365 days

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menu
m ?
t Black bean tostadas
w Asian shrimp noodles
t breakfast
f ?
s Mexican chicken pizza

Nichole's WW journal

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reading

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the books of 2007
  • "The Children of Men"
  • "A Spot of Bother"
  • "At First Sight"
  • "The Night Gardener"
    the books of 2006
    books to read

    ...

    The Best Ribs
    Dad's Ever Had
  • Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville
  • The Alton Brown recipe Nichole made
  • The ribs at that place in Branson
  • Carolina Barbecue
  • FireBonz
  • ...

    Saturday, March 03, 2007

    Oops! We were supposed to turn left at Feldkirch.

    This is the best news story I've read in a long time.
    Swiss troops march into tiny Liechtenstein by mistake
    The Associated Press
    ZURICH, Switzerland: What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.

    According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers from the neutral country wandered 2 kilometers (more than a mile) across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

    A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story, but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.

    "We've spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it's not a problem," Daniel Reist told The Associated Press on Friday.

    Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.

    Interior Ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. "It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something," he said.

    Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington, D.C., does not have an army.
    from the International Herald Tribune.


    . . . . . the end . . . . .

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    Wednesday, February 28, 2007

    A book meme

    1. Grab the nearest book
    2. Open the book to page 123
    3. Find the fifth sentence
    4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions
    This was a dry land. Just a short distance to the west lay the Kalahari, a hinterland of ochre that stretched off, for unimaginable miles, to the singing emptiness of the Namib. If she turned her tiny white van off one of the tracks that struck off from the mail road, she could drive for perhaps thirty or forty miles before her wheels would began to sink in the sand and spin hopelessly.
    from "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith

    That worked out nicely; the first two sentences were one of my favorite segments in the book.

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    Monday, February 19, 2007

    From the '07 reading journal

    Very Good, Jeeves! by P.G. Wodehouse
    Too much fantastic goofiness to jot it all down. Here's a small sampling:
    ... "She is so far above me."
    "Tall girl?" ...

    ... There is a ghastly moment in the year, generally about the beginning of August, when Jeeves insists on taking a holiday, the slacker, and legs it off to some seaside resort for a couple of weeks, leaving me stranded. ...

    ... "Ah, Mr. Wooster," it said. "Ha, Ha!"
    "Ho, ho!" I replied, not to be outdone in the courtesies. ...

    ... It was one of those big days for beamers. ...

    The Children of Men by P.D. James
    I didn't think this was a great book, but the premise is very interesting. It's a take on "The End" that I haven't heard suggested before (although I don't really read/watch a whole lot on that topic, so it may have been done before). James expressed the slow, depressed decline very poignantly. There were several scenes (all spoilerish, so I won't go into detail) that are burned into my mind. The book's denouement wasn't as moving as I'd expected it to be. When I read the book, I wrote that I wanted to see the movie and that I hoped the movie would be better than the book. I've seen the movie now, and I'm not sure how much comparison I can do in fairness. The book and the movie are so completely different. They've changed the characters, the action and the plot. That being said, I found the movie more moving than the book.

    Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
    Nemirovsky's own story is more heartbreaking than anything in her book. The "Dolce" section is better crafted than the "Storm" section, but I'd imagine that the completed book would've been much more polished had the author lived. As it is, "Storm" lacks cohesion.

    A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
    I read this on my way to Columbia, and I loved it. I don't normally enjoy "everything falls apart" novels, but "A Spot of Bother" is so well-written and funny and sweet. I should've written down some of the bits that I particularly liked, but I was on planes and in airports, and I just didn't do it.

    At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks
    Amy gave this to me to read on my way home from Columbia. I know a lot of people think Sparks is the bee's knees. I am not one of those people.

    The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos
    This was on a few "best of 2006" lists. I wasn't crazy about it. The convergence of plots was especially disappointing.

    Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
    I have no idea what to make of this book. I thought I was going to abandon it after the first chapter, but then I got sucked into the story and couldn't stop reading. The end, though ... It threw me for a loop. Blue's father's behavior doesn't seem true to character unless her theory is right, and that's just nutty. I know that doesn't make sense if you haven't read the book. So go read the book, then come back and tell me what you think.

