Seven and a half hour Mark

I've just hit my seven and a half hour mark. Joan Johnston's book, Sisters Found is completed. I enjoyed it very much. However, I was getting dizzy with all the characters. The go-between eight characters might have been a bit much. I don't think I'd have the author change anything, but a book with multiple characters always makes me wish authors would write stand-alone books for them. Although I must say that in this case, the book wouldn't have gone well by itself. It's difficult to explain without going deep into the plot. Which I don't really want to do. I like writing reviews, but I always worry about giving too much of the book away. I've had it happen to me and would hate to do it to someone else.

Anyway, I'm not sure what book I'm going to start next. Will pick something in the next minute though. Plenty of choices left on my BookCourier. Will check in later.

Joan Johnston Sisters Found

About an hour ago I started another Joan Johnston novel entitled Sisters Found. It's another addition to the Hawk's Way series. I read a few in the series some months ago. I think this book is the last in the series, though I'm not sure.

Currently I'm about 50% way through the book. The novel is interesting to say the least. It's hard to explain the plot without going into detail. Let's just say there is a couple in the book that really want to be with other people. However, they each feel to back out with two weeks to the wedding would be an embarrassment on the other.

It's obvious that things are going to come to a head one way or another. A little predictable in that sense, but I'm still curious to see how it will end.

Nearing the end

I'm just a few pages shy of finishing Joan Johnston's Outlaw's Bride. I have to say that it was a very good book. The things I suspected went 50/50. I was led to believe one thing, then made to think my initial suspicion was incorrect. Then the author dragged it back to what I originally thought.

Overall, I was pleased with this book. I can't say it's a book that I'll read over again, but a good read for sure.

I haven't yet decided what book to start next. Will finish off these last few pages and then flick through my options. I might stick with the Joan Johnston theme. We'll see though.

Reached page 210

I've now reached page 210 in Joan Johnston's novel. It would seem the intrigued is getting a little stickier. I'm starting to believe the plot has more than one enemy. It's a familiar pattern I've seen with previous romance novels involving a mystery.

My opinion up until now is that the story is good. I can't say great, because I'm finding it a struggle to keep going. However, this is a strictly personal opinion. I know most intrigue novels go this way, but oftentimes, I find more enjoyment in a romantic suspense novel when the main characters aren't the direct target. Of course, this is kind of silly as most novels are better for having the targets the hero/heroine. I suppose I'm a little eccentric that way.

BookCourier has me at 53% of the book. I'm doing about 25% per hour, so I should have this book done in another couple of hours. Just in time to give my dog a morning walk. BookCourier will of course be accompanying me.

First 100 pages

I'm about 100 pages in Joan Johnston's Outlaw's Bride. It's been a little over an hour and I feel like I'm doing good. I'm still feeling a bit run-down, but nothing I can't handle. I just hope I'm not catching a cold.

As for the book, so far it's been enjoyable. Our heroine comes to find the man who promised her at the age of twelve to marry her. However, it's going to be tough as the hero has an old enemy set on revenge. Both of them have to prove the hero's innocence before they can reach happily-ever-after.

At the moment, our hero has begrudgingly promised to marry the heroine only if they find clues to clear his name from an old rape charge. We'll see how the rest goes as the book plods along.

Starting read-a-thon

Well, I've chosen my book and have started. The romance novel I've chosen is Outlaw's Bride by Joan Johnston. I read the book that came before this a couple of months ago and never got to the sequel. I'm really looking forward to it.

I'll be checking in later.

Dewey's Read-A-Thon

Right now I'm gearing up for Dewey's Read-Athon.

http://24hourreadathon.com/

To read for 24 hours normally isn't that big of a deal, but unfortunately, I woke up a little while ago feeling absolutely horrible. I was experiencing chills and a terrible pain in my head. I'm hoping I can make it through the read-athon. Some over-the-counter meds is helping for the moment, so we'll see how it goes. I'm been looking forward to the read-athon for the past two weeks, and I'd hate to bow out before it even starts.

Anyway, I've got a bunch of books on my BookCourier.

http://www.bookcourier.com

and I got some books from my favorite site:

http://www.bookshare.org

Some of my books include a few texts that I'm supposed to be reading for my English classes, so I'll probably get to those. Might as well kill two birds with one stone! And if that gets a little much, I've got several romances to sort through. Not sure what I have, as the books I put on were obtained weeks ago in preparation.

I'm going to try and blog while I'm reading since my eyes and hands will be free. I'm also going to be reading as I walk my little dog, eating and maybe a few house chores. I'm unsure how often I'll check in, but I'll do my best. Maybe once an hour or every so many pages. Some of my Bookshare.org books don't have visible page numbers, so I'm going to have to work out another way of telling how many pages I do.

Well, going to go prepare. I'll be checking in about thirty minutes from now to blog what book I chose.

My Monday Night Excitement

Monday night I was a bit late in walking my dog. No big deal as I've been making it a habit to go a little past sundown in order to miss the heat. It was going to be like any other night.

So as I was turning a corner to walk up the street, I was listening to my little radio that I had in my back pocket. I know to be aware of my surroundings and if anyone is walking behind or near me. But I guess it was one of those times I let my guard slip. Don't worry, it was not a bad thing. I stopped to let my dog sniff. This guy stops next to us and asked me if my dog was okay. I remember looking at him with a blank look on my face. I glanced down at my dog (as if that would do any good) and simply repeated, "Something wrong with my dog?" And he elaborated by asking if my pooch bit or anything like that. All of a sudden the lightbulb went on. I noticed that my dog was shying away from the man and wouldn't come near him. I quickly asked the guy if he had any facial hair.

