Books I read in 2013

Its time for my traditional books-I-read-this-year post! Everyone else is reflecting on things they did and things they will do and making new goals, and all I seem to care about is how many books I read--what they were, how many there are, and how many I'd like to read the next year. Which doesn't seem quite as, you know, deep.

But on the other hand, it kind of is. I think books can show a lot about how your year went--or at least, how my year went. There is a Lord Peter quote about books being like shells you shed to show previous periods of development, but I'm to lazy to find the exact words right now.

Anyway. What I read this year.

These are in reverse order, meaning the book I read most recently is listed first. This isn't a complete list because I'm not nearly as organized or on the ball as I'd like to be, and sometimes I'd go a few weeks or a month or more without remembering to write down titles of what I'd read, so I'm sure there are a few books missing here. Most are novels, mostly YA but some Middle Grade and Adult, and some are graphic novels. My goal was to read 52 books (one per week), a goal which I met by the skin of my teeth--there are 52 titles here. This is less than half of what I've read other years, but this year was very busy in other ways. I think I want to make a goal for 78 books next year--1.5 books a week (since, yanno, I don't have homework anymore). We'll see how that goes.


Ok, ok, ok, finally--here they are. The books I read in 2013:

• East, Edith Pattou (again)
• Friends With Boys (graphic novel), Faith Erin Hicks
• Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
• The Maytrees, Anne Dillard
• Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott
• Very Far Away from Anywhere Else, Usrula K Le Guin
• Clouds of Witness, Dorothy Sayers (again)
• A Letter of Mary, Laurie R. King
• My Antonia, Willa Cather
• Gaudy Night, Dorothy Sayers (again)
• A Monsterous Regiment of Women, Laurie R King
• Divergent, Veronica Roth
• The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Laurie R King
• North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell (Librivox)
• The Search Part 2
• The Search Part 1
• The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Librivox)
• The Princess and the Bear, Mette Ivie Harrison
• Passage, Lois McMaster Bujold
• Legacy, Lois McMaster Bujold
• Beguilement, Lois McMaster Bujold
• The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold (again)
• The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater
• The Doomsday Book, Connie Willis
• The Seven Towers, Patricia C. Wrede (again)
• The Perilous Gard, Elizabeth Marie Pope (again)
• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi
• Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin
• Crown Duel, Sherwood Smith (again)
• A Stranger to Command, Sherwood Smith
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Jacqueline Kelly
• Memory, Lois McMaster Bujold (again)
• Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, Elizabeth Taylor
• Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson
• Shards of Honor, Lois McMaster Bujold (again)
• Cryoburn, Lois McMaster Bujold (again)
• Brothers in Arms, Lois McMaster Bujold (again)
• Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (Librivox)
• Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (Librivox)
• Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began, Art Spiegelman (graphic novel)
• Maus I: My Father Bleeds History, Art Spiegelman (graphic novel)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Audiobook), J.K. Rowling
• Mistborn, Brandon Sanderson
• Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson (Librivox)
• Spellhunter, R.J. Anderson
• Tuesdays in the Castle, Jessica Day George
• Old Mans War, John Scalzi
• The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Rae Carson
• A Countess Below Stairs, Eva Ibbotson
• The Warrior's Apprentice, Lois McMaster Bujold (again)
• Memory, Lois McMaster Bujold (again)
• Murder Must Advertise, Dorothy Sayers (again)

Farmers Market

This week was my first time actually going out and selling my artwork in person--I've sold art online, but not really face-to-face with potential buyers. It was a great experience! My main goal first off was just to get the experience, to get an idea of what to expect with this sort of thing in order to do it better in the future. Goal achieved---huzzah!

I learned some things that are maybe obvious to some people, but are new to me, and hopefully helpful in future. Some of them are:

• -People aren't just going to line up to give you their money (duh). You have to catch their interest first. This can be a problem when your art is the you-only-get-it-when-you-look-again (upside-down) kind.
• -Clouds are one of those good-or-bad, awesome-or-terrible things when you're selling outside. They either mean rain (no!) or shade (yes!). Fortunately, we had the shade kind of clouds for most of the day.
• -People like to buy things when they have a 'thing'. Like, some people have a cat thing, or a book thing, or a dancing thing, or a mustache thing, or something. This is why fanart sells... and also why people get in trouble for selling fanart. I want to figure out some "things" that people like that are NOT trademarked and design things they might like.
• -I sell like a missionary, and so does Normandie. We tended to focus alot more on the person than the product. Which lead to some fun conversations, but I have no idea whether things would sell better if we had focused otherwise. So far, I've enjoyed using my missionary conversation skills so I'll stick with that for now :-)
• -Sitting/standing around and doing nothing except greet people is tiring. 
• -You don't know if something will sell well just because you like it. You just have to see how people respond when they see your work, and notice what catches their eye. It might not be what you think.

