Yesterday Aly and I had to spend some time at the library because we had a house showing. While she did school work, I read The Strange Library by Haruki Murukami. I loved the typewriter font and felt the physical book itself was a great little package. However, it was a strange tale. I didn't find it terribly spooky or creepy, though, and I'm a wimp. When I finished it, I thought, "That's it!?!" Where was the rest of the story? Was I missing some profound meaning? I actually had a theory halfway through the book about what was going on but was not even close. After mulling it over for a day, I think that many short stories are abrupt, leaving questions unanswered. It doesn't make me want to read one of his chunksters, though I found his writing easy to read. I would hate to put that much time into a book that is 7x the size and still come out with that unsettled, unfinished feeling. I'm glad to say that I read a Murakami, even though it's a short one. 01. As You Wish by Cary Elwes (non-fiction) 02. The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami (January Author, BaW rec)

Jenn said: The Grand Sophy, which someone had recommended on this list last week. :hurray: Sophy was one of my favorite characters last year. She was a hoot! I also loved Sylvester! A lot! Cotillion and Venetia were fun, too. I got annoyed with A Convenient Marriage but admit to laughing the hardest at one of the side characters. LadyFlorida said: I thought it was Angel who recommended the Cary Elwes memoir, but couldn't remember. I just checked and was right. So...thank you Angel. :) Your are most welcome! So glad you enjoyed it!! The fart and Count Rugen hitting Westley on the head were my favorite funny parts. I also loved the tender part about Elwes's grandfather.

Laughing Cat: Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman -read aloud - I did not love this the way it seems a lot of others did I just picked this up at the library after hearing it raved about here. Mommymilkies: So I felt myself cringe seeing books friends down rated on Goodreads. It made me sad. "WHY don't you see this is clearly a 5 star book?!?!?", so I think I'm a little emotional this week and need to stay off of there. I may actually have shed a tear or two. A reminder to myself not to take it personally. ;) :grouphug: I'm having that kind of week too! And for anyone interested, if you copy and paste at the bottom of the page and then you click to the next page, you will lose it all :glare:

Tam said: moving on to Waistcoats & Weaponry, the 3rd in the Gail Carriger Finishing School series. It came in yesterday so I tossed everything else in a corner. Aly is reading this as I type! She got it for Christmas. As is my wont to do, I'm interrupting the more serious literary discussion with some shallow, inane fluff. Thor in a boat with Opie at the helm: An LA Times article about the making of "Heart of the Sea" Thank you! My ostrich self (which is also more than a bit hormonal) has been skimming past all of the heavy posts!! The movie looks interesting and not only for the Chris Hemsworth aspect :laugh:

Stacia said: Well, you can also go to a remote Pacific island (like Bora Bora, say) I'm in!!!!! Shukriyya said: Hot tea and crumpets dripping with butter and honey for everyone. But if I can't have Bora Bora, I will settle for tea and crumpets with the butter AND honey. Yum! Jenn said: Won't entice me to read a Nicholas Sparks book or see the movie, though. :iagree: Though I just saw my first Nicholas Sparks movie Tuesday. Skye got A Walk to Remember for Christmas. I was going to go upstairs but I was too comfy and ended up seeing most of it. I will not read him nor Jodi Piccault. I don't need to be depressed ;) Jenn said: Thor on a boat. It could work. On a boat, in a plane, in a car, on a train...pretty much Thor can work anywhere! Did you see he was People's Sexiest Man! Stacia said: ds finished As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust today. His opinion was that overall it was darker than the previous series (except for maybe books 5 & 6) & it took him awhile to get into it/feel ok about it since he was missing the old familiars. After page 100, I think it started improving for him & the ending made him really happy. His immediate comment was, "I want to read the next one." So glad he liked it! I can't wait to get my hands on it! Rosie said: I didn't get to see the swarm of native wasps that stung me across the shoulders this afternoon. :eek: I hope this didn't happen on your birthday! :grouphug: Margaret said: I've been ill, so have gotten lots read the last few days: :grouphug: Here's hoping you are starting to feel better! Now I can move on to the next page. Maybe this will substitute for multi quote, though it is a heck of a lot harder!!

