Mixing It Up Challenge Check-in #2

 

Let's take a look at my progress so far...

• Classics —
• Biography – Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun by Gita May (9/21/12)
• Cookery, Food, and Wine –
• History — The Lost Millennium by Florin Diacu (9/12/12)
• Modern Fiction — Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (5/22/12)
• Graphic Novel and Manga – Bad Doings and Big Ideas by Bill Willingham (4/23/12)
• Crime and Mystery — Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (5/17/12)
• Horror — The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan (3/1/12)
• Romance –
• Science Fiction and Fantasy — The Magicians by Lev Grossman (1/21/12)
• Travel — Paris in Love by Eloisa James (5/16/12)
• Poetry –
• Journalism and Humor — The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs (2/26/12)
• Science and Natural History — The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson (4/18/12)
• Children’s and Young Adult — The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (6/27/12)
• Social Sciences and Philosophy — This Book is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson (9/1/12)

Check it out 12 out of 16 done.  Very excited by this!  On to some questions from Ellie at Musings of a Bookshop Girl:

How are you getting on? Look at me go.  I am very happy about my progress so far this year.

Have any of your not-so-familiar genres surprised you? The only genre that I really never read is mystery.  I knew that it would be a problem genre, so I picked a classic.  Can't go wrong with Agatha Christie...

Have you had any particularly good reads along the way? I loved The Magicians!  So amazingly crazy book.  I really need to read the sequel now.  I also really loved The Ghost Map and The Lost Hero.  Very good reads...

And do you reckon you'll hit your target by the end of the year? I am determined to finish this challenge.  Only 4 more to go.  I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.  I have options for Romance and Classics, but need to dig for Poetry and Food.

Ready to Throw It All Out

Do you ever stop one day and want to throw out almost everything you own?  I do.  I felt that urge this week. I recently started contract tutoring part time.  I have a AP U.S. History student and told him I would pull my personal notes for our session this week.  I put everything on a flash drive when I left my school.  It should be in an accesible place.  After dumping tons of boxes and containers, I can't find it.  So I resorted to plan B: the physical notes in the curriculum boxes buried under book boxes in the closet.  I opened the first of three boxes, no Chapter 4 folder.  Hmm... I found Chapter 5 and forward, but not 4.  I opened the second box, no luck.  I opened the third box, still no luck.  Then I remembered that in the move to Omaha a few of the folders were dumped.  I just shoved all those papers into box three and forgot about them.  I pulled probably close to 500 pieces of paper out and started to sort them.  After almost 30 minutes, I found my chapter 4 notes.

This adventure has me disgusted over how much crap is just lying around this house.  I want to clean house.  I want to simplify.  I want to purge.  I am making my new project purging the house...  My first attack point is my closet and jewelry boxes (yes boxes).  Tomorrow my plan is to try on every piece of clothing I own.  Anything that has no hope of ever fitting (trying to lose some weight) gets thrown in the donation pile.  Same goes for my jewelry.  Out of the boxes I have, I routinely wear 5-6 necklaces and about 3 rings.  I think I can get down to one small box.  No more shoe boxes full of jewelry.  I also plan on tackling my shoe issue.  As an added task, I will be pulling some of the clothes that will be traveling with me back to Indiana for Thanksgiving.  (I need to reassess my winter wardrobe, since we really don't have winter here in Sunnyvale)  All of this sounds like quite a project, but I really want to decrease the crap lying around.  We may not get down to the 100 item households I read about, but at least we will be able to find things quickly and without lots of sweat and swearing.

...

I spent almost two hours throwing every piece of clothing onto the bed and then sorting them.  It's piled up and and ugly.  I tried on every pair of pants.  Over half don't fit, but just barely. If I lose about 5 pounds, I get those pants back.  So I reorganized the closet to divide the can-wears from the can't-wears.  And I ended up with an entire garbage bag full of clothes that will be heading to the Goodwill.  It's not much, but I feel tons better with the purging and reorganization.

Next, I sorted through my shoes and found that there were only two pairs that I could give away.  To be fair, I did do a huge shoe purge before our move from Omaha.

