wesleysgirl

Books!

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 16:59:46 GMT

93. The String in the Harp by Nancy Bond. I re-read this probably every year. So good.

94. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. I guess this is being made into a movie and that's why it ended up on my radar. I really enjoyed it.

95. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Wanted to read this before the movie came out. Very glad I did. Hoping to see the movie this coming weekend. :-)

96. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. Amazingly beautiful writing.

97. It Starts With Food by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig. Ehhhh. It was okay but I don't feel like it was a life-changer or anything.

98. The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman. I should probably see the movie again now that I've read the play.

comments

Yes, more books 2013

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 12:21:41 GMT

89. Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is by Abigail Garner. Fine, but you could probably read similar articles online.

90. Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected - A Memoir by Kelle Hampton. Gorgeous. If you've read and been touched by Kelle's much-recommended blog entry about her daughter Nella's birth, you'll probably like this book as well.

91. The Walking Dead Book 8 by Robert Kirkman. I was excited when I saw this at the library because I thought I hadn't read it yet, but when I got it home I found out I was wrong. :-P Anyway, I read it again because I'd already brought it home.

92. Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink. Eh. This could have been a long magazine article or something. I don't feel like it was a whole book.

comments

More and more and more books 2013.

Mon, 07 Oct 2013 15:49:14 GMT

82. American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson. Surprisingly good.

83. sTORI Telling by Tori Spelling. Interesting. I watched 90210 fairly regularly but didn't know much about Tori Spelling or her dad. This told me a lot. It stopped after she married her second husband and had her first baby; I'd read a second book that picked up where this one left off.

84. The Verbally Abusive Relationship: How to recognize it and how to respond by Patricia Evans. Meh. I grabbed it because I'm always reading self help type books for character development purposes, but this one wasn't great. Okay, but not great.

85. Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America by Mike Yankoski. I don't know how this book ended up on my radar but it was pretty interesting and I didn't find the underlying Christianity at all difficult.

86. Women Who Try Too Hard: Breaking the Pleaser Habits by Dr. Kevin Leman. Meh.

87. Living Green: A Practical Guide to Simple Sustainability by Greg Horn. Reasonably well written, though not particularly informative. I don't think I was the target audience.

88. The Wedding Girl: A Novel by Madeleine Wickham. This is the other name Sophie Kinsella writes under, and I think the first book under this name I've read. I would read more although this one wasn't near the top of my list of favorites.

comments

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 18:44:45 GMT

76. Vegan With a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Got this one from the library. Some of the recipes seemed interesting and it had some good info but I wasn't inspired enough to try anything.

77. Columbine by Dave Cullen. Heavy.

78. Tell Me Lies by Jennifer Crusie. Good.

79. Say Hello, Candy by Bianca Bradbury. This book was published in 1961 and I loved it as a teen in the early 80s. Bought it on ebay so I could read it again. Still pretty enjoyable by my standards.

80. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella. Hooray for used book stores with cheap books. I hadn't read this one before. Liked it.

81. Savage Love: Straight Answers from America's Most Popular Sex Columnist by Dan Savage. Ehhhhh. At least I didn't pay much for it? Anyone want to comment on this guy?

comments

Even more books 2013.

Mon, 09 Sep 2013 12:40:42 GMT

70. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. Re-read. Cute, light read.

71. Room by Emma Donoghue. This is a great book.

72. Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie. This is my favorite of Crusie's books (of the ones I've read, at least.) I adore the main character, Min.

73. Crazy For You by Jennifer Crusie. This one's a more difficult story to read but it ends happy, so...

74. The Education of Harriet Hatfield by May Sarton. Ehhhh. I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't love it, either.

75. I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted by Jennifer Finney Boylan. Another ehhhh. I really enjoyed Boylan's book She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders but this one felt flat in comparison.

comments

Books 2013.

Sat, 31 Aug 2013 02:43:28 GMT

65. Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding. Re-read. Still good.

66. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding. Re-read. Still not as good as the first, though I see there's a third book coming out in October and I'm almost certain to buy it.

67. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Liked it. Will probably read the 2nd book.

68. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Great. Anyone who was a nerdy teenager in the 80s will be impressed by the sheer volume of 80s references.

69. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner. Still great.

comments

More books 2013.

Wed, 31 Jul 2013 18:38:42 GMT

59. Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Vol. 1 by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley. Read this because I love The Walking Dead (and I think someone recommended it? Although I don't remember who.) and I liked it well enough. Didn't LOVE it, but it's good. If I were a super hero person I think it would have worked better for me.

60. Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find and Keep Love by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller. Ehhhh. Not a completely unreasonable theory, but I'm not sure it works for me.

61. Altared: Bridezillas, Bewilderment, Big Love, Breakups, and What Women Really Think About Contemporary Weddings edited by Colleen Cullan. Cool collection of essays. Very good.

