Wait, Summers Over? I Was About to Start...

I'm back from Texas and enjoying the last days of summer vacation. My son's school starts Wednesday after Labor Day (why? who knows?), so we get the extra pleasure of watching the cousins tromp off.

I've managed to shed my PTA presidencies and feel like a butterfly emerged from a cocoon. Life is happy and full of flowers again. I also finished my volunteer hours for the high school and had fun posing as a locker consultant for high school juniors.

I'm still doing my summer reading thing of starting a book every day. I'll stop on Tuesday and then see how I can actually finish any of them. Currently Reading is about 35 books right now.

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called It's Monday! What Are You Reading and I'm going to sign up. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed, and as I started several kidlit books (and finished one YA),  I'll check in with either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers for their version. After all, I started 3 kid or YA books and finished one.

This week I started:



Under the Egg, Laura Marx Fitzgerald. I picked this up at my annual visit to Book People, Austin's super fun book store.

Unbound, Jim Hines. I'm finally catching up on the rest of the Libromancer series.

Hostage, Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown. Also catching up on this series. Here you see the trouble with buying things -- the library doesn't nag me to finish them.

Someplace to Be Fying, Charles de Lint. OK, technically I'm not starting this, but I haven't made any progress on my book mark since September 2016, so I'm counting it.

Black Tide Rising, ed. John Ringo & someone else. Short stories set in Ringo's flu zombie world. I wonder if there will be a "Oh John Ringo, NO!" moment. He's got two short stories, so a good chance.

Virtues of War, Bennett Coles. Another book I bought years ago.

Legend, Marie Lu. Teenage dystopia from the start of the trend.

Seven books. Finally getting the rhythm right, with only two days left to go. Then I think I'll make myself finish two books before starting the next one.

I finished:



Out of Range, C.J. Box. Joe heads over to deal with rich people in Jackson, Wyoming, leaving his wife to manage the kids and some disgruntled local enemies. Things get tense when his communication skills falter under a demanding schedule and several car bombs. Somehow his wife is unsympathetic, perhaps sensing his inexplicable attraction to a seemingly toxic woman.

Raven's Strike, Patricia Briggs. A perfect summer read. I enjoyed the loyal family who opens their affections to include the lonely emperor and his companions, and the importance of knowledge in learning how to defeat the Big Bad. I could have used a few more female characters -- the brothers were old enough to be competent and active, while one sister was still a child and only feeling out the possibilities of her gift and the other sister was DEAD.

Superstar, Mandy Davis. The biggest weakness was how long it took the adults (especially mom, but also the principal) to identify the problem. Once that was dealt with Lester's voice carried the rest, especially his enthusiasm over the science fair and his handling of the confrontation with the bully of the class.

The Pirate Captain's Daughter, Ruby Lionsdrake. The next Mandrake Company books steps away from the captain to briefly look at an outsider's view of the company. Azerov is recovering from a brutal backstory and just noticing that the ship feels like home when he jeopardizes his standing to try to unnecessarily rescue a beautiful woman. Luckily she can cook, too. Her plan was terrible, so it's just as well he intervened.

Hmm, I started 7 and finished 4. Luckily my new-book-every-day scheme ends on Tuesday, where it transforms into "reduce the staggering currently-reading pile."

Picture books:

Nothing. I must have read some at Book People, but I forgot to write anything down.

Bookmarks moved in:





Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Part 13. Trading dulls me, but the traveling wrist watch was amusing.

Harmful to Minors, Judith Levine. We are kidding ourselves to think that kids don't know about sexual pleasure. There's also a creepy fascination with "innocence" which apparently means kids not knowing what we don't want them to know, although we get annoyed when they don't know what it would be convenient for them to know.

Merely a Marriage, Jo Beverley. While our heroine is in London awaiting her new wardrobe, we learn that she had a bad encounter as her first debut. And HE IS HERE.

The Way Into Chaos, Harry Connolly. OK, I don't think the monarchy is going to survive this crisis. I mean, with the current prince.

Valiant, Lesley Livingston. The girls are now besties, yay! I'm still not sure why our protagonist is the main character. The other girls have more gumption. Our hero can't decide whether to ruminate on the atrocities the Romans commit or to admire how hot the one talking to her is.

