What's in a Name 2012 reading challenge

This is the first time I have signed up for this. So, here is how it works...

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories:


1.A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Black Hills, Purgatory Ridge, Emily of Deep Valley

2.A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: Moon Called, Seeing Stars, Cloud Atlas

3.A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Little Bee, Spider Bones, The Witches of Worm

4.A book with a type of house in the title: The Glass Castle, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Ape House

5.A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Sarah's Key, The Scarlet Letter, Devlin Diary

6.A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: Day of the Jackal, Elegy for April, Freaky Friday, Year of Magical Thinking

The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category

Other things to know...

•Books may be any form (audio, print, e-book).


•Books may overlap other challenges.

•Books may not overlap categories; you need a different book for each category.

•Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed but encouraged.

•You do not have to make a list of books before hand.

•You do not have to read through the categories in any particular order
 
If you are interested in the Beth over at Beth Fish Reads is hosting the challenge again. AND she has a Mr. Linky to link to and see who else is going to do this challenge.

Wordless Wednesday

Some Personal Stuff

I don't often post things about me. I talk about books, movies, the cats, what the weather is doing. Part of the reason I do this is my job. Working in a hospital I have to abide by HIPPA laws, patients rights and all of that. I can when I talk about work say that I had a "good" or a "bad" night. I can say that I had X number of patients, or that I got sent home early. Not very good for a conversation.

I could brag about my kid. Though he is not much more of a kid, he is going to be 20 at the end of the month. I could tell all the stories of his life, and embarrass him to death. That might be lots of fun.

I could talk about cooking, how tonight I made my first ever batch of pastes, and will later work on apple crisp.

I could talk about my Honey. How much I miss her, how I miss the things that we could have. She and I have been in a long distance relationship for about 5 years now. Not a a few hundred miles apart, but states apart. Yes, she is well worth it. On days like today though I miss what we have when we are together, and what we could have if we were closer together. I miss coming home knowing that we have about 30 minutes before she has to leave for work, cooking together, lazy days on the couch, busy days running errands. Touches as we pass in the hall, or coffee on the porch. Is it possible to miss things that you do not have?

Personal stuff, that is what it is. Just some of it not all of it, just some.

Library Loot and A Vote Kind of

This week I got out two books. The Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness and Yule A Celebration of Light and Warmth by Dorothy Morrison.

So, what I need to do now is put a book on hold at the library for next week. I have a list that is 5 pages long and would like some help picking out my next read. So here are four titles that I am thinking about checking out. I can only read one so the the one with the most votes will get read next.

#1 Tell Me Where it Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing, and Hope in my Life as an Animal Surgeon by Nick Trout.

#2 Buddha Da by Anne Donovan

#3 Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

#4 Tout Sweet: Hanging Up My High heels for a New Life in France by Karen Wheeler

Now, if the book chosen has a long waiting list or is not yet available at my library I will go on the the next one so not only choose A book, but put them in the order that you would read them.

Wordless Wednesday

R.I.P Closes for Another Year

Tonight, is a perfect or almost perfect night for the R.I.P reading challenge to end. (R.I.P is hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings) There is a crispness in the air, the cats are curled up on the couch helping me to stay warm. The wheel of the year is turning I have two candles lit for the night one a white pillar for remembrance that the sun will again return. The other a black votive for protection. Apples, pomegranates, pears await in the kitchen a taste of summer, left for the winter. The only thing that would make tonight an even better night for the closing of R.I.P is rain.

The kind of rain that bounces off the roof and it is heard twice. The kind of rain that starts off gradually, slowly building in intensity until the sound of if can no longer be ignored. That is all that is missing for the end of R.I.P.

I did Peril the First... read four books. My list was longer than four, I read seven books. That was just about half of what I wanted to read. The books I read are: (Please note that all of these links are to my reviews)
Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer
The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle by Pat Rothfuss
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert
Graveminder by Melissa Marr
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I also watched three movies for the R.I.P On the Screen those were:
The Haunting (1963 and 1999). Both reviews for this movie tie into the review for the book that it was based upon.
The Watcher in the Woods

I am sorry to see R.I.P leave. I am looking forward to next years R.I.P with all my geeky little heart. Thanks Carl.

