I Capture the Castle.

Welcome to the world Mr. Callen James Michelson! My handsome nephew was born June 24th.

(isn't he just the cutest?!)

It is kind of silly that I thought I would get a ton of reading done while waiting at the hospital! This didn't happen because most of my time I spent there was between the hours of 4 am and 1 pm. Three hours of sleep does not equal a reading state of mind. But! I did manage to get through one novel! I've also been too busy to keep up with my monthly goal of writing ten blogs... I guess I will have to aim for that goal again in July!

I am feeling sort of random and would like to mention the weather. Mostly how ridiculous it is that tomorrow is the first day of July and I am still wearing jeans and a sweatshirt! What is going on here?! I am so ready for SUNSHINE!! Now we hope for an Indian summer I suppose...

Update Book 53: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

There is a book I stumbled across at the beginning of this year called "The Reading Group." The book is about a book club. It is divided into twelve chapters that correspond to the twelve books the club reads in that year. I want to read this book. It is sitting on my shelf. I can't read this book until I have read all of the books that they talk about in those twelve chapters. This is sort of the same situation as seeing a movie before reading the book. Needless to say, "I Capture the Castle," is one of those twelve books.

This book is very different from most of the novels I have picked up recently. It takes place in England shortly after the war (no not another WWII novel, in fact it doesn't even mention the war). "I Capture the Castle," is narrated by a young girl of 17 named Cassandra, whose family lives in a small village castle. This is the story of her first love.

At times I felt like the book dragged along. Sometimes when you read a book that was written fifty or a hundred years ago you barely notice, it is so well written and interesting that you become a part of the narration. That wasn't so with this book. I never became connected, I was always aware that the story took place in a much different time. Not my favorite book of the last 53, but not my least favorite either. I will say this about it though; there were a few twists that I didn't see coming, which is something I always enjoy.

Declaration of Reader Independence.

Since Oprah did it, I figured I should do it too! In the July issue of O Magazine, Oprah gives a list of 26 favorite books of the summer. The list includes everything from thrillers, young adults, historical novels, to contemporary stories. Since July is the month we celebrate our independence, Oprah encouraged book lovers to create this: A Declaration of Reader Independence. I've said it before and I'll say it again, reading is an extremely personal experience. This is why I like Oprah's idea so much. We often think we should enjoy the books that other people enjoy, but reading is not a team sport, we are allowed to make up our own rules in deciding what we want to read and not read. Since I like making lists so much, this seems to be more of a Reader's Bill of Rights (some of these ideas are directly borrowed from O!)

1. Not finish a book. Doesn't matter how far I am into it, if it gets into the way of my goal, I can put it down! (Probably going to be really hard for me to do! but still....)

2. Not read the book before seeing the movie. Of course this means I probably wont read the book, but every once in awhile it is nice to not hate a movie because the book was so much better!

3. Read multiple books at the same time. Sometimes you don't want to admit to everyone passing you on the ferry that you like reading young adult fiction or romance novels. I judge other people by what they read, so I can't be mad when they judge me.

4. Reread a childhood favorite. I'm going to keep on doing this! I read a lot of great books when I was little.

5. Judge a book by its cover, title, author, or genre. Feel free to admit this one, because everyone does it. Even when they pretend they don't.

6. Not read (or want to read) every classic. Ulysses might be on the top of many book-bucket-lists, but I'm probably never going to even attempt to conquer it.

7. Not like a book that was recommended to me... and be honest to the recommender.

8. Get annoyed when I recommend a book to someone and they don't like it. If it was a personal favorite, question our friendship....

9. Not finish a series of books because they have steadily become monotonous and boring. This also means it is OK not to read every book by an author. Even if you loved one, it doesn't mean they will all be as good.

"10. Believe that books can be magic carpets to enchanted lands, even while realizing that they're inanimate objects made of ink and paper."-O

Ella Minnow Pea... Q R S T U V W X Y and Z.

Update Book 52: Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Say it out loud with me now: Ella....Minnow....Pea. Cute right?! This is a book written in letters about letter. The story is about the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina, named for the author of a pangram (vocab word of the day meaning: a phrase, sentence or verse composed of all the letter of the alphabet). Nollop penned the infamous sentence:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

The island of Nollop has immortalized this sentence in monument form on a hill above their city (think HOLLYWOOD). When Letters begin falling off of the monument the high council of the island rules that it is their dear Mr. Nollop who, speaking from the grave, is telling them to stop using that letter. The consequences of using the letters are very strict. The first to fall is the little used "Z*" followed by Scrabble killer "Q." When "D" tumbles and vowels make their way down, things go from terrible to worse.