It's 11 degrees (F) here with a wind chill of -6. This is the warmest morning we have had in 3 days, and the temp is supposed to drop throughout the day with wind chill's reaching -25 again. Yesterday's wind chill was -24. Brr! Happy Belated Birthday Rosie! :party: I'm glad you post these! Was it you that posted the same for last year? I think so! Because of that list I read The Giver before it came out, and Aly and dh read the whole Giver series and the whole Maze Runner series. I'm looking forward to browsing through the list later today!

YES!!!!! Pam you have put into words exactly how I feel! And :lol: to the bolded. :iagree:

Great! I can't wait to hear how you like it!

I finished my first book of the year last night. As You Wish by Cary Elwes was a perfect book to start off the new year! It was not only humorous but touching as well. I thought he wrote with a captivating voice. My IRL friend said her dh just listened to it on audio, and it was read by Cary Elwes. I was thinking last night that I might just pick that up and listen to it again! He really did a great job of pulling you into the making of the movie, making you feel like you were there and that you were just one of the family. I would like to share some of my favorite parts, but I don't want to give any spoilers. Let's just say that I have a new appreciation for some of the movie scenes. Especially one that involves Andre the Giant and one with Christopher Guest, who played Count Rugen. I can say that the work that he and Mandy Patinkin did to prepare for the duel at the top of the Cliffs of Insanity was unreal! That whole scene was done by the two of them in its entirety (well, minus the acrobatic flips on that bar). What an impressive feat! I can't wait until my family reads this so we can talk about it, though I have to admit to not being able to keep myself from sharing one of my favorite parts. I rarely read non-fiction, so not only did I start my year with a non-fiction book, but I'm rating it Excellent! A MUST READ for any fan of The Princess Bride. I'm going to go pull The Princess Bride off Skye's shelf to read next as I've never actually read the book ;) 01. As You Wish by Cary Elwes (non-fiction)

Awesome party, mommymilkies! Aly is 14, too, and I love it that she is not too grown up to enjoy fun stuff like you just did for your dd! I need to get her to read The Wee Free Men this year! I listened to it on audio last year and it was hilarious! The Nac Mac Feegles were on my favorite characters list. I love summer! I love being warm - which I am NOT right now as the wind chills are below zero today and it will be even colder tomorrow :glare: Green is my favorite color and I think it might be partly because I associate it with the full bloom of summer, the green grass and the green trees. Ah, bliss! That said I do like to see the seasons change. I love fall clothes! I love fall and spring smells and watching the death and birth. I even enjoy the beauty of the falling snow and the quiet days at home they bring, but only for a short time. I love the warmth of the sun and feeling my body soaking up all that good vit D! My ideal seasons would something like this... January - Spring February through September - Summer October and November - Fall December - Snow :lol:

My library hasn't received the newest Flavia book, obviously, but I put it on hold this morning so I would not be behind a ridiculous number of people. I'm already 6 in line! I do think it will be different with her off elsewhere. I wasn't sure how I felt about that at the end of the last book. But since Flavia is one of my favorite characters, I'm hoping she will be just as brilliant and pull me in! Someone up thread mentioned missing a few of the regulars. I remember last year that a couple people said that the first few weeks of the new year were just too much to slog through so they waited till the threads got a little more manageable. Maybe that's what is going on. Has someone alerted the tech people to the multi-quote problem. I'm assuming so but thought I'd ask. Pam, have you alerted them that you would like them to increase the likes ;) I'm must be a "like" snob. :lol: I've only ran out once. I'm almost to the end of As You Wish. If you like The Princess Bride, you really do need to read this! I have laughed out loud multiple times!

I'd like to know about The Strange Library as well! Mine has shipped! I know from previous conversations that I wouldn't care for Murakami's other books but admit to wanting to know what his style is. I hope there is no Ick factor :laugh: Little boys have pee pee's. :lol: I can't imagine blacking it out in a book! :eek: Especially a library book.

I mentioned The Duchess Bakes a Cake before I realized a couple others already had! This darn multi-quote thing is throwing off my groove!!! I'm afraid to keep reading in case I forget what I was going to comment on. Does anyone know if they are actually working on fixing it??!! I bet Thunder Cake is Patricia Pollacco!! My IRL reading friend adores Pollacco! She did a mini unit on her books in co-op quite a few years back! Aly really enjoyed them.

The Duchess Bakes a Cake by Virginia Kahl. I think it was a Five in a Row book! It was cute!

Dh and Aly just finished reading the whole series. They thought they were pretty good. Aly went on to get Dashner's new series from the library and has enjoyed that as well. The Maze Runner is her first request of the year for me to read. I'll get to it eventually :)

I ran across this book when scouting for my Harry Potter lit study. It sounded like it would fit right in. They also have a Wicked Plants, I believe.

