tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81823530742871875242011-09-19T20:11:58.422-05:00The examined life is hell.Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.comBlogger701100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-69141866017692845032010-10-31T17:20:00.000-05:002010-10-31T17:20:22.600-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Packing-Mars-Curious-Science-Life/dp/0393068471/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288562720&sr=1-1 I was so excited when I finally got this book.  ALSO!  THIS IS MY FINAL CANNONBALL REVIEW!  52 BOOKS IN 52 WEEKS, I DID IT!  I'm not one to stumble at the finish line, so I timed this very carefully, especially because my reading and reviewing lagged back there in the late

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-60944497880519281972010-10-31T17:04:00.000-05:002010-10-31T17:04:45.178-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Something-Rotten-Thursday-Next-Mystery/dp/0670033596 This is the fourth in the Thursday Next series, one I have reviewed and loved, but am needing a break from.  Thursday has had the child she was pregnant with in the third book and named him Friday (get it?  Now he's Friday Next) and the kid is two years old in this installment. We find out pretty quickly that Landen, her

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-8836479498360184332010-10-23T15:05:00.000-05:002010-10-23T15:05:06.275-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Market-J-m-Steele/dp/B003IWYI0U/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287864003&sr=1-1 This was another hardcover YA book we found for a couple of bucks at Garden Ridge.  Unfortunately, this one was not as good as An Abundance of Katherines, not even close. In this book, the protagonist is Kate Winthrop, a high school senior.  She accidentally (sort of) finds out about this "

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-88356148572793290152010-10-23T14:59:00.000-05:002010-10-23T14:59:37.698-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Well-Lost-Plots-Thursday-Next/dp/0143034359/ref=pd_sim_b_1 In the third Thursday Next book, Thursday actually goes to the book world to stay.  Well, temporarily.  Her husband is still eradicated in time (he exists--well, he doesn't--I mean, he CAN again--IF--it's hard to explain, but a good part of the plot).  She's awaiting their baby.  And she's got to do battle with

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-75651104104121979702010-10-23T14:53:00.000-05:002010-10-23T14:53:41.530-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Good-Book-Thursday-Novel/dp/0142004030/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287863123&sr=1-5 This is the second in the Thursday Next series by Welsh author Jasper Fforde.  (I reviewed The Eyre Affair below.) Second books in series are often pretty hit or miss, so I was worried about this, especially since the first one ended on such a satisfying note, I was almost hesitant

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-71621350736092420482010-10-23T14:44:00.000-05:002010-10-23T14:44:45.735-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Abundance-Katherines-John-Green/dp/0525476881 I found this delightful YA book for two bucks at Garden Ridge, of all places, and decided to take a chance (my daughter's name is Katherine and we thought the premise sounded cute). Colin Singleton is a recent high school graduate, former child prodigy, would-be genius, and lover of Katherines.  In fact, the nineteenth

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-11730179219790115992010-09-25T13:06:00.000-05:002010-09-25T13:06:35.622-05:00

Would it be alright if I started a book review with, "holy CRAP, this was good?"  Because holy crap, this was good.  I read all 300 pages in just two days.  When I had to set it down, I was constantly thinking about it.  When I could pick it up, I did.  I read entire sections aloud to my husband, who loves audio books anyway, and has read quite a bit about the ill-fated Donner party. But to the

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-77649465407482638992010-09-25T12:47:00.000-05:002010-09-25T12:47:37.319-05:00

I'm honestly not morbidly occupied by death.  But this book and the next book I will review have death as their main theme, so I will forgive anyone who comes to that conclusion. This one, believe it or not, was fun.  That was due in no small part to the approach and attitude of the author, Malcolm Forbes, who seemed to delight, believe it or not, in dispelling myths about the deaths of famous

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-2331717672421406242010-08-08T20:51:00.000-05:002010-08-08T20:51:46.474-05:00