    The Dead Beat by Marilyn Johnson
    It made me want to read more obits.

    . . . . . the end . . . . .


    The clock is ticking! Click here to join Nichole's Oscar pool. If that doesn't work, go to http://defectiveyeti.com/oscars/ and enter poll ID 24724. You could win a fabulous something!

    Labels:


    posted by Nichole @ 12:44 PM  

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  • Whatif says, "Hey Nicole - I don't know your email address but I thought you'd find this blog eerily similar to your recent past: http://amommystory.blogspot.com/

    I think the blog is hysterical, I found it a few weeks ago.

    Oh, and your foray into Weight Watchers has inspired me to step on the wagon. However, I think I stepped on a big pile of chocolate climbing in. Thanks for the good ideas. : )
    -Monica" (5:59 PM, February 19, 2007)  

  • Justin says, "I need to point out an error on your blog...Dad's favorite ribs are not from Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. They are from Jimmy Buffet's Cheeseburger in Paradise." (3:03 PM, February 20, 2007)  

  • Amy says, "Dude, you are now on my list of people who will not borrow books from my library." (5:50 PM, February 21, 2007)  

    post a comment

  • Thursday, February 01, 2007

    Da Bears and Da Don

    Our friend Don loves Chicago. Thus, he loves the Bears. That probably wouldn't warrant him all that much attention if he lived anywhere else. But in Boise? He made the newspaper. Here's the article and a picture of Don, all of his Bears stuff and his mysteriously Alex-esque beard.

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    Saturday, December 30, 2006

    The Books of 2006

    I think I can safely say that I won't be reading any more books this year. I thought I'd read 52 books this year, but it turns out that all this time I've been counting one of the books that I'd abandoned. So I've only read 51. And I'm OK with that.

    Next year, I'd like to read more slowly, more carefully. I've been reading too quickly to absorb anything. So my goal for 2007 is to read fewer books.

    1. "The Big Nap" by Ayelet Waldman. Jan. 10

    2. "Playdate with Death" by Ayelet Waldman. Jan. 10-12

    3. "Death Gets a Timeout" by Ayelet Waldman. Jan. 13-?

    4. "The Cradle Robbers" by Ayelet Waldman. Jan. ?-18

    5. "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson. Jan 18-26

    6. "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson. Jan 30-Feb. 4

    7. "The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen. Feb. 6-17

    8. "The Quiet American" by Graham Greene. Feb 25-March 1

    9. "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck. March 7-27

      "The Fortress of Solitude" by Jonathan Lethem. started March 27, abandoned March 30

    10. "Peace Like a River" by Leif Engler. March 30-April 2

    11. "Charming Billy" by Alice McDermott. April 3-4

    12. "The Language of Baklava" by Diana Abu-Jabar. no dates listed

    13. "While I Was Gone" by Sue Miller. April 7-11

    14. "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. April 15-18

    15. "The Known World" by Edward P. Jones. April 18-?

    16. "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. no dates listed

    17. "March" by Geraldine Brooks. no dates listed

    18. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. ?-May 10

    19. "The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion. May 10-16

    20. "Atonement" by Ian McEwan. May 16-?

    21. "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. June 7-10

    22. "Devil in the Details" by Jennifer Traig. June 13-?

    23. "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. July 5-6

    24. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. July 8-9

    25. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey. July 13-15

    26. "Tishomingo Blues" by Elmore Leonard. July 17-18

    27. "Marley & Me" by John Grogan. July 18-19

    28. "Monkeys, Go Home!" adapted by Mel Cebulash. July 23

    29. "Carry On, Jeeves" by P.G. Wodehouse. July 25-?

