sticky now. It's another gift from snappyjdog. 
I bought this one at a dollar store on the way to camp at a state park. I'd gotten word that all the people I was on my way to meet were running late so I was killing time when I stopped for lunch. I remembered I'd forgotten to pack a mug and bought this one. Monday, January 03, 2011
New Year, New Books
11:00 a.m. / 11:00
I ended up with a total of $55.00 in Barnes & Noble* gift cards this year. With my gift cards + about $20.00 of my own money in the end, I purchased four books and a CD.
On my first gift card spending trip, I chose Book Lust To Go, Nancy Pearl's fourth such book, because I have compulsive need to own her books. I have her first two signed! Then I picked up a copy of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton because one of the gift cards was from Mr. Bitter's mom and she was talking about her signed copy of The Outsiders the day she gave me the card. I added a Christmas CD, Christmas Spirit by Los Lonely Boys to the pile, checked out and actually left the store with some money still on one of the cards.
I went back on New Year's Day with the remainder I left with before, plus an additional $10.00 card and picked up The Invention of Hugo Cabret** by Brian Selznick and Sources of Light by Margaret McMullan. I'd nearly picked up Sources of Light on the first trip and couldn't stop myself the second trip. I originally picked up Hugo Cabret because I was thinking my mom had given me one of the gift cards and she loves that book. That's wrong, though, my brother gave me the card. However, since I really didn't want to go pick up a copy of GoodFellas from the movie section in honor of my brother, I went ahead with the book my mom loves. So, I went to make my purchases. I had overestimated how much was left on the one gift card and probably should have stuck to one book but I went ahead and paid the remainder to get both books. I felt happy driving away from the store with my new books in the backseat.
Mr. Bitter had quite a quantity of Barnes & Noble gift cards this year too and he put them together to claim Munchkin Quest: The Munchkin Board Game for his own. Haven't gotten to play it yet but looking forward to it.
*Where I live, there aren't really any independent bookstores to speak of. I have my choice of Borders or Barnes & Noble and generally prefer Barnes & Noble.
**The Invention of Hugo Cabret is the only Caldecott winner I'm aware of being shelved with juvenile fiction, rather than with picture books.
Labels: books
