À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for July.

Bought:

  • Horizon (Aftertime #3), by Sophie Littlefield
  • Grave Witch (Alex Kraft #1), by Kalayna Price (iphone/kindle)
  • Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell
  • Sixth-One Nails, by Mike Shevdon
  • The Road to Bedlam, by Mike Shevdon
  • Strangeness and Charm, by Mike Shevdon
  • Life on Mars, by Tracy K. Smith (poetry)
  • Blue Front, by Martha Collins (poetry)
  • Broken Harbor, by Tana French

Too much for a girl without a job but I did buy most of it with gift cards, so…

Read:

  • Silver, by Rhiannon Held (library)
  • Ash, by Malinda Lo
  • The Pox Party; the Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation #1, by M.T. Anderson (borrowed from prof)
  • Shoot to Thrill, by P.J. Tracy (library)
  • The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness (iphone/kindle)
  • Horizon (Aftertime #3), by Sophie Littlefield
  • Grave Witch (Alex Kraft #1), by Kalayna Price (iphone/kindle)
  • Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell
  • Sixth-One Nails, by Mike Shevdon
  • The Road to Bedlam, by Mike Shevdon
  • Strangeness and Charm, by Mike Shevdon
  • Life on Mars, by Tracy K. Smith (poetry)

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for June.

Bought:

  • Bitterblue, by Kristin Cashore
  • Blue Front, by Martha Collins (poetry)
  • It’s Not You, It’s Me; The Poetry of Breakup, edited by Jerry Williams
  • Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
  • Magic without Mercy, by Devon Monk
  • Tell the Wolves I’m Home, by Carol Rifka Brunt

Read:

  • Arcadia, by Lauren Groff
  • Bitterblue, by Kristin Cashore
  • After the War, by Carol Matas (borrowed from the classroom)
  • The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater (iphone/kindle)
  • Trickster’s Choice, by Tamora Pierce
  • Taken, by Robert Crais (iphone/kindle)
  • Graceling, by Kristin Cashore (reread)
  • Fire, by Kristin Cashore (reread)
  • Break In, by Dick Francis (reread)
  • Bolt, by Dick Francis (reread)
  • Niccolo Rising, by Dorothy Dunnett (reread)
  • Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
  • Magic without Mercy, by Devon Monk
  • Tell the Wolves I’m Home, by Carol Rifka Brunt

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for May.

Bought:*

  • The Lover’s Dictionary, by David Levithan
  • Divergent, by Veronica Roth (b/c the first time I read it was via electronic loaner and I wanted my own copy!)
  • Insurgent, by Veronica Roth
  • Fair Game (Alpha & Omega #3), by Patricia Briggs (iphone/kindle)
  • Arcadia, by Lauren Groff
  • Shelf Discovery; The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading, by Lizzie Skurnick

Read:

  • The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
  • Divergent, by Veronica Roth (reread)
  • Insurgent, by Veronica Roth
  • Dead Iron, the Age of Steam, by Devon Monk
  • Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater (reread)
  • Linger, by Maggie Stiefvater (reread)
  • Forever, by Maggie Stiefvater
  • The Lover’s Dictionary, by David Levithan
  • Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins (borrowed from the classroom)
  • Icefall, by Matthew J. Kirby
  • Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli (borrowed from the classroom)
  • Fair Game (Alpha & Omega #3), by Patricia Briggs (kindle/iphone)
  • The River Between Us, by Richard Peck (borrowed from professor)
  • Over Sea, Under Stone, by Susan Cooper (borrowed from the classroom)
  • City of the Beasts, by Isabel Allende (borrowed from the classroom)

*WAY too many books for a girl with no job all year, I know. GAAAH. I mean, I was working this month but given I’ve only worked two other weeks THIS YEAR before this month of teaching… Yeah. But I’m just so lonely and miserable, it’s really hard to deny myself books TOO.

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for March.

Bought:

  • Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan

Read:

  • An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green (borrowed)
  • The Castle of Llyr, by Lloyd Alexander (reread)
  • Taran Wanderer, by Lloyd Alexander (reread)
  • Boy Meets Boy, by David Levithan
  • The High King, by Lloyd Alexander (reread)
  • Saving Francesca, by Melina Marchetta (borrowed)
  • Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (reread)
  • The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (borrowed)
  • Soul Thief, by Jana Oliver (gifted)

Sewing Blogs

So I might be stuck right in the middle of one of those “I AM GOING TO SEW EVERYTHING!!!” frenzies and here are some blogs that are inspiring me to stay up super late shuffling through patterns and fabrics and ideaboards and…

Make Something
Made by Rae
Grainline Studio
True Bias
Little Betty
Sew Well
Dana Made It
Soozs
La Petite Josette
Tidy Tipsy
Vivat Veritas
Tansit-Isis Sews
Be Mine
Savory Stitches

(I will add these all to my links page eventually, I just haven’t had the time)

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for January.

Bought:

  • ?? I’m sure I bought at least one, but I don’t seem to have kept track. Probably because I SHOULDN’T be buying any whilst unemployed. Ah, well.

Read:

  • Everyone Remain Calm, by Megan Stielstra (stories)(electronic)
  • Zoo City, by Lauren Beukes (electronic)
  • Call for the Dead, by John LeCarre (library)
  • A Murder of Quality, by John LeCarre (library)
  • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John LeCarre (library)
  • The Looking Glass War, by John LeCarre (library)
  • The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly (loan from Bill)

Wrapping It Up: Favorite Movies 2011

I know when I finally posted my review of The Guard yesterday I told you it was in my top 5 or top 2….Yeah turns out it was #1! When I reviewed the list of what I saw in 2011 and compared film to film, it just kept beating out all the other contenders!

For my top 9 favorites, some worsts, and some randomly categorized references (best house lived in by main character, film that felt most like I’d seen it 89 times before, etc), go read my full wrap up of my 2011 favorite flicks over here.

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for December.

Bought:

  • A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
  • Falling Together, by Marisa de los Santos

Read:

  • Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery (re-read)(audio)
  • The Black Cauldron, by Lloyd Alexander (re-read)
  • A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
  • Falling Together, by Marisa de los Santos
  • Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai (borrowed from Chris)
  • One Day, by David Nicholls (borrowed from GD)
  • To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel, by Siena Cherson (library)
  • Foiled, by Jane Yolen
  • Steel My Soldiers’ Hearts: The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of U.S. Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam, by David H. Hackworth (borrowed from Dad)
  • Life, by Keith Richards (borrowed from Dad)
  • No Dark Place, by Joan Wolf (thought I was borrowing it from Mom, turns out it was mine, loaned to her long ago)
  • Someday Soon, by Joan Wolf (borrowed from Mom)
  • The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, by Margarita Engle (library)
  • Enclave, by Ann Aguirre

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for November.

Bought:

  • None? That might not be true but apparently I didn’t keep my usual list…

Read:

  • Charles and Emma: Darwins’ Leap of Faith, by Deborah Heiligman
  • Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, by Susan Campbell Bertoletti (library)
  • Love Is the Higher Law, by David Leviathan
  • When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead
  • Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine
  • The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt (library)
  • Invitation to the Game, by Monica Hughes
  • A Life in Stitches, by Rachael Herron (loan from Carrie)
  • Three Cups of Deceit, by Jon Krakauer