"And to this purpose"

"If people like to read their books, it is all very well, but to be at so much trouble in filling great volumes, which, as I used to think, nobody would willingly ever look into, to be labouring only for the torment of little boys and girls, always struck me as a hard fate; and though I know it is all very right and necessary, I have often wondered at the person's courage that could sit down on purpose to do it." (In other words: rambling analyses, opinions, ideas, views, and comments from an English major, Essay/paper-writing enthusiastic, Austen-loving Master Librarian on, well, Jane Austen...and a whole lot of other things, too.)

"Celebrated Passages are Quoted"

Heidi's favorite quotes


"What is it really like to be engaged?" asked Anne curiously. "Well, that all depends on who you're engaged to," answered Diana, with that maddening air of superior wisdom always assumed by those who are engaged over those who are not."— L.M. Montgomery

Monday, May 30, 2011

Finally Moving On

It's almost 3 in the morning. And, yes, I'm awake. Kinda. Waiting to fall asleep any minute now. And, no, I was not a bad girl and stayed up all this time. I fell asleep around 9 or so, while reading Sister Oaks' A Single Voice and commemorating Memorial Day with a Ken Burns documentary. My falling asleep in no way reflects either of the two. I'm just a tired girl. Especially after another day of rain. I've lost count, but I think it's the 14th in a row.

Anywho. I woke around 1:30. Trudged my way to bed, and a random though slight bout of tears from something only my half-asleep brain could explain woke me up. I don't often have trouble falling asleep or falling back to sleep. But this is one of those times. If Internet schlumping doesn't do any thing, then I'll do the almost-never-fails trick and put on a movie.

But I figured while I'm on, I might as well change the AKB Book Club choice. Finally! (I know.) Sorry. Just haven't gotten around to it. I've been debating my choices. What's there to debate? Well, which Austen novel to do.

I know! Aren't you excited? You're probably thinking "It's about time the Austen Knows Best Book Club did an Austen book!" I know, I was thinking the same thing for some time now. Oh, but which one? There are 6 great ones to choose from! I don't really count that 7th as great. Humorous. Odd. Interesting. Not one I like to discuss much. There are also the incomplete works, but why move on to those before the 6 Great Ones?

Thus, which of the 6? Hmmm. While I think on it, I'm going to also point out that we're going to do a Book-Into-Movie aspect with these. It's a book club I want to get started with my teens, so I might as well start here. It's one of my favorite things to do anyhow. And what better way than to do them with Austen?!

Now, I know part of me should do S&S. Because it is the 200th Anniversary of its publication. This is huge! I should be celebrating! Only, I'm lazy and hesitant and not ready to re-read the book. I should. I'm sure 12 years gone by and all that they have been full of would make a huge difference in the reading of it. And there are 2 movie versions that I love of it, and 2 that are so-so. And wouldn't it be nice to do all 6 Austen in publication order for the rest of the year?

That does sound nice. A bit ambitious. But nice. Do you think we would get tired of discussing Austen? I know--perish the thought! But really. 6 months in a row? Would you rather we separate them out. Sprinkle in an Austen here or there among so many other great works? I'll need your opinions on that.

But I think I've settled the book. We'll honor 200 years of What-would-our-lives-be-without-Austen?!?! and read

Sense and Sensibility
published 1811
by A Lady


(And what an awesome Lady she was!)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Beehive Picture Book Update

Well, the nice thing about this reading challenge is that the picture books make some of it a little fast. And what I read in the last hour has been brilliant!

The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
The Cow Loves Cookies
Princess Hyacinth (the Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) by Florence Heide
Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated)
City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems
City Dog, Country Frog
Spells by Emily Gravett
Spells

Three more to go before I complete the Picture Books section. I'm on hold for them, so it shouldn't be too long until then. So far, they (whoever "they" is) have chosen a pretty good variety. At least, I think so.