    30. "Watership Down" by Richard Adams. near Aug. 7-11

      "McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales"

    31. "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. Aug. 29-30

    32. "Fer-de-Lance" by Rex Stout.
      no dates listed

    33. "The Mother Hunt" by Rex Stout. Sept. 9-12

    34. "Black Orchids" by Rex Stout. Sept. 12-13

    35. "Might As Well Be Dead" by Rex Stout. Sept. 14-16

    36. "Saints at the River" by Ron Rash. Sept. 18-19

      "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana" by Umberto Eco. started Oct. 10

      "Drowning in Gruel by George Singleton. started Oct. 15

    37. "Manhunt: The 12-Day Search for Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson. Oct. 22-Nov. 8

    38. "The King of Lies" by John Hart. Nov. 6-10

    39. "Stripped" by Bryan Freeman. Nov. 10-12

    40. "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. Nov. 11-?

    41. "The Keep" by Jennifer Egan. Nov. 16-17

      "Now is the Hour" by Tom Spanbauer

    42. "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists" by Gideon Defoe. Nov. 20-21

      "Until I Find You" by John Irving. started Nov. 22

    43. "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab" by Gideon Defoe. Nov. 26

    44. "What Now, King Lear?" by Alistair Boyle. Nov. 26-Dec. 3

    45. "The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai. Dec. 3-5

    46. "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. Dec. 5-6

    47. "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards. Dec. 6-7

    48. "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd. Dec. 7-8

    49. "The Human Factor" by Graham Greene. Dec. 8-11

    50. "Some Buried Caesar" by Rex Stout. Dec. 14-30

      "The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters" by Gordon Dahlquist. started Dec. 15

    51. "The BFG" by Roald Dahl. Dec. 28

    . . . . . the end . . . . .

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    Thursday, December 28, 2006

    "Home Fire"

    American Life in Poetry: Column 092

    By Ted Kooser,
    U.S. poet laureate, 2004-2006

    Home is where the heart. . . Well, surely we all know that old saying. But it's the particulars of a home that make it ours. Here the poet Linda Parsons Marion, who lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, celebrates familiarity, in its detail and its richness.

    Home Fire

    Whether on the boulevard or gravel backroad,
    I do not easily raise my hand to those who toss
    up theirs in anonymous hello, merely to say
    "I'm passing this way." Once out of shyness, now
    reluctance to tip my hand, I admire the shrubbery
    instead. I've learned where the lines are drawn
    and keep the privet well trimmed. I left one house
    with toys on the floor for another with quiet rugs
    and a bed where the moon comes in. I've thrown
    myself at men in black turtlenecks only to find
    that home is best after all. Home where I sit
    in the glider, knowing it needs oil, like my own
    rusty joints. Where I coax blackberry to dogwood
    and winter to harvest, where my table is clothed
    in light. Home where I walk out on the thin page
    of night, without waving or giving myself away,
    and return with my words burning like fire in the grate.

    Reprinted from "Home Fires: Poems," Sow's Ear Press, 1997, by permission of the author. Copyright (c) 1997 by Linda Parsons. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.


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    Labels: ,


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    Friday, December 15, 2006

    "The Mermaid Chair"

    I didn't care for the message this book sets forth -- that it's OK to set your marriage aside as long as you're trying to "find yourself." This is another My Family is Falling Apart book, and, as usual, I wasn't crazy about it. I enjoyed the language of the book. I just didn't like the overall theme.
    I marvel at how good I was before I met him, how I lived molded to the smallest space possible, my days the size of little beads that passed without passion through my fingers.
    I felt amazing at the choosing one had to do, over and over, a million times daily -- choosing love, then choosing it again, how loving and being in love could be so different."

    ..... the end .....

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    "The Memory Keeper's Daughter"

    The cover design on "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" made me want to buy the book every time I saw it. I have a hard time spending money on myself, though, so I kept not buying it and not buying it. Then I ran out of things to read while Piper and I were at my dad's, so I picked up two books and tossed them in the grocery cart at Meijer's. And then Dad paid for everything.

    (Hooray for Dad!)

    Turns out I should've kept admiring the cover without reading the book. It was an interesting plot, and it was well written. I'm just not big on the My Family Is Falling Apart genre.

    ..... the end .....

