Read-a-Thon Wrap Up!

Well, it's almost over. After an extended nap, I woke up and finished Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene. So that makes a grand total of TWO books finished. Rather pathetic, especially compared to many of you. But it was indeed fun...
I did start The Origin, a fictionalized account of Charles Darwin's life last night in the wee hours. Didn't get too far, however. Annie told me that she knew I'd read some big Darwin book.
Many thanks to those of you who commented and offered words of encouragement! I hope you are all getting ready for a calm, quiet day of rest and relaxation.

Falling Asleep Story

I fell asleep, albeit briefly, when Debi was in labor with Max. Staying awake has never been my forte. And now, reading is getting more difficult for some unforseen reason...maybe that beer wasn't the best idea I've ever had, but it did seem like a good idea at the time. I think it may be time to take a page out of my cat's playbook and take a nap...

First Update on the Readathon...

I've been holding out to post until I finished The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. I simply had to finish this book. It has been hard to put down. Once I finished it, I had to take the dog for a very long walk in an attempt to recover. If I had to describe it in one word, it might be: Intense. In two words: Damned intense. I told Debi after it was done that it was a book that required one to go out and immediately buy the sequel even if it meant paying retail. Debi does have the sequel, but she ain't done it yet. And I don't think I could take any more of this series right at this moment. It is somewhat emotionally draining. I don't think I've ever read a book that just has such sustained intensity. Wow.
I think now, I'm going to read a biography of Stephen Jay Gould from Rebels, Mavericks, etc in Biology, and then maybe a bit more of The Selfish Gene.
Many of you do such a great job of keeping tabs on pages read, time read, etc. But, being somewhat shifty, lazy, and disorganized, all I can say is that I have read, in the immortal and eloquent words spoken by Keannu Reeves' character in the wonderful movie I Love You to Death: "Fuck...a bunch".

My reading pile for the next 24 hours. I just realized that I did forget one: The selfish gene by Richard Dawkins. I'm 76% of the way through and will be starting with that today.

Happy Reading Everyone!

I'm so sad...

I finished my second trip through Harry Potter's world. The trip is over. It was a wonderful and amazing voyage and I miss it terribly now that it is over. I read all seven of them this summer. It all began after I took Annie and her friend to see Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. How could I NOT read them all again? It was simply inconceivable. Now that it is over, I miss it so much. I want to go back...I love the world of Muggles, squibs, Hogwarts, Harry and his friends, and my hero, Albus Dumbledore. It is, as anyone who has been there knows, a wonderful world. There is some pretty serious evil in that world, and the last of the books, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is full of evil and tragedy. I won't spoil the ending because I know one of the readers of this blog hasn't been there yet. (Lucky girl...you have so much to look forward to, Debi!). But I loved to take time every day to get lost in the wonderful world of magic. This may be the best series of books ever written. At the moment, I certainly can think of none I love better than these.

I took a bit of liberty and read Prisoner of Azkaban for Annie's What's in a Name challenge. Because, as we all know, Azkaban is a building! When I read them the first time through, Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire were my favorites. This time, perhaps Half Blood Prince, in spite of the horrific ending.

I know this ain't much of a review. Please forgive me because I am heartbroken. The one good thing about being an idiot who can't remember anything is that I can go back and read them again soon...as if it was the second time all over again. I really can't wait. I'm sure after the next movie comes out, we'll start this series again. If I can wait that long that is!

The Pirates! in an adventure with scientists

This book is a must read for boys...of any age. I read it with my 6 and 8 year olds (now 7 and almost 9) and they loved it. A group of pirates are sailing looking for booty and meet Charles Darwin and Captain FitzRoy aboard the HMS Beagle. The pirates rather deliberately sink FitzRoy's Beagle with a cannonball shot that blows the head clean off of a lady that both Darwin and FitzRoy fancied. At the time of her decapitation, this lady had driven Darwin and FitzRoy to duel for the "right" to her companionship. When she is no longer available, the boys become friends again. Darwin and FitzRoy then accompany the pirates on a journey back to England to rescue Darwin's brother who has been kidnapped by the evil Bishop of Oxford. This book is seriously silly. And it does have interesting tidbits of science here and there that my older son, Gray, really enjoyed, such as when the pirate captain and the Bishop were throwing minerals at each other, and each kept trying to throw a mineral of a higher molecular weight than the other. As I mentioned, this book is seriously silly.
I won't tell you what happened to Darwin's brother. You'll just have to read it to find out. Many thanks to Carl for recommending this book. Our next joint boy read is The Pirates! in an adventure with Communists. I can hardly wait.