I'm so glad I don't have to nominate books for various awards and such. I'd have the hardest time because there are so many things that I really like or love. Anyone who knows me knows that a common phrase out of my mouth is "I love that (fill in name of movie/song/book/musical/etc)!" If it brings a happy heart and/or happy memory, I think it's worth loving. Don't you?

Announcing....:

I've just given myself a new Book Challenge.

Why?!

I know. But I really am trying to embrace my new library position and my new place of living and, well, you know. So, I'm going to try to read all of the 2012 Beehive nominees. (Recently announced among us co-workers.) And, no, I"m not re-reading anything I've already read. Here is the list, with books I've already read highlighted:

Children’s Fiction
• Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
• The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine
• The Clockwork Three by Matthew Kirby
• Emily’s Fortune by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells
• The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1) by Maryrose Wood, Illustrated by Jon Klassen
• Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
• Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord Williams
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
• Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff

Young Adult Fiction
• After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick
• Birthmarked by Caragh M. O’Brien
• The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• Bruiser by Neal Shusterman
• Dark Life by Kat Falls
• Dragonfly by Julia Golding
Heist Society by Ally Carter
• The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade
• Mirrorscape by Mike Wilks
• A Spy in the House (The Agency, Book 1) by Y.S. Lee
• Three Rivers Rising by Jane Richards
• The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker

Picture Books
• All the World by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon, Illustrated by Marla Frazee
Brontorina by James Howe, Illustrated by Randy Cecil
• Chalk by Bill Thomson
• City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems, Illustrated by Jon J. Muth
Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming, Illustrated by G. Brian Karas
• The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson, Illustrated by Marcellus Hall
• Princess Hyacinth (the Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide, Illustrated by Lane Smith
• Shark Vs. Train by Chris Barton, Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
A Small Brown Dog with a Wet Pink Nose S. A. Bodeen, Illustrated by Linzie Hunter
• Spells by Emily Gravett

Informational Books
• Animals Up Close: Zoom in on the World’s Most Incredible Creatures by Igor Siwanowicz
• Bones by Steve Jenkins
• Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot” by Michael O. Tunnell
• Case Closed? Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science by Susan Hughes, Illustrated by Michael Wandelmaier
• The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) by Barbara Kerley
• The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T. Barnum by Candace Fleming
• Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci by Gene Barretta
• Nic Bishop Lizards by Nic Bishop
• The War to End All Wars: World War I by Russell Freedman
• Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial America by Sally M. Walker

Poetry
• A Curious Collection of Cats by Betsy Franco, Illustrated by Michael Wertz
• Curious Creatures: Animal Poems by Barry Louis Polisar, Illustrated by David Clark
• The Dancing Pancake by Eileen Spinelli, Illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
• Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, Illustrated by Rick Allen
• Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems About Love by Pat Mora
• In the Wild by David Elliot, Illustrated by Holly Meade
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer, Illustrated by Josee Massee
• Name That Dog! : Puppy Poems from A to Z by Peggy Archer, Illustrated by Stephanie Buscema
• Scarum Fair by Jessica Swain, Illustrated by Carol Ashley
• Spot the Plot: A Riddle Book of Book Riddles by J. Patrick Lewis, Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

The Poetry part is probably going to be a killer for me, and I may go lenient on myself and count it as a bonus challenge. Especially as much of my 800s budget will go buying extra copies for that. Ick.

What do I get out of this challenge?

Uh....

I guess feeling more familiar with what a lot of kids are going to be reading in the next year.

But that's a good thing, right? As I finish the books, I'll cast my ballot of my winners for each category. Since my vote doesn't get to count in the real thing.

*sniff*

I know.

