Christmas Challenge Update

Friday is New Year's Eve. I have an entire stack of books that came in on interlibarbary loan for another challenge that I am starting with the new year coming, so I think I am going to call myself done with this challenge. This is what I read and blogged about:

A Midnight Carol: A novel on How Charles Dickens Saved Christmas by Patricia K. Davis

The Christmas Scrapbook by Philip Gulley

Christmas at Harrington's by Melody Carlson

While I didn't read a lot, I did enjoy the idea of read books for Christmas and I hope to start earlier next year. This has inspired me to keep a list of Christmas books to refer to for next year! I highly recommend you trying this type of challenge in the future. Thanks to Nely of All About (N) for creating this challenge. 

 

THE CAT WHO.... Series: by Lilian Jackson Braun

Main Characters: Jim Quilleram, Journalist & his 2 cats, Yum Yum and Koko

1. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards   '66
2. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern    '67
3. The Cat Who Turned On and Off    '68
4. The Cat Who Saw Red    '86
5. The Cat Who Played Brahms    '87
6. The Cat Who Played Post Office    '87
7. The Cat Who Had 14 Tails    '88
8. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare   '88
9. The Cat Who Sniffed Glue    '88
10. The Cat Who Went Underground    '89
11. The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts    '90
12. The Cat Who Lived High    '91
13. The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal   '92
14. The Cat Who Moved a Mountain   '92
15. The Cat Who Wasn't There    '92
16. The Cat Who Went into the Closet     '93
17. The Cat Who Came to Breakfast    '94
18. The Cat Who Blew the Whistle    '94
19. The Cat Who Said Cheese    '96
20. The Cat Who Tailed a Thief    '97
21. The Cat Who Sang for the Birds    '98
22. The Cat Who Saw Stars    '99
23. The Cat Who Robbed a Bank    '00
24. The Cat Who Smelled a Rat   '01
25. The Cat Who Went Up the Creek    '02
26. The Cat Who Brought Down the House   ' 03
27. The Cat Who Talked Turkey    '03
28. The Cat Who Went Bananas    '04
29. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell    '06
30. The Cat Who Had Sixty Whiskers  

The Chocolate Cat Caper by JoAnna Carl

So I learned my lesson after reading "The Cat Who..." series and I decided to read the first book in the series first. I will definitely read more in this series. The main character, Lee McKinney, certainly has lead a busy life... accountant, trophy wife, divorcee, Texas beauty queen, etc. And while typing this it seems a little crazy, she does seem to pull off all these roles. She "comes home" to Michigan after divorcing her rich husband (role of trophy wife) to get a fresh start. She explains that as a child she came to this quiet vacation town in Michigan to help her aunt run her chocolate shop, so it seems natural that in a time in her life she in which she needs to rebuild, she finds herself here again.

This particular story sets the scene for how and why she came to work with her aunt. It also introduces you to all of the quaint characters in this town including some from her past. While working for her aunt (and she is there to be the business minded person... remember role of accountant), she talks her aunt into taking any order for Clementine Ripley, the famous... or should I saw infamous... defense attorney. There apparently is a long list of people that hate this woman (hello: she is rich, pretty, and a successful lawyer... duh). Naturally, she has to die in mysteriously in the story... and she does. This the mystery. With so many suspects, anyone could have killed her. Also the way that she dies is by eating a piece of cyanide laced chocolate that Lee delivered and her aunt made, which is how she gets drawn into the mystery.

For the most part, I enjoyed almost all of the characters in this book. And while Lee has this annoying (I think it is suppose to be funny) habit of saying the wrong words when she talks when she is nervous, I do really like her. Like I said, I actually like everyone which is why I will read more in this series. Unlike other mysteries like this, I didn't really feel any connection with the town (setting), but perhaps that will come as I read more.

