March Reading List

Books Read in March

037 - 01 Laced With Magic, by Barbara Bretton (3/2)
038 - 02 Explosive Eighteen, by Janet Evanovich (3/3)
039 - 03 Foundation, by Mercedes Lackey (3/3)
040 - 04 Intrigues, by Mercedes Lackey (3/6)
041 - 05 Changes, by Mercedes Lackey (3/7)
042 - 06 Spells & Stitches, by Barbara Bretton (3/8)
043 - 07 Love In A Nutshell, by Janet Evanovich & Dorien Kelly (3/10)
044 - 08 Mastiff, by Tamora Pierce (3/19)
045 - 09 The Sinner, by Tess Gerritsen (3/22)
046 - 10 Chasing Fireflies, by Charles Martin (3/23)
047 - 11 Smoke in Mirrors, by Jayne Ann Krentz (3/25) 
048 - 12 The Doctor's Secret Baby, by Teresa Southwick (3/25) 
049 - 13 Canyons of the Night, by Jayne Ann Krentz (3/26)
050 - 14 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs (3/26)
051 - 15 I Shot You Babe, by Leslie Langtry (3/28)


I think Chasing Fireflies was one of my favorite books this month. Okay, Mastiff was definitely my favorite, mostly because I'm such a long-time fan of Tamora Pierce and I had waited so long for this third book in the series. (I'm just sad that it's the final book in that particular series. She did a great job tying it into the other series, though!) But Chasing Fireflies surprised me. I borrowed it from the library on a whim. For the first three or four pages, I was trying to figure out why I insist on being so impulsive when borrowing book instead of taking my time to find what I really want. After that, I was too engrossed in the story to wonder why. By the end, I found myself wondering what else Charles Martin has written. There are a lot of really serious topics, and yet this it doesn't read as a "serious" book. I definitely recommend it as a Must-Read.

Another Must-Read is Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs. I had seen it at the bookstore and debated buying it, but decided against  it. Instead, I got a copy of it from the library. I may need to go back to the bookstore so that I can keep a copy forever. The story starts out fairly innocently, and lures you into thinking it's going to be a sweet, but cheesy, novel based on a clever gimmick (a series of strange photographs provide "proof" for the unusual characters in the story). Before you realize it, you've been sucked into the story -- which has become a much deeper with social nuances and heavy themes tucked in among the cheesiness. It's totally wonderful. I've also been inspired to go through my collection of old, unidentified family photos so that I can make up wild tales about the people in them. (This can be taken as a warning of future post material.)

Bearded Lady

This has nothing to do with anything that's going on today. But since today was nothing special, and I didn't want to come back just to whine, I decided I'd share a picture of my beautiful daughter. She's very special, you know.

I mean, it's not every girl that can carry off a knitted beard.

Not to mention that not every girl has a mother that will knit her a bear.

Did I say Monday? I meant Thursday.

I didn't get the artist's name,
but I thought this puzzle picture was amazing.

Just in case it wasn't obvious, I didn't get online Monday as planned. I won't go into the full story, but basically the cable guy was a "no show, no call." I was very upset. It's probably a good thing that I couldn't get online to tell the world how I felt.

The appointment was rescheduled, and I finally have internet service at home. It's very exciting. I've been jumping from website to website, getting absolutely nothing done. I think I could stay online all night, except that my daughter just offered to take me to the movies. We're off to see The Hunger Games, which totally eclipses peopleofwalmart.com.

I"m making a come-back. Finally!

Today, hopefully, is the last time I'll have to go out to access the internet. Don't get me wrong. I love spending time in the library, and having an excuse to get a latte from Starbucks. But there is only so much you can get done while sitting out in public. Especially since my wallet and my bladder will only allow so much coffee before I have to call it quits and go home. Add to that slow connections (both the library and Barnes & Noble tend to get a little crowded in the afternoon), and it's enough to make the most dedicated Geek pick up an old-fashioned pen and paper.

Tomorrow the cable guy is scheduled to come out to install the internet service in my apartment. If all goes well, by tomorrow evening I will be back to spending hours online in the comfort, and solitude, of my home. Theoretically, I should be able to sleep better since there won't be a need to consume endless lattes in order to catch up with friends and family. In reality, though, I know I'll be compulsively checking facebook and ravelry late into the night. I'm looking forward to seeing episodes of my favorite TV shows on Hulu and maybe even netflix -- something that's been missing in my cable-free apartment. I'll also get to see my of my daughter. We probably won't increase our interaction, since we'll both be caught up in the 'net, but at least I'll get to look over the top of my laptop and see her face as she stares into her computer screen across the table. (She's been hanging with the cool Starbucks nerds while I tend to sit with the bookish crowd at B&N).

I wish I could say that giving up cable and internet for six months taught me a wonderful life lesson, or allowed me to grow in wonderful ways. But it didn't. I thought I would get out and exercise more. I thought I would spend my time constructively and creatively, spinning and weaving and writing wonderfully long letters to my friends and family. At the very least, I thought I would be driven to fill the silence in the house with the sounds of cleaning and that excessive vacuuming, dusting, and washing would lead to an such an immaculate house that everyone who visited would be envious of our electronics-free status. Yeah, none of that happened.

I have a feeling that getting a home connection to the internet probably isn't going to make me an amazingly interesting and prolific blogger, or help me to improve my social life (unless having online friends is considered a social life by anyone other than the most dedicated geeky-nerds), and it almost certainly won't mean that I'll be exercising more. But maybe I'll clean the house more often, since spending more time at home will give ma chance to notice the dirt.