Finally, I dumped the jewelry boxes.  Who knew they held so much?  I didn't at all.  

After an absolutely ridiculous amount time, I finally got all the necklaces untangled and everything sorted into piles.  Then I systematically went through and decided whether or not to keep each piece.  I think I routinely wear about 5 different necklaces.  However, many of the others I love and wear on occasion.  So I kept many of the necklaces.  The same goes for the rings.  I was a lot more choosey when it came to bracelets.  I only really like a few.  Most are too heavy and bulky for my tastes.  Many bracelets went into the get rid of pile.  I also sorted my pin box, the keepsake jewelry box (class ring, etc), and the random chainless pendants.  I finally got everything sorted and the keepers put back into the box.  I want to rehang all my necklaces so they don't tangle, but I need a better idea and the cork board I had in Omaha.  

Part 2...  the office, the most dreaded place in the house. (attack plan coming soon)

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge

The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge 

How did I not add this one before now?  I loved The Gilmore Girls!  Now that I know about it, I am definitely adding this to my perpetual reading challenges.

My Progress: 77/341

(*Bolded* books that I've read.)

THE LIST

1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
3. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
4. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
5. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
6. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
8. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
9. Archidamian War by Donald Kagan
10. The Art of Fiction by Henry James
11. The Art of War by Sun Tzu
12. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
13. Atonement by Ian McEwan
14. Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
15. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
16. Babe by Dick King-Smith
17. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
18. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
19. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
20. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
21. Beloved by Toni Morrison
22. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney
23. The Bhagava Gita
24. The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews by Peter Duffy
25. Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women by Elizabeth Wurtzel
26. A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays by Mary McCarthy
27. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
28. Brick Lane by Monica Ali
29. Bridgadoon by Alan Jay Lerner
30. Candide by Voltaire
31. The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
32. Carrie by Stephen King
33. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
34. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
35. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
36. The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman
37. Christine by Stephen King
38. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
39. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
40. The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
41. The Collected Short Stories by Eudora Welty
42. The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty
43. A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
44. Complete Novels by Dawn Powell
45. The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton
46. Complete Stories by Dorothy Parker
47. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
48. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
49. Cousin Bette by Honor’e de Balzac
50. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
51. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
52. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
53. Cujo by Stephen King
54. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
55. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
56. David and Lisa by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D
57. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
58. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
59. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
60. Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
62. Deenie by Judy Blume
63. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
64. The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx
65. The Divine Comedy by Dante
66. The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
67. Don Quijote by Cervantes
68. Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhrv
69. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
70. Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
71. Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook
72. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
73. Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
74. Eloise by Kay Thompson
75. Emily the Strange by Roger Reger
76. Emma by Jane Austen
77. Empire Falls by Richard Russo
78. Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
79. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
80. Ethics by Spinoza
81. Europe through the Back Door, 2003 by Rick Steves
82. Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
83. Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
84. Extravagance by Gary Krist
85. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
86. Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore
87. The Fall of the Athenian Empire by Donald Kagan
88. Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser
89. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
90. The Fellowship of the Ring: Book 1 of The Lord of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
91. Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein
92. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
93. Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce
94. Fletch by Gregory McDonald
95. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
96. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
97. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
98. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
99. Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
100. Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
101. Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
102. Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
103. George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President by Jacob Weisberg
104. Gidget by Fredrick Kohner
105. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
106. The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
107. The Godfather: Book 1 by Mario Puzo
108. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
109. Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Alvin Granowsky
110. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
111. The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford
112. The Gospel According to Judy Bloom
113. The Graduate by Charles Webb
114. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
115. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
116. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
117. The Group by Mary McCarthy
118. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
119. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
120. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
121. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
122. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
123. Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry
124. Henry IV, part I by William Shakespeare
125. Henry IV, part II by William Shakespeare
126. Henry V by William Shakespeare
127. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
128. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
129. Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris
130. The Holy Barbarians by Lawrence Lipton
131. House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III (Lpr)
132. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
133. How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
134. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
135. How the Light Gets in by M. J. Hyland
136. Howl by Allen Gingsburg
137. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
138. The Iliad by Homer
139. I’m with the Band by Pamela des Barres
140. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
141. Inferno by Dante
142. Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
143. Iron Weed by William J. Kennedy
144. It Takes a Village by Hillary Clinton
145. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
146. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
147. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
148. The Jumping Frog by Mark Twain
149. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
150. Just a Couple of Days by Tony Vigorito
151. The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
152. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
153. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
154. Lady Chatterleys’ Lover by D. H. Lawrence
155. The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal
156. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
157. The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield
158. Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
159. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
160. Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken
161. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
162. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
163. The Little Locksmith by Katharine Butler Hathaway
164. The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
165. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
166. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
167. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
168. The Lottery: And Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
169. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
170. The Love Story by Erich Segal
171. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
172. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
173. The Manticore by Robertson Davies
174. Marathon Man by William Goldman
175. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
176. Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir
177. Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman by William Tecumseh Sherman
178. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
179. The Meaning of Consuelo by Judith Ortiz Cofer
180. Mencken’s Chrestomathy by H. R. Mencken
181. The Merry Wives of Windsro by William Shakespeare
182. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
183. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
184. The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
185. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
186. The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion by Jim Irvin
187. Moliere: A Biography by Hobart Chatfield Taylor
188. A Monetary History of the United States by Milton Friedman
189. Monsieur Proust by Celeste Albaret
190. A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister by Julie Mars
191. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
192. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
193. Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
194. My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath by Seymour M. Hersh
195. My Life as Author and Editor by H. R. Mencken
196. My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest
197. Myra Waldo’s Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978 by Myra Waldo
198. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
199. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
200. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
201. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
202. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
203. Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature by Jan Lars Jensen
204. New Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
205. The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
206. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
207. Night by Elie Wiesel
208. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
209. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan
210. Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell
211. Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski
212. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
213. Old School by Tobias Wolff
214. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
215. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
216. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
217. The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life by Amy Tan
218. Oracle Night by Paul Auster
219. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
220. Othello by Shakespeare
221. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
222. The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
223. Out of Africa by Isac Dineson
224. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
225. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
226. The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition by Donald Kagan
227. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
228. Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
229. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
230. Pigs at the Trough by Arianna Huffington
231. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
232. Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
233. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
234. The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
235. The Portable Nietzche by Fredrich Nietzche
236. The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill by Ron Suskind
237. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
238. Property by Valerie Martin
239. Pushkin: A Biography by T. J. Binyon
240. Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
241. Quattrocento by James Mckean
242. A Quiet Storm by Rachel Howzell Hall
243. Rapunzel by Grimm Brothers
244. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
245. The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
246. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
247. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
248. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
249. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
250. Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad by Virginia Holman
251. The Return of the King: The Lord of the Rings Book 3 by J. R. R. Tolkien
252. R Is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton
253. Rita Hayworth by Stephen King
254. Robert’s Rules of Order by Henry Robert
255. Roman Holiday by Edith Wharton
256. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
257. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
258. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
259. Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
260. The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition
261. Sacred Time by Ursula Hegi
262. Sanctuary by William Faulkner
263. Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
264. Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller by Henry James
265. The Scarecrow of Oz by Frank L. Baum
266. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
267. Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
268. The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
269. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
270. Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette by Judith Thurman
271. Selected Hotels of Europe
272. Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965 by Dawn Powell
273. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
274. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
275. Several Biographies of Winston Churchill
276. Sexus by Henry Miller
277. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
278. Shane by Jack Shaefer
279. The Shining by Stephen King
280. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
281. S Is for Silence by Sue Grafton
282. Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut
283. Small Island by Andrea Levy
284. Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway
285. Snow White and Rose Red by Grimm Brothers
286. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World by Barrington Moore
287. The Song of Names by Norman Lebrecht
288. Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos by Julia de Burgos
289. The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker
290. Songbook by Nick Hornby
291. The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
292. Sonnets from the Portuegese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
293. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
294. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
295. Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
296. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
297. The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
298. A Streetcar Named Desiree by Tennessee Williams
299. Stuart Little by E. B. White
300. Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
301. Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
302. Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals by Anne Collett
303. Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber
304. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
305. Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
306. Term of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
307. Time and Again by Jack Finney
308. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
309. To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway
310. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
311. The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare
312. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
313. The Trial by Franz Kafka
314. The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson
315. Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
316. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
317. Ulysses by James Joyce
318. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962 by Sylvia Plath
319. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
320. Unless by Carol Shields
321. Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
322. The Vanishing Newspaper by Philip Meyers
323. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
324. Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard
325. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
326. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
327. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
328. Walt Disney’s Bambi by Felix Salten
329. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
330. We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews edited by Daniel Sinker
331. What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005 by Richard Nelson Bolles
332. What Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell
333. When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
334. Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson
335. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
336. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
337. The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
338. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
339. The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
340. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
341. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Quote Wednesday - Emerson