Library Loot, not Wordless Wednesday

I have not done a library loot in a long time. This is because I have been trying to change my reading habits and I think I now have it. I was getting 6 or more books out at a time, and just having three weeks to read them in was not enough time. So, I have limited myself to one or two books from the library at a time. I am trying to work it so that I have one book half finished or ready to go back when  I pick up the next book.This way I will have read something that I want to while not tying up books that others want to read.

 So this week I have gotten the book Downpour A Graywalker novel by Kat Richardson. This is the sixth book in the set so far. I have read a few others and like them very much, one reason is that they take place in Seattle or the surrounding area. And as I live in the Northwest I have been to many of the neighborhoods, and touristy places that she talks about.

I also know that today's post should be a Wordless Wednesday one. However, today we had a meeting at work that did not get out until 9am. That may not seem bad to a lot of people but, 9am is my bed time so while the is going up at the end of Wednesday for many people. I have slept and think it is a day a head of where the rest of the world is at. This does happen to be common among the other night nurses I work with as well. So next week there will be a Wordless Wednesday post, and hopefully a Library Loot one too.

The Haunting of Hill House

I have now tried to write this review three times. Each one I deleted. This time I am not going to, I am going to leave it up and see what happens.

For this R.I.P I did something a little different. I watched The Haunting (1963), The Haunting (1999) and read the book. I liked both the movies, and I think in the 1999 version the cast was wonderful. That being said the book was much much better.

In the book the house had been written as a character. That is very difficult to produce in a film version, unless it is animated. Hill House is described as having everything in its proper place. It is also in the first paragraph described as not sane.

In the 1963 version of the film Theo's home life is alluded at. In the book it states she lives with a "friend" with whom she exchanges gifts that are most special. In the 1999 version Theo, is as a bisexual on the prowl. I liked Catherine Zeta-Jones as Theo, she seemed more in line with what Mrs. Jackson had wanted.

Eleanor Vance, the protagonist is in all media forms a woman who needs to grow a pair. Now, when I was 12 and first read this. I could so relate to not being allowed to have freedom, and a life. Always unwanted, always the doormat. Until she gets to Hill House, there things change. At 12 the ending of the book confused me, it still does. I am not sure if Nell is being haunted, created a poltergeist, or is just crazy.

Quotes:
page 23 " She shivered and thought, the words coming freely to her mind, Hill House is vile, it is diseased; get away from here at once."

page 149 "Now we are going to have a new noise, Eleanor thought, listening to the inside of her head; it is changing."

Wordless Wednesday

(The Near Past)

      On Saturday Honey and I went to Santa Rosa. We were going there to see the Handcar Regatta a steampunk, handcar race. When we got there it was the wrong day. The Regatta was set for Sunday, so we walked around the town and got a cup of coffee. Then on Sunday we went back. We left early to get a good parking place, and it was a good one. Covered just a few blocks away, and people were there in costume. However, we had gotten there almost 45 min early so what to do with nothing open. We walked to the mall and got a coffee.

     The first booth we saw in the gated area was the doll booth. My doll was there and she was the most beautiful one there. The man had made day of the dead dolls, vampire, and a few that were dismembered. We left the dolls and wandered about the Regatta. There were food booths, jewelry booths, hat booths, and clothes.

     The innovation of the costumes was truly amazing. There was one man there who had taken an old canister vacuum and was using it as a back pack. One woman whose husband designed and built her a mechanical owl who's head turned. The thing about this event that I found the most interesting was the ages of the people. The ones in costume ranged from little kids up to people whom I assume were in their 70's.

     The handcars were not just simple handcars. I think one of the events was design, oh and there were some neat ones. A swan, an inch worm, the time machine, and many others. Each team had an outfit that matched their car, or matching tee-shirts. It was such a fun day.

