Saturday, July 17, 2010

sick days

Seems like one ought to be able to get more read when one is sick. But that damn malaise just goes and ruins everything. What little I did get read, I had to *force* myself to do. 

Finished up the last 140 pages of The Storm in the Barn this morning. Overall, I would have to say I loved this book. I thought the art was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Soft, yet expressive. Beautiful, and meaningful, use of color. And I loved the setting--the Dust Bowl. I loved the point of view--life in the Dust Bowl for a young boy. The images and the events of this time are haunting. And they're very, very real. I have just one complaint--I felt the fantastical element of the story was too rushed. It was like there was all this beautiful, well-thought-out background...and then all of sudden we have this super rushed climax. Still, even that, while disappointing, doesn't stop me from loving the book.

Eight pages in Household Tales was all I'd managed. "Aschenputtel" to be specific. My brain just wasn't up for the whole jotting down discussion points and whatnot that come along with reading for school.

Read another 27 pages in Never Tell Him You're Alone. But decided it just wasn't worth my time, so off to the bags for the library sale it went. Sort of proud of myself...I have a hard time setting a book aside with no intention of ever picking it up again. I used to be much worse about it though.

So instead I picked up another thriller to take its place--you know, 'cause I didn't have enough other books started. (I'm hopeless!) I've read the first 214 pages of Cross Country by James Patterson. An Alex Cross novel. For me, this series has gone downhill from what the books used to be. Yet I can't stop reading them. I can't quite explain it, but they fill a specific sort of reading mood--when I want something fast-paced and something that doesn't require a lot of "down time" amidst my reading for thinking about the book. I know there are people who find thrillers "trash," but I find them enjoyable. And what do I care about the opinions of people who feel the need to look down their noses at other people's reading choices anyway, right? :P

And I finished the last 179 pages of Junk Beautiful. Favorite room--the kitchen redo!!! So very much my style--or at least the style I wish I could pull off! :)  And red--just like my kitchen. Of course, their kitchen is about four times the size of ours, and they have a separate dining room while our tiny kitchen has to pull double duty. So, yeah, no matter what I do, our kitchen is *never* going to compare to that one. Anyway, a very fun book.

5 comments:

  1. Glad your sick days are winding down :). When I'm sick, I just whine a lot and get NOTHING done, so I'm impressed with the reading you did :D. I always thoguht (on the theme of Junk Kitchens) It would be fun to wallpaper your kitchen with Mod Podge and decolletage, using different food labels. Sort of 'Andy Warhol meets Betty Crocker' (Of course if Betty was a real person, Andy Warhol probably WOULD have met her... :D). It would probably be a terrible amount of work, though, and be impossible to ever sell :D. But it would remind of our old house, where we took off some panelling on the stairwell, and found out that back in the 40's they had rewallpapered using old newspapers. Like an old-style Wendy's table, only on your wall :P.

    Wow, I suddenly feel old, I realize that lost of people probably wont even REMEMBER when WEndy's tables had those laminate tops that looked like old newspapers...

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  2. I remember that Jason!!! And I'm a total sucker for decoupaging stuff with ModPodge by the way :D

    Debi! You read tons! I'm shocked you read as much as you did actually being sick :o I'm really glad you enjoyed The Storm in the Barn!! You know..I really think that's why it didn't work for me..the fantastic element was never truly explained because it wasn't actually fleshed out. It just didn't work for me. I was disappointed in it. But most people love it, so I'm glad :) I'm still traumatized by the rabbit scene though :/ Glad you're enjoying your thriller too :D I could use a good thriller actually!! And screw people who judge you based on what you read. I'm with you there. You should read The Less Dead ;) It's a great thriller with an LGBT edge!

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  3. Jason,
    Oh, I love that idea for wallpapering kitchen walls! We'd like to wallpaper the ceiling in our library with dust jackets...but we've started thinking the same thing--what will that do to our ability to sell the house, which we'd eventually like to do.

    Chris,
    It was such a shame that he didn't flesh out the fantastical part more. While I did love the book, that part really let me down! And yeah, I understand about the rabbit scene. I guess I was a bit prepared for it, because I've read/watched quite a bit about the Dust Bowl before---and those "round-ups" really did happen. :( Lots of horrible stuff did.
    And I've been dying to read The Less Dead ever since you first talked about it. Our library even owns it--it's just always checked out. Suppose I really ought to just put it on hold.

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  4. You know what you COULD do though is decoupage your bookshelves with dust jackets! Though, it might be tough, the paper being so stiff. You could also line your cabinets and drawers with food labels! :D

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  5. I never get anything read when I'm sick! And it always makes me so mad! lol

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