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ever just stop and stare at the sky...  try it.  I am sure you will be amazed at the beauty and majesty.  Is your sky currently blue, gray, full of clouds, clear, dusky, black?  Each one has its own beauty.  Stop, look up, marvel.  And maybe take a picture documenting the beauty...  Being in North Cali, I'm a bit homesick for the big thunder clouds of the Midwest (mind you I don't miss the ice storms and tornadoes).  I do have a new found appreciation for beautiful sunny days.  Just stepping out of the apartment fills me with hope.  Here's a pic from today to enjoy...

Top Ten Tuesday -- Favorite Places to Read (Rewind)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

This week's topic is rewind; choose a previous TTT topic.  I have moved since doing this topic, so I thought  I would revise my favorite places to read.

1. Living room chair -- J often finds me draped over the arms of the chair reading a book.   I still love my chair, but if we had a bigger place, I would love a couch to read on.

2. My bed -- Every once in a while I read a few chapters before bed, but I get too sleepy for marathon reading.

3. The balcony -- We get a nice breeze on our balcony, plus I get natural light!  It's only annoying when there's a ton of loud people in the pool.

4. Beside the pool -- Usually only during the weekday when no one's there.  I like the sun but really love the peace and quiet.

5. At the local coffeehouse: Bean Scene Cafe on Murphy St, Sunnyvale -- Love the atmosphere and the coffee...  Plus it's only a few blocks from the apartment.

6. The Sunnyvale Library -- Not that often.  I prefer to grab books and go, but I have been known to sit and read.  It's got nothing on ACPL...

7. Starbucks -- If it actually gets a bit cooler, I love grabbing a pumpkin spice latte.

Feed by Mira Grant

Title: Feed (Newsflesh #1)

Author: Mira Grant

Publisher: Orbit 2010

Genre: Zombie

Pages: 600

Rating:  5 /5 stars

Reading Challenges: Zombie; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.  NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.

A different type of zombie novel, less concerned about the horrors of the zombies and more concerned about the horrors of uninfected humans.  The novel focuses on politics and the news media.  We see how the world post Rising has resorted to fear and false security.  We see groups and individuals fall into the extremes in thinking.  We see a group of bloggers attempting to give people the truth no matter the cause.  I loved every minute of this book.  It shocked me, but deep down didn't surprise me how low some the characters could go in their effort to "save America."  In no way was this book predictive.  I was stunned at every twist and turn.

Except for the comment about zombies, this is a very appropriate comment on the news media and the truth.  I see this everyday.  Scary that things in a post-zombie apocalypse world have so much in common with the state of the world today.  Something to ponder.  And go read this book!

The trouble with news is simple: People, especially ones on the ends of the power spectrum, like it when you're afraid.  The people who have the power want you scared.  They want you walking around paralyzed by the notion that you could die at any moment.  There's always something to be afraid of.  It used to be terrorists.  Now it's zombies.

