BTT - What Is Reading, Fundamentally?

This week's Booking Through Thursday question is:

Suggested by: Thisisnotabookclub

What is reading, anyway? Novels, comics, graphic novels, manga, e-books, audiobooks —which of these is reading these days? Are they all reading? Only some of them? What are your personal qualifications for something to be “reading” — why? If something isn’t reading, why not? Does it matter? Does it impact your desire to sample a source if you find out a premise you liked the sound of is in a format you don’t consider to be reading? Share your personal definition of reading, and how you came to have that stance.

Reading is being able to recognize letters of the alphabet and their appropriate sounds to make words and to get information from the message.

I have friends that say that they don't read. Well, of course I understand that they don't read for the pleasure of it, but they read signs, labels, and such.

Reading for leisure or pleasure (for me) anythings game. I prefer novels, but I occasionally I listen to audiobooks. I'm not that big of a fan of the e-book format, but truth be told I really haven't given it a fair chance. As a child and teenager I used to read comics, and sometimes I still browse through them.

Omaha, Anyone?

Anyone that knows me, knows that I enjoy action lit. Throw some conspiracy theories along with it, I'm a fan for life. So, when my friend K another action lit fan, recommended this series to me I just had to give it a try.

From what I understand the author of this series, James Rollins, has written other non-series books, that are also action lit. I believe K mentioned something along the ways of one of his characters being alot like Indiana Jones. Hmmm, Indy! I'll have to do more research about that. Moving right along...The series is called Sigma Force, they are "an elite covert arm of the US Defense Department made up of former Special Forces officers trained as experts in various scientific fields". (took that little bit of info from Stop You're Killing Me)

Here's the blurb:

An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities collection of a London museum -- a devastating blast that sets off alarms in clandestine organizations around the world, as the race begins to determine how it happened, why it happened, and what it means.

Lady Kara Kensington's family paid a high price in money and blood to found the gallery that now lies in ruins. And her search for answers is about to lead Kara and her friend Safia al-Maaz, the gallery's brilliant and beautiful curator, into a world they never dreamed actually existed. For new evidence exposed by the tragedy suggest that Ubar, a lost city buried beneath the Arabian desert, is more than mere legend...and that something astonishing is waiting there.

Two extraordinary women and their guide, the international adventurer Omaha Dunn, are not the only ones being drawn to the desert. Former U.S. Navy SEAL Painter Crowe, a convert government operative and head of an elite counterespionage team, is hunting down a dangerous turncoat, Crowe's onetime partner, to retrieve the vital information she has stolen. And the trail is pointing him toward Ubar.

But the many perils inherent in a death-defying trek deep into the savage heart of the Arabian Peninsula pale before the nightmarish secrets to be unearthed at the journey's end. What is hidden below the sand is more than a valuable relic of ancient history. It is an ageless power that lived and breathes -- and awesome force that could create a utopia or tear down everything humankind has built during millennia of civilization. Many lives have already been destroyed by ruthless agencies dedicated to guarding its mysteries and harnessing its might. And now the end may be at hand for Safia, for Kara, for Crowe, and for all the interlopers who wish to expose its mysteries, as it prepares to unleash the most terrible storm of all....

I enjoyed how the book started, the introduction to the characters and the info on their backgrounds. And then things start happening. It's very fast paced, and I enjoy that too. But, man, it was boom this, and boom that and at a point I had to put the book down for a breather. I never thought I would this, but I wanted a little restful period in the storyline.

That being said, I will still read this author, because it wasn't bad, in fact it was quite good . But note to self, take breaks while reading James Rollins.

Sandstorm by James Rollins (3/5) General Fiction: Action; Published: William Morrow (2004); Series: # 1, SIGMA Force; 100 + Reading Challenge (10); Library book;

Strangers In Death

I'm a huge, HUGE fan of the Eve Dallas series by JD Robb/Nora Roberts. I've been very patient, waiting for my turn for the book at the library. So I when I picked it up at the library yesterday, I sat down with it immediately.

Here's the blurb:

Technology may be different in 2060 New York, yet the city is still a place of many cultures and great divides. But as ever, some murders receive more attention than others-especially those in which the victim is a prominent businessman, found in his Park Avenue apartment, tied to the bed-and strangled- with cords of black velvet.

It doesn't surprise Lieutenant Eve Dallas that Thomas Anders's scandalous death is a source of titillation and speculation to the public-and of humiliation to his family. But while people in the city are talking about it, those close to Anders aren't so anxious to do the same. With some help from her billionaire husband, Roarke, Eve's soon knocking on doors-or barging through them-to find answers.

