5x5: First Holiday Edition

Five Christmas Songs I Love
1. I Saw Three Ships performed by the Bare Naked Ladies
2. Step Into Christmas performed by Elton John
3. Christmas Wrapping performed by the Waitresses
4. Merry Christmas from the Family by Robert Earl Keen
5. Linus and Lucy performed by Vince Guaraldi


Five Christmas Songs I Hate
1. Feliz Navidad (mainly because it gets stuck in my head)
2. Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (do I really need to elaborate?)
3. Is That You Santy Claus? (This one isn't a bad song, but it was playing in every store my sister and I went into when we were doing all of our Christmas shopping in one night back in college.)
4. I'll Be Home For Christmas (it makes me cry)
5. Twelve Days of Christmas (again, because of the ear worm effect, but also because of the aggravating repetition.

So how about you? What are your holiday musical loves and hates?

Challenge Updates!

I have completed my Fantasy reading challenge and the 1st in a series challenge.

Fantasy:
1. Bite Me by Christopher Moore
2. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
3. Soulless by Gail Carriger
4. Savvy by Ingrid Law
5. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
6. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

1st in a Series
1. Still Life by Louise Penny
2. The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee
3. Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan
4. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
5. Haunting Jordan by P.J. Alderman
6. Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall

Still working on Reading My Name (only two more letters to go!) and What's in a Name which is proving to be very tricky.

Some food for thought

This is taken from an article in Crosscut a daily guide to local and Northwest news based out of Seattle, on the recent banning of the book Brave New World at a local high school. The defenders of this action are saying it isn't a ban, just the the book is suspended from the curriculum until teachers have more training on how to teach it with more sensitivity. Ahem.

"Huxley imagined a world of genetically engineered, pharmaceutically controlled drones who wouldn't know much about books and literature, or anything unsanctioned, save consumerism and sensuality. The idea wasn't to ban books, but make them irrelevant, to suspend any interest or engagement with them (and much else). "

Does this sound familiar to anyone else? I think I'm going to make a point of reading tonight.

and this is why we are such a perfect match

Here is a snibblet of a conversation my husband and I had the other day.

LW: You know who would be great to have in the zombie proof fortress? Pyro!
Sunshine: Ooh yeah! He could just torch them!
LW: Jean Gray and Cyclops would be very useful too.
Sunshine: Don't forget Wolverine!
LW: I don't think that would be a good idea! I mean, obviously we would want him in the fortress, but not as a fighter. What if he got bitten?
Sunshine: Don't you think his healing power would stop him from turning zombie?
LW: I don't know, but would you really want to risk it? Then we would need Magneto.
Sunshine: And nobody wants Magneto.

From the Shelves: Stephen Fry in America

I read Stephen Fry in America this past weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is potentially risky to read a comedian's take of your country, particularly when you know that there is much to criticize or mock. However, while the book was funny, the humor was in no way mean spirited. Fry has a genuine affinity for the US but the book also wasn't fawning. He really did an amazing job of highlighting different elements about each state and giving pertinent historical information where applicable. I can honestly say that I managed to learn new things about each state and about my fellow countrymen. I will never get over the picture of a six year old riding a sheep at the junior cowboy rodeo he visited. (I will double check the book to get the exact name and location).

I did find it disappointing that he didn't truly visit three states (Delaware, Ohio and Idaho), and that he only visited Arlington Cemetery in Virginia and Asheville in North Carolina, but I realize that he did have time constraints. I'm sure anyone reading his book from other states will also point out things he missed in their home states. I do hope he does a sequel (I can give him tons of recommendations for Virginia and North Carolina), and I would love to see the footage he shot for the BBC special that was the point of the whole trip. At any rate, the book was a lot of fun and if you teach sixth grade social studies or state history in elementary school it would be a great place to start to discuss what he missed in his visit to either the country as a whole or a state in particular.

Random Thoughts

This is a rather disjointed post, as I am feeling a wee bit disjointed myself.

1. We just got the DVD Lust for Life in at work and every time I see it (it is in my office waiting to be cataloged), I get the Iggy Pop song stuck in my head. Sadly, I only know the tune and that one lyric. Grr argh.

2. It is almost Halloween and I don't live some place that is considered tropical. It should not be 80 degrees!

3. I am having a horrible time finding plain ground pork in my town. It makes no sense, and I need it to make meatballs.

4. Christopher Nolan's third Batman film finally has a title. I was less than excited by it, but I eagerly anticipate the movie.

5. China's gross population imbalance (it is roughly 120 boys born per year to 100 females according to MSBNC) is going to cause a lot of problems in the near future. One that is minor in comparison to the others is "how will they craft their female sports teams with so few girls?" Granted, it probably won't matter that much considering the sheer astronomical size of their population, but it is something to think about.

6. I wish I could bring my dog to work.

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.