What does this have to do with the news?  This: The truth isn't scary.  Not when you understand it, not when you understand the repercussions of it, and not when you aren't worried that something's being kept form you.  The truth is only scary when you think part of it might be missing.  And those people?  They like it when you're scared.  So they do their best to sit on the truth, to sensationalize the truth, to filter the truth in ways that make it something you can be afraid of.

If we didn't have to fear the truths we didn't hear, we'd lost the need to fear the ones we did.  People should consider that. (pg. 346)

Newsflesh

• #0.4 Apocalypse Scenario #683: The Box
• #0.5 Countdown
• #0.75 San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats
• #1 Feed
• #2 Deadline
• #3 Blackout
• #3.5 How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea
• #3.6 The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell
• #3.7 Please Do Not Taunt the Octopus
• #4 Rewind

Music Monday -- Simon and Garfunkel "America"

This is one of those iconic songs.  I love the conversation between the people in the song.  It's musical storytelling at its finest.  Enjoy today's blast from the past.

Lyrics (my favorite lines in bold):

"Let us be lovers we'll marry our fortunes together" "I've got some real estate here in my bag" So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies And we walked off to look for America

"Kathy," I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh "Michigan seems like a dream to me now" It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw I've gone to look for America

Laughing on the bus Playing games with the faces She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy I said "Be careful his bowtie is really a camera"

"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat" "We smoked the last one an hour ago" So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazine And the moon rose over an open field

"Kathy, I'm lost," I said, though I knew she was sleeping I'm empty and aching and I don't know why Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike They've all gone to look for America All gone to look for America All gone to look for America

Many video versions for you to enjoy!

Original audio track

Letterman Show 2003

Josh Groban's version

Vienna Teng -- found this on YouTube

FrightFall Readathon Wrap-Up

Pages read today and yesterday: 228

Pages read total:  1959

Time read today and yesterday: 2 hours 39 minutes

Time read total: 19 hours 14 minutes

Comments: I got so busy with J coming home that I forgot to update yesterday.  Oh well... I didn't read as much this weekend as during the week.  That's how it usually goes.  I did dive into Feed.  It's different type of zombie book, set 25 years after The Rising and involving viruses.  But I really like it.  Hopefully I fill finish that on Monday and jump right into the sequel, Deadline.  I'm very happy with my total page and time counts.  I knocked out almost a book a day and multiple reading challenge spots.  Plus it's always fun to read some scary zombie books.  Until next year!

My goals:

• Read at least 5 books √
• Review all books read √
• Update once a day -- so close!

TBR List:

1. Sadie Walker is Stranded by Madeleine Roux
2. The First Days by Rhiannon Frater
3. Fighting to Survive by Rhiannon Frater
4. Siege by Rhiannon Frater
5. Feed by Mira Grant -- in progress
6. Deadline by Mira Grant
7. Blackout by Mira Grant
8. ADDED -- Persuasion by Jane Austen

The Sunday Salon #30

Listening To: Lots of rediscovered music.  Currently loving Jack's Mannequin, Ingrid Michaelson, and Howie Day.

Book finished: Because of the FrightFall Readathon, I plowed through a ton of books this week.  Getting close to wrapping up my Zombie Reading Challenge.  I read Sadie Walker is Stranded, Persuasion (on the iPad on the train), The First Days, Fighting to Survive, and Siege.

Reading: Feed by Mira Grant

On the Nightstand: Deadline and Blackout by Mira Grant (finishing my zombie challenge)

MakingLists: All things for my Thanksgiving vacation -- things to pack, places to go back in Indiana, things to do with boys, things to buy there, etc.  What can I say?  I like to be prepared in advance.

Around the house: With J gone, not much has happened and I have managed to keep things picked up.  I call that a win.

From the kitchen: Absolutely nothing.  I have been eating like a college student these past two weeks.  No real meals...

On the Web: Enjoying my Google Reader.  Wrapping up the FrightFall Readathon today.  No much else.

Crafting:  Last Sunday I had a great candy and stamps class.  We made some cute candy holders for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  So many ideas!