THEODOSIA BROWNING Series by Laura Childs

Charleston Tea Room Owner

1. Death By Darjeeling
2. Gunpowder Green
3. Shades of Earl Gray   ‘03
4. The English Breakfast Murder   ‘03
5. The Jasmine Moon Murder   ‘04
6. Chamomile Mourning   ‘05
7. Blood Orange Brewing   ‘06
8. Dragonwell Dead   '07
9. The Silver Needle Murder    '08
10. Oolong Dead    '09
11. The Teaberry Strangler    '10

CHOCOHOLIC MYSTERY Series:

Main Character: Lee McKinney, Manager of a Chocolate Shop

1. The Chocolate Cat Caper   ‘02
2. The Chocolate Bear Burglary   ‘02.....Christmas
3. The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up   ‘03
4. The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle   ‘04
5. The Chocolate Mouse Trap   ‘05
6. The Chocolate Bridal Bash   '06
7. The Chocolate Jewel Case    '07
8. The Chocolate Snowman Murders  '08....Christmas
9. The Chocolate Cupid Killings    '09...Valentines
10. The Chocolate Pirate Plot    '10

A Midnight Carol: A Novel of How Charles Dickens Saved Christmas by Patricia K. Davis

I really liked this book. I must admit I am a Charles Dickens fan. I am also a Christmas Carol fan, so to read this seemed like I was going to like it no matter what. I really like retellings or sequels to classical pieces, too.

With that said, this tale of the story behind the writing and publishing of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol was quite entertaining. I liked that there were enough factual elements from Dickens life that I found the author and story creditable. Since I have taught high school English for years, I know quite a bit about his life and many of those details were included.

The story picks up with Dickens awaiting the birth of his 5th child, while struggling to write a money maker. His past works had done well but he seems to have fallen out of favor. Once the idea of The Christmas Carol is hatched and written, he attempts to publish it in a way that will offer him the opportunity to make more profit. Naturally there is some underhandedness by his publishers and it creates quite a suspenseful air to the book that I did not expect, but it is what made me sad that Christmas came and I had to put it aside. It is also what got me out of bed at 4:45 am this morning to finish it.

If you like Dickens and or The Christmas Carol, I highly recommend.  

1st Challenge of 2011

2011 Support Your Local Library Challenge

This is my first challenge for 2010. Here is the description...

I participated in this challenge last year when it was hosted by J. Kayes book blog.  But it seems that J. Kaye is no longer blogging and I really wanted to do this challenge again so I thought that I would try my hand at hosting it.


1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. Just create a post for the challenge and link to your challenge post in the linky below.




--Non-Bloggers: Post your list of books in the comment section of the wrap-up post.


2. There are four levels to this challenge...Pick your poison:




--The Mini – Check out and read 30 library books.


--"Fun" Size – Check out and read 40 library books.


--Jumbo Size – Check out and read 50 library books.


--Mega Size – Check out and read 51+ library books.
(Aim high. As long as you read 30 by the end of 2011, you are a winner.)


3. Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Young Reader – basically any book counts just as long as it is checked out from the library. Books MUST be checked out like with a library card, books purchased at a library DO NOT count.


4. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.


5. Crossovers from other reading challenges count.


6. Challenge begins January 1st 2011 and goes thru December 31 2011.

The Christmas Scrapbook by Philip Gulley

Okay so back to the Christmas reading challenge. I pick up The Christmas Scrapbook by Philip Gulley because it was short (89 pages) and it was the ONLY Christmas book in our libraries display that was not a romance. Thank goodness this was short. I did not enjoy this book. The idea seemed nice. Husband wants to get wife a "real" Christmas present this year so he take a scrapbooking class at a local junior college to learn how to scrapbook in the hopes of making her a scrapbook for Christmas. Sweet idea right? The execution was horrible. The main character, Pastor Sam, tells his wife that he is going to a men's group on Wednesday nights... which is really the night of his class (lie). His wife starts to believe her friend that he is really having an affair. Once she finds out this isn't true, she then believes the friend again ("Dumb this friend lady" I was wanted to scream at her) that he is secretly dying and is going for treatments on Wednesday nights. The entire town eventually catches onto to this story, so as the Christmas holiday approaches people go out of their way to be nice to Sam. The scrapbook class is totally a failure for Sam and he ends up enlisting help from his assistant to attempt to finish his book. If you are interested in finding out if he does finish the scrapbook, what hiw wife thinks or it, or what happens when they find out he is not ill... you will have to spend an hour of your life reading it.