The World According to Garp I always feel as if I've read John Irving.  I suppose it's because his works have become such a part of popular culture--this one, The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany. But I hadn't.  When I saw The World According to Garp at a thrift store for a buck in good shape, I knew I had to get it.  Most people are familiar with the film starring Glenn Close and

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-23861388030204624752010-08-07T15:26:00.000-05:002010-08-07T15:26:13.826-05:00

The Eyre Affair No joke, I once said this to a friend several years ago:  I wish someone would write a novel that has time travel, a murder mystery or some sort of crime elementand also has a lot of fun literary allusions.  Almost to the point that it's a major plot point.  And a female protagonist who's kind of kickass. I remember my friend laughing and saying that was awfully specific and

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-37763302910169168092010-07-24T17:46:00.000-05:002010-07-24T17:46:03.477-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Corner-Universe-Ann-M-Martin/dp/0439388813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280010305&sr=1-1 This is another young adult book that started off slow and ended up being pretty fantastic.  I did a quick check on Amazon after I finished it to see what others have said about it, and saw that the age level given (12 and up) is not thought to be old enough for the content of this

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-52756155169921245282010-07-20T21:25:00.000-05:002010-07-20T21:25:23.934-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Desserts-Yard-Brooklyn-Beverly-Sweetest/dp/0618515224/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279677596&sr=8-1 Yeah, I know what you're thinking. A cookbook?  A COOKBOOK for the Cannonball? But it's really not just a cookbook. It's also an autobiography.  Or maybe a memoir.  Stick with me a sec.  When I saw this at Half-Price Books, I noticed the subtitle right away:  From

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-81597227376238125432010-07-16T18:44:00.000-05:002010-07-16T18:44:32.488-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/I-am-Ozzy/dp/184744346X/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top First of all:  review #40 WHOOOO!  I'm pretty excited about that.  12 books to go before November.  Secondly:  if you have even the slightest bit of interest in Ozzy Osbourne, please check out this book.  I've never been a huge fan (but also never disliked him), but after reading this, I really feel as though I know the guy.

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-29772795436621049392010-07-11T18:33:00.000-05:002010-07-11T18:33:08.523-05:00

This is for Jason and anyone else interested, speaking of local news. I moved to western central Georgia about 24 hours after graduating from college.  My husband was stationed there.  I had never lived outside of Texas and figured how different could Georgia be? Well, I think it wasn't so much that the states were so incredibly different, but that I was going from an urban/suburban background

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-45620566096253002962010-07-11T14:06:00.000-05:002010-07-11T14:06:17.178-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Here-2001-Newbery-Honor/dp/0698119517 It's part of my job to keep up with Young Adult novels and I've been falling behind a bit, so I've recently been lost in a sea of them.  Just like with any other book, the bad ones are really bad and the good ones stay with you. I'm happy to say this is one of the good ones.  It's a rare book that gets actual tears out of me and

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-13918975168886184462010-07-02T18:04:00.000-05:002010-07-02T18:04:09.422-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Becoming-Myself-Ellen-Burstyn/dp/1594489297 I love autobiographies.  And I've long been a fan of Ellen Burstyn, specifically in her roles in Same Time, Next Year, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (my husband's favorite role of hers), The Exorcist, and certainly her amazing performance in Requiem for a Dream. So I picked this up at the library, despite the nearly

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-36088628970261835472010-06-30T21:45:00.000-05:002010-06-30T21:45:03.786-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Party-Monster-Fabulous-Murder-Clubland/dp/0743259823/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277951661&sr=1-1 Perfect.  Summer.  Book.  Seriously.  God, this was fun.  This is a memoir (I had to keep reminding myself this really happened!) written by one of the founding members of the "Club Kids" who partied hearty in the late 80s and through the 90s in New York (in fact, he was a

