Juggling books

Am I alone in juggling books?  

When I was teaching, I had 3 books going at all times. I was reading an "adult" book at home, a "kids' or young adult book" at work and would listen to an audio book while driving in the car. That's how I was able to finish over 100 books for a few years in a row.

Now, I only read kids' books that really appeal to me. I don't get enough "alone time" in the car to be able to listen to audio books. And my only juggling is based on availability of e-books from the library!

Last week when The Name of the Wind expired off my iPad, I was able to finally find an e-book version of Cross Creek for purchase at bn.com. I leave the expired title on my device. That's how it saves my place for when I'm next able to read again. The Name of the Wind reappeared on my Overdrive book shelf yesterday.

The Name of the Wind is getting a little bit better now that I'm more into the story (although it's still not going to change my mind about fantasy) and I'm also really enjoying Cross Creek. I'm always trying to imagine what it was like here 50 years ago, and I think Cross Creek gives me a good sense of that.

Books and Beer Club is discussing The Name of the Wind next Wednesday night so I think I'll lay down my juggling and focus on that one for the next week.

P.S. Let me know if you're a juggler, too.

10 Good Reasons Why You Should Join a Book Club

The other day I posted about reading a book club book that I'm not really crazy about. Let's face it. It happens. Don't let it scare you from considering joining a book club. Book clubs are great. Here are ten reasons why.

1. You’ll get to meet new and  interesting people. They might be neighbors, they might be co-workers, they might be friends of friends. Okay, they may be friends. (A new way to connect with your friends.) The members might be people you'd never meet any other way. You might make new friends. You will have a chance to meet and interact with people who have varying backgrounds, who have lived in different places and who all bring something different to the club. And to the conversation.  99% of people who join book clubs are all intelligent readers who enjoy reading and discussing books. (Yes, there are some book clubs that never get to the discussions about the books. Is that the kind of book club you're interested in? Personally, I'm not sure why those are called book clubs.)

2.  The connections readers make to what they read are varied. Just like my experience with Catcher in the Rye, you might think Holden Caulfield suffers from a learning disability, another reader might think he's a caricature and I might think Holden is just an example of another spoiled, entitled New York City boy. Defending your position or accepting another's, you are developing a deeper understanding of what you've read.

3.  You read books that you might not otherwise read. (This is both a good thing and a bad thing - thinking of my current experience reading fantasy.) You might discover that you like other genres besides historical fiction. Or if your book club is restricted to just a certain kind of book (based either on genre or issues), you might be introduced to a new author. I like the fact that in one book club I read a mix of books I'd pick on my own and books I'd never even consider. I like the fact that in my other book club, I've often guided to read classics that I somehow never managed to read before. A lot of the books on my personal "To Be Read" list are books that I've heard about from other members of my book clubs whose tastes run similar to mine.

4.  Some books just need to be discussed. Sometimes you need to delve more intensely into the plot points or to character development. Sometimes you need help to make the connections between the world in the book and the world that we live in. If your book club is anything like one of mine, you might collectively try to solve some of the world's problems. This is a good time to add that some books don't need to be discussed. Members who select the books your club reads should be discerning enough to know which titles are appropriate and which are not.

5.  You can be a book critic. And the members of your book club will care to hear what you have to say. You can give voice to books you haven't liked. Some book clubs frown against members coming to the meeting without having finished the book. Any book club I've belonged to encourages everyone to come to the meetings. We won't hold back spoilers because you haven't finished the book. A dissenting voice can spark an excellent discussion. You might discuss what makes a best seller a best seller (after you've wondered how a book disliked by the majority of the members in your club has become a best seller).

6.  Do you see yourself as a lifelong learner? What better way to learn new things than to read about them? You will also think about the things you already know is a more serious way. You will need to think about life and about how you've arrived at your point of view.