I should mention that the islanders have an impressive vocabulary. They are a civilization based on the use of fancy words. This is a brilliant book, written entirely through letters by the censored island inhabitants. It was so interesting to see how, as each letter was removed from use, they chose to express themselves. This is a novel for word lovers. It is quick and witty. The message of "Ella Minnow Pea" is that an unchecked government can become oppressive (also a few notes on religion and cults.)

What I loved about this book is that it is so different! What an interesting idea for a book. Obviously Dunn is something of a wordsmith to so carefully weave a story that slowly eliminates letters from use. I fully recommend this novel to anyone who is up for a bit of a vocabulary challenge!

Also an interesting note, this book was recommended to me by the girl who sat next to me during jury duty. It was not available at Barnes and Noble so I had to special order it. I'm glad I made that leap of faith! Book recommendations from new sources are always appreciated!

*Just a quick note: t I used the "little used letter-Z" a grand total of NINE times in this post including the title.

Focus.

I've never been able to keep a journal or a diary. I might last a week or two, stop for a year start for three days then stop, it seems to be the cycle for me. Which is really a shame because it is so much fun to look back on how you felt at a given instant. How you think/feel about something can change from day to day. The thing is, I've never had the patience to keep up with it. When I started this blog, I almost promised I would tire of it soon enough. But a funny thing happened, I really enjoy it. So I plan to keep it up, most likely after the first 365 days and 100 books.

I wanted to go back and find all of my secondary resolution to create a six month update so I skimmed through all of my past posts. It was interesting to read what has changed, what has stayed the same, what I forgot, how I've succeeded or how I've failed. So here is an update to those resolutions (to be honest, some of them I had forgotten about).

Doing something out-of-character.

This was my first weekly goal. I don't remember how this worked out. I never posted about it. So I've decided to add it to this week's resolution. Why not?! There are no rules here!

Shorter shower times.

Since I made this resolution my monthly Puget Sound Energy bill has steadily had a smaller column on the bar graph. There are of course other reasons for this including the fact that we are almost into Summer. I don't always time them, but it really helps keep me in gear during the mornings.

Be on time.

I think I've definitely improved in this section. No major late arrivals. I've also realized that when I'm on time I get even more annoyed when people are late. I'm pretty sure it is one of the rudest things you can do. Since I don't think of myself as a rude person, I'm still going to try my hardest to keep this one up.

Wake up and put a smile on my face and tell myself I'm going to have an extraordinary day. No matter what!

Ok. Harder than you would think. I don't like lying and not every day is going to be so very extraordinary. BUT! A positive attitude helps anything! So to update: this one needs work. I've woken up pretty often lately with a woe is me attitude.

Give up swearing.

Nope. Not gonna happen. Worked for about half a day. Maybe less. The truth is I like swearing. Don't give me that look! Sometimes it is sooooo very necessary. I don't use them when it is inappropriate so I'm giving this up as a resolution.

Get organized.

Also a fail. Google calendar would have saved me. If I had an iphone. But I don't. I kept forgetting to update it with appointments, so it became almost useless. I still use it for Theatre stuff, but for personal stuff I've nixed it. I need to carry a planner. I need to visualize. I need to write it down. I need to be able to flip to next week and see what is coming up wherever I am not just at home on my computer.

Start a book club.

Success! Well sort of. I did start a book club. We've had two meetings about two books. But I'm nervous for our future! Two of the girls didn't finish the second book and we've delayed book three's meeting. I guess we are more of a book every two months club. I have faith in C.A.K.E club. I think once Carly has the baby and Katy finishes her interview prep we will start to have more regular meetings. At least I hope! I've so enjoyed these meetings!

So wow! Success and failure. I have some work to do! I also need to revisit my Happiness Commandments. I need to also think about making more resolutions (weekly/monthly/yearly/life.) So here we go!

Weekly: Don't eat any chocolate/ice cream/pastries from work!

Monthly: Have a total of ten blogs completed by July 1.

Update Book 51: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

I like getting obsessed with books. I like feeling like I can't put them down. Usually the teen-supernatural books totally get to me. I don't know why, but I eat them up! Twilight, Hunger Games, and Mortal Instruments to name a few! I liked "Beautiful Creatures." It was pretty good, but I didn't get hooked. I could take it or leave it. I'm not mad I read it, but I feel like something was missing.

