Beginning ~ with an age difference

Here's the first paragraph of The White Darkness, a 2005 young adult novel by Geraldine McCaughrean;

"I have been in love with Titus Oates for quite a while now — which is ridiculous, since he's been dead for ninety years.  But look at it this way.  In ninety years I'll be dead, too, and then the age difference won't matter."

Even though it's been less than a week, I've already forgotten where I first read about this book.  Thanks, though, to whoever mentioned it because, after reading only this far, I'm already "into" this book.  The dust jacket tells me the main character is "obsessed with the Antarctic and the brave, romantic figure of Captain Oates from Scott's doomed expedition to the South Pole" and her uncle "takes her on a dream trip into the bleak Antarctic wilderness."  I'm ready to tag along with them.  Good beginning.  And it won the Printz Award.

This meme is hosted by Katy at A Few More Pages. Share the first sentence or two of the book you are reading. Then, share your impressions of that beginning. Click this link to see what others say about the books they are reading this week.

BTT (#3) ~ cover

Booking Through Thursday asks us to consider the following:

"CAN you judge a book by its cover?"

Sure. I think we do it all the time. I would never buy a book with that silly cover on the right. I wouldn't even pick it up.



Yet these two covers are the same book, paperback on the left and hardback on the right.  I'd be much more likely to buy the one with oars.  I wrote about these two covers a couple of years ago in my post Do you judge books by their covers?  Check the reader comments on that one.

Here are stories I have written about other notable covers.  I actually bought Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy because of the cover.  Click the link (above) of the title to read my short post -- and to see that engraved stone more clearly.

Illustrations of extinct creatures on the cover of Tracy Chevalier's novel Remarkable Creatures helped me visualize what the real Mary Anning found in the nineteenth century.  The book was richer for it.  Click the title to read about it.

Below are some other covers I find intriguing, with links to what I wrote about each one:

Barefoot in Baghdad ~ by Manal M. Omar

Sarah's Key ~ by Tatiana de Rosnay

Pink Brain Blue Brain ~ by Lise Eliot

Dogsong ~ by Gary Paulsen

The Higher Power of Lucky ~ by Susan Patron

Amanda/Miranda ~ by Richard Peck

Birthday girl

Kiki got what she wanted for her birthday yesterday -- food!  I let her have about a fourth of a small can of salmon dinner.  She was happy, even if she doesn't seem to be smiling in today's photo (I couldn't get her to pose yesterday).  Oh, her age?  She's eleven now.

2011 YA Reading Challenge

There are four levels:

• The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels
• The "Fun Size" YA Reading Challenge – Read 20 Young Adult novels
• The Jumbo Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 40 Young Adult novels
• The Mega size YA Reading Challenge – Read 50+ Young Adult novels

The challenge runs from January 1 until December 31, and though I'm late in finding it, I've been tracking what I've read by categories.  We aren't required to list books in advance, so I'll list here all the YA books I read during 2011.  I'll aim for the Jumbo category, since I have already read thirteen YA books this year.

1.  Forge ~ by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2010, YA fiction, 8/10

2.  The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks ~ by E. Lockhart, 2008, YA fiction, 8/10

3.  If I Stay ~ by Gayle Forman, 2009, YA fiction, 10/10

4.  Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy ~ by Gary D. Schmidt, 2004, YA fiction (Maine), 8/10

5.  Fair Weather ~ by Richard Peck, 2001, YA fiction (Illinois), 8/10

6.  Things Not Seen ~ by Andrew Clements, 2002, YA fiction, 9/10

7.  I Am the Cheese ~ by Robert Cormier, 1977, YA fiction, 7/10

8.  Missing May ~ by Cynthia Rylant, 1992, YA fiction (West Virginia), 7/10

9.  The Teacher's Funeral ~ by Richard Peck, 2004, YA fiction (Indiana), 8/10

10.  The Red Judge ~ by Pauline Fisk, 2005, YA fiction (Wales), 6/10

11.  The Secret of Sabrina Fludde ~ by Pauline Fisk, 2001, YA fiction (Wales), 6/10

12.  Steal Away Home ~ by Lois Ruby, 1994, YA fiction (Kansas), 9/10

13.  Whale Rider ~ by Witi Tame Ihimaera, 2003, YA fiction (New Zealand), 9/10

14.  Six Months to Live ~ by Lurlene McDaniel, 1985, YA fiction (Ohio), 8/10

15.  The White Darkness ~ by Geraldine McCaughrean, 2005, YA fiction (Antarctica), 8/10

Library Loot ~ April 20-26

Winter's Bone ~ by Daniel Woodrell, 2006, fiction (Missouri Ozarks)

Synopsis:  "Ree Dolly's father has skipped bail on charges that he ran a crystal meth lab, and the Dollys will lose their house if he doesn't show up for his next court date. With two young brothers depending on her, 16-year-old Ree knows she has to bring her father back, dead or alive. Living in the harsh poverty of the Ozarks, Ree learns quickly that asking questions of the rough Dolly clan can be a fatal mistake. But, as an unsettling revelation lurks, Ree discovers unforeseen depths in herself and in a family network that protects its own at any cost."

