Musing Mondays

MUSING MONDAYS is hosted at Just One More Page.

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about tidy reading around people.

When is it inappropriate to read in front of others? Is it ever appropriate?

This is a great question! I'm sure the answer would be vastly different if you asked a non-reader, but as a reading junkie, I have to say that, while it can be inappropriate to read in front of others, I still do it! I feel that it's absolutely fine to read while in a waiting room, if you're eating alone at a restaurant, or even if you're hanging out with a friend - in certain circumstances. I have a friend / co-worker who reads just as much as I do, and when the weather is nice, we go outside during our lunch hour and sit and read together. I think it's okay as long as you're not being anti-social, or rude, and if the person with whom you're sitting is okay with it. I even read while spending time with my boyfriend! He's a big sports fan, and when he turns on the hockey game or soccer match, I open my book. He doesn't mind, and it's actually the most peaceful reading time I have, because I'm with the person whose company I enjoy the most, doing the activity I most enjoy.

Friday Firsts

Friday Firsts is hosted at Well Read Reviews.

The first line can make or break a reader’s interest. Just how well did the author pull you in to the story with their first sentence? To participate in this weekly book meme is extremely easy.

• Grab the book you are currently reading and open to the first page.
• Write down the first sentence in the first paragraph.
• Create a blog post with this information. (Make sure to include the title & author of the book you are using. Even an ISBN helps!)
• Did this first sentence help draw you into the story? Why or why not?

This is from my current read, In the Woods by Tana French (really good, by the way!)

"Picture a summer stolen whole from some coming-of-age film set in small-town 1950s."

It's a good first sentence, and does set up the basic premise of the story, although it is a bit misleading, given the rest of the plot. It didn't exactly prepare me for what was coming!

Library Loot: Week of January 10, 2010

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.





These books found their way into my home this week. I'm excited for all of them!

Paper Towns - John Green



















Stardust - Neil Gaiman


















Kiss of Life - Daniel Waters



















Hate List - Jennifer Brown



















Fool - Christopher Moore



















Fluke - Christopher Moore



















Coyote Blue - Christopher Moore

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is hosted here.

Suggested by Prairie Progressive:

Do you read the inside flaps that describe a book before or while reading it?

Absolutely. I absolutely need to know what a book is about before I read, and sometimes I even go back in the middle of reading a book to read the jacket flap. I like to know exactly what I'm reading about, if that makes any sense! I'm not someone who can pick up a book with no knowledge of its plot.

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

- Grab your current read.
- Let the book fall open to a random page.- Share two "teaser" sentences from that page.
- Share the title and author of the book.
- PLEASE AVOID SPOILERS!

"Sometimes Cassie and I forget that we can have that effect on people, especially when we're off duty and in a good mood, which we were. I know this sounds odd, given what we had been doing all day, but in the squads with a high horror quota - Murder, Sex Crime, Domestic Violence - either you learn to switch off or you transfer to Art and Antiques."

In the Woods, Tana French

Review: Wishin' and Hopin' / Wally Lamb

Title/Author: Wishin' and Hopin' / Wally Lamb
Format / Pages: Hardback / 268 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-0-06-194100-9
Genre: Fiction
Where Did I Get It?: Library

From the book jacket: LBJ and Lady Bird are in the White House, Meet the Beatles is on everyone's turntable, and Felix Funicello (distant cousin of the iconic Annette!) is doing his best to navigate fifth grade - easier said than done when scary movies still give you nightmares and you bear a striking resemblance to a certain adorable cartoon boy.

Back in his beloved fictional town of Three Rivers, Connecticut, with a new cast of endearing characters, Wally Lamb takes his readers straight into the halls of St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial School - where Mother Filomina's word is law and goody-two-shoes Rosalie Twerski is sure to be minding everyone's business. But grammar and arithmetic move to the back burner this holiday season with the sudden arrivals of substitute teacher Madame Frechette, straight from Quebec, and feisty Russian student Zhenya Kabakova. While Felix learns the meaning of French kissing, cultural misunderstanding, and tableaux vivants, Wishin' and Hopin' barrels toward one outrageous Christmas.

From the Funicello family's bus-station lunch counter to the elementary school playground (with an uproarious stop at the Pillsbury Bake-Off), Wishin' and Hopin' is a vivid slice of 1960s life, a wise and witty holiday tale that celebrates where we've been - and how far we've come.

First line: The year I was a fifth-grade student at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial School, our teacher, Sister Dymphna, had a nervous breakdown in front of our class.

My thoughts: This was a cute little book, a quick read ... that unfortunately wasn't that great. It was good, but it wasn't Wally Lamb good (anyone who has read and loved his previous works should know what I mean by that). I absolutely adored She's Come Undone and I Know This Much is True and was just a little disappointed by Wishin' and Hopin'. It wasn't nearly the same quality of story - but it was worth the read, so give it a try.

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is found at http://btt2.wordpress.com/

It's the last day of the year, and you know what that means ... nostalgia and looking back.

What were your favorite books of the year? (Books that were new to you in 2009, if not necessarily published this year.)

I read quite a few great books this year and it was hard to pick out my favorites but I managed to! Out of the 77 books I read this year, my top 15 (because I couldn't possibly pick 10!) were, in no particular order:

1) Empire Falls - Richard Russo
2) The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson
3) The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff
4) Night - Elie Wiesel
5) Angry Conversations with God - Susan E. Isaacs
6) Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
7) North of Beautiful - Justina Chen Headley
8) The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
9) The Book of Ruth - Jane Hamilton - a re-read for about the fifth time
10) Once was Lost - Sara Zarr
11) Geektastic - edited by Holly Black
12) Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
13) The Magicians - Lev Grossman
14) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins - OMG! As good as everyone said it was!
15) Generation Dead - Daniel Waters