Most of the time these types of novels are written from the perspective on the girl. This has sometimes frustrated me. The way the main characters end up falling for each other has never made sense. You never really understand why the guy (Edward in Twilight for instance) would fall for the girl (Bella). Well "Beautiful Creatures" puts a new spin on things. The narrator is Ethan, who is a mortal, who falls in love with Lena, a Castor (also known as a witch). The reason they come together is explained by an electric/magnetic connection between them. Which means it wasn't really explained. I thought there could have been a better story here, but if you are looking for an in-between book before all the teen-sequels come out at the end of Summer pick up "Beautiful Creatures."

Don't say I didn't warn you that this is a BOOK ONE. Which you almost have to expect when you pick up a teen book these days.

It's all down hill from here.

"It's all downhill from here." Isn't that a funny saying? It is supposed to mean that you have reached the crest of the hill and are on the easier journey down. In reality walking down a steep slope can sometimes be harder than climbing up it. Usually when I'm on hikes it is on the downhill trek that I take tumbles or almost sprain an ankle. So that is where I am right now, I've made it to the crest of the hill and have started my journey down. Seems like an appropriate time to make some updates about resolutions (especially the ones I've been ignoring in recent month's posts.) So here goes!

Starting with the biggies:

#1: Be Fearless....No matter what, don't be afraid to do anything that makes me happy.

This is by far the hardest of my resolutions to tangibly judge my success. Am I happy? Yes. Am I always happy? No. I've found that sometimes when I step out of my box and be fearless it doesn't always end with me being happy. I guess that is why the entire resolution sentence doesn't really make sense. The whole point of trying to be fearless rests on the fact that you might end up pretty unhappy with your decision. So after all that rambling I can say that I have attempted to be more fearless since the beginning of the year, sometimes it has made me happy, sometimes not so much. Hows that for a vague update on a vague resolution?!

#2: Travel more.

A slightly less vague resolution, with a simple update! Arizona for a week in April. We had a blast! I'd say right now I'm about even with how much I traveled last year. But! I am beginning to count down the days until our North Sea/ Baltic Sea Cruise in August! I also want to plan a camping trip again this year! My Dad and I went down the Oregon Coast last September and had a blast!

(Phoenix International Raceway)

#3: Read 100 books.

The one resolution that I feel I've kept you in the loop! Just finished book 51 last night. My pace has really fell off in recent weeks, but I am still ahead of schedule! I wish I could take a solid week off of work and sit in my backyard next to the creek and just read read read!

#4: Drink more water.

Also known as: drink less soda. This is the one resolution I thought I would have the hardest time with! After the first couple of weeks of getting out of the habit of grabbing a soda, it got a lot easier. I only crave the carbonation every once in a while. It has helped that I no longer stock my fridge with the 36 pack of Diet Dr. Pepper from Costco.

In my next post I'll include updates on my secondary resolutions.

Update Book 50: The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson

This is another entry into the Kid Lit section! I loved this series when I was about 12 years old. I discovered Kit Pearson while on a camping trip in Langley, British Columbia. We had walked through the town and found the cutest book store. I don't remember exactly, but I think I must have purchased the entire series that day. Pearson is a Canadian writer, which at the time didn't mean anything to me. That was until I went to find other books she had written. This was in the time before Amazon.com when we really didn't trust buying things on the internet. So I was devastated when I couldn't just go into Barnes and Noble to pick up any more of her books! I can't remember if we had to special order the others or if we picked them up on our next trip north, but I went on to read more by Pearson (and I loved them all). In each of her books I felt like I was the main character. When I originally read these (I reread them that same summer) I was so completely captivated. That is how all books should be.

At some point these books all disappeared from my bookshelf, so I had to again search. This time around it was as easy as a few clicks and it arrived on my doorstep.

I still enjoyed the books with my adult eyes, but they are honestly written for a young girl who is just on the brink of being a teenager. I wouldn't recommend it to my twenty something friends, but I would to a girl who is about 11 years old. These books are timeless.

"The Sky is Falling," is the story of the English children, Norah and Gavin. They are 'guests of war' in Canada during the Second World War. Norah is ten and Gavin is only five when they make the journey from England to Canada. The story is from the perspective of Norah who has an incredibly difficult time fitting into her new surroundings. The ensuing books go on to tell about their life in the following years during the war, and finally the difficulty of leaving after the war was over.