Anywho. Watch the sidebars to see how my progress is going. All reviews can be found on GoodReads.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

April Book Challenges

I did manage to complete the challenge. I was in the middle of a couple of nonfiction books, but didn't get to finishing them in time. So one of the "marriage books" covered that. Here are the results:


Read a book on marriage           
1. Behind Every Good Man by John Bytheway
2. An LDS Girl's Guide to Getting a Date by Brent Barlow

Read two Nonfiction        
1. Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming           
2. Strangling Your Husband is NOT an Option by Merrilee Boyack

Other           
1. Darcy and Fitzwilliam: A Tale of a Gentleman and an Officer by Karen Wasylowski (100 pages read; will not finish)
2. Work and the Glory: So Great a Cause by Gerald Lund
3. Devil's Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
4. The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
5. The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey
6. Belle by Cameron Dokey
7. Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
8. The World Above by Cameron Dokey
9. The Wild Orchid by Cameron Dokey
10. Work and the Glory: All is Well by Gerald Lund

April Totals
Audio = 4
Juvenile = 1
YA = 5
Adult = 8
Pages = 3690
Books = 14
Points = 90

How to inadvertently achieve your goal of trying to read less:

Get a Blu-Ray player which connects to the Internet and lets you view your Netflix Watch Instantly movies on your large TV screen and not your smaller laptop screen and you get hooked on TV series (like "X-Files" and "Little Men") that are available.


Oops. 



Oh well. 

Monday, May 2, 2011

HG Trilogy - Character Recall

At last! The very last part of our Hunger Games trilogy discussion. I was curious to what some of your opinions were concerning the characters—not just the main ones. So I found a list on Wikipedia (Further Character Info). It helped me in remembering some of the characters' parts in the trilogy. The following list follows the order given there, in case you need a reminder yourself. Feel free to comment on as many or as little as you would like.


Major Characters

Katniss Everdeen – not my favorite character ever written. But I liked going through the series through her eyes.

Peeta Mellark – Love, love, love Peeta!

Gale Hawthorne – Nice name. Not my kinda guy. I feel sorry for him. And am a little angry with him at the end.

Haymitch Abernathy – the man you hate to love. So crusty, and repulsive at times. And frustrating about if you can or cannot trust him. But he is very deep, and when I reach those depths. Wow. I can’t help but like his character. Almost like a father-figure to Katniss, though I don’t know if she would admit that, or even see it.

Primrose Everdeen – dear Prim. Glad we got to see her more in the 3rd book and that she was able to “come into her own” as a character. Being a younger sister, I think I can sympathize more what it must have been like for her to have her sister take her place. And yet still try to be of use once her sister becomes the symbol of a revolution.

President Snow – ICK!!!!!! Be gone evil one!!!!!!

District 1 – 74th HG

Marvel – how dare you kill Rue! I don’t care if that is the point of the games. Where was your compassion and tenderness? Katniss had it!

Glimmer - not a fun way to die

District 1 – 75th HG

Cashmere – do not like you

Gloss – do not like you

District 2 – 74th HG

Cato – did not like you, but your death was still pretty gruesome and I had some pity for you

Clove – don’t remember much of you, but if you were not trying to help others survive (which you certainly weren’t!), then I don’t like you

District 2 – 75th HG

Brutus – don’t remember you

Enobaria – you are creepy

District 3 – 74th HG

No-named boy – the poor no-names.

District 3 – 75th HG

Beetee – back and forth on him. I liked him. But I got mad at some of the things he was doing (like the bomb development)

Wiress – I really liked her and was very upset with her death

District 4 – 74th HG

Unnamed girl – another very painful death. Makes me nervous with summertime coming up. Just glad I’m not in a place with as many insects any more.

District 4 – 75th HG

Finnick Odair – ah Finnick. You repulsed me at first, but had me by the end. I’m so glad you were able to marry your sweetheart. Your end was very hard for me.

Mags – you sweet thing.

District 5 – 74th HG

Foxface (nickname) – I’m sorry for your death and that you were a thief. But better a thief than a killer. Thank you for avoiding killing anyone.

District 5 – 75th HG

Unnamed male morphling – you poor thing

Unnamed female morphling - ditto

District 7 – 75th HG

Johanna – boy it was hard trying to like you, but I was pretty upset in Book 3 to hear the Capitol had you. I’m happy you survived, even if you aren’t my favorite person. Not even sure we could ever be friends.