:laugh: Oh! Yeah! Totally! Can't wait!

I received As You Wish for Christmas and have already started it! I'm enjoying it! Any fan of The Princess Bride will, I think!

:willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: I lost my open tab and had to come back to the thread through the Chat Board. Oh! My! I clicked on another thread. :eek: I will NOT do that again! Mantra to self: I will only look at the Book a Week thread. I will only look at the book a week thread ...! Back to books and safety

I wasn't planning on joining the Murakami challenge, but I might be able to handle a 96 page one. I just ordered it from the library. Multi-quote just isn't working for me tonight :glare:

I am bad at math :laugh: But I read some authors more than once, like Georgette Heyer, Alan Bradley, Suzanne Collins, and Joan Smith just to name a few. I only counted them a single time in my final count.

I forgot to add up my women vs men authors. I am shocked! Women - 26 Men - 16 I am wondering if this is due to my living an abundant amount of time in Flufferton Abbey instead of living in some realm of fantasy :laugh:

My final list, because I got way too wordy in my Wrap Up and couldn't fit it :blush: *1 – The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs (Isarel) *2 – Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans (USA) *3 – The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (Dusty, Narnia, reread) *4 – Michael Vey: The Rise of the Elgen by Richard Paul Evans (USA/Peru) *5 – Soulless by Gail Carriger (England, BaW rec) *6 – Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley (England) *7 – A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters (12th Century, England/Wales,BaW rec) *8 – Michael Vey: Battle of the Ampere by Richard Paul Evans (Peru) *9 - Divergent by Veronica Roth (USA, Skye rec) *10 - Anna of Byzantium by Tracy Barrett (Turkey, 11th/12th Century, Dusty Book, re-read) *11 – Austenland by Shannon Hale (England, Dusty Book) *12 – The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (Narnia, reread) *13 – Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger (England, BaW rec) *14 – The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (Narnia, reread) *15 – Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury (England) *16 – Imprudent Lady by Joan Smith (England, BaW rec) *17 – Beorn the Proud by Madeleine Polland (Denmark, 9th Century, re-read) *18 – The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan (audiobook) (USA/Italy) *19 – The Dead in their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley (England) *20 – The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis (Narnia, reread) *21 – The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen (USA, dusty book) *22 – The Mysterious Marquis by Eileen Ainsworth Ramsay (England/Scotland, dusty book) *23 – Agenda 21 by Harriet Parke and Glen Beck (USA) *24 – Persuasion by Jane Austen (audiobook, England, re-read) *25 – The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer (England, dusty book) *26 – The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer (England) *27 – Mr. Knightley’s Diary by Amanda Grange (England, dusty book) *28 - Classics Illustrated Macbeth (Graphic Novel) by Shakespeare (Scotland) *29 - Inferno by Dante (14th Century, classic, BaW read along) *30 - Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter by Nancy Atherton (England, dusty book, BaW rec) *31 - The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah E. Ladd (England) *32 - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (Costa Rica, dusty book, re-read) *33 - The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (Scotland, audiobook, BaW rec) *34 - The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier (Algeria/Greece/Turkey/England/Crete/Finland) *35 – Strange Capers by Joan Smith (England) *36 – Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina (England, 19th Century) *37 – Famous Men of the Middle Ages by Rob Shearer *38 – The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (England, 14th Century, re-read) *39 – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (USA, 19th Century, classic, re-read) *40 – Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson (England, 19th Century) *biggest disappointment *41 – The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (Aly rec) *42 – The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (classic) *43 – Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut (banned book, USA & Germany, BaW rec) *44 – The Giver by Lois Lowry (banned book) *45 – The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (England, spooky read, BaW rec) *46 – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving (USA, classic, dusty book) *47 – A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (England, 19th Century, classic, re-read) *48 – Michael Vey: Hunt for Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans (Taiwan, USA) *49 – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (USA) *50 – Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (USA) *51 – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (USA) *52 – The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton *53 – Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer (England, 19th century) *54 – Sylvester: Or the Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer (England, 19th century) *55 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams *56 – The Rumplestiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde

