Musing Mondays

This question comes from the blog Should Be Reading.

Do you prefer hardcovers, trade paperbacks (the bigger ones), or mass market paperbacks (the smaller ones)? Why?

I vastly prefer trade paperbacks to either hardbacks or mass market paperbacks. They are the ideal weight and size, and fit nicely into the front pocket of my backpack that I routinely use as a carry-on bag when flying. Also, they are better quality than mass market and a better price than hardback. That being said, there are some books that I want in hardback to withstand the multiple re-reads. I am longing to get the Melendy Family books by Elizabeth Enright in hardback, and if they ever release Ballet Shoes and Dancing Shoes in hardback I will jump on those as well. But overall, I prefer trade paperbacks.

W3dnesday

What have you been reading? I finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett and The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister. I really enjoyed The Help, but I loved The School of Essential Ingredients. I gave up on The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber.

What are you currently reading? I am currently reading A Year in the World by Frances Mayes. I'm really enjoying it, but man does it make me hungry! All of those luscious descriptions of food.

What will you read next? Yesterday I checked out the following books: How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen, Clara's Kitchen by Clara Cannucciari, The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall, and A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee. I'll see which one strikes my fancy first after I'm done with the Mayes. If anyone has any suggestions for books whose titles start with either V or L I would greatly appreciate it.

W3dnesday

No cute picture today, as my computer is being cranky.

What have you recently read?
I just finished reading Red Sky at Night by Jane Struthers and The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan.

What are you currently reading? I checked out The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber on Monday when I had to go the Social Security office to change my name. I'm finding it hard to get into.

What will you read next? I should read The Help which is this month's selection for my book club, but I might go with The School of Essential Ingredients.

Updates!

I've managed to read 51 books so far this year, and my to be read list has swollen to 574. You might remember that when I first posted about my reading challenges that it was around 491. Never enough time to read!

Here is the status of my reading challenges.

Our Mutual Read: The Victorian reading challenge is done!
Fantasy: 5/6
First in a Series: 5/6
Read My name: 11/14 All I need is a Y, a V, and another L
What's in a Name: 3/6 I'm still missing a food, body of water, and a title
Typically British: 6/6!!! Hooray! Another challenge is complete. I read the following books for this challenge.
Red Sky at Night by Jane Struthers
Serpent's Tale by Arianna Franklin
King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
Bellfield Hall by Anna Dean
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

So Bob's Your Uncle!!!

5x5

Five reasons I want to move to Asheville:
1. They still have four seasons there! You know, instead of cold, hot, and hotter.
2. Cultural opportunities abound. Music, theater, art, dance.
3. They have fabulous resturants. I miss having a choice of nice places to go to eat.
4. The downtown area is pedestrian, bicycle and dog friendly.
5. It is a great fit politically for us. I didn't see a single Palin sticker the whole time I was there, and I saw a number of things promoting buying local and recycling.

Five reasons to stay where I am:
1. The cost of living is much cheaper.
2. I would have to find a new hairdresser, dental hygenist, massuese and OB/Gyn if I moved. Don't laugh, good ones of those are hard to find.
3. My job is here.
4. We have a support structure in place here.
5. I would have to give up my book club and my dance class.

W3dnesday!

After a month long hiatus, I return! The reasons for the break are copious, and don't truly need to be elaborated on beyond the fact that I am getting married this Saturday. So what have I been up to since my last W3dnesday post? Quite a lot actually.

What have I recently read? I read: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, The Serpent's Tale and Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin, A Fatal Grace and The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, Never Trust a Thin Cook by Eric Dregni, Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart, and Flow: The Cultural History of Menstruation by Elissa Stein (which I will review after the wedding-it will be a doozy!) I also started, but did not finish Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson (I just wasn't in the right mood for it, but I plan to return) and A Yank Back to England by Denis Lipman because it got fairly repetitive and I found the author to be a tad annoying. I might return to it. This brings my total to 51 books counting picture books.

What am I currently reading? I am currently reading The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan, although I have temporarily set it aside because I was finding that bits and pieces were sneaking into my dreams when I read it before bed and the results weren't pretty. I typically have weird and vivid dreams anyway, I don't need any help there.

What will I read next? I have The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister packed in my overnight bag for the mini-moon.

5 x 5

This week's topic: Five literary characters you hate/love

Five characters I hate!
1. Dolores Umbridge, from the Harry Potter series. Of all the villains in this series I loathe her the most. She is concern only with retaining her power and obtaining more. She cares nothing for the truth or fairness, and what's worse, she pretends to be sweet while doing horrible things. Plus, the bitch escapes punishment. HATE her.

2. Nurse Ratched, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Another person who is only concerned with her own power and who misuses it.

3. Fudge, first appearing in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. I feel like I am alone on this one, since so many reviews of these books talk about how he is a typical little boy and how funny he is. I completely disagree. I think he is a horrible brat.

4. Debbie van Pelt, the Sookie Stackhouse series. She is a character with no redeeming qualities whose death can't come quickly enough.

5. Tinkerbell, from Peter Pan. I know that Tink commits an act of great self-sacrifice, but this is after a great deal of extremely bad behavior, including trying to murder Wendy. I don't find her sympathetic in the least, and am shocked by how many people seem to think she is wonderful.

Five characters I love!
1. Flavia de Luce, first appearing in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Flavia is a precocious and entertaining narrator and sleuth. She's also a little scary at times which adds to her appeal for me.

2. Fred/George Weasley, from the Harry Potter series. Yes, I know that they are two characters, but as they are always together in the books I'm counting them as one unit. Fred and George provide the best examples of comic relief in the books, and I think that Rowling's choice to kill Fred in book seven is highly unacceptable and flat out wrong.

3. Miranda Melendy, first appearing in The Saturdays. When I was younger I harbored a desire to either be her, or at least be friends with her. To this day, I would like to be friends with her.

4. Gen, first appearing in The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. It is difficult to discuss why, precisely, I love Gen without giving away major plot points. Suffice to say that he is clever and talented, loyal, brave and very complex. If you haven't read this book you should. It is the first in a trilogy, but after what happens in the second book I became furious with the author and thus haven't read the third. The first book, however, is brilliant.

5. Abby Normal, first appearing in You Suck by Christopher Moore. This little goth teenager is one of the funniest narrators I have ever come across and two of her more colorful catch phrases (Fucksocks and Fucktard) have wormed their way into my vocabulary.

So what about you? Who do you love and hate? Or love to hate?