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-32173077986969472922010-06-30T21:32:00.001-05:002010-06-30T21:33:30.889-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Between-Bridge-River-Craig-Ferguson/dp/0811853756/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277951227&sr=1-3 Yep, that Craig Ferguson.  The Scottish comedian and late night TV talk show host.  I had always liked him, thought he was funny and witty and warm, the last characteristic something I rarely feel about TV personalities. And this book made me respect him even more, because

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-62791749323143430492010-06-30T21:26:00.000-05:002010-06-30T21:26:44.541-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Plants-Lincolns-Botanical-Atrocities/dp/1565126831/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277950805&sr=8-1 Well.  I love gardening, am obsessed with plants and also love history and a good murder mystery.  This book?  Has ALL that.  The author outlines more than a dozen of the world's most deadliest plants and includes plants that have wreaked more than their fair share of

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-67412692950277133862010-06-14T14:23:00.000-05:002010-06-14T14:23:36.120-05:00

Listen up, droogs.  If you've only seen the Stanley Kubrick film, you haven't really gotten the whole story.  And I mean that literally.  I didn't know this until I got this edition, but when A Clockwork Orange was published around 1961-62, it was published complete and whole, all 21 chapters, in his native England.  Subsequent translations were also published whole.  However, in the US,

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-73030786027077923292010-06-06T19:11:00.000-05:002010-06-06T19:11:58.244-05:00

This is a young adult historical fiction novel about the feud (very real) between the Hatfields and the McCoys of West Virginia and Kentucky, a feud that started in the 1880s and continued for many years and cost several lives. Ann Rinaldi is one of my favorite YA authors, because she focuses almost exclusively on historical fiction, and I love anything that makes history more accessible and

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-40693343295772148942010-06-06T18:02:00.000-05:002010-06-06T18:02:29.941-05:00

This is one of a few Vonnegut works I hadn't read, and I discovered a badly tattered copy in the back of a closet recently.  I inherited every Vonnegut I have from my stepfather, who worshipped him. This one is written from the first-person point of view of Harold Campbell, Jr., an American by birth who grew up in Germany and was a playwright and married to a beautiful German woman when he was

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-47764476590995449192010-06-05T20:50:00.000-05:002010-06-05T20:50:44.733-05:00

Yeah, I never read this.  I was as surprised as anyone else.  I mean, a semi-autobiographical novel by an author who ended up sticking her head in an oven when her two kids were babies?  I'm only shocked she wasn't from the South. This is the story of Esther Greenwood.  To say it's loosely based on Plath's early life is an understatement.  When you read The Bell Jar aside her own biography, it's

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-38872376506451973582010-05-30T20:04:00.000-05:002010-05-30T20:04:28.432-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Siddhartha-Hermann-Hesse/dp/1441407820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275266957&sr=1-1 I read this on my iphone!  Every time I would straighten my hair, I'd prop my phone up and read it little by little. Anyway, I saw the SparkNotes for this book in Barnes & Noble recently and marveled that anyone would need that for it.  Not that it's the simplest thing I've ever read,

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-61868262898604326682010-05-30T19:48:00.000-05:002010-05-30T19:48:50.154-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Life-First-Could-Drive-Cheryl/dp/0374528535/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275266088&sr=1-1 Another one I grabbed in desperation!  Actually this one was recommended to me by so many parents of teenagers, I knew I had to get it.  It's a bit more direct than the Love and Logic book, which I like.  But though it has less of an academic feel, it really explains the reasons

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-34036241963998427522010-05-30T19:34:00.000-05:002010-05-30T19:34:23.267-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Parenting-Teens-Logic-Updated-Expanded/dp/1576839303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275265642&sr=8-1 This isn't a novel, but it's a book and it's long and I read the entire thing.  For the first time since the toddler years, I felt the need to get some instruction on this parenting gig. Having spent most of my career dealing with teenagers, you'd think I'd have this thing

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-55321793955741266352010-04-30T21:28:00.000-05:002010-04-30T21:28:27.106-05:00

First, I have a gripe, and it's no fault of the author.  On the back of this book, a reviewer is quoted as saying this memoir invites comparisons to Angela's Ashes.  So you're thinking "WOW, that's AMAZING!"  I mean, Angela's Ashes IS amazing.  It's one of the handful of books I re-read on a regular basis.  So I bought it, based on that and skimming the first few pages while standing in Target.

