I'm a fan of J. Kaye's Book Blog. She does several reading challenges each year; last March she started a weekly event called "It's Monday; what are you reading?"
Sounds like fun; wish I had found it before!
I've been on a Discworld kick; in the last month and a half, I've read about a dozen of them. (Gotta love Terry Pratchett!)
My husband and I are listening to the audiobook of Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I read it last year, but my husband the media specialist happened across it at the public library. We're about three-quarters done, and I'm really enjoying the reading.
Today I finished Hogfather, which is hilarious. It's the Discworld take on Santa Claus. But of course, since we're talking Discworld, it's pretty odd. Especially when Death and Death of Rats get involved, dragging Death's adopted granddaughter into things. (I really wanted to get to this one before Christmas, but c'est la vie. At least it's still technically the Christmas season, since Epiphany/Twelfth Night isn't until tomorrow.)
Then I started the next book, Jingo, at lunch. This one is a reread for me. In true Discworld fashion, it takes all those legends of lost or sunken continents, throws in some mindless nationalism, and brings it through insanity and out the other side. It also gives Leonard of Quirm, the Ankh Morpork version of Leonardo da Vinci, a prominent role. (I love his names for stuff…like the "Going Under the Water Machine", for a submarine!)
I'm also reading The Bread Machine Cookbook. Tonight I'm going to take on Honey Whole Wheat Bread for the second time.
Also, I've decided to give up on the One Year Bible thing, since it never works for me. Instead, I'm going to try to read The Old Testament this year, and the New Testament next year. (I was inspired by our Minister of Administration, who is doing a two year plan for the Bible.) I'm in Genesis, which I always find fascinating.
That's really it for right now.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Signed up for the 2010 100+ Book Challenge
For the second year, I'm signing up for J. Kaye's 2010 Book Challenge! Last year I exceeded my goal: I counted one hundred twenty-three books in 2009. And I missed some books, during the madness that was buying a house (July) and my usual November madness, so I know I read at least one hundred twenty-five; probably more. Thinking about it, it had to be more, because I certainly read more than four books in November!
I loved doing this; I always read tons of books, but I never really remember when I read what. This took care of that problem! (Well, for the most part…)
I had a bunch of books I never finished reading this year. So I'm going to set those aside, to either add to the abandoned list or start over with later. Well, I finished up the last chapter of Feet of Clay at 2 am on New Year's Day, so that will count for last year. :)
If you want to join me, sign up at J. Kaye's blog!
By the way, books marked with an asterisk are audiobooks.
January 2010 (11 books)
I loved doing this; I always read tons of books, but I never really remember when I read what. This took care of that problem! (Well, for the most part…)
I had a bunch of books I never finished reading this year. So I'm going to set those aside, to either add to the abandoned list or start over with later. Well, I finished up the last chapter of Feet of Clay at 2 am on New Year's Day, so that will count for last year. :)
If you want to join me, sign up at J. Kaye's blog!
By the way, books marked with an asterisk are audiobooks.