The Goldfish Boy, Lisa Thompson. It's rough to see how limited this boy's life has become. His parents have no idea what is going on, and now that the toddler next door has gone missing, no one has time for his phobias. I hope the Melody girl can help.

The Seventh Bride, T. Kingfisher. This miller's daughter has no interest in being part of a fairy tale, but the aristocratic sorcerer is bringing the magic to her.

Labyrinth Lost, Zoraida Cordova. Finally getting back to the next Cybils book, although I'm finding the protagonist a bit wearisome. I am not at the point in my life where I have patience for over-dramatic teens. Also, do all female narrators in YA emphasize their stupid mistakes and the competency of the cute guys in their vacinity? It's rather discouraging.

The Sunbird, Elizabeth Wein. This is a great book. I really like Telemakos, which terrifies me because I've read books by Wein before and she will really let him get hurt. I love the solid feel of a different time, with people who have different customs but seem utterly true.

The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown. The setting is the American Great Depression in Seattle, and everyone feels like a failure.

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, Rodman Philbrick. The evil uncle has sent the big brother off to war, with the help of corrupt officials.

Indigo, a lot of people. Our heroine might the the villain of the story. This concerns her.

Vinegar Girl, Anne Tyler. I have confirmed Maryland setting and at least one character I didn't dislike immediately, so good?

Black Butler 9, Yana Toboso. There's a strange Arthur Conan Doyle twist that I think I'm not appreciating properly. And a lot of new characters, most of them a blur to me.

Captive Prince, C.S. Pacat. The captive prince thinks he's incognito, and his captor is really hot.

The Murder of Mary Russell, Laurie R. King. Tea cups broken, blood everyone -- even the housekeeper can detect something is amiss.

The Youngest Miss Ward, Joan Aiken. As I have completely forgotten the plot and character names of Mansfield Park, I suspect I am missing much of the nuances of this book.

These I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.



The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox. Let's talk uncertainty principles.

Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen, Wendelin Van Draanen. Oh no -- Sammy's cat Dorito is missing! And her mom is a flake, but that's not news. And she shares a birthday with her nemesis. This is not the best day ever.

The Emerald Atlas, John Stephens.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

2017 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2016! 16 / a lot. OK, I ordered up some more picture books to show progress, and I've picked up Labyrinth Lost again.
2. Reading My Library:  I have made real progress on Out of Range, which is also set in Wyoming.
3. Where Am I Reading?: 28/51. Finished a Wyoming book. Was crushed to see my Indiana book was a duplicate. I'm currently reading a Maryland book and about to start something in the Carolinas, I forget which one. And maybe the Figg book will traipse off to an interesting state.

Aspergers Explained, Finally

I'm continuing my quest to understand more about Aspergers and autism in general, and this time I picked out a nonfiction title from the kids section. Kathy Hoopman wrote All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome, and with a title like that I figured I'd like it.

It's basically a picture book, with fun pictures of kittens illustrating a line of text describing common attributes of people with Aspergers. Of course, cats make everything look good, so it's a very positive portrayal. This is the first book on this topic I've gotten that X enjoyed as well; he considers it the best description so far of how he feels sometimes. I just have to remember that X is basically a cat, and then his reactions and misunderstandings make a lot more sense.  A

Marcelo in the Real World

Francisco X. Stork's Marcelo in the Real World is another entry in the autism book category, but it's not a problem book, it's a book about a boy who happens to process the world slightly differently and the summer he spends working in his father's law office. Marcelo's father is worried about his eventual integration into society; he's been attending a private school that caters to children with various issues. Marcelo must prove he can handle a job in the "real world" for a summer, or else he'll finish his high school years in a public school.

Marcelo has something like Asperger's; that's not quite his diagnosis but it gives people an idea of how to relate to him. He sees the world in a concrete way, unable to be hurried and easily overwhelmed by the shifting environments and stimuli in new places. But he knows and strengthens his ability to get around, to understand people, and to make tough choices. Because the story isn't about his problems relating, the story is about trust, between a father and son, between the people who are or who pretend to be your friends, and people you don't even know. B+