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-82573307788999404912010-03-28T18:56:00.000-05:002010-03-28T18:56:30.740-05:00

I've been missing for a little bit for a couple of reasons.  I got a bit burned out on reading, apparently, since I find myself now doing anything BUT reading.  I checked out "A Spot of Bother" (by the same guy who wrote "The Case of the Dog in the Night" or something like that--great book told from an autistic point of view) and the latest Barbara Kingsolver and made a half-hearted attempt at

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-19134935459033289182010-03-07T12:52:00.000-06:002010-03-07T12:52:35.599-06:00

OHMYGAWDIMSOEXCITED I've hit the halfway point, book-wise, on the Cannonball Read.  52 books read and reviewed in 52 weeks, from November 1, 2009 to November 1, 2010.  The chronological halfway point is May 1, so I'm about six weeks ahead of schedule.  And this summer should prove to be fertile reading ground, since I've got less scheduled than I have since 2003.  At this point, I've got a

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-50635932966930752972010-03-07T12:45:00.000-06:002010-03-07T12:45:57.336-06:00

Yep, that Gregory Maguire! Author of Wicked, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister and other fun re-tellings of classics.  In this case, he's taken on one of my favorite Hans Christian Andersen tales "The Little Match Girl."  If you're familiar with it, you know it's a pretty bleak tale.  I first read it when I was nine and Uncle Glenn gave me a beautiful hardcover copy of Hans Christian Andersen's

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-87359060594232179962010-03-07T12:35:00.000-06:002010-03-07T12:35:24.331-06:00

This is a very long collection of famous and not-so-famous poems, edited by a former teacher, Mary E. Burt, and first published in 1904. Before I get started, I'm an English teacher, which means I love poetry, right?  Well...sometimes.  I have to be in the mood for it and I'm incredibly picky about what I like and what I don't.  While I will at times engage in reading all kinds of unsubstantial

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-49292547723786594772010-03-06T22:47:00.000-06:002010-03-06T22:47:14.686-06:00

By Laurie Fox I picked this up at the library and polished it off quickly.  I wish I could tell you it was satisyfing.  The subtitle was "A Novel of My Life" and Ms. Fox seems to have figured out, years before that Million Little Pieces dude, that if you don't want to be accused by Oprah of lying and stuff, just novelize your life.  There you go, done! It still reads like a memoir. Anyway, the

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-50126754553692196242010-03-06T09:36:00.000-06:002010-03-06T09:36:05.043-06:00

Everyone is familiar with some of the Grimm brother's stories:  Cinderella, Little Red-Cap (which in English was more like "red riding hood"), Hansel and Grethel, but I had never read them in their entirety and I was completely unfamiliar with many of them.  So I set out to fix that. The first thing you have to know is that most of these stories were told around the kitchen fire late at night

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-54285425248707954332010-03-05T10:36:00.001-06:002010-03-05T10:39:11.565-06:00

I read this book e-lectronically!  Which means it only took me two weeks, as opposed to about six.  I love Stanza for the iphone! Anyway, here we are at Wharton's seminal work, The Age of Innocence.  When it received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1921, she was the FIRST WOMAN to ever receive that prize.  If she were here now, I'd want to high five her, fist pump with her, chest bump with her

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-85489960601745359352010-03-03T16:16:00.003-06:002010-03-03T16:16:49.113-06:00

Spring: I will sneak up behind you I will force you to be. I'll put my eyes on pictures of petals and green and flying things until you are forced into view. I will. I'm no young dreamer thinking you to be only a dewy big-eyed lamb. I've seen blood spilled on fresh grass. I've been to wakes in your weeks. I know. I still want you.