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    Tuesday, December 12, 2006

    Thar She Blows...my personal challenge

    Okay, I'm throwing down the proverbial gauntlet...at my own feet! Last night I purchased Moby Dick at the local bookstore. It come complete with neat maps and drawings and a tiny dictionary to help me understand the lingo of the high seas! My goal: read a chapter a day until I'm finished. I am thinking I may even do little updates on the blog each day.
    I plan on beginning my siege of Melville after I finish Blood Meridian which, at the rate I'm going, should be around February (ha-ha-ha -- actually more like next week.) Anyway, I'll make sure to post when I begin the personal abuse. Of course some would say that going from Blood Meridian to Moby Dick is just a continuation of abuse.

    Whatever, man.

    Call me Ishmael.



    ..... the end .....

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    posted by Alex @ 10:20 AM  

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  • Amy says, "My head hurts just thinking about it. Good luck." (10:59 AM, December 12, 2006)  

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  • Wednesday, December 06, 2006

    'Life of Pi'

    I enjoyed "Life of Pi" much more than "The Inheritance of Loss." I had been put off of "Pi" because of the story when it first came out. A boy and a tiger lost at sea? No thank you. But I finally read it, and I'm glad I did.

    I'm not sure which of Pi's stories I believe. I prefer the Richard Parker version, but I'm afraid that wasn't the "true" one.

    And now, some quotes.
    I chose the sloth because its demeanour -- calm, quiet and introspective -- did something to soothe my shattered self.
    The presence of God is the finest of rewards.
    Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act of love -- but sometimes it was so hard to love. Sometimes my heart was sinking so fast with anger, desolation and weariness, I was afraid it would sink to the very bottom of the Pacific and I would not be able to lift it back up.

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    posted by Nichole @ 1:19 PM  

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  • Anonymous says, "you're just a readin' fool lately! where DO you find the time?
    *steals your baby that let's you read*" (7:14 PM, December 06, 2006)  

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  • Tuesday, December 05, 2006

    'The Inheritance of Loss'

    "The Inheritance of Loss" is really, really depressing. I heard an interview a few weeks ago with Kiran Desai, and the book sounded interesting. So when we were at the bookstore and my dad asked what he should read next, I picked it up and said, "I heard this was good." It did, after all, win the 2006 Booker Prize.

    I finished it today. I don't think Dad will like it. I don't think I liked it.

    I'm reading "The Life of Pi" next. It also won the Booker Prize. It's also about an Indian. Named Patel. Just like "Inheritance." Oh boy.

    Labels:


    posted by Nichole @ 11:57 AM  

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  • Amy says, "When do you find so much time to read? I'm jealous at all the books you're plowing through." (1:12 PM, December 05, 2006)  

  • Nichole says, "I read whenever I have the chance. Mainly when I ought to be doing other things, like the dishes or laundry.

    I read in the mornings (if I get up before Pi), during "Sesame Street" and after Piper goes to bed. I don't feel like I'm as good a reader as Alex is. He might only read four books in a year, but he reads the heck of out those four books. He could have in-depth conversations on them years later. I read too fast, and I don't think I do a thorough job digesting what I read. I couldn't tell you the last three books I'd read if I hadn't been keeping my reading journal." (1:36 PM, December 05, 2006)  

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  • Monday, December 04, 2006

    'What Now, King Lear?'

    I finished "What Now, King Lear?" a few days ago. It's a silly mystery novel; the plot unravelled quite steadily, to the point that I really didn't care who did it by the end. "Gil Yates" is the investigator's PI alter ego; by day, he works for his wife's father's real estate brokerage. He hates his job, his father-in-law and his wife. He was a little mean-spirited for my taste.

    In short: Not my favorite book.

    Labels:


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    Wednesday, November 22, 2006

    "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists"

    "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists" is an exceptionally silly book. It was fun to read, though, and it's very short. So if you hate it, at least it will be over quickly.
    The pirates managed to do a pretty decent job of mingling with the scientists, nodding politely and saying "Really?" a lot as they listened to them drone on about their latest inventions and discoveries, but the Pirate Captain soon found himself involved in a particularly awkward conversation about molecules, so he was relieved when FitzRoy interrupted him before it got to the stage where he had to say if he was for or against them.
    Yeah, that's pretty much how I handle all of Alex's science shin-digs.