Books read in 2012 (incomplete)

 In the past I've kept lists of the books (novels) I've read and then posted them online at the end of the year. I wasn't very consistent with keeping track this year so this list isn't complete, but here are most of the books I read this year. If I counted correctly, there are 52 books on this list, averaging only one per week. In past years I've read nearly 3 times this many, but things have gotten in the way this year it seems. Well, one per week ain't too shabby, is it?

• The Spirit Eater, Rachel Aaron
• The Spirit Rebellion, Rachel Aaron
• The Spirit Thief, Rachel Aaron
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
• Leadership and Self Deception
• The World is Flat
• Les Miserables, Victor Hugo (didn't finish, but I got pretty close.)
• The Enchanted Glass (didn't finish but I will come back to it) Diana Wynne Jones
• Finnikin of the Rock (didn't finish), Melina Marchetta
• The Homeward Bounders, Diana Wynne Jones
• The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater
• Dragonhaven (again), Robin McKinley
• the Emerald Thread (again), Mordena Babich
• Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
• Fall of a Kingdom, Hillari Bell
• Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms; Fumiyo Kouno
• Anya's Ghost, Vera Brosgol
• Howl's Moving Castle (again), Diana Wynne Jones
• The Vor Game (again), Lois McMaster Bujold
• The Mountains of Mourning (again), Lois McMaster Bujold
• The Warriors Apprentice (again), Lois McMaster Bujold
• The Curse of Chalion (again), Lois McMaster Bujold
• A Long Way From Chicago, Richard Peck
• The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon
• White Cat, Holly Black
• American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang
• The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak
• How I Live Now, Meg Rossoff
• The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton
• Matched, Ally Condie
• The Sky is Everywhere, Jandy Nelson
• The Braid, Helen Frost
• Skin Hunger, Kathleen Duey
• The Chosen One, Carol Lynch Williams
• Getting Away with Murder, Chris Crowe
• Leviathan, Scott Westerfield
• Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson
• Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein
• Out of Sight, Out of Time, Ally Carter
• Only the Good Spy Young, Ally Carter
• Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover, Ally Carter
• Cross My Heart And Hope To Spy
• I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You
• A Matter of Magic, by Patricia Wrede
• The Seven Towers, by Patricia Wrede
• Hexwood, by Diana Wynne Jones
• The Sherwood Ring, Elizabeth Marie Pope
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznik
• Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine
• A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner
• The King of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner

FINALS

One down. (World Dance)

Six to Go. (Narrative, Life Drawing, Digital Painting, Illustration, New Testament, Judaism)


Oh, and Happy Birthday to me. I'm legal now--yay.

Back to studying. Or rather, preparing for finals--art majors have less studying and more painting like crazy people.

Books Read this summer

I was just glancing over old blog posts when I saw a post I'd completely forgotten about from last April, saying what books I thought I might want to pick up over the summer. I thought it might be interesting to say which of those I actually did read.

Of the rather long list of books I thought I might like to try reading over the summer, these are the ones I did actually read:

Jane Eyre
The Book Thief, by Marcus Zuzak I started but didn't finish. I did enjoy what I read of it and plan to finish when the Book Chooser Says To.
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is another I started but didn't finish--I really liked it, but then the library recalled it. *grumble* Annie brought back her copy for me to read the next time she went home, but by then I'd kind of lost my momentum with it, yanno? But this is another that I fully intend to finish reading in the future.
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
Ben Hur by Lew Wallace I didn't actually read during the summer, but I did shortly after school started. Well, I listened to it anyway, which counts in my book.
Kenneth Oppel's Airborn books.
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
More Diana Wynne Jones--specifically The Game and re-reading the first and third volumes of the Chronicles of Chrestomanci... and maybe some other stuff that isn't coming to mind at the moment...
I didn't read The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, but I did listen to Through the Looking Glass, and the original should be even better, no?
I gave Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett another try--one of these days I'll be able to understand her prose. Maybe.
the Lord Peter Wimsey Books--oy my Lord Peter. I am so glad that I did pick these up... :D:D:D
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy--Karen Savage is my Hero





Not a bad list. Of course I read many other books this summer, but these are the books that I did end up reading that I had on my summer reading list. And probably nobody is interested in this but me, but ah well.


And NOW I shall go do homework. Actually, I'm going to have dinner first. And THEN homework.

