a book finished...shocking

Last 55 pages done. I was beginning to feel like I was never going to finish a book again. Don't even know why...I've certainly gone longer stretches than this without finishing a book before. And I assuredly will again. Anyway, The Lightning Thief is definitely one for the win column!

Random thoughts:

*I learned so much about Greek mythology! (Okay, so I was starting at a knowledge level of nearly zero, but still.) And it's encouraged me to learn even more. I'll have to ask Gray for book suggestions. ;)

*I've heard that the series, while good, goes a little downhill after this first book. But you know, I think I'm going to have to judge for myself. :) Not that I'll immediately be reading the rest (too many other books I'd like to get finished), but I will definitely be continuing. And I'd really love to read The Red Pyramid, Riordin's new series about Egyptian mythology! (That was something I was fascinated with as a kid.)

*By a certain point in the book, I started wondering if I was going to get tired of it. It was closing in on one too many monsters to outsmart on their quest. But just as I was starting to wonder, things switched up and completely kept my interest.

*I'm really looking forward to our family book club meeting...can't wait to see what Gray has to ask me.

So, in other reading...

Another chapter (22 pages) in Arabian Nights (and Days). Maybe I can even finish that book today...yeah, high hopes, huh? And another article (7 pages) in Urban Farm.

I could really get used to this

This whole reading purely for fun thing, that is. :)

I know that I should start working on next year's school stuff. Though Annie will be taking many of her classes at the community college for next year, I will be handling English and history. I'll be using courses from The Teaching Company for both. Which should cut down on my work, but definitely won't eliminate it. I'll need to watch the lectures, do the readings so we can discuss them, gather up additional materials, and make up assignments and tests. Anyway, this is the course we'll be using for English (Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind: Literature's Most Fantastic Works). And it involves massive amounts of reading! But I've decided not to worry about that until next week...I deserve a few days off from school, right?

Anyway, yesterday I read the next 66 pages in The Lightning Thief. I probably shouldn't be enjoying this book as much as I am. Whatever that means. ;)  But I am enjoying. Completely. Thoroughly. Undeniably. I'm learning a little about Greek mythology. I'm finding it rather humorous. I'm getting so caught up in the story that I'm constantly wanting to pick it up for just one more page. This is probably a weird thing to say, but it's making me want to read American Gods again. Yes, The Lightning Thief keeps triggering memories of American Gods, even though the books are so utterly different. Just the gods as people thing, I guess.

I also started the next Fables last night. I've been *craving* a graphic novel experience lately. Hard to believe I only started reading them a couple years ago, because I swear I could not live without them anymore. I read the first 51 pages of Arabian Nights (and Days). Thus far, not one of my favorites in the series. But that's doesn't mean I'm not loving it! Seriously, I can't believe I've gone so long without a Fables fix!!!

two days in row!

Finished another book last night (92 pages worth). That makes two days in a row finishing up a book. Which I realize is a common occurrence for many, but it most certainly isn't for me. And of course, the book I finished last evening, Seedfolks, was an itty bitty thing. Oh but it was a wonderful little thing. On the anniversary of her father's death, which is recognized each year by her family, a little girl is feeling left out because she never knew her father. And what made her equally sad was that he had no memories of her because he died before she was born. Kim's father had been a farmer all his life, and she decides to reach out to him by planting some bean seeds. Of course, inner-city Cleveland is a long way from their native home of Vietnam, and April is a bit premature for planting beans here. Kim plants her seeds in a huge vacant lot, a lot used as a garbage dump by the inhabitants of the neighborhood, as well as by others who seem to feel no compunction about hauling off their debris and dumping it the poor section of town. Her act doesn't go unnoticed by a woman living in one of the surrounding buildings. She watches Kim as she comes back each day watering her seeds. And next we get to hear her little piece of the story. (At first, she suspects that Kim is up to no good.) And thus the book continues forward. Person by person. Story by story. We see this ugly piece of land slowly transformed. We see people begin to talk to people they never would have dreamed of talking to anywhere else. We see a community of care sprout from ground. It's not that every story is pretty, or everyone has altruistic motives, but that only adds to the beauty of this little book.

I think this book is probably aimed at middle grade readers. And while it's not something I think either Gray or Max would pick up on their own, I'm hoping I can convince them to read it. And I just had a copy sent to my dear friend Chris. Because he's the one who really sparked my enthusiasm for own little garden this year! :D

After finishing Seedfolks, last night I decided to go ahead and start my assigned reading for our family book club. I'm soooooo thrilled that Gray chose The Lightning Thief for me! I've been wanting to read it for ages. Read the first chapter (15 pages) last night, and let me tell you, thus far, I am definitely not disappointed! Yep, think I'm going to love this one. :D  Added bonus: I have a feeling I'm going to learn a bit about Greek mythology--something about which I know very little but would very much like to learn since Gray is so obsessed.