7.  You can learn more about the area where you live. One of my book clubs consists of a group of men and women who are all transplants from somewhere else. My other book club has a nice mix of transplants and natives. Yet both book clubs make a concerted effort to read books about Florida. We also enjoy reading books of local interest. In the past few months alone, I've read a book about Thurgood Marshall during the Civil Rights Movement and a case that was just miles form where I now live, I've read about the history of the Everglades and I'm getting ready to read Cross Creek, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' memoir about her time spent in Florida writing The Yearling.  

8.  If you're lucky, you might get to meet authors in person or Skype with an author. Authors love book clubs!

9.  You'll have somewhere social to go once a month... (Maybe your book club will include great snacks - or wine - or beer like my Books and Beer Club) and you'll get to sound so smart. "Oh, at my book club the other night..."

10. If one book club doesn't fit, there's always another book club out there that might fit what you are looking for a little better. Having had zero experience starting a book club, I won't even go there. But that's always a possibility. There are tons of resources online about how to start a book club.

 Happy reading,
whether alone or in a group!

Laments of a Book Club Reader

I'm less than 20% through reading The Name of the Wind. And I'm not all that impressed. I don't really like fantasy. Yes, I understand that most fantasy is like an allegory. You can apply the plot of a fantasy to real life. I get that. But I'm just not that into demons - or somewhat ancient times - or creatures. Or you name it.

I'm not drawn to pick up the book at every opportunity. And in bed at night, I get bored with the book before I get to the point where I can't keep my eyes open.

I've got 5 days left before the ebook will expire off my iPad. So I will at least give this book another 5 days. If I can't renew it online, so be it. If I can, I suppose I can give it another 14 days. I really prefer to show up at book club meetings having read the entire book.

I married a guy who doesn't like to read

I mean. Really. Right?

Not only does he not like to read, he doesn't understand my need to read. All the time. He just doesn't get it. (Plus... he doesn't like watching TV in bed.)

Then again, he's happy enough to be puttering out in the yard for hours on end. I enjoy documenting his gardening efforts with my photographs. But I have a tremendous dislike for getting my hands dirty. In the literal sense. I'm sure he doesn't understand that!

He can sit and watch hours of Food TV, HGTV, DIY, or any one of a number of history channels. I can be a big couch potato, too, but at a point it becomes... well, pointless... and I'd rather be reading.

A few months into reading Outlander and hearing everyone who loved the books rave about the Starz TV series, I decided to check out the TV series. The book is always better than the movie. What about the TV show? And what did Claire and Jamie look like?

I thought I'd be able to get it for free with my Amazon Prime subscription. But nope, there was still a charge to view it there. As curious as I was, I wasn't that curious.

Visiting my son, I learned that he had access to Starz. BINGO! It was through his cell phone, but he could send it to the TV and we could watch it on the big screen. He, my husband and I sat down to watch Episode 1, Season 1 of Outlander. By the end of the episode, my husband was hooked. It was after midnight and I think if my son didn't need his cell phone, we probably would have watched another episode or two.

Everyone so often, my husband will ask, "Have you figured out a way that we can watch Outlander? Can't we just buy the series?" Yes, one can. But I can't. Yes, I'm that cheap. (I keep meaning to look to see if the library has the series for loan on DVD.)

Another difference between my husband and me is that I can watch the news endlessly. I particularly like learning the details of bad news stories. I try to figure out how bad things happen. Like this year's Presidential race. Seriously. How did we end this way? This morning, I started with Meet the Press, then caught the end of Face the Nation. I hadn't yet had enough. Rather than turning to some 24-hour news channel, I switched to the Sunday more political show on our local news channel. "Haven't you had enough of this garbage?" he wanted to know. "Isn't there anything else on TV?" The answer to the first question was a resounding no. The answer to the second question was qualified. "We can watch something else - but it has to be something good." I checked for movies On Demand. I don't even remember what movie I selected... but after about 2 minutes I realized that the Starz logo was on the bottom of the screen. Starz? We can get Starz On Demand? It must be a Starz Free Preview Weekend! I once again hit the On Demand button, but this time I did a search for Original Starz TV shows. And there it was. The entire first season of Outlander.