    As we were leaving my doll was still on at the booth. I debated and debated about getting here. I was going to get one that was less than half her price. Honey, got the doll for me for my birthday. So now she sits on the table next to my fountain. I am going to have to put her in a glass cabinet soon. I don't want her to get to dusty.



Wordless Wednesday

My new doll

National Coming Out Day.

Today is National Coming Out Day. I had another post planned here for today but that will have to wait until a later date. Laine, HI Laine reminded me of what today happens to be. So for all of you who are in the closet, today is a good day to show who you are. Now, I know that if you have to stay in the closet for whatever reason, hopefully for you there will one day be a coming out day.

I so need to get this made into a t-shirt.

Watcher in the Woods

Watched for R.I.P on the Screen. When I first saw this it was on TV and it scared the crap out of me. I re watch it every once in a while, when I can get someone to watch it with me.

Mrs. Aylwood (Davis) owns the manor house that Jan's  (Johnson) family is renting. Jan who is 17 looks like Karen, Mrs. Aylwood's daughter who disappeared thirty years ago. Through the course of the movie Jan and her sister Ellie try to find out what happened to Karen, and who or what are is in the woods. There are strange camera angles of trees, a strange man who lives in the woods, and odd occurrences that have no reality based meaning.

This movie was made by Walt Disney, and is now out on DVD. This movie still scares me, even all these years later. I do love this movie for that creep factory. In fact, I let a friend of mine borrow it for her children to watch. Her children watch horror movies all the time and are never scared by anything. Watcher in the Woods, had all 4 of them sleeping in the parents room for the next two nights. I am not the only one who is freaked out by this movie, my sister will not watch it at all. I do not know why this movie scares me the way it does but it does.

If you have not seen this and have kids that are about 12, get it and watch it. It is well worth it.

Quotes. "I didn't want you Nerak did."

             "Ring around the rosies it was."

Graveminder for R.I.P

I read this book for the R.I.P challenge. I first saw this book this cover at the bookstore reading the back of it made me want to read more of the story. I went to the library to see if they had a copy and they had several however I would have been number 200 in the hold queue. Wanting to read it more than wait for it I bought a copy for my Nook. Having read the book I wish I would have waited to get it from the library.

I read a lot of other reviews that said the book was wonderful, that it was a great read. It was easy to read, it was easy to follow, and to stick with. I liked the premise of the book, a person to tend the graves to make sure all was taken care of and not forgotten. I liked the roll of the Undertaker as a protector. I liked the idea that if the dead were not cared for, the dead would not be happy.

What I did not like was the focus on the relationship of the Undertaker and the Graveminder. I know that their relationship had to be defined but all of the lovey dovey stuff could have been skipped over. I know this is just me, I do not like to read romance disguised as something else. If I want to read a romance I will pick a romance. I was very disappointed in that aspect of it. If she had kept the book focused on the story of the dead, and their ilk. I would have enjoyed it more.

For this book I have no quotes as nothing seems to have struck a cord with me.

Wordless Wednesday

I think this looks like a rabbit.

OMG, Day 2

On my second day Honey and I went to Anderson Woods. There were huge redwoods there that I did not get pictures of. I like the tow here. One is of up turned roots, the other are a pair of banana slugs. The walk through the woods was peaceful, and much needed after the flight.

We left the woods and had lunch in the car on a cliff over looking the Russian River, and a sand bar with seals basking in the sun. After watching the seals, I have a new appreciation for wildlife photographers. They must shoot hours and hours of footage to get amazing photos. All the seals did when we were there was lift a head, or roll over.

OMG, day 1

What a week it has been. I was amazed that I was able to post about reading The Secret of Crickly Hall. It was not a bad week at all. It was a wonderful week. I am now just getting the time to relax and write about it. The week passed in a whirlwind.

I left home on a Tuesday and flew to northern CA. I do not like to fly and so I worked the night before so that when I got on the plane I would get some sleep. I did manage to sleep a bit on the flight, but it was not comfortable but then flying never is.