50 books down. 50 books to go.

Well folks, I've done it. Well not it, just half of it. I've completed half of my resolution to finish 100 books in 365 days. It took me officially 158 days to read 50 books (or 13,651,200 seconds, or 227,520 minutes, or 3792 hours, or 22 weeks.... needless to say there is a clever website that will do all that fun math for you!) Here is the truth of it all: I'm pretty stinking proud of myself! I'm ahead of schedule! To celebrate I created a new header for my blog! Scroll up now and enjoy! Those are all books from my completed shelf, also known as the trophy shelf. It was also fun to dink around with Photoshop again. Although I'm ahead of schedule, I need to keep myself motivated! If it ever gets nice outside I'm going to have fewer Sunday afternoons where I can sit inside with my cup of tea and a novel while the rain taps against my window.

Side note! In my last post I mentioned Children's books and my pregnant sister-in-law. Well she is due on the 14th! That is only a few days away! I can't believe it! There are these weird contradictory feelings going through my mind that they just announced they were expecting and at the same time that she has been pregnant forever! I am so excited. So freaking excited. I am the youngest in my immediate family and out of my biological cousins. I've never welcomed a family member into the world that could possibly be anything like me. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but regardless I'm so excited about this baby. I found out earlier this week that if the baby is a girl (they haven't found out the sex yet) they plan to give her my middle name (Helene which I share with my lovely mother). How cool is that?! I guess they kinda like my mom and I a little bit! I can't wait to be an Auntie!!! (Lets all start hoping it is a girl!! hehe)

Update Book 49: When Will There Be Good News? By Kate Atkinson

I judge a book by several things, but I'm not ashamed to say that two of those things are it's cover and it's title. This book definitely had both title and cover going for it. The first chapter of "When Will There Be Good New?" begins with a very shocking and violent scene. This act of violence sets up the plot for the rest of the story. This is another book that changes narrators from chapter-to-chapter. In this instance it works. You don't realize how the characters are connected until pretty far into the story, so you need to know how they think for it to make sense. I liked this book, I didn't love it. The characters were interesting, but a few of the pieces at the end didn't add up for me. I did enjoy the style of writing, it flowed the same way as thoughts do (which is very different from the way we speak or how most writers write books.) I'd recommend it for a beach vacation. Here is a favorite excerpt:

"He was Irish, which always helped. A man with an Irish accent could sound wise and poetic and interesting even when he wasn't."

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

I've talked a little bit about kid lit but I don't think I've mentioned anything about children's books. A few weekends ago I attended a baby shower for my sister-in-law. The invitation suggested that everyone bring their favorite children's book to create a library for "Michelson Junior." You don't even know how excited I was about this!! Books have always been an important part of my life and I have so many favorites from when I was a little tyke.

For First and Second grade I had an awesome teacher that made reading fun. Mr. Ham discovered almost all of my favorite children's books. I think that having a good foundation of book enjoyment has made me an avid reader throughout my entire life. One amazing teacher can make all the difference in the world to a child.

Perusing the picture book section at Barnes and Noble was almost as overwhelming as trying to pick books out for myself! Finally I decided on these three....

Sadly some other lady had a tree theme for her gift (and had inscribed on the inside cover) so I returned "The Giving Tree" for another classic Shel Silverstein, "Where the Sidewalk Ends." The next book I want to get for Baby is by Rudyard Kipling called "The Just So Stories." I was pretty appalled that no one I asked had heard of this collection of stories! Kipling is famous for writing "The Jungle Book," but these stories are so awesome I think every child should be read them.

(Click to see one of the most famous of the stories "The Elephant's Child.")

Update Book 48: Dead in the Family by Charlain Harris

This is the tenth book in the 'Sookie Stackhouse' Series. Last summer I devoured the first 9 books in about two and a half weeks. They were so good! I loved how silly and lighthearted the stories were. It also helped that I had seen the first two seasons of 'True Blood," the HBO series based on the books. So it was nice to picture the attractive characters while reading the rest of the story. They weren't masterpieces, but they were enjoyable easy reads that I recommend to everyone!

All that is true of the first nine books. The tenth book fell flat in my opinion. The story was boring and I felt that a lot of the edge had worn off. I hope that this is just a filler book and the eleventh installment will be much more entertaining. I still have hope for this series!