But the facts don't add up. Physical evidence suggests that the victim didn't struggle. The security breach in the apartment indicates that the killer was someone known to the family, but everyone's alibi checks out. Was this a crime of passion in a kinky game gone wrong-or a meticulously planned execution? It's up to Dallas to solve a case in which strangers may be connected in unexpected, and deadly, ways.

Very few authors have the ability to suck me right in. I sat down with the book and I completely forget about the time. I started reading it in the evening and think it must have been around two in the morning when J came into the living room and told me to go to bed. He took the book away from me...yep, took it away. I had to go to sleep. Anyway, I finished it the this morning.

Like any series, there are books that are really good and other that just don't do it for me. And this one fits in the "Eh, it's okay.". Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it, but I found the second part better than the first. It seemed to take a while to connect the two points of the story together. By the end of it, it was all tied up together.

Strangers In Death by J.D. Robb (3.5/5) Paranormal Suspense/Alternate Future; Published: G.P. Putnam's Sons (1/2008); Series: # 28, Eve Dallas; 100 + Reading Challenge (9); Library book;

R.I.P.

"Every single art form is involved in film, in a way."
Sydney Pollack (1935-2008)

Spells of the Garden Variety

If you have been reading my blog lately, you must know that I've been re-reading my favorites. I've been re-visiting my "friends" in Mitford. But when I saw this book at the library, I just had to bring it home and read it.

Here's the blurb:

In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. In this luminous debut novel, Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it.…

The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.

A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants—from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys—except for Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down—along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy—if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom—or with each other.

Enchanting and heartfelt, this captivating novel is sure to cast a spell with a style all its own…

I'm so glad that I did. I really enjoyed reading this book. Like all good books it grabbed my attention at the first page and didn't let go until it was all done.

This book is about relationships, between sisters, friends, husbands and wives. It's also about rediscovering yourself and being able to accept the change. The book also has a mystical element to it, but it's not over done, which was a bonus. It also deals with a serious matter, the author makes it so real and scary that you cannot but feel for the mother and daughter and hope that they are safe in Bascom.

I'll be looking for more of this author.

Garden of Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (4.5/5) General Fiction; Published: Bantam (08/07); 100 + Reading Challenge (8); Library book

BTT - Books Vs Movies

This week's Booking Through Thursday question:

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

I enjoy them both. :) But sometimes I prefer books to movies, that way it's my version of the story, imagination is a beautiful thing. Saying that, movies, the directors/writers/actors version of script/story can also be something different, something that I never thought of....

Another one...

Another session on the couch with a Mitford novel. It’s an addiction I tell you! But what a wonderful addiction to have!

I just had to start the third novel of series right after I finished the second one. These High, Green Hills, did not disappoint.

Here’s the blurb:

America’s favorite small town will find a big place in your heart.

In These High, Green Hills we’re once again in Mitford, a southern village of local characters so heartwarming and hilarious you’ll wish you lived next door.

At last, Mitford’s rector and lifelong bachelor, Father Tim, has married his talented and vivacious neighbor, Cynthia. Now, of course, they must face love’s challenges: new sleeping arrangements for Father Tim’s sofa-sized dog, Cynthia’s urge to decorate the rectory Italian-villa-style, and the growing pains of the thrown-away boy who’s become like a son to the rector.

Add a life-changing camping trip, the arrival of the town’s first policewoman, and a new computer that required patience of a saint, and you know you’re in for another engrossing visit to Mitford -- the little town that readers everywhere love to call home.

What can I say that I haven’t mentioned on the two previous posts? It’s an awesome book, which is just one book in a series of wonderful books.

These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon (Re-read) General Fiction; Published: Viking Penguin (1996); 100 + Reading Challenge (7); Keeper;

In a Mitford Mood

I quote my husband: "Woman, you inhaled that one. Did you breathe?"

Another book inhaled during an afternoon sitting. How I love these Mitford books! This time around it was book two of Mitford Years series, A Light In The Window

Here's the blurb:

Welcome back to Mitford, the little town with the big heart.

His attractive neighbor is tugging at his heartstrings. A wealthy widow is pursuing him with hot casseroles. And his red-haired Cousin Meg has moved into the rectory, uninvited.

As you can see, Mitford's rector and lifelong bachelor, Father Tim, is in need of divine intervention. In this beautifull crafted second novel in the Mitford series, Jan Karon delivers a love story that's both heartwarming and hilarious. Only time will tell if the villae parson can practise what he preaches.