On Wednesday, we had a small meet and greet.  We made cards for the Ronald McDonald House in San Jose.  Plus we had a ton of scraps to share with each other.  I picked up a smallish stack of some great new printed paper sheets.  The first card was the "official" meet and greet design.  I made the others using the rest of a sticker pack I had gotten last year.  I loved who the Birthday card with yellow floral background so much, I had to take it home instead of donating.  The other three were donated.

At home, I finished up a few Halloween cards.  The one with the cat was made last year at card class.  I figured I would finally send it away to someone.  This is it for Halloween...

Watching: I went on a bit of a series bender while J was away.  To be fair, he wouldn't have watched most of these, so I feel like I'm not cheating.  I watched Parenthood S3, Revenge S1 (late to the party, but now I am hooked), and Life Unexpected S2 (finally finishing the series).  Plus I caught up on Glee, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report.

Wondering: How it can be 90 degrees this week and yet leaves are falling from the trees?  Crazy contradiction.

From Nature: After consistant 75 degrees, it got up to 90 this week.  Of course that was the day I decided to travel up to San Francisco.  It was even 90 up there!  Currently it is back to the high 60s.  The huge temp swings make me feel like I'm back in the Midwest.

Shopping Scores: While in San Francisco, we window shopped in the Haight.  I found the perfect little gift for J at one of the book stores.  Shh!! Don't tell!   I'll have to head back to the Haight and go thrift store shopping soon.

Project: Slowly working through all my music to narrow it down to my 101 favorite songs.  This is way too hard...

Siege by Rhiannon Frater

Title: Siege (As the World Dies #3)

Author: Rhiannon Frater

Publisher: Tor Books 2011

Genre: Zombie

Pages: 364

Rating:    5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Zombie; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I won it

The zombie illness has shattered civilization. The survivors who have found tenuous safety in Texas defend their fort against the walking dead and living bandits.  Katie has made peace with the death of her wife and is pregnant and married to Travis, who has been elected Mayor. Jenni, her stepson, Jason; and Juan—Travis’s righthand man—are a happy family, though Jenni suffers from PTSD. Both women are deadly zombie killers.  In Siege, the people of Ashley Oaks are stunned to discover that the vice president of the United States is alive and commanding the remnants of the US military. What’s left of the US government has plans for this group of determined survivors.

What a conclusion!  When I go into a zombie novel, I kinda root for a happy ending, but realize that isn't not necessary for a good book.  Without giving away details, this series has a relatively happy ending.  I am satisfied.  Throughout the series, I grieved over the loses.  And yet I rejoiced at the triumphant moments.  Overall I think the series is a story of hope.  Even in the zombie apocalypse, we must have hope.  While the religious areas got a bit cliched, the overall message of hope was nice to hear from the survivors.  The characters are real people to me now.  I see each of them in my mind.  I want to be friends with Katie and Jenni.  I want to play with Jack.  I want to help Jason build his contraptions.  I want to train with Nerit.  I want to gather in the dining all with all the residents.  I want to sit in Juan's memorial garden and reminisce about those we lost.  For me to get so deeply into the world of the series, I know it's a great one.  Check it out!

As the World Dies

• #1 The First Days
• #2 Fighting to Survive
• #3 Siege
• #4 Untold Tales Volume 1
• #5 Untold Tales Volume 2
• #6 Untold Tales Volume 3
• #6.5 Deadly Night: Jenni and Katie's Untold Tale

FrightFall Readathon Update #5

Pages read today: 208 (fighting to survive) + 364 (siege)

Pages read total: 1731

Time read today: 1 hour 59 minutes (fighting to survive) + 3 hours 21 minutes (siege)

Time read total: 16 hours 35 minutes

Comments: I wasn't planning on a marathon read today, but I couldn't help it.  I finished Fighting to Survive and jumped right into Siege.  I had to finish the series.  it was just way too good!