62. Other People's Dirt: A Housecleaner's Curious Adventures by Louise Rafkin. Re-read. I find this book fascinating.

63. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner. I really like Jennifer Weiner's writing. This isn't my favorite of her novels, but it's a solid good.

64. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. I've read this many times. Good.

comments

Yet more books 2013.

Fri, 12 Jul 2013 23:06:09 GMT

51. - 56. Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. Sorry, I can't be arsed to list them individually. I re-read these about once a year. I can whip through all six of them in less than a week. They're fun.

57. My Lobotomy by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming. I wish I could remember who recommended this. It was great. I mean, depressing subject matter, but a fascinating read.

58. Honeymoon with my Brother: A Memoir by Franz Wisner. Eh. Didn't love it. I felt like the premise and what it actually delivered were unrelated.

comments

More books 2013

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 00:19:09 GMT

47. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. YA about a teen girl dealing with the death of her sister. Gorgeous, amazing.

48. Becoming Sister Wives: The Story of an Unconventional Marriage by lots of people with the last name Brown, I am too lazy to type them all. This was okay. I've watched some of the show and I didn't feel like much in the book was new information.

49. Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens by Kathy Belge & Marke Bieschke. Very good. I think the target audience would be younger teens rather than older ones, but there's a lot of great advice.

50. Magic's Price by Mercedes Lackey. Book 3 in the series.

comments

Books 2013.

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:12:36 GMT

41. John Dies at the End by David Wong. Love this book. Found the movie very enjoyable, too. Good stuff. Crazy, funny.

42. Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan. Cute, fluffy comedy-romance story. If you like Jennifer Crusie's books, this is sort of Crusie-Light. Fast read.

43. Fodor's England 2013. Some parts of it were helpful. Basically like all the other Fodor's books.

44. A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham. Gorgeous.

45. Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey. Book 1 in the series. Read this series many times as a young adult, decided it was time to read them again. They aren't brilliant but they have so much heart.

46. Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey. Book 2 in the series.

comments

More books 2013.

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:19:21 GMT

36. Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks. Interesting! A bit more dry than I had expected, but good.

37. The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Apparently everyone read this when they were kids except me. Glad I finally did.

38. The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet by Alicia Silverstone. Meh. Some of the recipes look good, though.

39. Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV by Jennifer L. Pozner. This is SO GOOD. For real, everyone should read it. It's smart and has a sense of humor. READ THIS.

40. Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads by Sylvia Lovegren. So entertaining! You, too, can now relive the fascinating decades in which gelatin and marshmallows were U.S. obsessions.

comments

More books 2013.

Tue, 07 May 2013 13:41:33 GMT

32. The Walking Dead Book 8 by Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard. Very good, though I'm starting to think it won't be the end of the world (ha!) if this series doesn't go on forever. Found out Kirkman also wrote some kind of superhero comic called Invincible - has anyone read it?

33. The Ice Cradle: A Novel of the Ghost Files by Mary Ann Winkowski & Maureen Foley. Bought this at a secondhand store. Surprisingly good and totally worth the $7 I paid for it. Will look for others in the series.

34. Penpal by Dathan Auerbach. Ehhhhh. It was okay. I enjoyed reading it for the most part but the big reveal at the end was meh.

35. Ace of Cakes by Duff Goldman and Willie Goldman. Fun, lots of cool photos.

comments

Books 2013

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:49:06 GMT

29. This Book is Full of Spiders - Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It by David Wong. Didn't realize until I started reading this that it's actually the sequel to John Dies At the End but it didn't matter all that much. Awesome, so funny, fantastic, loved it, will definitely read the prequel.

30. In One Person by John Irving. I find that I either adore John Irving's books or feel sort of meh about them. This one was a meh. There were things about it I really liked, but overall I felt that there was too much focus on the characters I didn't care for and not enough on the ones I was intrigued by.

31. My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family by Zach Wahls. Eh. Didn't find it to be all that well-written - I wish it had been more strongly edited - but it was pretty much what I expected it to be.

comments

Trope_bingo fic! Worth the Effort

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 11:50:10 GMT

Supernatural, Dean/Sam. Worth the Effort

3156 words

For my Trope_Bingo card.

Trope: Virginfic/Secretly a Virgin

Huge amounts of thanks to Verucasalt123 for the beta.

comments

Trope_bingo fic! Fear is the Heart of Love

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:55:29 GMT

Fear is the Heart of Love
3068 words.

Immediately post "The Great Game."

For my Trope_Bingo card.
Trope: Sharing a Bed.
Ridiculous amounts of thanks to maggie_conagher for the beta.

comments

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:27:35 GMT

24. Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich. Awesome except that it made me think I want chickens, which I probably don't. But a great read!