Week 52 – Wrap UP! How many books did I read? 56 and Did I meet my personal goal? Yes! I had wanted to make it to 52 this year, and I did! Rereads: 11. I only mention this because normally at least half of my books are rereads. I like to revisit my friends, LOL. I think this low number can be attributed to you all broadening my horizons! Most thrilling, oh my goodness, I want to read it again, unputdownable book: Probably Catching Fire. I read it in under 24 hours. I had four other books that I marked as unable to put down: Speaking from Among the Bones, Imprudent Lady, The Sugar Queen, and The Lost Sisterhood. Top 5 favorite stories: I’m sorry, I can’t pick just 5! Out of 56 books I had nine that I rated 5 stars: Imprudent Lady, The Dead in their Vaulted Arches, The Last Battle, The Sugar Queen, The Grandy Sophy, The Lost Sisterhood, Little Women, Catching Fire, and Sylvester: Or the Wicked Uncle. Least favorite book: I had three 2 star books. The Mark of Athena was definitely my least favorite!! I did enjoy the original Percy Jackson books but not these. Slaughterhouse Five and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy are the other two. Though I am at least glad I read both of those. If Slaughterhouse Five had not been so crude then it would have gotten a better rating, it at least made me think! Biggest waste of my time: The Mark of Athena Most disturbing: Agenda 21 Most anticipated but totally and completely let me down book: Blackmoore! After thoroughly enjoying Julianne Donaldson’s first book, this fell so far flat I couldn’t believe it! New author discovery: Richard Paul Evans, Gail Carriger, and Joan Smith New genre discovery: Cozy Mysteries and Steampunk What countries did I explore: Israel, USA, Peru, England, Wales, Turkey, Denmark, Italy, Scotland, Costa Rica, Algeria, Greece, Crete, Finland, Germany, Taiwan, and Narnia. What centuries did I explore: 1st, 9th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 19th, 20th, 21st Favorite Place to visit: Flufferton Abbey Favorite character: Flavia de Luce, Aslan, Sophy (from The Grand Sophy), Ian Malcom, the Nac Mac Feegle’s, Marmee, and Peeta Least favorite character: Tris from Divergent Favorite story: Don’t know if I can pick, though in my notes I have Sylvester down as one of my favorite stories. Favorite quote: Well, I can’t choose just one (of course lol). Probably my favorite (from The Sugar Queen): “Books can be possessive, can’t they? You’re walking around in a bookstore and a certain one will jump out at you like it had moved there on its own, just to get your attention. Sometimes what’s inside will change your life, but sometimes you don’t even have to read it. Sometimes it’s a comfort just to have a book around.†From Jurassic Park: “Scientists are actually preoccupied with accomplishment. So they are focused on whether they can do something. They never stop to ask if they should do something.†From The Graveyard Book: “It’s like the people who believe they’ll be happy if they go and live somewhere else, but who learn it doesn’t work that way. Wherever you go, you take yourself with you. If you see what I mean.†And two from The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic: “Perhaps there are some things that we are not meant to understand. Without a few mysteries and a few giants, life would be a very small thing, after all.†And “Life is a mess and a miracle.†One book that touched me – made me laugh, cry, sing or dance: Not a book but a chapter from The Magician’s Nephew! The chapter that contained the creation of Narnia. This is what I have written in my notes: “I am still amazed at how the description of Aslan creating Narnia touched me. I told Aly that it made my soul sing. I couldn't help but envision God creating the heavens and the earth. Did the angels sing as he spoke? What did the words he spoke sound like? Did it sound like a beautiful song as C.S. Lewis had Aslan singing? It would have had to be beautiful as we can't help but look around and see the beauty in every piece of His Creation. I was really just bowled over by how I connected to this part of the book.†Favorite mini challenges: Spooky October and Reading through the Centuries (though I didn’t make it!) Am I ready to do it again: YES! Goals for 2015: I’ll keep my goal at 52 books. I do have a few books that I plan/want to read, Mere Christianity, Surprised by Joy, and C.S. Lewis’s Sci Fi trilogy, reread the Harry Potter series (as we are planning a vacation to Orlando), more Shakespeare, and poetry. I am so thankful that Robin keeps us focused and going! And I'm glad that I've jumped in and participated more in the discussions this year. It's been a great year!

I'd like to be heading to bed but my family prefers to keep me up until midnight despite how grumpy I get :lol: I'm not going to be able to get my wrap up posted tonight. It's ok if I post it tomorrow, right? I'm so glad I kept a copy of all of my reviews. It is really helping me with my wrap up.