January 2010 (11 books)
- Hogfather (Discworld #20) by Terry Pratchett
- Jingo (Discworld #21) by Terry Pratchett
- The Last Continent (Discworld #22) by Terry Pratchett
- Carpe Jugulum (Discworld #23) by Terry Pratchett
- The Fifth Elephant (Discworld #24) by Terry Pratchett
- The Truth (Discworld #25) by Terry Pratchett
- The Last Hero* (Discworld #27) by Terry Pratchett
- Inkheart* by Cornelia Funke
- The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Discworld #28) by Terry Pratchett
- Night Watch (Discworld #29) by Terry Pratchett
- The Singer's Crown by Elaine Isaak
- Star Wars: Soldier for the Empire
- Star Wars: Rebel Agent
- Star Wars: Jedi Knight
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
- Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia
- Star Wars: Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell
- Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
- War of the Worlds Audio Drama
- Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia
- Star Wars: Soldier for the Empire
- Star Wars: Rebel Agent* (Checked out fr library; horrible full cast recording, with cheesy sound effects–especially the moaning voices on the planet–and overdone evilness from the Dark Jedi)
- Northhanger Abbey
- Star Wars: Jedi Knight
- Heist Society by Ally Carter
- Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
- Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson
- Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2) by Brandon Sanderson
- Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3) by Brandon Sanderson
- The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold
- The Gathering Storm (The Wheel of Time #12) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
- I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You (Gallagher Girls #1) by Ally Carter
- A Way with Words II: Approaches to Literature by Michael D. C. Drout
- The Season
- Distant Waves: a Novel of the Titanic by Suzanne Weyn
- Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede
- Lord of Chaos (Wheel of Time #6) by Robert Jordan
- Unwind by Neal Shusterman
- The Hunger Games (Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins
- Mike McGrath's Book of Compost by Mike McGrath
- The Roar by Emma Clayton
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- Victoriana Player's Handbook
- The Vor Game (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold
- Mountains of Mist (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold
- You Can't Judge a Girl By Her Cover (Gallagher Girls #3) by Ally Carter
- Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Gallagher Girls #4) by Ally Carter
- The Path of Daggers (Wheel of Time #7) by Robert Jordan
- Dracula* by Bram Stoker
- Preserving Summer's Bounty: A Quick and Easy Guide to Freezing, Canning, Preserving, and Drying What You Grow by Susan McClure
- Ringworld by Larry Niven
- The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (Twilight novella) by Stephenie Meyer
- Water for Elephants* by Sara Gruen
- There's a Monster at the End of This Book
- Dead Until Dark (Southern Vamp Mysteries #1) by Charlaine Harris
- Living Dead in Dallas (Southern Vamp Mysteries #2) by Charlaine Harris
- Club Dead (Southern Vamp Mysteries #3) by Charlaine Harris
- Dead to the World (Southern Vamp Mysteries #4) by Charlaine Harris
- Dead as a Doornail (Southern Vamp Mysteries #5) by Charlaine Harris
- Definitely Dead (Southern Vamp Mysteries #6) by Charlaine Harris
- All Together Dead (Southern Vamp Mysteries #7) by Charlaine Harris
- From Dead to Worse (Southern Vamp Mysteries #8) by Charlaine Harris
- Dead and Gone (Southern Vamp Mysteries #9) by Charlaine Harris
- Dead in the Family (Southern Vamp Mysteries #10) by Charlaine Harris
- Time Travelers Never Die* by Jack McDevitt
- Rendevous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
- Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon
- The Passage* by Justin Cronin
- Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (HP #5) by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (HP #6) by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows (HP #7) by J.K. Rowling
- Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
- Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone (HP #1) by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (HP #2) by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (HP #3) by J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (HP #4) by J.K. Rowling
- Catching Fire (Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins
- Mockingjay* (Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins
- A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman
- Princess Academy* by Shannon Hale
- You See but You Do Not Observe
- Catch a Rising Star by Tracey Bateman
- The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint
- New Spring (Wheel of Time prequel) by Robert Jordan
- Nim's Island by Wendy Orr
- Lamplighter (Monster Blood Tattoo #2) by D. M. Cornish
- Greywalker (Greywalker #1) by Kat Richardson
- The Herbal Body Book: A Natural Approach to Healthier Skin, Nails, and Hair by Stephanie L. Toules
- Belgarath the Sorceror (Belgariad series) by David and Leigh Eddings
- Pawn of Prophecy (Belgariad #1) by David Eddings
- Queen of Sorcery (Belgariad #2) by David Eddings
- Magician's Gambit (Belgariad #3) by David Eddings
- Castle of Wizardry (Belgariad #4) by David Eddings
- Enchanter's Endgame (Belgariad #5) by David Eddings
- The Wisewoman by Philippa Gregory
- Take a Thief (Valdemar series) by Mercedes Lackey
- Exile's Honor (Valdemar series) by Mercedes Lackey
- Arrows of the Queen (Valdemar series) by Mercedes Lackey
- Arrow's Flight (Valdemar series) by Mercedes Lackey
- The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downey Hahn
- Arrow's Fall (Valdemar series) by Mercedes Lackey
- The Outsider by Ann H. Gabhart (Kindle app)
- Winds of Fate (Valdemar series) by Mercedes Lackey
- Dune (Dune #1) by Frank Herbert
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo* (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larson
- The Boleyn Inheritance (Tudor series) by Philippa Gregory
- Fire (Graceling #2) by Kristin Cashore
- The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson
- The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
- Flatland: A Romance in Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott
- Homespun Bride by Jillian Hart
- Mrs. Sharp's Tradtions: Reviving Victorian Family Celebrations Of Comfort & Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach
- The Warrior's Heir (Heir Trilogy #1) by Cinda Williams Chima
- Thief of Time* (Discworld, Book 26) by Terry Pratchett
- Tiger* (The Five Ancestors, Book 1) by Jeff Stone
- The Gearhart*
- Confessions by Saint Augustine
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Friday, November 06, 2009
The Elusive Charm of Mason Jars
As a child of the South, I have a soft spot for mason jars. I grew up surrounded by them, since the ladies on my father's side of the family did a fair amount of canning. (After all, his family did come from the country: Seminole County, in the Southwest corner of Georgia.)
