Sunday, July 11, 2010

I totally smoked those kids

1.) I turned on Jeopardy the other night and saw that it was kids week and I thought, "Sweet! I can totally smoke these kids!" Oh, admit it, you do the same thing. We all love it when it's kid/teen/college/celebrity week because we know that the answers are going to be easier and we can feel smart and superior. And while I did feel superior, I was surprised by how unnerved I was by these kids' freakish knowledge. They knew everything! Like stuff I didn't know until my 30s. I will admit that the bulk of my knowledge at 12 consisted of Baby Sitters Club trivia and the birth dates of all the members of New Kids on the Block.

2.) The contents of my shopping basket yesterday were: 1 box of saltines, 3 cans of soup, 1 bottle of apple juice, 1 bottle of ginger ale. I have the stomach flu. Do you know why? Because Flat Rachel is visiting Rac this week and the bad juju has somehow been transported through her to me. We can not catch a break, Rac!

3.) Hey, remember that I challenged you to read To Kill a Mockingbird this summer? I took the challenge too and finished it today and cried like a baby and then sat for a few minutes and sighed. It gets me every time.

4.) Does anyone have any good book recommendations. What I am specifically looking for is a really great story. A page turner. The kind of book that will make me neglect housework more than I already do. If you give me a book recommendation you'll be entered to win a Mr. T bookmark. Wouldn't that just make your summer if you won?

14 comments:

Tammy said...

my book recommendation:
the hunger games by suzanne collins , i am so excited that i want to drop it off to your apartment right now!

Hannah said...

I see Tammy has beat me to it, but seriously, Hunger Games. You can borrow my copy! I keep feeling kind of grumpy because I've already read it so I can't read it for the first time this summer, and I too am looking for a really really great story! But the good news is that the third (and final) book is coming out in a month, and so that brings me comfort...I'll be reading these comments with great interest!

Ginger said...

I took your challenge and read To Kill a Mockingbird. Loved it! I, too, am anxious to see the comments. After reading TKAM I am ready for a "neglect my housework" kind of book to read this summer. Really, that's the only kind of books I read since I am not a "Reader" by nature.

Kelly said...

I highly recommend the Book Thief by Markus Zusak (who's writing is unlike anyone elses. It's told from the voice of Death himself. Doesn't that intrigue you?

Valerie said...

I was also going to say the Hunger Games. I've just started them, but, they'll make you neglect real life for a bit, that much I can tell.

Also, Bel Canto if you haven't read it. It's...ineffable.

Anonymous said...

I really really loved The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. Don't think about the movie. Just pretend it doesn't exist. It didn't when I read the book and it was AWESOME. Full of love and politics and lust and betrayal and... it's just really good.

I also loved You Look Nice Today about a crazy lady at work who sued her boss for sexual harassment... hilarious and unbelievable! I don't know the author on that one.

Unknown said...

house rules by Jodi Picholt, you have to get use to her writing style (she writes in 1st person and each chapter is a different character/voice)...
it's an easy read.. if you've read allot of her stuff ( me guilty!) she can be kinda predectiable but i always pick up her books before baseball and soccer and football seasons.. I keep it in my "game bag" it gives the hard core sports moms something to gawk at seeing me with my nose in a book rather than watching intensly.. someone always tells me after my kid does something grand.. so it allworks out.. good luck!

Rach said...

1. I love love love watching Jeopardy on those weeks you mentioned. It's like a contest between Tim, me and the contestants to see who can get the answer first. Fun.

2. Okay. We must break this curse. This is ridiculous. Maybe we could check in with the Red Sox (is that the team that had the curse?) and find out what they did to break it. Because you have been sick far too much when I am involved. It's just not fair.

3. I will read TKAM after I finish the pile I already have.

4. If you're looking for fun, "The Candy Shop War" by Brandon Mull is fun. Quick and fun. I usually end up reading stuff you recommend, so it's hard to come up with something new. I think you already read "The Help", but that's a good one, and I thought it was a page turner.

Good luck. Sorry about the flu.

Amanda said...

My book suggestion is "The Reader." I also liked Firefly Lane a lot. Hope you find a good book and get on the mend quickly. Whatever you do, do NOT read God of Animals.

Chris said...

I've only got 100 pages left of the unabridged version of Les Miserables. I love the musical and I'm loving most of the book. There were several chapters that I wanted to skip...the ones about Napoleon and Waterloo and others with background information. I kept thinking, "Hurry up and get back to Jean Valjean?"

courtney said...

so remember how a couple of times you and i were the only ones who had even bothered to buy the book for book club? well then i went to grad school, landed in a sort of high stress job, and stopped reading COMPLETELY. it has made me very sad. but the high stress job is over now, and my masters thesis is finally starting to feel like something that never even happened (which, by the by, is exactly how i feel about early morning seminary--it seems so impossible!), so i had to find a book that would keep my out-of-shape attention span interested.

success!: the brothers k, by david james duncan

Lish said...

My suggestion since Hunger Games has already been mentioned would be The Hour Glass Door by Lisa Mangum. :) Abby's whole life has been planned: she is dating the "boy next door," whom she met shortly before she turned four, her parents are organizing the same bowling birthday party they've thrown for her for 14 years, and she and her best friend plan to be college roommates. Then Dante, a tall, dark, and handsome Italian foreign-exchange student, arrives at her high school, and everything gets turned upside down. Suddenly, she is having passionate feelings for him that she never had for her boyfriend, and she is willing to entertain possibilities that she never before considered. The closer she gets to Dante, the more her life spins out of control. Dante has secrets: He always wears leather gloves that cover his wrists, he disappears for days, and time literally stops when Abby is with him. The more she finds out about Dante, the more danger she is in.

Mariah said...

I was also going to say that YOU HAVE TO READ The Hunger Games. My fave. Or Blue Castle (but I happen to know you've already read that one). Lish's suggestion of The Hour Glass Door has me intrigued. YA novels are the best.

Stephanie said...

I fifteenth the Hunger Games - very cool book. Makes you dream of Peeta in a way that Edward could never get you to do.

Other than that - Peace like a River, by Leif Enger. Sometimes I just read it to get pretty language stuck in my head.