Blight – I don’t remember you much

District 8 – 74th HG

Unnamed girl – ignorance is not always bliss

District 8 – 75th HG

Cecelia – no time to get to know you, but I’m sorry for your children

Woof – don’t know you

District 9 – 74th HG

Unnamed boy – the first death—it was not easy for me

District 10 – 74th HG

Unnamed boy – hats off to you for surviving so long

District 11 – 74th HG

Thresh – I liked you

Rue – oh, dear Rue. I’m glad you were taken care of after your death

District 11 – 75th HG

Seeder – don’t know you

Chaff – don’t know you either



Other characters

District 12

Madge Undersee – I really hoped you would have survived

Darius – how dare they! You poor man.

Delly Cartwright – I liked your attitude and cheerfulness, and (of course) your attempts to help Peeta

Mrs. Everdeen – I wasn’t very impressed with her. I know she was pretty shattered from the loss of her husband, but I had hoped she’d step up a bit more. Still, can’t blame her at all.

Greasy Sae – I knew she was a woman, but that name kept making me think man! I liked her. A good supporting minor character

Hazelle Hawthorne – I don’t feel I got to know her well enough


Capitol

Effie Trinket – one word comes to mind: fluff. Another word could be added: self-centered.

Cinna – I think I had a bit of a crush on Cinna, and not for his fashion tastes and ideas. There was just, something about him. Not sure what. But I totally agree with whoever it was that I think a part of him was attracted to Katniss.

Octavia, Venia, Flavius – fluff, fluff, and more fluff. Though I felt sorry for them in Book 3.

Lavinia (Avox girl) – this poor thing.

Seneca Crane – how can you like someone who creates any of the games? But I still feel bad for his end

Plutarch Heavensbee – I don’t really like this man. Another case of not-so-good on the “good” side

Caesar Flickerman – This guy made me laugh. I really don’t know why.

Portia – don’t really know her much.

Tigris – she creeped me out, but I was glad she helped out

District 13

President Alma Coin - Grrrrrrrrr

Boggs – I really, really liked Boggs! I almost cried about him.

Leeg 1, Leeg 2, Mitchell, Jackson, Homes – I liked that these were the guys accompanying Katniss in the Capitol. Somehow, I felt better “being in” the party with them there, too.

Cressida – Typical journalist. I have an admiration/irked relationship with journalists in my world. No different with Cressida.

Castor – I was sad that he died, but sometimes forgot he was even there. Perhaps that’s a behind the camera thing.

Pollux – I remember that I liked him

Messalla – don’t really remember him

Paylor – don’t remember him at all!


District 8

Twill – way to go for escaping!

Bonnie – ditto!

District 4

Annie Cresta – you poor sweetie. My heart goes out to you still


For more discussion—because there has been a lot of it on YALSA’s book Listserv—what do you think of who they have been casting for the movie? (Movie Cast) I have found it funny how opinionated some are about who is playing who. It’s been fun to dream cast with others.

-I can’t remember who some of us were voting Hugh Laurie to be. We were just voting because, well, it’s Hugh Laurie!

-I do think it would have been interesting to see Kristin Chenoweth as Effie. But I’ve seen her in enough shallow, air-head roles. I prefer when she plays more in-depth characters.

-I’m all about John C. Reilly as Haymitch for looks definitely. But I think his acting would be good, too.

But honestly, I was so involved with the story and the symbolism and such, that before all this YALSA discussion, I never thought much about who I would want to play who if the books were made into movies. Actually, I don’t think I do that much at all when I’m reading. Some times I don’t even think of it until after I’ve seen a movie adaptation—and then I have ideas of whom I would have liked to see.

So no one so far has really been a disappointment. I’m just intrigued as to how the actors and actresses will choose to portray the characters. I’m glad for some of the roles they’re going with lesser-known actors.

I’m most interested in how Peeta will come out. At least I’ve seen the actor in something before.