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Monday, January 31, 2011

Mittens and MORE

You would think that with all of the snow days we have had I would have 1) updated this blog more frequently, 2) read a book or six, and 3) crocheted.  I spent Saturday trying something new.

After listening to my friend Laura on Twitter talk about knitting mittens I was inspired to try crocheting a pair myself. A quick internet search led me to this pattern for mittens. I think they turned out well for a first attempt. I used left over yarn, which led to somewhat funky stripes, but all in all I feel like I was pretty successful.



I also took the time to work most of my remnant yarn into my Hodgepodge Blanket. This project will undoubtedly be put on hold soon because I am running out of remnant yarn. I have several other projects in the works to finish soon, which will give me more yarn for this project. Now I just need the motivation to FINISH one of those other projects!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Thursday Ten: Books I Want to Read In 2011

There are a LOT of books I want to read. Everything from classics I didn't appreciate the first time around to books that haven't been published yet. There are MANY more than ten books I want to read. I think I will be forced to break this list down in to several lists. THIS edition will focus on books being published in 2011


  1. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
  2. The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
  3. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
  4. Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
  5. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
  6. The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
  7. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
  8. The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
  9. The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan
  10. Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Teaser Tuesday January 18, 2011

NOTE: I am setting these up in advance due to lack of internet services, so I can't guarantee that I will ACTUALLY be reading these on the day they post. However, they are either recently read or at the top of my TBR list.

Today's Teaser is from Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld. This is a reread that I need to finish now that I have Behemoth back from The Clone. It was one of my favorite books I read in 2009, and my reread has been delightful!




"The huge tentacle swept through the air, a sheet of seawater spilling like rain from its length. The Royal Navy kraken was another of Huxley's fabrications, Deryn had read, made from the life chains of the octopus and giant squid."~pg 114 of the paperback edition.




Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

Friday, January 14, 2011

In Which Chelle Talks a LOT

I've been particularly wordy this week. Four (five including this one) blog entries, and none of them have really been ABOUT anything. I have just rambled. Part of this is due to not having internet access for SO LONG, and now I am just spending my snow days staring at various internet sites.

I have been making vain attempts to catch up on my TV viewing. I have fallen more in love with BBC and the shows that air there. I have watched all of the Doctor Who episodes from series 1 to 5 except one. I am waiting to watch The End of Time parts 1 and 2. I'm not sure what the delay is about, mainly I think I am unwilling to say goodbye to The Doctor and wait for Series 6 to begin. I never really saw myself becoming a Whovian, but I have fallen hard for The Doctor. Matt Smith's Doctor is my favorite. My friend Forest says that is because I watched him first, but I'm not sure if I agree with that. I just really enjoy Matt Smith's brand of crazy. The best thing about watching Nine, Ten, and Eleven back to back is that I really got the opportunity to see the differences in how the actors portrayed the character. It is pretty interesting to the the continuity, but also the differences. I am hoping that Eleven (Matt Smith) encounters the Ood at some point during his travels.

I have also been rewatching Bones during the past few months. The good thing about Bones is that I have seen the episodes multiple times. This means I can watch them while I do paperwork and they keep my focus on the computer, but don't distract me from my work. Usually. I have also realized how great the cast is on that show. The characters are so diverse and it is unusual to see diverse characters that don't come across as a stereotype. I mean, Angela (the artist who doesn't really enjoy death and dying) could totally come across as vapid and flaky. Instead she is incredibly smart and she brings humanity to the bones that her coworkers deal with every day. It is nice to see how the characters work off each other and add to the overall awesomeness of the show!

This morning my house has been full of people. I adore my family and I love having them here, but I had PLANS this morning! Among them watching Sherlock (yet another BBC show that I have fallen in LOVE with) and reading Demon's Lexicon. I have been inspired by some of my friends on Twitter to read the book, and I started it this morning and so far it's great! However, outrageous numbers of people make it impossible to concentrate on either of those things. Instead I am playing on the internet. I deleted all the books from my Goodreads account, and plan to start fresh this year. I plan to put my 75 TBR books on the site and then as I read I plan to update the "read" shelf. So, right now it looks like I have read two books in my life, which a HUGE misconception. If any of you are on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I haven't been very active in the past, but I am going to try to do better this year.

Now that I have rambled about TV and Goodreads, my house has cleared out. I plan on losing myself in Sherlock and then reading for a little while. I have made tentative plans to watch Lord of the Rings with the cousins. You can read this blog about a similar experience we had around this time last year. It looks like we will go to school on Monday, so I have to enjoy my last snow day. Although, with the intense cold and the snow in the forecast, I'm sure there are many more snow days in the future.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Thursday Ten: Best Books of 2010

I realize this post is about two weeks late, but I'm blaming no internet for that delay! These aren't necessarily books that were published in 2010, just books that I read for the first time in 2010. So, in no particular order, my top ten reads of 2010


  1. Ash by Malinda Lo
  2. Will Grayson/Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
  3. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
  4. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
  5. Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
  6. Sea by Heidi R. Kling
  7. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
  8. Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
  9. Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson
  10. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Honestly, it should have been a LOT easier for me to pick ten books since I only read thirty. However, I read quality books this year. All the books I read were very good and I would suggest you check them out if you haven't already!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Internet

Yesterday I ordered another charger for my computer, today the first one came! Not that I am complaining, mind you. I am extremely happy! This afternoon consisted of computer maintenance and catchup. What have I been catching up on?