Life couldn't possibly, not even probably, life couldn't possibly better be!

The Last Week-or-so--in bullet points!

-The trip to California was great and relaxing. I got to read The Scarlet Pimpernel to my mom and siblings (see book blog) on the drive and they enjoyed it. (Of course. Sir Percy is Made Of Awesome.)
-visiting cousins is fun. Its great to be back with my roommates though. We have Good Times.
-When I did laundry after getting home from CA I made a discovery. My Art Nerd tee-shirt officially has a big smudge of Thalo Blue on the back. I figure, it was only a matter of time. It was going to happen sooner or later. I'm just not quite sure how it did happen.
-The Book Slump continues, but thank goodness for Librivox.org, Karen Savage and the Awesomest Job Ever.
-I think that Conspiracy of Kings should come out sooner. Or that I should get an ARC. I should probably work on that...
-A cleaning check on FRIDAY? Fortunately it was a light one and I woke up early enough that I got all my cleaning done, and they didn't look too closely.
-I think this is the first year in several that I will NOT be participating in any parades. Have fun with that, guys!
-I love the Court Jester. It is an awesome movie.
-little babies are fun to sketch.
-ANNILYN CAME TO VISIT. AFTER SHE SAID WE WOULDN'T SEE HER UNTIL AUGUST. WE SCARED HER FAMILY WITH OUR DELIGHTED SCREAMS. ANNILYN, DON'T STAY AWAY SO LONG EVER AGAIN.
-made Rolo cookies for the first time today. Yum.
-a weekend to do whatever I want. I've done some baking, watched a movie with the roomies.... reading, painting, and more of the same will follow I'm sure.
-I still need to take reference photos for Noah's Ark.... mom, if you could upload the ones that we manages to get that would be MARVELLOUS.
-I love Tonks and Sunny. One day, I will have my own house. In it, there will be birds, books, a studio, a kitchen, and a dance floor. And maybe somewhere to sleep.

Wear the old coat and buy the new book. -Austin Phelps

Yesterday was payday. Today was a bookstore day. I spent less than twenty dollars. Only got three books. I feel pretty good about myself.

Todays haul:

The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Barnoness Emmuska Orczy. Because I loved this book and read it a few times growing up and I need my own copy that ISN'T the Readers Digest Version. No, I'm not joking--the copy we had at home was part of the "Readers Digest Abridged Classics" series. And all fiction was 25% off, so it was only $3.71 even before you also subtract my employee discount.
Crown (and Court) Duel, by Sherwood Smith, because I've been wanting to re-read it for awhile and I wanted my own copy and it was paperback and therefore cheap.
Amulet: the Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibushi, a graphic novel, because I read it awhile back and I really liked it. And it has nice colors. :D


While we're on the subject of books, I'm in the middle of Too Many, but I'm mostly enjoying myself anyway. Nausicaa and Harry Potter are paused while I finish Poisonwood Bible, which is quite good, and King of Attolia, which I'm marking. Since Deidre seems to be in a similar situation as far as reading too many books at once, Thief is also paused. Count of Monte Cristo is going well, but I'm not sure how much I actually like it. There is cool intrigue and such, but I just really don't like the Count at all. I'll expound upon this subject more when I finish the book, so keep checking the book blog.


And, if you haven't already, check out my art blog to see what I've been doing at work these last couple weeks.

Realization

So I realized something today while I was working in the bookstore. (Which was very nice, just by the way. When I'm not there for hours every day I don't get sick of those shelves that I have practi-mostly memorized...)

So all the time I'm doing in the bookstore is alternate Saturdays, and then I'm on call if someone goes on vacation or something.

Paydays are alternate Fridays.

Yesterday was payday.

Today was my day in the bookstore.

This pattern will continue. Payday Friday, followed by Hours in the bookstore I haven't been visiting as much lately the day after.



Do you know what this means?

This means that the day I feel rich is the day I'll be spending my day surrounded by books. Books for sale. Beautiful, beautiful books for sale.

Today I only got five. And they were all from the bargain table. And they were all worth it. I am a better, happier, more fulfilled person for owning these books! Ok, well, you know what I mean.

Todays haul:

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, because the hardback was on the bargain table for less than I would spend on a paperback
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusac for the same reason, even though I haven't read it yet (and I DON'T BUY books I haven't read as a general rule) because I fear Dire Punishment from Shanelle if I don't read it soonish
That Book Woman, a picture book with a great story and pictures--wonderful gesture in the drawings, *love*
We the People, a kids history book that I needed because the watercolor illustrations are phenomenal and the illustrator is Officially one of my All Time Favorites.
Cheyenne Medicine Hat, a book about Native American horses with Really Boring Text but gorgeous illustrations.