Six Months to Live ~ by Lurlene McDaniel, 1995, YA fiction

Synopsis:  "When 13-year-old Dawn Rochelle is diagnosed with leukemia, she's scared. While in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy, Dawn meets Sandy, who also has cancer. Dawn and Sandy battle the disease together, and remain best friends even after they both go into remission and return home. But when Sandy gets sick again, Dawn wonders what the future holds both for Sandy and herself."

Domestic Pleasures ~ by Beth Gutcheon, 1991, fiction (New York)

Synopsis:  "After her ex-husband dies in a plane crash, Martha Gaver is horrified to learn that the executor of Raymond's estate is Charlie, the conservative, insufferable lawyer who represented Raymond in their bitter divorce. Yet soon after they reenter each other's lives, Martha, Charlie, and their teenage children find they have more in common than they imagined as they struggle to rebuild their lives ... and that opposites really do attract."

Still Missing ~ by Beth Gutcheon, 1981, fiction

Synopsis:  "Alex Selky, going on seven, kissed his mother goodbye and set off for school, a mere two blocks away. He never made it. Desperate to find him, his mother begins a vigil that lasts for days, then weeks, then months. She is treated first as a tragic figure, then as a grief-crazed hysteric, then as a reminder of the bad fortune that can befall us all. Against all hope, despite false leads and the desertions of her friends and allies she believes with all her heart that somehow, somewhere, Alex will be found alive."

Library Loot is a weekly meme co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.  Marg has the Mister Linky this week, if you'd like to share a list of the loot you brought home.

Four things ~ a meme

I haven't done a meme like this lately, so here's one for ya!

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. file clerk ~ making 75-cents an hour, back in 1954, when I was in junior high school and working part-time

2. stuffer ~ I helped work my way through college by stuffing comics and advertising flyers into the local Sunday newspaper

3. freelance writer ~ one who, as Robert Benchley said, "is paid per piece or per word or perhaps"

4. editor ~ of two in-house publications, where I took all of the photos we published and wrote nearly all of the articles

Four books I read over and over:

1. Tao te Ching ~ by Lao Tzu ~ translated by Stephen Mitchell

2. Herland ~ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

3. Genesis, the first book of the Bible ~ Stephen Mitchell's translation is among the best

4. Time and Again ~ by Jack Finney

Four places I have lived:

Kiki

1. in an apartment with a lovable gray cat named Duchess

2. in a house with a gray and white Persian cat named Jack

3. in a house with a gray and white Manx cat named Hobbit

4. in an apartment with a tabby-point Siamese cat named Kiki

Four books I recommend:

1. Remarkable Creatures ~ Tracy Chevalier, 2010, fiction, 9/10

2. The Secret Life of Bees ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 2002, fiction, 10/10

3. Miss Rumphius ~ by Barbara Cooney, 1982, children's fiction, 10/10

4. The Gnostic Gospels ~ by Elaine Pagels, 1979, religion, 10/10

Four places I have been:

1. in hot water
2. in love
3. indisposed
4. in the know

Four of my favorite foods:

1. fried okra, like my mother used to make

2. Greek salad

3. little green olives

4. grilled salmon with lime juice, and maybe asparagus and a baked potato (now I'm hungry)

Four of my favorite drinks:

1. a tall glass of iced tea
2. cuppa hot tea
3. peach tea
4. green tea ... these all fit me to a "tea"

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. chatting with you over tea

2. stretched out on the sofa or my bed, reading a book

3. writing about books I've read

4. at a book-signing, with my adoring readers lined up across the lobby waiting for me to sign my bestselling book (well, nobody said it had to be likely!)

Four things that are very special in my life:

Bonnie and Cady

1. three children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren (in other words, my family)

2. good books

3. my best friend

4. my cat who loves me

Four bloggers I hope will do this meme:

Sheila

1. Sheila of Book Journey

2. Helen of Helen's Book Blog

3. Beth of Blue Ridge Blue Collar Girl

4. Laurel-Rain of Accidental Moments

Addendum:
The memes come in!

Helen wrote Four Things--A Meme
Laurel-Rain wrote Four Things Meme--April 19
Sheila wrote Morning Meanderings…. Well Everyone Else Is Doing It….

It's Monday ~ already?

Books read last week

• California Blue ~ by David Klass, 1994, YA fiction (California), 9/10
• Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough ~ by Ruth Pennebaker, 2011, fiction (Texas), 7/10
• The Grand Inquisitor ~ by Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1880 (translated by Constance Garnett, 1956 edition), fiction (Spain), 8/10
• The Grand Inquisitor ~ by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1880 (translated by David McDuff, 1993), fiction (Spain), 8/10
• Leeway Cottage ~ by Beth Gutcheon, 2005, fiction (Maine and Denmark), 9/10

Books currently reading

• Whale Rider ~ by Witi Tame Ihimaera, 2003, YA fiction (New Zealand)
• Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream ~ by Barbara Ehrenreich, 2005, sociology

Books waiting in the wings

• Winter's Bone ~ by Daniel Woodrell, 2007, fiction (Ozarks)
• Six Months to Live ~ by Lurlene McDaniel, 1985, YA fiction
• Daughters of the Stone ~ by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa, 2009, fiction (Puerto Rico)
• The People's Act of Love ~ by James Meek, 2007, fiction (Siberia)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  It's "where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list."