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-20146092050771151032010-02-25T16:49:00.000-06:002010-02-25T16:49:31.508-06:00

The prose is beautiful, lyrical, poetic, magical at times. Hilarious at times. Humble at times. Too clever by half other times. It's still an ugly as hell story. I kept wondering about the perspective of a woman reading this who was, if not kidnapped by a molester, in some way a victim of sexual abuse or inappropriateness at a young age. I couldn't help but remember the uncle who always wanted

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-1435777378388372292010-02-21T17:43:00.002-06:002010-02-21T17:49:01.387-06:00

For this review, I have the extraordinary pleasure of interviewing the author, Edith Wharton.  Welcome, Ms. Wharton. EW:  Whu? Whmm?  Eaaaugh? Me: Don't worry, your powers of speech will return shortly.  I hope. EW (croaking):  BE.  LOVE-ED.  BELOVED? Me:  Dang.  No.  Hang on y'all. ******************** Ok we're back!  This time I got the actual Edith Wharton, no mistakes.  I made sure. 

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-86063679728192629892010-02-13T17:51:00.001-06:002010-02-13T18:31:36.581-06:00

I'm writing this review just moments after finishing Ethan Frome.  I want to write it now, while the spell is still on me.  I'd also like to confess this right off the bat:  I fell in love with Ethan Frome.  Not the book, the character.  It's a short book, just nine chapters, but once Wharton took me back to Frome at the age of 28, I was smitten.  He's a New England gentleman farmer, scratching

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-71846608411034009672010-02-10T21:30:00.001-06:002010-02-10T21:30:48.447-06:00

I've been talking to young writers about how to improve their narrative writing and two issues keep coming up:  description and pacing. I kept thinking about these as I was reading Day of Tears, a novel created entirely out of internal and external dialogue, because you can see how there would be obvious problems with both.  Lester handled the would-be pitfalls with finesse--there's enough

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-35558061206578448052010-01-30T11:17:00.000-06:002010-01-30T11:17:06.396-06:00

http://www.amazon.com/Tweak-Growing-Methamphetamines-Nic-Sheff/dp/1416972196/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264871327&sr=1-1 "I'd heard rumors about what happened to Lauren."  Not a compelling first line, but in this memoir by Nic Sheff, he unravels the tale of his life, from his first intoxication by alcohol at the age of 11 to starting on meth at 14 and his many trips to rehab. Honestly,

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-442133116476381762010-01-30T11:08:00.000-06:002010-01-30T11:08:12.882-06:00

http://www.amazon.com/Already-Dead-Novel-Charlie-Huston/dp/034547824X This was another e-book I read on my iphone and I still love the experience of having a book with me at all times, but this book was not what I thought it would be.  Thank goodness it was free (it's the first in a series, and I suppose they are hoping you get hooked and pay for the others). What is it with books that start

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-47613728918375007322010-01-18T10:17:00.001-06:002010-01-18T10:17:34.354-06:00

First, and I don't know why I didn't think of this before, I'm going to start numbering these things to make it easier to keep track for poor Nicole. Secondly, graphic novels!  I read two this weekend and because I feel guilty about reading a novel a day, I'm going to combine them into one review, so as not to cheat.  It's not like they were short, but they really don't take as long to read as a

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-45723150374249357142010-01-17T18:45:00.000-06:002010-01-17T18:45:15.466-06:00

Don't worry, the Roald Dahl kick is ending here.  This book is a continuation of his famous and popular Boy, which is autobiographical and covers his early years through young adulthood. After Dahl's death in 1990, his wife apparently found more stories and letters from his childhood and published More About Boy, which I found to be even more interesting and entertaining than Boy. In this one,