And yes, people really do drink out of mason jars here. In fact, Folks restaurant chain used to serve drinks in them. Of course, it's less common than it used to be, but it can be very handy if you want to be able to seal it up. (Think of it as the environmentally-responsible late nineteenth and early twentieth-century version of the to-go cup and tupperware…) I recently bought a bunch of them for canning.
To me, Mason jars are wonderful to look at. Today's jars look just like those from my childhood, except that the lids and bands are now platinum colored. In our living room, we have a half-gallon Mason jar sitting on a shelf, filled with glass florist marbles. It looks very cool, but in our case they aren't simply decorative: we're gamers, so my husband and I actually use those marbles for D&D and for card or board games.
Mason jars are just so handy! I remember my grandfather keeping miscellaneous fasteners in those jars in his workshop; in the utility room off the garage, my grandmother had a couple of shelves of them, which she would send us to fetch to store leftover soup, or perhaps some sweet tea to send with a guest.
Perhaps it seems old-fashioned to you, but it's not like I'm old. Sure, we have dedicated drink bottles now, and all sorts of plastic storage containers. It's not like we didn't have those when I was a kid, though the variety was certainly smaller.
But think about it: after you finish your 32 ounce cup of Coke from McDonald's, what do you do with the cup? Trash it. What would you do with a Mason jar? Wash it out and reuse it. The only plastic is in the lining of the lid used for sealing; even those lids can be reused for non-food storage. The bands and jars can be reused until the jars chip or the bands begin to rust.
That's part of the appeal of a Mason jar: they remind us of a time when resources weren't taken for granted…and neither were people.
And yes, people really do drink out of mason jars here. In fact, Folks restaurant chain used to serve drinks in them. Of course, it's less common than it used to be, but it can be very handy if you want to be able to seal it up. (Think of it as the environmentally-responsible late nineteenth and early twentieth-century version of the to-go cup and tupperware…) I recently bought a bunch of them for canning.
To me, Mason jars are wonderful to look at. Today's jars look just like those from my childhood, except that the lids and bands are now platinum colored. In our living room, we have a half-gallon Mason jar sitting on a shelf, filled with glass florist marbles. It looks very cool, but in our case they aren't simply decorative: we're gamers, so my husband and I actually use those marbles for D&D and for card or board games.
Mason jars are just so handy! I remember my grandfather keeping miscellaneous fasteners in those jars in his workshop; in the utility room off the garage, my grandmother had a couple of shelves of them, which she would send us to fetch to store leftover soup, or perhaps some sweet tea to send with a guest.
Perhaps it seems old-fashioned to you, but it's not like I'm old. Sure, we have dedicated drink bottles now, and all sorts of plastic storage containers. It's not like we didn't have those when I was a kid, though the variety was certainly smaller.
But think about it: after you finish your 32 ounce cup of Coke from McDonald's, what do you do with the cup? Trash it. What would you do with a Mason jar? Wash it out and reuse it. The only plastic is in the lining of the lid used for sealing; even those lids can be reused for non-food storage. The bands and jars can be reused until the jars chip or the bands begin to rust.
That's part of the appeal of a Mason jar: they remind us of a time when resources weren't taken for granted…and neither were people.
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