Today is a cold (it’s 50 degrees, which is practically freezing by California standards), wintery day. After a quick trip to the grocery store, I am now prepared to spend the rest of the day hibernating. I have a mug of tea (a new to me flavor, caffeine-free chocolate chai…it’s, ummm, interesting), the heater’s on and there’s football playing in the background. There should be laundry in the washer, but there’s always tomorrow for that. Besides, it’s cold in the garage…why ruin a perfectly good day with a chore and multiple visits to the coldest part of the house.

It’s been a slow reading week. I’m reading The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel. I was not a fan of The Poisonwood Bible, but I thought I’d give her another chance. The story is interesting, but it’s slow moving. I feel like I’ve been reading forever, but I’m only about a 1/4 of the way through. Also, Frida Kahlo is a major character at the moment, as are Diego Rivera and Leon Trotsky, and I’m not really sure how I feel about that.

I’m also reading The Girl Who Played with Fire, the follow-up to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I’m barely into that one, but Lisbeth is just as disturbing as ever.

As for Moby Dick, well, I’m a bit behind with my reading for Ti’s read-along. Like two weeks behind. In fact, I should be reading that one right now.

So we’re six days into December and I have yet to finish a book this month. Kind of a switch from last month, when I read more than I had any other month. Gotta love those long weekends.

Yesterday I drove down to LA (technically Studio City, but for us Central Coasters, pretty much anything south of Santa Barbara is LA…and this also includes everything to San Diego) to have lunch with my follow bloggers, Ti (Book Chatter), Tracy (Shelf Life), Amy (My Friend Amy) and Florinda (The 3 R’s). We met at Portrait of a Bookstore, which is a great little store within the Aroma Cafe. And yes, I came home with a few books. One from our gift exchange (thanks to Tracy for Reading Like a Writer), and two from the bookstore (including House of Leaves, if you’re reading this Rebecca). And a bonus book from Florinda (thank you!). Here we all are:

Clockwise from the red sweater, it’s Florinda, Tracy, Ti, Amy and me.

There’s also a lovely photo that Florinda took, except for the fact that I have demon eyes. I’ll spare you, as it’s a bit frightening.

And yes, it takes me three hours to drive to LA. But I have to say, it’s totally worth it to spend the afternoon with a wonderful group of readers/bloggers! We were talking about how we should do this more often. I don’t think I could do it every month, but I’d be up for a quarterly get together.

The question of the day: Is American cheese really cheese?  Hamburger loves the stuff. I prefer straight up cheddar, the sharper the better. However, Hamburger is currently doubting the cheesiness of his beloved cheese (product). What do you think? Cheese? Or cheese-product?

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On to the books…

Yesterday I finished two books, neither of which rocked my world. So instead of full-on posts, I’m going to subject you to two quick summaries.

11 year old Clara is searching for answers. Unfortunately, her mom won’t talk…about her twin sister who died at birth, her unnamed father, or her absent grandfather. So Clara makes up stories. And she befriends Georg, an elderly immigrant who slowly reveals bits of his past.

The thing that bugs me about this book is one whopping inconsistency that I just can’t get past. In the second half of the book, Clara makes a big deal about Tamar (her mother) not eating sugar, with the exception of a teaspoon on her Cheerios. It comes up often, to the point where it becomes annoying. Yet, early in the book, Tamar is seen eating an ice cream sandwich. I still can’t get over this discrepancy. I found myself obsessing over it, and it ruined any (slight) enjoyment I had in the book.

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Last night, I started Dead Until Dark, the first of the Sookie Stackhouse books. I signed up for the Sookie Challenge a few months ago. And after 40 pages, I’m bowing out. Not that I have anything against vampires. I’m just not feeling the Sookie love…sorry Sookie.

