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I just finished The Line and it was not half bad. Of course, that means it was not half good either. Rachel and her mother live/work on the property of an older single woman. Much is made of the fact that Rachel's mom felt the need to stay hidden and out of the cities because of rumors that surrounded Rachel's father when she was a baby. I liked Hall's voice, but her writing style was very simplistic. Perfect for a reluctant reader, or a fan of Haddox's Hidden books, this is obviously a set up for a series as not much happens until the last twenty pages. Some issues I had with the book concern the world building which seemed generic and incomplete. Rachel uses items that have funky sounding names but that are clearly known items: a flashlight has some cutsey name and pictures are digims or something...but they are not at all different from real flashlights or photographs so why bother? Hall also throws out the rules of the government quickly with very ...

Here are some pix from my Alice in Wonderland Tea Party! This craft was open to 4 to 9 year- olds and it was a blast. The decor was red, white, and black with tissue paper flowers and playing cards spread between the settings. I borrowed six teapots and the plates were red and the napkins were black. I created a display of Alice books and served little cakes, brownie bites, and chocolate chip cookies. The teapots were filled with iced tea and lemonade. (We do apple juice all of the time and I thought they might need a break). My mom made the petits fours and I thought they were amazing. The program: I acted out the story of Alice in Wonderland, in costume, in under twelve minutes. I did this in stations and used props (a table with a bottle labelled "Drink me", a key, a box that said "Eat me", a fan, a small toy house, etc.) Then the kids designed their own Mad Hatter hats that I bought from Oriental Trading Company. Note: This is not something I usually d...

Still deciding what to read for the name challenge...so far I have- K- Keep Sweet by Greene (done) R- The Red Tree by Kiernan (done) I- Incarceron by Fisher (done) S- Scorch Trials by Dashner (not until October) T- The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Webb (done) I-? E- Eighty Four Charing Cross Road by Hanff (done) I think I'm going for a re-read of Into the Forest for my last "I". It will be the third time I have read it in 10 years. I love to discover, again, why I loved it the first time. Sometimes, though, books do not hold up and I do not love them as much on a second read. That and time constraints keep me from re-reading more often. I finished Horns and it was a little draggy. I think Hills skills improve every time I read him, but I didn't care for the main character. The story was more of a murder mystery with supernatural elements than a supernatural story with a secondary plot of a murder. It was still good, but I thought it was a little too much. I fou...

I just popped in on Andrea's blog to say hi, and she is involved in a bunch of cool challenges! I love the read your name challenge , so I signed up for that one. Hmmm... Books that start with K..... Where I am going to find time for book challenges now that I've started grad school is beyond me. Maybe I could sleep less. Last night I was up late starting the new Joe Hill, Horns . Too bad I don't have an H in my name. Normally, I dislike writers who are the sons or daughters of famous writers, it makes me sick to think Bram Stoker's (great?) grandson has written a sequel to Dracula and is cashing in on it. At least come up with an original idea for crying out loud! But Joe Hill is an exception to my rant because even though he is the son of Stephen King, I fell in love with his short fiction before I knew who he was, and his work is totally original (yes, he writes horror, but his voice is distinctive and his imagination is incredible). Locke and Key is one of t...

Here is how I spent my snowed in time: I read the Alchemist , played Super Mario Wii with the kids, went sledding twice, watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Zombieland, and cleaned. Woo-hoo! Who is for more snow? Me! To save your snowed in time: Cloudy has a couple of Ha's in it, Zombieland is a waste of two hours (Woody H. is great, Bill Murray was a surprise, the annoying OCD lead guy is boring and for better action, I say pop Shaun of the Dead in and you will get more bang for your buck). The Alchemist was nothing like I expected it to be and I really enjoyed it. It is a fun adventure novel with a spiritual point. Tonight I will tackle Moon . I am not a fan of Sam Rockwell, but here goes.

I just found a page design I love, love, love and I am excited about my blog again. Thank you so much Aqua Poppy Designs , you rock. As of right now, we are still snowed in and LOVING it. I hope tomorrow is another day of reading and watching movies. When else can I find the time to finally set all of the blogs in my favorites to pageflakes ? Now I have everything I need all in one place. Wa -ha-ha! Maybe I will even get to that closet of doom upstairs in my room... I have been feeling really unexcited about the whole Library School thing. I start March 29 th and not one of the courses in the catalog sound even remotely interesting. Weeding class, for ten weeks????? Really? For HOW much a semester? I feel like I'm buying a used car I know is a lemon and the salesman is grinning at me knowingly. But, I just read this book, and it made me feel that maybe I have chosen the right path: This Book is Overdue How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All. It was a funny and in d...

I thought for sure they would have deleted my blog for non-use, but as it is still here, I can update my challenges. I did a lot of reading this year, and I will soon begin to compile my fave books of the year list. It turns out I'm as bad at blogging as I am at returning phone calls (does anyone else out there hate the phone as much as I do? Also, I was mighty distracted this year with good reads and the economy. I spent a great deal of this year hiding in a good novel. If anyone needs a good read, I just finished the new King, and man oh man is that an action packed page turner.