    Labels:


    posted by Nichole @ 8:41 AM  

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    Sunday, November 19, 2006

    Fifty?

    Doppleganger at 50 Books started her site when she decided to try to read 50 books in one year. When I first found her site, I thought, "Boy, that's a lot of books." Now here it is mid-November, and I've read 41 books this year. How 'bout that?

    I think I'm within reach of 50 for 2006. If I start reading some "Sweet Valley High."

    Anyway. The books. Rather than listing them all here, I made a little Amazon store so you can see their covers and everything. Yee-haw, right?

    Here 'tis.

    Labels:


    posted by Nichole @ 9:40 AM  

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  • ccap says, "Wow, 41. That's pretty darn impressive in my books." (7:53 PM, November 19, 2006)  

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  • Friday, November 17, 2006

    "The Keep"

    I finished "The Keep" this morning while Piper was watching "Sesame Street" (and, really, I should've been cleaning something). It's a crazy, breathless story that left alot of things unanswered, things I was sure were going to be the crux of the whole story. It left me feeling a little disjointed. But I liked it, and I'm adding it to my "recommended" list.

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    Thursday, November 16, 2006

    "The Birds"

    American Life in Poetry: Column 086

    By Ted Kooser,
    U.S. poet laureate, 2004-2006

    Linda Pastan, who lives in Maryland, is a master of the kind of water-clear writing that enables us to see into the depths. This is a poem about migrating birds, but also about how it feels to witness the passing of another year.

    The Birds

    are heading south, pulled
    by a compass in the genes.
    They are not fooled
    by this odd November summer,
    though we stand in our doorways
    wearing cotton dresses.
    We are watching them

    as they swoop and gather--
    the shadow of wings
    falls over the heart.
    When they rustle among
    the empty branches, the trees
    must think their lost leaves
    have come back.

    The birds are heading south,
    instinct is the oldest story.
    They fly over their doubles,
    the mute weathervanes,
    teaching all of us
    with their tailfeathers
    the true north.

    Reprinted from "The Imperfect Paradise," by Linda Pastan. Copyright (c) 1988 by Linda Pastan. With permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Ms. Pastan's most recent book is "Queen of a Rainy Country," W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2006. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.

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    Wednesday, November 15, 2006

    "The Road"

    I kept waiting for the hopeful part of "The Road." Alex said there would be a hopeful part, and some reviewers on Amazon have called it "uplifting."

    I don't think so.

    It's the post-apocalyptic story of a boy and his father, and they're making their way south and everything is ash and terror.
    Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.
    It gave me nightmares, and I think it will continue to do so.

    Labels:


    posted by Nichole @ 7:29 PM  

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  • Alex says, "I'm trudging through "Blood Meridian" right now. It's beautifully written but good golly it's violent!" (11:27 AM, November 16, 2006)  

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  • Tuesday, November 14, 2006

    Reading challenge

    Michelle at Overdue Books has started the "From the Stacks" reading challenge. Here are the official rules:
    So for this challenge we would be reading 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand and haven't read before. No going out and buying new books. No getting sidetracked by the lure of the holiday bookstore displays.

    The bonus would be that we would finally get to some of those titles (you know you picked them for a reason!) and we wouldn't be spending any extra money over the holidays.

    The time frame would be Nov. 1st until Jan. 30 and there will be some small, fun prizes awarded to random participants and/or those with clever review posts. There will be one random drawing for a prize to those who submit their list of books in the comment section by Nov. 15th but feel free to join any time. There will be another random drawing for those who submit five reviews by Jan. 30 for a small gift certificate to Amazon.

    I don't buy very many books. I might have 5 books in the house that I haven't read. I know I have two Cormac McCarthys and two Ngaio Marshes. I haven't read anything by either of them before, and if I sign up for this I'll feel obligated to read both books by each author and I'm worried that I won't like one of them, or maybe both, but I'll feel obligated because I signed up for this challenge. So I'm not signing up. But I'd like to encourage you to play if you have a lot of books in your to-read stack.