We both happily sat down and watched Episode 2. He gave a running commentary, complete with predictions... and I had to just sit there silently. Knowing what I know, I didn't want to ruin the series for him. (I also find that watching the TV show while I'm a hiatus from reading is really ideal. No way to go into Outlander overload!)


After an hour went by, I suggested we watch Episode 3. But no... the guy who can happily binge watch Mysteries of the Bible on the History Channel had plans for the day. "If it's a free weekend, can't we watch this tonight?" Sure... but we certainly can't binge watch another 14 hours of Outlander tonight. Now maybe if he enjoyed watching TV in bed, we'd have a cable box in the bedroom and could watch well into the night. But no... We have to do all our watching in the family room.

I did a little research to see when this free weekend ends. Boy, is the information sketchy! Confusing! I think I read that the second series starts on April 4th... and that the whole series will be available to watch in the week prior. Does that mean another free Starz weekend?

Okay... if we sit down to watch Outlander now, we can probably get in another 6 episodes before it's time for bed.

Finally finished The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5)

Check me out on Goodreads!

I finally finished reading book 5 in the Outlander series. The Fiery Cross, by Diana Gabaldon. I will be 100% honest with you. I won't be able to give you a great review of the book because I can't remember what happened in this book versus earlier books. I don't remember exactly where Book #4 ended and Book #5 began. (That can happen when it takes a full two months to read a book.) And I don't want to give away anything!

I was really late to join the Outlanders fan club. This past summer, Books and Beer Club was reading the first book in the series for its July and August book! Book #1 left me with a ton of questions which could only be answered by continuing to read Book #2. Book #2 ended with more of a cliffhanger than an over-abundance of questions, as did Books #3 and #4. Book #5 doesn't end with a cliffhanger. I'm curious about what happens next but I don't have any burning questions. I'd planned to take a break after this book and I think it's worked out to be the perfect time.

In case you're unfamiliar with the series, as I was until I started to read it, it's a combination of time travel and historical fiction. Claire Randall, a British WWII nurse on vacation in Scotland, somehow goes back in time to the Scotland of the 1740s. That's where she meets and eventually falls in love with Jamie Fraser. Prior to reading the book, I knew nothing of the Jacobite Rising. I've learned more about redemptioners (a sort of indentured servant). And now I'm learning more about the years leading up to the American Revolution. I think I've mentioned before that I love learning new things so this is right up my alley. Books #1 and #2 had some pretty steamy sex scenes. While the content has gotten more factual as the series progresses, the romance has not died one bit between Claire and Jamie.

You might be wondering about my 4-star review on Goodreads for the book? Why not 5? I assign my stars based on a gut reaction to a book.

• If it's pure perfection and the absolute perfect fit for me, I'll assign it 5 stars.
•  If something nags at me, it goes down to a 4... which is still a pretty darn good book that I'd highly recommend to anyone who loves to read. 
• 3 stars means that I liked the book well enough but I'd only recommend it to certain people.
• 2 stars means that I got through the book just fine but I really didn't like it and I wouldn't recommend it.
• 1 star means that something at the end of the book got me really angry or was a huge disappointment in the end. Otherwise, I drop books after about 100 pages if I don't really get engrossed in anyway. When I last checked my dropped books shelf on Goodreads, I was surprised by how really full it actually was!

Having said all that, while I don't think I've given any of the Outlander books more than 4 stars, but I would most definitely give the series 5-stars.

Here's an interesting interview with Diana Gabaldon that I just came across that was most informative. And to think that she wasn't just playing around when she first started to write the book. Wow. Wowee! You can also see how huge the books are that she's signing in the video. No wonder it's taken me 8 months to get through 5 books!  