When I got into Oakland, I was tired and a bit queasy. So Honey and I split a sandwich that was very good, ham and turkey on flat bread. We decided that going to her house was not the best idea. So she drove through San Francisco, and I saw some wonderful old buildings. That on another visit, I would like to do a walking tour and get some photos. We stopped off at Golden Gate Park, and when to the Japanese Gardens.

I had not been there before, and it was a beautiful place. I would love to go back there in the spring when every thing is in bloom. I got some pictures of a giant Buddha that I thought was beautiful. There was also a very cheeky squirrel, that was just having a ball running up and down trees. Looking a people like they were the exhibit.

At the end of the day I was so tired, that my eyes felt scratchy, and my skin jumpy. It was a great day.

R.I.P another book

First off let me say that I am sorry there is no book cover photo to go with this post I am not using my computer,  and do not want to bog down Honey's with the picture.

I just finished reading James Herbert's The Secret of Crickley Hall. This book took me longer to read than I thought it would. Not because of the length or the writing, but because of work, and life stuffs. OK, all of that out of the way now on with my thought on the book.

OMG, I loved Crickley Hall. It was dark, spooky, twisted, sad, and very very well written. I read some of it before I fell asleep and it gave me night mares, AWESOME. Just to let you know I am not one who is big on nightmares but it has been a long time sense book as done that to me.

The setup of the book is a family having suffered something in the recent past moves in the Crickley Hall for a change of perspective. Of course Crickley Hall is in a English coastal village, where everyone knows everyone, and there is nothing hidden from anyone. The village does not play a large part in the story, much of what takes place is in that Hall itself. That is a wonderful thing for this book. Mr. Herbert did an excellent job on the whole story. Things were tied up nicely at the end, no plot lines were left straggling, and what most impressed me was his ability to string words together to pant a picture that could not be escaped from. I also liked that the chapters were short, and the heading of each chapter explained the timeline.

If anyone asks yes, read this book. This is one that I would highly recommend. This man is in my opinion a wordsmith.

Quotes:

 Pg 3 "Silent tears drenched their cheeks and glacial fingers seemed to squeeze their small hearts."

Pg 443 "Eve closed the door and locked it, even thought she knew it wouldn't stay shut. The key was icy to her touch."

This Weekend

Usually on the weekend I have a few days where I have time to catch up from the past work week. I read, check blogs, yes farmville, clean the house, and just chill out. Not this weekend. OMG! I am still sore and think I am going to die.

So this is my weekend from when I got up to when I went to bed.

Thursday at 1530 I woke up, just about 30min early but that is OK. Worked a 12hour shift, came home showered, had coffee, got dresses. Went to the Puyallup Fair, saw a bazillion animals. I did not know that there are a few brands of goats that look ear less. Kind of strange. Cows, pigs, horses, sheep, rabbits, and chickens. Then went to the arts and crafts some of the work in there was udderly amazing. I have not been to that fair in a long long time it was fun. Fell asleep in the car for all of 10 minutes. Got home about 1930, passed out on the couch until 0100. Then went to bed. So that was Friday

Saturday, wanted to just go shopping and get all the errands done. NOPE not gonna happen. Ran into a friend at the first store we went to. So we got talking about how good an apple fritter would taste, where to get a good apple fritter Lattin's Farm. I got about a pound or so of Grvenstein apples a few Granny Smith and I am going to make apple sauce yummy.

From there we went to Tumwater Falls to see the salmon run. OMG there were some fish there the length of my couch cushions. I was drooling thinking about steaks, fillets, and jerky. I love salmon. After the park we dropped V off at the store where we picked him up. Then went to the pet store, went out to lunch with another friend. Then we went to Shipwreck Beads.  I go some of my shopping done later. Got home around 2100 after leaving at 0830.

Today Sunday, I went to a laundry mat did a few loads. Came home took a nap, read a bit, cleaned the house. Now I have to cook dinner, and make applesauce. I think I need another nap.

This was taken at Tumwater Falls. I do have pictures of the falls but I love how this one looks.