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    posted by Nichole @ 9:07 AM  

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  • Amy says, "I DEFINITELY have 5 books on my bookshelf that I've been meaning to read but can I really read them all by January 30? Hmm..." (10:01 AM, November 14, 2006)  

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  • Monday, November 13, 2006

    "Stripped"

    I can't believe I got beyond the second chapter of "Stripped." Here's a quick plot outline: Sex sex sex, murder, sex sex, murder, sex sex sex, murder. But it is pretty suspenseful, and there are a couple of good twists. If you can get past the Vegasness of the book, it's not bad.

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    posted by Nichole @ 7:25 AM  

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    Friday, November 10, 2006

    "The King of Lies"

    My brother-in-law has recently become a voracious reader, and when we were visiting last weekend he gave me a couple of books that he'd finished. On of them was John Hart's "The King of Lies," which popped up on Publisher Weekly's Best Books of the Year. They are professionals, so I will spare you my synopsis of the book and give you theirs:
    Hart's stunning debut, an exceptionally deep and complex thriller set in the South, compares favorably to the best of Scott Turow.
    Now, I don't think I've ever read anything by Scott Turow, so I can't vouch for that comparison. But "The King of Lies" is set in the South, and it is a pretty complex story. I don't read alot of suspense/thriller stories anymore,* but I there was a time when that was pretty much all I read. Now I mainly read board books about beluga whales, bears and the ABCs. But the allure of the board book isn't what made me stop reading suspense; it was the similarities between the "thrillers." They started to seem formulaic, and more often than not the ending didn't come as a big surprise. "The King of Lies" did surprise me, though. So I liked it. And that's all I have to say about that.

    Oh, except this: There is some gruesomeness. But it's about a murder, right? So it would have to be a little gruesome. But there's grossness and violence beyond the murder, too. I could have done without some of it.

    *Although I will be if my brother-in-law keeps giving me books because he loves them.

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    Thursday, November 09, 2006

    "In November"

    American Life in Poetry: Column 082

    By Ted Kooser,
    U.S. poet laureate, 2004-2006

    The Illinois poet, Lisel Mueller, is one of our country's finest writers, and the following lines, with their grace and humility, are representative of her poems of quiet celebration.

    In November

    Outside the house the wind is howling
    and the trees are creaking horribly.
    This is an old story
    with its old beginning,
    as I lay me down to sleep.
    But when I wake up, sunlight
    has taken over the room.
    You have already made the coffee
    and the radio brings us music
    from a confident age. In the paper
    bad news is set in distant places.
    Whatever was bound to happen
    in my story did not happen.
    But I know there are rules that cannot be broken.
    Perhaps a name was changed.
    A small mistake. Perhaps
    a woman I do not know
    is facing the day with the heavy heart
    that, by all rights, should have been mine.

    Reprinted from "Alive Together: New and Selected Poems," Louisiana State University Press, 1996, by permission of the author. Poem copyright (c) 1996 by Lisel Mueller. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.

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    posted by Nichole @ 9:20 AM  

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    Wednesday, November 08, 2006

    "Manhunt"

    I finally finished James Swanson's "Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer" today. I don't read a lot of non-fiction. And when I do, it's very rarely historical. When "Manhunt" came out, though, I read several good reviews for it. John Wilkes Booth was apparently considered a hottie. To which I say: Seriously, 1800s? Still, good review alones wouldn't normally drive me to read historical non-fiction. The real draw here was Dr. Samuel Mudd, the man who set John Wilkes Booth's leg and was consequently put in jail. Mudd is in my stepmother's family tree, and I've been interested in the Lincoln assassination since I learned there was a family connection.*

    Swanson trashes Mudd nearly every time he mentions the doctor. The Mudd story according to the family was that Booth showed up unexpectedly at the Mudd home with a broken leg and that the doctor set the leg, not knowing that he was aiding the president's assassin. "Manhunt," on the other hand, says that while Booth's visit was unexpected, Mudd knew him and had actually been involved in a previous attempt to kidnap Lincoln. When Booth arrived at the house, the book says, Mudd hadn't yet heard about the assassination. But apparently he did learn of it before Booth left, and he didn't alert the authorities until well after Booth had gone on his way. I felt an odd sense of loyalty toward Mudd while I was reading all of this.