The DFTBA Artist playlist
Vlogbrothers
My email
Jackson Pearce's YouTube channel
Organizing my Netflix Queue
Sarah Rees Brennan's Blog
Lusting after books I can't buy because BFF2 hasn't given me my gift and I don't know what books are off limits until she does.
Looking at all the ALA Youth Media Awards winners and honor books

That's about the only thing I have done. Now I am going to either watch Sherlock because most everyone I know who has seen it LOVES it, or I am going to watch Pretty Little Liars while IMing BFF1 about all of the soapy details.

Teaser Tuesday January 11, 2011

NOTE: I am setting these up in advance due to lack of internet services, so I can't guarantee that I will ACTUALLY be reading these on the day they post. However, they are either recently read or at the top of my TBR list.

Today's Teaser is from Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke.




"Ask him why  he doesn't read aloud to you," said Dustfinger. "And don't let him put you off with excuses."~pg 53 of the paperback edition.






Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Quick and Easy Updates

So much for my dream of being a better blogger in 2011. So far I am failing miserably! But it isn't my fault!* So instead of rambling on about how I wish I were blogging like a CHAMP, I will instead put forth some ideas I have had and some life updates as well.

For starters, we're in the midst of massive snow. Not really MASSIVE snow actually, just snow. However, snow+ice+mountains=confinement. I recently discovered that in my county there are over 100 miles of unpaved, dirt roads that are serviced by school buses! Because of this we frequently miss a LOT of school. I only worked six days in December and so far I have already missed a day of work. According to the forecasts we are expected to get snow and ice all week, so I doubt I work very much in January either. This is going to be good for my reading and TBR lists though. So far I've read a book and am halfway through another book. It's wonderful!

This year BFF2 and I are going to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have loved reading my friend April's blog entries about her reread of Harry Potter, and it has made me wonder how I would fair if I blogged my way through Tolkien. Honestly, I probably won't do a great job of it, but when I get through the first few chapters I'll see how I feel about blogging. Regardless of my blogging about Tolkien, you should all check out her reread. It is amazing and insightful. It makes me want to reread Harry Potter myself.**

Other things in life? Not too much. The Fantastic Four and I made plans today to have a Lord of the Rings movie marathon. If we do there is a good chance I will live-tweet that. I have been tweeting my way through MANY different TV shows and movies lately***. No computer means no internet, but luckily I still have twitter on my fancy phone, so I feel marginally connected. Recently I have watched a ridiculous amount of The Golden Girls, which always leads to live-tweeting, and occasionally tweet-alongs as well.

Not much else to report kids. As soon as the computer charger comes I will be back with a vengeance. I'm currently at my parents house doing paperwork*** and setting up a few blog posts so that I am not completely absent. I hope you all had wonderful holidays and that 2011 is not as technology challenged as mine has been!


*No, really! My computer charging cord broke and I have a new one ordered, but so far there have been MANY shipping issues.
**Although, let's be honest. Pretty much every single thing in life inspires me to reread Harry Potter. HP consumes my life in a very real way.
***Beauty and the Beast, Doctor Who (Doctors Ten and Eleven), and Bones to name a few.
****And by "doing paperwork" I obviously mean "blogging and playing on twitter." Don't judge me!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2011 Reading Goals

I've been thinking about what I want to accomplish this year, reading wise. I'm not really thrilled with my reading last year, but I did better than expected I guess, considering I have an insane job that keeps my busy and a GIGANTIC family that adds to the busyness. I do well with goals, but I usually get distracted by challenges and sign up for WAY to many of them. That being said, I'm not going to sign up for any challenges this year. If I decide to read steampunk, I'll read steampunk. Same with dystopian, fairy tale retellings, or vampire stories. I do  tend to lean toward YA authors, and I really do enjoy paranormal/fantasy/fairy/etc. So most of books will come from there. With all of these things in mind, along with the massive number of books I own and my TBR lists, I have set some personal goals.


  1. Read 75 books next year, 50 of which are not rereads
  2. 12 Classic novels- I have a list of these, which I will add to the sidebar. I'm not sure if I will make it through them or not, but I'd like to give them a chance.
  3. Read the 2011 Youth Award winners. This includes Newbery, Printz, National Book Award, etc.
  4. 2011 Debs. I would like to say that I am going to read ALL of the 2011 Debs. But that seems unrealistic. However, this year I read MANY debut novels that I absolutely loved, and I want the chance to fall in love with these new authors as well. My goal is to read at least one debut novel a month.
  5. During Banned Books Week I want to read three banned/challenged books. However, during the year I'd also like to read banned books as well. In total I would like to read 15 banned/challenged books during 2011.
So there are my goals. They aren't lofty at all, but I think that they will help me focus my reading and actually get some things read.  As always, if you have suggestions feel free to leave them for me! I am always looking for ways to add to my TBR pile!