I think this guy must've thought I had a few screws loose, because he was like, "What?" And I put my hand on my chin and asked if he had a beard or a mustache. He probably didn't quite understand why I was asking, but answered in the affirmative. I don't even remember what he said he had now. (Kind of funny to be honest.) I went on to explain that my little poochie has a problem with guys and facial hair. He absolutely detests men with beards or mustaches.

By this time the two of us are bending down, and I was trying to coax my dog to go near the guy. He's such a friendly little thing with other people. Unfortunately, my dog was having none of it. Wouldn't take a step toward the guy even with my encouragement. I took the moment to explain that we (my family) think he came from a puppy mill and was abused by someone with a beard or mustache, because ever since we got him he's been severely afraid of those types of people. A neighbor, I said, even sees him every day and my dog barely acknowledges him. I told the guy, "Don't take it personally."

The guy was good-natured about it. He started to tell me that he used to breed Boxers, but at this point he got a phone call. I didn't move as my dog was still sniffing around. I thought it was funny how he lost his shyness the minute the guy turned his attention away from him!

The guy stood there for a few seconds talking on his phone, and I happened to catch a lot of what he was saying. I didn't mean to, but when someone is standing two feet away from you, it's hard to ignore. I couldn't help but overhear that to the other person on the line he said something about just coming from the set of "Lost". I, figuratively speaking, raised my eyebrows. While I've never ever watched the show, I know of it.

Maybe at this point the guy decided to just go, or maybe he realized that he just told me, a perfect stranger, that he worked on the set of a popular television show by accident. Either way, the guy beat a hasty retreat. Personally, if the latter reason is why he ran away, he didn't have anything to worry about. As I said, I've never watched Lost and in addition to that, I wouldn't even be able to recognize the guy if I met him again. I was more interested in hearing about breeding Boxers, to be honest. I wanted to breed my dog a long time ago, but since my mother insisted he get snipped, that idea got nipped in the bud. But I still would've liked to have tried. It sounded like an interesting hobby. Then again, I need another hobby like a hole in the head.

I debated on whether to blog this, but I figured, what the hey, it's not like I'll ever run into that guy again. Plus, it's the most exciting thing that happened to me lately. I lead such a boring life, I'll take my thrills where I get them!

Budget Cuts, Athletics & the Why Question

Today in one of my classes we went off topic and talked about our school budget, the professors contract, etc. Obviously everyone is hurting right now, and many people are upset by the decisions of our state to cut education. I myself am disappointed that education is the thing that gets slashed. However, not knowing more about the subject, I'm the last person to give an opinion on alternative options.

One of the things about this twenty-minute discussion that our class engaged in had to do with a comment a fellow classmate made. She happened to have our school paper in front of her and commented how one page talked about the budget cuts, but the very next page talked about the women's locker-room getting a 2.6 million dollar face-lift. She was very outspoken about the fact that she regarded this as a frivolous use of money, and that the female athletes should just stop complaining and go back to their dorms or homes to shower. The student did apologize if any athletes were in the class, but continued by saying that she thought it was interesting how the school is in a budget deficit, but athletics still gets money. In other words, that people were valuing athletics far above education.

Again, I know very little about the subject as I'm not an athlete or privy to budget information. I will say that after my class I had a talk with a friend. I commented how notoriety is what gets students to come to a particular school. Since it seems that athletics is the thing that gets the most attention, then it's what gets promoted.

I have no idea if this is true or not. I am all for athletics, but I'm also for education. In my perfect world, education and athletics and whatever else would all be on equal footing in regards to money. However, in reality, that's not the case. But the focus of my thoughts now have to do with the comment that my friend made to me after I commented on the notoriety subject. He said that each student that comes to a school actually costs the school money. So if one were to look at it, the affect of more students coming to a particular institution due to the notoriety factor wouldn't really jive.

I couldn't say anything to that. I was left with very confusing thoughts. I was thinking, well, if each student is looked as a negativity because it costs the school money to educate them, then why would they want students to come at all? If there's always a budget shortfall, then why even open up a school period? Why not have a student cut-off then, to allow only so many students per so many years? Why open it up for new students all the time? I just don't understand any of this.

Mainly, I'm left with the why question. Why? What's the whole point of it if it only costs money and puts the institution into debt?

Fairy Tales

In my college class we're studying fairy tales. I have to say, the one thing about this subject that always comes up is the naiveté that seems to ooze from all sorts of fairy tales. The subject of Disney is also brought up.

Now, I grew up on fairy tales. I enjoy them and thrive on them. However, it seems to me that whenever fairy tales are focused on or discussed, the one thing that always comes up is the damsel in distress, and the princess being saved by a handsome prince. Disney immortalized this theme, and I get the feeling that people think this is a bad thing.

I say it now and I say it then...

What's wrong with Disney? Is it so bad in the twenty-first century to still enjoy Disney? Are more parents shying away from Disney because it sends the "wrong" message to kids?

All my professors appear to elude to this. While I don't think all of them are sold on the idea, I think a lot of them believe that Disney had the market on teaching our kids about fairy tales, but sugar-coated it so much that it's giving us all a toothache.

I respect my professors and the other intellectuals around the world that believe in this viewpoint. However, I have to say I disagree. Disney and others like it are forms of entertainment. It's not like solid literature that we're exposed to when we reach the post-high school period of our lives.

Maybe I've got my head in the clouds, or maybe I'm still naive myself from all those hours of watching Disney. But I still feel there's nothing wrong with Disney. Other authors are welcome to adapt the stories and make them their own. However, the beauty of the beast is that we’re allowed choice. No one says we have to be stuck in a rut and only restrict ourselves to Disney, the Grimm’s or even Angela Carter.