    Also, I learned that John Wilkes Booth was apparently considered a hottie. To which I say: Seriously, 1800s?

    Anyway, I enjoyed reading "Manhunt." It is, as advertised, a pretty thrilling read. And I'm proud of myself for actually finishing a book again. I abandoned the last two I tried to read. And this was a smarty-pants historical non-fiction book! Go me!

    *Technically, she isn't my stepmom anymore. But we still claim her anyway. Love you, Mary!

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    posted by Nichole @ 4:34 PM  

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    Monday, October 30, 2006

    Fuzzy red addiction


    How did this happen? My sweet little girl hardly paid attention to the characters on "Sesame Street" as recently as Friday. Today, she's an addict. At dinner she rubbed her tiny little fingers together and chanted, "Em-o, Em-o, Em-o." Alex is giving her a bath right now, and I can hear her up there: "Em-o, Em-o, Em-o." Which is cute, but I fear for our future. Please, friends and family, if you love me, don't give her one of these.

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    posted by Nichole @ 6:57 PM  

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  • Amy says, "Tia loves saying Elmo, too. Like the new plaid look!" (10:49 PM, October 30, 2006)  

  • Alex says, "Not only was she saying "E-mo" in the bath last night, she was launching herself into the bubbles and laughing the whole time!" (8:22 AM, October 31, 2006)  

  • Anonymous says, "What is it w/Elmo, seriously? And baby einstein for that matter? It baffles me, but whatever! :) I'm still stuck on the fact that Piper is TALKING! We miss you guys!" (1:26 PM, October 31, 2006)  

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  • Wednesday, October 25, 2006

    Nein

    Nine reasons we do not like "The Nine"
    1. Kathryn's hair.
    2. Nothing ever happens. I came for the bank robbery story. I'm getting "blah, blah, blah."
    3. Everytime it starts, I have 167 hours until the next episode of "Lost."
    4. Lizzie won't stop making that face. Ugh.
    5. The bad guys had so much time to leave. Why are they so stupid? Why?
    6. Joe without Brian? No thank you.
    7. Alex doesn't care for bizzaro Michael J. Fox.
    8. Do lawyers have conflict-of-interest rules? Should Kathryn's boyfriend be on this case? Huh? I need some answers.*
    9. Plot lacks polar bears.

    *I don't need any answers, really. I'm done with this show.

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    posted by Nichole @ 11:00 PM  

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  • Alex says, "Is it just a coincidence that Yahoo! has this thing called "The 9" which started just a few weeks before "The Nine" began airing in ABC this fall?" (11:16 AM, October 27, 2006)  

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  • Friday, October 20, 2006

    "Clean"

    Here's a punch in the gut for you. Mr. Kooser has more eloquent things to say, of course. He is a poet, after all.

    American Life in Poetry: Column 082

    By Ted Kooser,
    U.S. poet laureate, 2004-2006

    Many poems celebrate the joys of having children. Michigan poetJeff Vande Zande reminds us that adults make mistakes, even with children they love, and that
    parenting is about fear as well as joy.

    Clean

    Her small body shines
    with water and light.
    Giggling, she squeals "daddy,"
    splashes until his pants darken.
    Five more minutes, he thinks,
    stepping out quickly,
    pouring himself a drink,
    not expecting to return
    to find her slipped under,
    her tiny face staring up
    through the undulating surface.
    Before he can move,
    or drop his scotch,
    she raises her dripping head,
    her mouth a perfect O.
    The sound of her gulped breath
    takes the wind out of him.
    Her face,
    pale and awed,
    understands the other side
    of water and air.
    His wife didn't see,
    doesn't know.
    Her feet pulse and fade
    in the upstairs joists.
    His daughter cries,
    slips from him, not giggling.
    She wants out.
    He tries to keep her
    in the tub, in the light.
    He's on his knees.

    Reprinted from "Rattle," Winter, 2005, by permission of the poet, whose most recent book is "Into the Desperate Country," March Street Press, 2006. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.

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    posted by Nichole @ 9:00 PM  

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