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-28132277695779066892010-01-16T17:19:00.000-06:002010-01-16T17:19:44.556-06:00

First let me say that every kid should have an Uncle Glenn.  Uncle Glenn recognized a fellow bookworm in me when I was no older than six and began giving me the most wonderful books as gifts throughout the years.  Because of him, I discovered The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, Misty of Chincoteague, the original Hans Christian Andersen folk tales (not all of which are appropriate for

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-74994847901313807392010-01-10T14:45:00.000-06:002010-01-10T14:45:02.400-06:00

The two authors have teenagers in their lives who love to read and dared them to write a book they would enjoy, so they did.  In an interview I read, the authors say they made it sort of serialized at first, turning in what they had written to their teen "bosses" who demanded to know what was next.  An interesting process, to be sure. I don't like to do too much plot summary, but it is told from

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-73048038430267033162010-01-10T14:11:00.000-06:002010-01-10T14:11:18.090-06:00

Gotta love that title.  It’s rare to find a book that combines science, the supernatural and a fictional narrative. But Connolly weaves all three together in this fun little ride of a book. The beginning grabbed me, since he started off with the Big Bang and I can’t resist a book that starts on such a huge scale. Since I knew this author from The Book of Lost Things, I took a chance and bought it

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-30034608261219620232010-01-10T13:44:00.001-06:002010-01-10T13:44:47.506-06:00

This was such a cute, intriguing book I had to check it out from the library.  The author, Thomas Mauriello, is a professor of forensic science and has set up six dollhouse rooms with murder scenes laid out in an extremely detailed manner. Each of the rooms comes with a story in which the detectives try to figure out the crimes. Close-up shots of different sections of the room supplement each

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-16355452073288690892010-01-10T13:29:00.001-06:002010-01-10T13:30:29.869-06:00

This was Steinbeck's last complete novel, published in 1961.  I had never heard of it before I discovered it when rifling through the bargain bins at Half Price Books.  I had to look at his picture in the back to make sure it was the John Steinbeck.  (I also discovered his younger son--the only surviving one--is a published writer.  Did anyone know that?) A quick rundown:  Ethan Hawley is a Long

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-61034844449383686902010-01-10T12:00:00.000-06:002010-01-10T12:23:23.861-06:00

I've got a couple of Cannonball reviews ready to go (yay!) but I wanted to first talk about this whole reading a book on an electronic device new-fangled thing.I finally got an iphone for my birthday/Christmas (they're expensive! And thanks Bill!) and the first thing I did was get the free app for the amazon reader, the same thing used on their Kindle. The app is great, pretty seamless, and after

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-884004781447032012010-01-01T19:51:00.002-06:002010-01-16T17:21:44.140-06:00

In the late 90s, I discovered an album by a guy named Van Morrison. It was incredible and it seemed to defy classification. I couldn't name the genre, and I really didn't care. When I'd have a hard day at work, I'd come home, sit on the living room floor and listen to it from end to end. By the fading notes of the last track, I could hardly remember what was bothering me. It worked every single

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-15451089012010560352009-12-26T13:35:00.000-06:002009-12-26T13:43:15.558-06:00

I bought this slim book on a whim at the grocery store, of all places. Fifteen bucks. And I almost immediately regretting it, afraid it would be the fast food version of reading. I'm familiar with Burroughs, I like his writing style, but the first half had me worried. It was Christmas stories from his now well-worn crazy childhood. Good enough, but...It's the second half where he gets me,

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-31093654461760510232009-12-14T19:22:00.000-06:002009-12-14T19:28:58.214-06:00

Avi is a well-known author of young adult novels, but I haven't given him much of a go in the past. I picked up this one because it's one of his newer ones and it's not part of a series. Set in 11th century England, it follows a young orphan girl and a talking, bewitched raven as they try to figure out how to survive. I'm not doing justice to the storyline--it's not nearly as corny as I fear