I felt like I was stuck in a situational comedy. Kind of Bob Newhart like... but not as good.

Christmas at Harrington's by Melody Carlson

My Mom and I joined a Christmas Reading challenge, and this might be one of the first books I have finished for the challenge. We are to read 5 Christmas books by Christmas (or something like that... actually I think it is 5 holiday, but whatever). Christmas at Harrington's by Melody Carlson is a short ( 167 pages) book about a woman that is released from prison after wrongfully serving a prison sentence for embezzlement. She decides not to "go home" but to start a new life in the town of New Haven. The book is a sweet telling of her journey "back into civilization" in which she is embraced and helped by some and shunned by others. In the true sense of character development, the author does a nice job of creating the character of Lena and has her fully develop and change into a more confident and Godly character by the end of the book. It is a season job at Harrington Department store as Mrs. Claus that allows Lena to go through this metamorphosis.

This was a quick read, and a very simple story telling style that makes it great to read in an afternoon or so. I did keep flipping to the back of the book to see if this is a Christian fiction writer, but her bio never really said and I didn't have time to look it up. Through the character of Lena there is a lot of soul search about God specifically. I didn't find it bothersome, just interesting.

The Cat Who Knew Brahms by Lilian Jackson Braun

This is the second book that I have read in this series. I picked up The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare first and enjoyed it. Similarly, I enjoyed this one for much of the same reasons.

In this particular tale Ko Ko the hyper-intelligent crime solving feline, learns to turn on the tape player and play a particular Brahms song as a clue for his crime solving partner, Jack Qwilleran. I have to admit this talent was not as played up or used as often as it was in The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare. Actually, the Brahma sound just happen to be on the tape in which something else is record that really becomes the clue. Therefore, I didn't feel the cat knew Brahms as well as he knew Shakespeare. Although to be honest, it really didn't make me like the story any less, just different.

I really enjoyed that this in this story, the reader got to meet the woman that wills Qwill all this money and this wonderful home. She is pretty much what I pictured. Feisty and eccentric. I also got to learn about the beginnings of the relationships with characters that I had gotten to know in a later book. How Qwill meet them and how their relationship developed. It is one of the reasons that I will continue to read these books. That small Norther Exposure- like atmosphere and the quirky characters that fill it.

In this particular novel, Qwill and the cats first come to this tome to visit "Aunt Fanny," so Qwill can get away from his high pressure job to relax and work on his novel. Quickly Qwill starts to realize that the town does not trust stranger... and stranger than that... (pun intended) they all seem to be guarding secrets. This of course causes him to start to poke around and ultimately makes him a target for harassment and so on.

While I enjoyed the story and I am glad I read it, I really think that it would benefit the reader if you start at the beginning of the series and read forward. There is just so much change in characters and their relationships with each other that I need to read this development in order. With that said, the book does stand alone. I just think the overall experience is richer if you read them in order.

The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare by Lilian Jackson Braun

I really liked this book. First of all, it has cats and being the owners/ cohabiter of three I love the challenges that only a life with cats can bring. Second, it mentioned Shakespeare in the title and that always intrigues me. This is my first Lilian Jackson Braun mystery and apparently she is quite the writer in this genre. There are more than 20 Million Cat Who... books in print and after reading The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare that does not surprise me. I can remember seeing these books come home from the library with my mom when I lived at home, so when I was wandering through the stacks at the library, I picked up a couple.

I know that the title mentions the cat. It is an intelligent cat... obviously, who throughout this series helps his owner, Jim Qwilleran, solves mysteries. And while I love cats, I think what will make me go back and read more books from this series is the character of Jim Qwilleran. Here is a newspaper man; a city man that has inherited a large sum of money and a wonderful home that has relocated to Pickax (a small town in Minnesota, I think). I am interested in how this came about and how someone can go through such a chance in life circumstances. Because of his newspaper ties, it seems natural that he would become involved in solving the mystery of death of the local newspaper patriarch.