Like At Home In Mitford, the first novel in this series, this book is filled with the miracles and mysteries of everyday life. And the afformation o what some of us already know: Life in a small town is rarely quiet. And absolutely never boring.

There's nothing more that I can say about this series... you really have to read it and then you are hooked!

I remember the first time, I read the series. I was still working. During a break from the bank, I went to the book store and asked the clerk, Bernadette (I still remember her name!), if she could suggest something light, heartwarming but not fluff. She highly recommended the Mitford series, so I bought the first book, At Home In Mitford. The next week I went back and bought the rest of the series.

A Light In The Window by Jan Karon (Re-read) General Fiction; Published: Lion Publishing (1995); 100 + Reading Challenge (6); Keeper;

Reading Old Favourites

Due to my reading slump; seriously, it's been weeks since I read a full book; I've decided to re-read my favourites. It's not a hard thing to do, I have plenty. But then came to problems, what or who should I visit first?

I went down to the pit and took a gander:

I could go with the classics, Austen, Eyre, or Dickens, hmm, maybe later. I could go with something western, the Rock Creek men are super yummy, but not right now. There's always one of my favorite fictional families, the Bridgerton's, but not in the mood for that just yet. I've been meaning to read Jose Saramago, but not this moment. Karen Marie Moning's books always makes me smile, but her MIK's aren't what I'm looking for at this precise moment. I kept on looking.

Then, I came upon Jan Karon's Mitford Years series, and I picked up the first book of the series, At Home In Mitford. And I read it. I read the whole book in one afternoon, and I enjoyed every single little morsel of it.

Here's the blurb:

Enter the world of Mitford, and you won't want to leave

It's easy to feel at home in Mitford. In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are generally lovable.

Yet, Father Tim, the bachelor rector, wants something more. Enter a dog the size of a sofa who moves in and won't go away. Add an attractive neighbor who begins wearing a path through the hedge. Now, stir in a lovable but unloved boy, a mystifying jewel theft, and a secret that's sixty years old.

Suddenly, Father Tim gets more than he bargained for. And readers get a rich, provincial comedy in which mysteries and miracles abound.

Although Father Tim is loved by his congregation, he feels that something is lacking. Then enters Barnabas, a Buick sized dog who loves Wordsworth and scripture. A God sent house helper, which he believes that he doesn't deserve. Add to that a red haired boy who needs a lot of loving and a very attractive neighbor. What is not to love in this series? The characters are the reason why I come back again and again to this series. I just love it.

I'm off to start the next book, A Light In The Window.

At Home In Mitford by Jan Karon (Re-read) General Fiction; Published: Lion Publishing (1994); 100 + Reading Challenge (5); Keeper;

Friday's Feast # 191

Appetizer
What is the nearest big city to your home?

Toronto, Canada

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how well do you keep secrets?

Pretty well, 10.

Salad
Describe your hair (color, texture, length).

Just below my shoulders, thick brown hair with blond highlights.

Main Course
What kind of driver are you? Courteous? Aggressive? Slow?

A careful one.

Dessert
When was the last time you had a really bad week?

A couple of weeks ago. You know one of those weeks, that everything that could have gone wrong did.

BTT - Manual Labor Redux

This week's Booking Through Thursday question is:

Following up last week’s question about reading writing/grammar guides, this week, we’re expanding the question….

Scenario: You’ve just bought some complicated gadget home . . . do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not?
Do you ever read manuals?
How-to books?
Self-help guides?
Anything at all?

Definitely. I have to read the manual! But it's so much easier to have my husband read it and explain it to me. Terrible, but true. He makes it easier to understand.

I'm not really into reading self help books, but, hey, you never know...

Friday's Feast #190

Appetizer
When someone smiles at you, do you smile back?

Usually, I do.

Soup
Describe the flooring in your home. Do you have carpet, hardwood, vinyl, a mix?

I have laminate in the kitchen and in the bathrooms, hardwood in the dinning room and basement, and I have carpet in the rest of the house.

Salad
Write a sentence with only 5 words, but all of the words have to start with the first letter of your first name.

We wonder willfully without watchfullness. (W's are hard!)

Main Course
Do you know anyone whose life has been touched by adoption?

No, not personally.

Dessert
Name 2 blue things.

(1) Blue jay, just saw a few of them this morning. They're so beautiful.
(2) African lily.