25. The Love Letter: A Novel by Cathleen Schine. Basically, this book was awesome. :-)

26. The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life by Dr. Robin Stern. Interesting.

27. Otherwise Engaged by Sherry Ashworth. Re-read, still like it.

28. Sister of Silence by Daleen Berry. Good. Many warnings for triggers, please look it up or ask if you want more info.

comments

Even more books 2013.

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:42:04 GMT

21. The Walking Dead Book 7 by Robert Kirkman. Still so good. Waiting for Book 8 from the library.

22. Among Others by Jo Walton. Hard to describe, but great.

23. The Year of the Lucy by Anne McCaffrey. Okay, but I still like The Lady much more. Probably because there are horses.

comments

Trope_bingo fic! Likely Outcome

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:26:42 GMT

Likely Outcome
4777 words.

AU of SGA S4 ep 15 "Outcast."

Many thanks to Bethynyc for the beta. All unaccompanied dashes are my own. :-)
Inspiration courtesy of Fitofpique.
For my Trope_Bingo card. Trope: Secret Twin/Doppelganger.

comments

More books 2013

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:10:28 GMT

18. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. GORGEOUS. But exceedingly triggery for self-harm, suicide and eating disorders, so please do some checking first. Amazingly written.

19. The Paternity Test by Michael Lowenthal. Good, but not what I thought it was going to be, and definitely not a happy ending, which bummed me out.

20. Blankets by Craig Thompson. I guess this is the point where I stop saying I'm not a graphic novel person. SO GOOD.

comments

Okay, this is so funny I can't breathe.

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 02:56:23 GMT

The 10 Least Competent Time Travelers.

Hey, it's late, I'm tired, I don't have any donuts, and I'm trying not to go back and play fucking Candy Crush Saga on fucking Facebook again. If this is what makes me laugh, I'm keeping it!

comments

I don't know how to post anymore.

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 02:56:43 GMT

This is a list of things I'm kind of obsessing about that are:

Cool! - Diamond Candles. You buy a soy candle, and you burn it, and there's a ring inside! It's like the adult woman's version of Cracker Jack.

Useful! - Pepperplate. Website (and app) so that you can organize and store all your recipes. You can directly import recipes from some of the bigger recipe websites. I am constantly bookmarking recipes to the point where the links are taking over my browser; this site seems particularly brilliant to me.

Funny! - Nerd³ Plays: Surgeon Simulator 2013. I have no idea why I think this is so funny, but it makes me laugh so much when I watch it. If you're sensitive to surgery related stuff, I think this might be problematic for you, but it's very, very unrealistic -- think "Operation" the board game level of realism.

comments

There will always be more books 2013

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 02:54:24 GMT

15. Chronicles of Downton Abbey: A New Era by Jessica Fellowes & Matthew Sturgis. Very cool (though not really much in the way of new information.) Nice photos though!

16. Welfare Brat: A Memoir by Mary Childers. A fairly quick and enjoyable read. Even though some of the subject matter is upsetting/depressing, the author did a good job not making it overly so.

17. When the Mirror Lies: Anorexia, Bulimia, and Other Eating Disorders by Tamra B. Orr. I saw this recommended somewhere (I know, I might as well type that after every title, LOL) but didn't realize when I requested it from the library system that it's a Young Adult book. I read some YA books but usually they're fiction. This was nicely written and had a lot of great info though.

comments

More books 2013

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:17:29 GMT

12. Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel G. Amen. Interesting, I guess, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

13. Warm Bodies: A Novel by Isaac Marion. Read this because we were thinking of seeing the movie. I liked it reasonably well at first but I liked it less as it went on.

14. Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson. Memoir about growing up gay and adopted into a conservative family. Well written but I can't say I enjoyed it.

comments

Books 2013

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:11:07 GMT

9. Walking Dead Book 6 by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. I love these so much, and I'm not at all a graphic novel person. I wish I could justify buying them but they're so expensive, so I'll just keep getting them from the library.

10. Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez. Young adult book about three gay high school students. Totally worth reading, and I'd read more in the series if I come across them. (I got this one secondhand for like a dollar.)

11. American Widow by Alissa Torres. I saw this recommended somewhere online and got it from the library. Graphic novel about a woman whose husband died on 9/11 and what she went through after he died. Unsurprisingly, it was pretty depressing.

comments

More books 2013

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:49:52 GMT

7. Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman Behind the Legend by John E. Miller. Eh. It was sort of interesting in a dry kind of way, but I actually liked Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Donald Zochert better. This focused a lot more on her later years, when she became less interesting for me for whatever reason.

8. Protecting the Gift: Keeping Children and Teenagers Safe (and Parents Sane) by Gavin de Becker. This was a re-read because it had been a while and I felt like I could use a reminder. This is a GREAT book. I think all women, whether they have kids or not, should read it.

comments