Cursing is a crutch for the unimaginative mind.

That's the only positive thing from Rick Yancey's The Last Descent. I do not recommend it unless you like Edgar Allen Poe strange and creepy. It's the fourth one in a series. I didn't read the first three, but from this one, I don't want to.

I recently finished Elenor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. I didn't want to finish it because I was certain and angry that it wouldn't turn out well, that it would have an unsatisfactory ending. I thought that until the very last sentences. Except for a lot of cussing (some of the people who cussed were the kind of people who don't know what is imagination), it was a good story.

Now reading The River Between Us by Richard Peck, about the beginnings of the Civil War from 15 year old Tillie's perspective. 

And The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. To be honest, so far, at around page 40, I haven't yet figured out why it's a work of literature used in freshman English classes.

 No matter how much you water the sidewalk/street, it won't grow. Conserve water!

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, a book about books.


Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School The Whites of Their Eyes by Andrew Clements. Apparently this is the fourth in a series. Ooops.

Have you read . . . ?

  I read this as a freshman in high school. I just finished reading it again; my daughter, a freshman in high school, will be reading it for her English class. Interesting commentary on humans behavior, as illustrated by the animals of Manor Farm. 

Also just finished My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt. Set in the South in the late 1950's, twelve year old Tiger Ann Parker faces the death of her grandmother and has to decided where to live--with her aunt in Baton Rouge or with her mentally disabled mother and "slow" father.

Just started Septimus Heap Book One Magyk by Angie Sage. The queen was assassinated ten years ago, just after the birth of her daughter and heir to the throne. The baby was whisked away to safety. Now the princess's life is in danger and she must be taken from the Heap family who has cared for in the interim. 

My fellow hospital volunteers and I (we sew neck pillows for patients) were talking about how books do NOT need explicit descriptions of sex and/or foul language. If you can't say it without using curse words, you're not a good writer. Use your imagination, stretch your mind, be creative. And we certainly don't need every detail of any sexual encounter. People have a good enough imagination in that area and don't need to have it spelled out. Plus, it detracts from the story line. Take out the sex scenes and the story should stand on its own. If it can't, you're writing or reading pornography and that is never a good thing.

Just finished:
   --Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle. About a 12 year old boy from near Pittsburgh who sneaks off to New York City to audition for a part in a Broadway musical.

Started listening to with my girls:
   --This Book is Not Good For You by Pseudonymous Bosch. So far, we're a little confused.

   --Looking for Alaska by John Green about a 16 year old Florida boy at a boarding school in Alabama

Books about to or just started to read:
   --Sacred Waiting Waiting on God in a World That Waits for Nothing by David Timms

   --Is It Hot In Here Or Is It Me? A Personal Look at the Facts, Fallacies, and Feelings of Menopause by Gayle Sand

   --the mindful path to self-compassion Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions by Christopher K. Germer

Idea in my head: The Summer of Lice, Ticks, and Flat Tires. 

Book Signing

    If you're ever in Bismarck, North Dakota, stop by Caffe Aroma, 120 North 3rd Street. What a neat little coffee shop. Thanks to Leanne, owner, and Beth, super nice barista, for allowing me to have a book signing. Thanks to all who stopped by to buy a book and chat.