Yellow Wallpaper

Champion by Marie Lu  Even after reading the first two books in this series I still didn't feel very invested in it. The characters just weren't that interesting to me; however, the world that had been built was interesting and so I decided to read the final book just to see how things turned out. The author made some interesting choices and I thought wrapped the series up well. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain I've been hearing about this book for a long time and finally got around to reading it. It was a lot more engaging and readable than I initially thought it was going to be. I really liked it and felt like I learned a lot about personality and how that interacts with culture and society. I'm still not sure if I'm an introvert or an extrovert, but at least I feel better about owning my personality traits and working with them rather than against them.  Rocky Road by Josi Kilpack  I thought this boo...

I took the entire week of Christmas off for the first time since going back to work a few years ago.I had the vacation time saved up, the kids were off school, and vital computer systems were going to be unavailable at work, so it seemed like a good idea. While the week hasn't been as relaxing or productive as I (foolishly) thought it would be, it's still been a lot of fund. I'm glad I had the time to spend with my kids and family even though the time went by much too fast.  Last Sunday night S-Boogie went to spend the night with her cousin, and then spent most of Monday with her as well. I woke up on Monday morning feeling energized and spent a few hours cleaning the house. Little Dude and P. Bibby helped out for a while before I sent them downstairs to watch Dora so I could finish things up by myself. That afternoon Little Dude helped me shovel snow off the driveway and make some candy cane cookie s and a batch of Rolo turtles . It was a relaxing, fun day and a good way...

My last "real" post was called "Back on the Wagon" and was over six weeks ago. Oops. I was feeling optimistic at the beginning of November, but my feeling didn't last. It turned out to be a crazy month, with a lot of different things going on for me, topped off by a visit from a nasty stomach virus for all three of the kids. I did manage to get my final paper written for my class; it took longer than I expected it to and turned out to be somewhat difficult to write. Part of that is my fault for not choosing a better research question and part of it is the fault of my instructor for giving vague directions for the final paper. Oh well--the semester is over and turned out well. Now I have a nice long break until mid-January and I want to make the most of it. ******* As much as I'd like to relax and enjoy my break, however, nothing is going to be calm until after Christmas. Even when I try to keep things simple, they still are hard. This year I decided to s...

Safe Passage by Carla Kelly I have liked all of Carla Kelly's books that I've read so far, and this one was just as good. I don't think it was my favorite, partly because there wasn't as much personal growth in the main character as in some of her other books. I also thought it was interesting that the main focal character was actually the man in the relationship--and even though this book is advertised and presented as a romance, it really felt more like a historical adventure narrative rather than romance. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wien Wien's book Code Name Verity was one of my favorites last year so I was eager to read this one. I think some of that eagerness set me up for too high of expectations, though, because it took me a while to get into this book since I kept comparing it to the one I read last year. Also, this book starts somewhat slowly--there is a reason for that and the writer plays a great trick on the reader with this technique, but it ...