All of these, hardback, for less than twenty dollars. Oh, and I grabbed three ARCs for myself. I mean, seriously, how could I resist?

Another List

So I think I like lists. Or, rather, I like the idea of lists. I am definitely a person who isn't particularly Organized, and lists carry with them the idea of organization with a fraction of the effort. And the benefit, but yanno, you get what you pay for. Or... well, you know what I mean.

So here is another list, for your amusement.

Responses to the statement "I'm An Illustration Major":
-Oh, you're in the artist apartment!
-I... didn't know that was a major.
-Oh, thats cool. I'm in *insert intellectual sounding math-or-sciense-based major here*
-Like, for kids books?
-I know. (nod toward notebook margin, which is filled with doodles.)
-Thats, like, art, isn't it?
-What is that, exactly?
-My (*obscure relative*) wrote a book, you should do the pictures!
-Thats awesome, I really need a logo for this business you're trying to start.

Can anyone think of more that could be on the list? (Artist people, I'm looking at you specifically.)

Summer Reading List

I've done this in summers past and I've been interested to see what I actually do end up reading--no, I don't expect to actually be able to read all of these, but I like to have some in mind so I don't have a big crisis over what to pick up next.

This list is in No Particular Order and Subject To Change. That said, if you have something to say about any of these titles (either to bump it up or push it down or add it), please comment!

To Be Read summer 2009:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Because I LOVE the new movie and for some strange reason I haven't read this book yet. And I have decided that this deficiency MUST BE CURED.
The Book Thief, by Marcus Zuzak. For Shanelle. And Lots Of Others who say it is good.
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. Everybody else is doing it! I'll give in to peer pressure! However, I've glanced through a few pages and it looks like its in present tense. I am most definitely and unashamedly PREJUDICED AGAINST BOOKS WRITTEN IN PRESENT TENSE. I've tried a few, got impatient with all of them and stopped reading.
Graceling, by Kristin Cashore, because I've Heard Good Things.
Dandelion Wine by ray Bradbury because apparently it is Excellent.
I think I'd like to try some Patrick O'Brien, see if I prefer it to Horatio Hornblower, which was fun but didn't thrill me.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, because I don't know how many people have told me to read this, I've just never happened to pick it up. yet.
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, for Annilyn. Though I think I might try the book on CD route for this one, since I'll be working on a computer at work and I might as well hear a story while I draw, right?
Anna Karinena by Leo Tolstoy, while we're on the subject of Very Long Classics, and lets throw on a couple more for Good Measure.
Bleak House by Charles Dickens, because I believe I need to read More Dickens and apparently this is a Good One.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, because I started reading this in three times and got bored, but haven't tried again since middle school. Time for another try, I think.
Ben Hur by Lewis Wallace, because, well, why not?
The Once and Future King by T. H. White, because I've decided I am Not Knowledgeable Enough about Arthurian Ledgends
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, because I think I've put Too Many Very Long Classics on this list
I think I'd like to at least try some of Kenneth Oppel's books, maybe the Airborn books.
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, because it looked like it might be fun
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier because pretty sure Vermeer was a cool dude. And I'd like to see the movie, but only after reading the book.
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold, because apparently it is Made Of Awesome.
More Diana Wynne Jones in general, because she is awesome, I think I will try The Game
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor looked like it might be interesting, and I happen to have an ARC of the third book, so...
Savvy, The Underneath, and A Curse Dark As Gold, because I think I'd like to keep up with those ALA awards. I'd also like to start chipping away at that Newbery list, and eventually at least try reading all of them, Kira, Kira, The Westing Game and A Single Shard are a few that look interesting.
I'd like to read some more graphic novels, because this medium is seriously growing on me (I mean, long picture books with compex [ish] plots and cool artwork? I am so there!) I'm not quite sure where to go for these, but I think I'd like to try the Bone books, I'll have to look around for others that look interesting too. I think I've heard that there are Nausicaa graphic novels? Maybe I could find me some of those...
(Some more I've thought of:)
Til We Have Faces by C S Lewis
Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
the Lord Peter Whimsey Books
Some Terry Prachett, though I'm not entirely sure where to start with him

re-reads:
The Princess Bride, by William Goldman, because its hilarious
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, dunno whether I'll actually get around to this tome, but it is a funny one
The Chosen and/or My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emma Orczy
Harry Potters 2-6 before the movie comes out





I plan to come back and edit this list later, but these are the titles that are coming to mind at the moment.