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-40253714205523483032009-11-27T14:15:00.000-06:002009-11-27T14:45:01.111-06:00

I know not everyone enjoys Steinbeck. And normally I can at least empathize, even if I don't agree. But when I'm drinking in his language, I find it hard to understand how anyone could object to:"The climate changed quickly to cold and the trees burst into color, the reds and yellows you can't believe. It isn't only a color but a glowing, as though the leaves gobbled the light of the autumn

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-63970652854310784362009-11-22T21:01:00.000-06:002009-11-22T21:10:55.956-06:00

Youth in Revolt, by C.D. Payne, was not worth the $18 I paid for it. It was possibly not even worth a buck.But I'm jumping the gun a bit.Let's get this out of the way too, while I'm at it: yeah, it's picaresque. And it's fun--for the first 150 pages or so.It's nearly 500 pages long. And those are just the first three parts. There are six. Needless to say, I'm not purchasing the other

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-30399089502092630742009-11-19T17:40:00.000-06:002009-11-19T17:53:50.668-06:00

http://www.amazon.com/Was-Told-Thered-Be-Cake/dp/159448306X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258674773&sr=8-1I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloan CrosleyI started to read this collection of personal essays about a year ago, but at the time I was again in the grip of thinking I should get off my butt and get my own stuff published, so about five pages in, I threw it in the trunk of my car (???) and

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-51600485469055296392009-11-15T22:41:00.000-06:002009-11-15T22:45:08.261-06:00

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger(Why is there no way to underline on blogger?)http://www.amazon.com/Her-Fearful-Symmetry-Audrey-Niffenegger/dp/1439165394/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258346653&sr=8-1I was and am a big fan of The Time Traveler's Wife, so I knew I had to read this. It grabbed me for the first third of the book, seemed to lag in the middle third, but the last third was

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-78949188679077637552009-11-13T13:26:00.000-06:002009-11-13T13:45:23.501-06:00

http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Push-Movie-Vintage-Contemporaries/dp/0307474844/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258141500&sr=8-1I've read a lot about the film based on this novel and listened to an interview with one of the producers, relating to winning at Sundance and being contacted by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. I'm ambivalent about seeing it. But when I happened on the book in paperback

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-60987687220899133082009-11-07T19:59:00.000-06:002009-11-07T20:05:12.899-06:00

http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Janis-Cooke-Newman/dp/015603347X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256599818&sr=1-1This is a hefty 700+ page read, but I got through it in five days. Even though it is set in the mid-19th century and very accurately researched, including the speech style of the time, it was engaging and enjoyable, so I turned to it every chance I got.It’s historical fiction told in the

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-60491679411770199572009-11-07T19:56:00.000-06:002009-11-07T19:59:23.654-06:00

I wasn't fortunate enough to catch the first Cannonball Read, but I'm in on this one. It's being sponsored by the best movie/TV review site on the internet, www.pajiba.com.We are to read 52 books in 52 weeks. If we do, money will be put in the college account of the young son of one of our departed and very missed Pajibans, AlabamaPink. I knew I had to do this: I love to read, I love to

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-84621436449871558112009-10-14T15:48:00.001-05:002009-10-14T15:48:42.619-05:00

Coming soon, 52 book reviews in 52 weeks....

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-38624443379069404972008-08-16T11:57:00.001-05:002008-08-16T12:05:49.711-05:00

We had eleven 13 year old girls spend the night last night. I don't know what got into me. I not only agreed to it, I suggested it. I just got to thinking about how it's soon to be Katie's last year in middle school and maybe an end of summer slumber party would be fun.Unless you've experienced it, you wouldn't actually believe how loud teenage girls can be en masse. It's amazing. Almost

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-89966108169854044842008-08-12T17:56:00.000-05:002008-08-12T18:15:01.578-05:00