This brings me to the other main character of the cat, Ko Ko. I admit... I wish he could talk, but alas, Braun instead comes up with more clever ways for him to communicate. In this novel, he pushes specific titles of Shakespeare plays onto the floor to guide Qwill onto the right path of thinking to help him solve this crime. Knowing all of these plays fairly well, I found the title selections fascinating and I wanted to read more to see how that particular title was a clue.

Lastly, I love the setting of the books. The small town and the quirky people were really down to earth and in an odd way very Northern Exposure- like. I enjoyed that.

The writing style is quick and easy to read. You can finish a book in a couple of hours. The vocabulary is very usable (if that makes sense) and I definitely think I would recommend this to my students (middle school and high school) to read, too. It is straight up entertaining in a relaxing way. While I enjoyed the Shakespeare aspect, I do not think you need to know Shakespeare to read it. Lastly, they are not gross or gruesome in their descriptions of death. Just like the setting and the characters, there is just enough details to tell the story without going over the top.

Chamomile Mourning by Laura Childs

I have to admit I am not really a mystery reader. I read this book because I owed money to the library for a kids book (again), but I really needed something to read and my mom likes mysteries. I snagged this from her library pile.

Therefore, I came into this book without any preconceived notions. It was just what I needed to read. Simple but enjoyable characters. The plot moved quickly, and there were just enough details to complete the story and characters but not so much that I couldn't read it with Barney blasting on the tv in the same room. :)

I liked the main character Theo, although some of the "investigating" she does seems a little far fetched, but there is a mystery that needs to be solved... duh. I really enjoyed the setting and was finding myself fighting a slight desire to go to Charleston to visit.



Lastly, I loved the information about teas and the recipes. I am going to visit my local tea shop to poke around now. I do have a loose leaf tea pot that I should be using. Also while I have read other books with recipes in them, you do not have to be a star on the Food Network to follow these. Simple and normal ingredients. I want to make the raspberry chocolate chip muffins. Yum!


I would definitively would read another book in this series.

Don't Shoot the Dog! by Karen Pryor

I have a well worn copy from the 80s, and my understanding is that there is a newer edition. I am not sure if there is any difference, but I enjoyed this a lot. What I really found interesting is that very little of the book has to do directly with "dog training". It is more about using positive reinforcement and shaping to get the behaviors you want out of any living and thinking organism. I tried this with my daughter. Some of Karen's examples come from having children.

Me: "Meredith can you please pick up your dress up clothes."

Meredith: no

Me: "Meredith can you please pick up your dress up clothes."

Meredith: wanders off and ignores

Me: walks up to where Meredith is : "Meredith can you please pick up your dress up clothes."

Meredit:h I don't want to.

Me:  "Meredith can you please pick up your dress up clothes."


Meredith: finally starts to pick them up.

This took a while. The protocol is to only ask for the behavior you want and praise it when you get it. Ignoring the behaviors you don't. It takes PATIENCE like crazy, and I think I have decided that I am more patient with my dogs.

The book overall I think is pretty easy to read if you understanding learning and learning theory. While she does define all the terms she uses I imagine for someone with no familiarity with what she is talking about it might be harder to understand, but enjoyed it and would like to read it again so that her verbiage can just roll off my tongue. I would like to be able to approach interaction and learning with the natural question of "What am I reinforcing?" because I think that would solve a lot of parenting problems. The basics that you get out of reading this book are:

•The principles of  the "clicker training" method which is used to train a variety of different animals
•8 methods of ending undesirable habits—from furniture-clawing cats to sloppy roommates- she breaks each method down on how it can change each behavior. Pretty cool.
•The 10 laws of "shaping" behavior–for results without strain or pain through "affection training"
•Tips for house-training the dog, improving your tennis game, or dealing with an impossible teen


Answering a whining 3 year is reinforcing whining... isn't it? Ugh.