What I think I can say about The Fiery Cross without spoiling anything for you is that this book is told from 4 points of view. Claire tells her story in the first person. Jamie, Brianna and Roger's stories are told in third person. Each of these characters has many, many stories to tell.

There were lots of political stories to tell. The setting for the book is 1771 and 1772 North Carolina. While most of those in the Colonies weren't aware that big things were brewing, Claire, Jamie, Brianna and Roger know exactly what's coming. I learned tidbits of things regarding the American Revolution that I never knew before.

There were medical stories to tell. Claire seemed to rely more on her 1960's medical training to deal with the healing she needed to provide in the 18th century. As I read about her experiments with penicillin, I wondered if the character of Claire was changing the history of penicillin that I'd first learned about by reading A Fierce Radiance, a historical fiction novel about the early days of penicillin written by Lauren Belfer. How much of that history would have been changed had someone caught on to what Claire was trying to do. With all the talk about changing the history of the United States, what about the possibility of changing medical history? She also did much more reflecting of her life as a healer and a doctor. I wonder if that will continue in subsequent books. No, please, don't tell me!

Finally, there were all the relationship stories. Claire and Jamie, Brianna and Roger, Jamie and Roger, Roger and Stephen Bonnet, Jamie and Stephen Bonnet, the families living on Fraser's Ridge. Some sex and romance but not as much as in earlier books. At least they didn't stand out as much.

I loved reading about Jemmy growing from a baby to a toddler with thoughts, ideas and dreams for himself. There are also reappearances of some other characters from earlier books and explanations regarding a few other characters who don't exactly reappear.

What am I going to read next? Books and Beer Club is reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss for it's March meeting. I got a little nervous when I saw that this book is part of the Kingkiller Chronicle series, but since fantasy, especially fantasy/science fiction is never a favorite genre of mine. It's another long book, over 600 pages. I've just started it today. Will I be able to finish it by the last Wednesday of the month? It's highly rated on both Amazon and Goodreads so I'm hoping that I'll enjoy it enough.

Okay, so where have I been?

I'm still reading the fifth book in the Outlander series. I'm reading it from a 7-book volume on my iPad so it's not even clear to me how much of the book I have left. I read with a larger than normal printface, too. All I know is that I have another 700 pages or so until I'm done. And then... mark my words... I'm taking a break from Outlander to read some different books. I swear. (I've said that as I've finished every single book in the series so far. That's really the bad part about coming late to the game for a popular series. You don't have to wait for the next book to come out. It's right there.)

I love a good series. The first series I got hooked on was The Bobbsey Twins. Oh how I loved the Bobbsey Twins. Who that isn't a twin hasn't had a fantasy about being a twin? Then there was Nancy Drew, even though I had no desire to be a detective. Or a spy. Or anything like that! At about the same time, I was devouring books from the All of a Kind Family series. Fast forward to young adulthood and I loved The Clan of the Cave Bear and all the books that followed. I've had the final book in that series, The Land of Painted Caves, on my to-be-read list for quite awhile. Eventually, I will get to that.

What other series have I enjoyed? The ones that come to mind may or may not be the ones I enjoyed most. (Some of the series I'm listing by the title of the first book since that might be more recognizable.)

• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (young adult series)
• The Quilter's Apprentice - Elm Creek Quilts
• The 39 Clues (middle grade series)
• P.S. Longer Letter Later (not really a series, just a book with a sequel 
• Among the Hidden (middle grade series)
• The City of Ember (middle grade series)
• Maeve Binchy books (they're not really a series, just a bunch of inter-related books with some character overlap)
• The Giver (middle grade series)

Then there are some series that I liked but didn't love.

• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Miss Julia
• The Walk

And finally there are some series I just couldn't get into at all.

• Harry Potter
• Twilight
• Fifty Shades of Gray
• The Chronicles of Narnia 
• No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

I'm sure there are many more and I'll add them as I think of them. I think it's also patently obvious that I love middle grade reader books - series or otherwise.

I'd love to know what some of your favorite series are?