Apparently when you give your blog a title with a foreign word, when you click the "Next Blog" link at the top, every single blog that comes up is in a language other than English. Only once have I seen one come up that was in English--it was about makeup. Weird.I only included the picture above because it's Bill's favorite LOLcat. It doesn't even matter that he's seen it before--every time he

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-12153371154525861342008-08-10T16:20:00.000-05:002008-08-10T17:42:49.597-05:00

They say the best way to save water and fertilizer is to reduce the area of grass you have in your lawn. I've long had a specific place picked out for a new bed that would reduce our sod by about 27 square feet, but why I decided suddenly to start digging it in mid-July is anyone's guess.The digging took three days, with frequent rests to stop feeling dizzy and weird. I laid out a warm garden

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-12561184275323544852008-08-10T16:04:00.000-05:002008-08-10T16:10:57.290-05:00

Introducing Emma Ryan (Katie named her that), the fourth feline in our family. Even though she is Patsy Anne and Mango's sister, they don't really know that. So there's a lot of sniffing, circling, fluffing of fur, hissing and occasionally growling going on in my house right now. But I have to say, I thought Mango was affectionate, but Emma tops him in that department. She just "met" us and

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-242247355462528152008-08-09T18:18:00.000-05:002008-08-09T18:25:45.079-05:00

We're about to have four cats again. Way to get right to the point, huh? We adopted Patsy Anne and Mango, brother and sister kittens, back in early May, when they were eight weeks old (they were born on Palm Sunday). Mango is a big orange boy (Bill says he looks like the cat version of Danny Bonaduce, but I say that's just mean). Patsy Anne is the most glorious colored "torby" we've ever seen

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-65444488952323269932008-08-09T15:24:00.000-05:002008-08-09T15:34:38.764-05:00

I have a teenage daughter. Which means I spend some time in these horribly overpriced clothing stores in the mall. (Nothing else is good enough. Sigh.) They are way too dark, way too loud, and not customer-friendly at all. That's BY DESIGN, people. By design. I've given up trying to ask her how things are fitting while she's in the fitting room, because she can never hear my questions and I

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-18108159806454864302008-08-07T19:52:00.000-05:002008-08-07T19:58:07.276-05:00

Four blog posts in one day is probably much, but I didn't want to leave it on that last...note, so without any further ado, a woman I wish I could give an elementary school science textbook to:http://www.break.com/index/insane-rainbow-conspiracy-lady.htmlI was hoping this was a joke at first, but I checked out her other videos on youtube and they just get worse (she thinks the government is

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-7066954472103626202008-08-07T19:14:00.000-05:002008-08-07T19:18:10.703-05:00

Yeah, I know, the title. Crazy. But true! Before the internet, I had no idea that you could knit a uterus and now? China Vagina:http://www.blightycreations.co.uk/china-vagina/index.htmlYes. Seriously. For only 69 pounds (heh) you too can have these fine china plates to serve your elderly relatives this Thanksgiving.Just imagine the look on grandma's face as she finishes up the last of her

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-72163413298925735622008-08-07T18:49:00.001-05:002008-08-07T18:51:41.620-05:00

So yeah, I'm here now! I was blogging somewhere else for a while, but decided to go to a place specifically for blogging and here I am. I've started a new workout program I'm pretty excited about. My local Y has the Mobile Fit computer there and you can get your trainer to design a complete workout for you each day you need one. I chose one that will build muscle on the upper and lower body (I

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8182353074287187524.post-33686112251181101742008-08-07T18:35:00.001-05:002008-08-07T18:47:59.962-05:00

Welcome to Kriegerfrau--the meaning of my first name, translated into German. I thought it had a nice ring to it.I've been thinking a lot lately about the genetic gifts we get, good and bad. As I get older, I look more and more like my dad in a wig (not necessarily a bad thing, but sounds weird, doesn't it?). He gave me his unbelievably thick hair, which is both good and bad. Bad when I'm

Kriegerfrauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14857690963289455504noreply@blogger.com0