Today I need to get caught up on Moby Dick, for Ti’s read-along. Evidently, that 4 pages/day is harder than it looks. My copy of Moby Dick managed to hide itself (you’d think a book that’s as big as a whale couldn’t hide, but it can) at the bottom of a pile of books, so I need to dig it out and read 4 pages times 6 days plus the 1 page I didn’t get to from Monday…ummm, 25 pages, if I did my math correctly.

And OMG…I just did a word problem! Our high school math teachers were right! Crap.

Because the Packers are on tv (Go Pack Go) and I’m cold and I’m feeling (as usual) a bit silly, I’m reposting this picture of me:

That was a very cold day. Maybe not by Wisconsin standards, but for a native Californian? I’ve never been so cold in my life.

So, silliness aside, how is everyone on this blustery fall day? I’m slowly poking through my Google Reader and watching the Packers-Buccaneers game. I have to say I like the orange sherbet colored throwback uniforms that the Bucs are sporting. I will like them less, however, if they beat my Packers.

I’ve had a wonderful reading week. I finished three books, The Woman in White, Kristin Lavransdatter and Say Everything. And I also read The Other and Emotional Geology.

Uh-oh, the Bucs just scored. And I just realized they’re 0-7, so while I still want my team to win, I won’t be devastated if the poor Bucs manage to win a game. Oh, and the quarterback is playing his first ever NFL game.

Sorry. Back to the books.

The Woman in White was so much better than I thought an old book can be (yes, I’m a little biased against the classics, although I may have to change my stance). However, my copy had this cover, and I still think it looks like either her head or her dress is backwards.

Kristin Lavransdatter was interesting, and while I don’t regret reading it, I am glad it’s over. The Other was a bit odd, and not at all what I was expecting. It sounds like horror and is marketed as travel writing, but it reads more like a summary of one philosophical belief. Emotional Geology, whose main character is bi-polar, was almost as good as Star Gazing, which I loved. And Say Everything is definitely worth reading if you are at all interested in the history of blogging.

Today I’m reading Howards End is on the Landing. Although I have a bunch of other books calling my name. For now though, I’m going to see if my team can manage not to self-destruct.

What are reading today?

There hasn’t been much reading happening around here the last few days, mostly because I was cheering my socks off during the read-a-thon. But I did get some reviews posted this past week:

• Frankenstein
• Star Gazing
• 1776
• Gang Leader for a Day
• The Little Stranger

Tomorrow, I’ll be giving you my thoughts on Dracula, and then next Saturday will be the wrap-up for the Dueling Monsters Read-a-long. And that takes us to the end of October, if you can believe it. I can’t. Next Sunday will be November 1st, which means it’s time to start thinking about the holidays. Yikes!

Last week I mostly read Kristen Lavransdatter, as I’m participating in a read-a-long for that as well. At 1000+ pages, it’s a chunkster. Luckily, we’re breaking it down into 3 months. I’ve finished with the October section, and have put a serious dent in November. The book offers a fascinating glimpse into life in 14th century Norway. I also snuck in a quick Virginia Woolf (The London Scene). While Mrs. Dalloway left me cold, this short (44 pages) book of five essays was a treat. I may have to rethink my aversion to Woolf.

This week I will continue to read Kristen Lav, but I’ll be out of town for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so there might not be all that much reading going on. My mom and I are off to San Francisco to check out the King Tut exhibit, a trip we’ve been looking forward to for months. There will also be some shopping going on. I’ve lost 28 pounds since July, and my clothes are falling off. Well, my pants are. It’s kind of hard for a shirt to fall off.

Right now, reading is out of the question. Hamburger is a little fired up (and quite vocal) about the Steelers-Vikings game. I think I’ll just continue to write posts until the game ends.

How’s your Sunday? Are you in recovery from the read-a-thon? Or are you already planning your book list for the next one?

ETA: I deleted my blog today, but the nice guy at Bluehost recovered it…minus two posts and comments from yesterday and today. So if you left a comment, I’m sorry, but it disappeared.