Fighting to Survive by Rhiannon Frater

Title: Fighting to Survive (As the World Dies #2)

Author: Rhiannon Frater

Publisher: Tor Books 2011

Genre: Zombie

Pages: 368

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Zombie; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I won it

Picking up where The First Days ends, Fighting to Survive features the further zombie-killing, civilization-saving adventures of a pair of sexy, kick butt heroines and the men who love them. A hundred or so survivors of the zombie plague have found tenuous safety in the walled off center of a small Texas town. Now the hard work of survival begins—finding enough food; creating safe, weather-resistant shelter; establishing laws; and fighting off both the undead who want to eat them and the living bandits who want to rob and kill them.

And the saga continues.  Oh my this one was a roller coaster.  I still absolutely love the characters in this series.  Katie is amazing and full of heart.  Jenni is growing on me.  She isn't as annoying as in the first book.  Nerit is just awesome and stoic and a sniper!  Travis is a great addition for the women heavy cast list.  Juan also grew on me throughout the book.  The plot is full of twists and turns.  Every time things seemed to calm down in the fort, another threat popped up.  I loved the crazy action scenes.  But I also got very connected to the quiet moments.  The deaths of the likable characters really hit me.  Overall this volume was amazing.  Can't wait to dive into the conclusion.

As the World Dies

• #1 The First Days
• #2 Fighting to Survive
• #3 Siege
• #4 Untold Tales Volume 1
• #5 Untold Tales Volume 2
• #6 Untold Tales Volume 3
• #6.5 Deadly Night: Jenni and Katie's Untold Tale

21st Century Literature by Women Reading Challenge

List taken from a Book Riot Article by Cassandra Neace

I am a bit ashamed to say that I've only read three of these books.  So, I'm adding this as one of my perpetual reading challenges.  The ones I have read are bolded...

3/115

1. Megan Abbott – The End of Everything (2011)
2. Diana Abu-Jaber – Crescent (2003)
3. Diana Abu-Jaber -- Origin (2007)
4. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Purple Hibiscus (2003)
5. Chimananda Ngozi Adichie --  Half a Yellow Sun (2006)
6. Isabel Allende – Portrait in Sepia (2000)
7. Isabel Allende -- Ines of My Soul (2006)
8. Julia Alvarez – Before We Were Free (2002)
9. Julia Alvarez -- Saving the World (2006)
10. Margaret Atwood – The Blind Assassin (2000)
11. Margaret Atwood -- Oryx and Crake (2003)
12. Margaret Atwood -- The Year of the Flood (2009)
13. Anita Rau Badami – Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? (2006)
14. Aimee Bender – An Invisible Sign of My Own (2000)
15. Aimee Bender -- The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (2010)
16. Jane Borodale – The Book of Fires (2010)
17. A.S. Byatt – The Children’s Book (2009)
18. Susanna Clarke – Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (2004)
19. Edwidge Danticat – The Dew Breaker (2004)
20. Lauren B. Davis – The Radiant City (2005)
21. Lauren B. Davis -- Our Daily Bread (2011)
22. Lydia Davis – The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis (Short Fiction – 2009)
23. Kiran Desai – The Inheritance of Loss (2006)
24. Anita Diamant – Good Harbor (2001)
25. Anita Diamant -- The Last Days of Dogtown (2005)
26. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – The Palace of Illusions (2008)
27. Emma Donoghue – Life Mask (2004)
28. Emma Donoghue -- Room (2010)
29. Jennifer Egan – A Visit from the Goon Squad (2012)
30. Louise Erdrich – The Plague of Doves (2008)
31. Lyndsay Faye – The Gods of Gotham (2012)
32. Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl (2012)
33. Kay Gibbons – The Life All Around Me (2005)
34. Xiaolu Guo – Village of Stone (2003)
35. Xiaolu Guo -- A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers (2007)
36. Lauren Groff – The Monsters of Templeton (2008)
37. Lauren Groff -- Arcadia (2012)
38. Carol Guess – Gaslight (2001)
39. Jennifer Haigh – Mrs. Kimble (2003)
40. Jennifer Haigh -- Baker Towers (2005)
41. Jennifer Haigh -- Faith (2011)
42. Melinda Haynes – Willem’s Field (2004)
43. Alice Hoffman – The Dovekeepers (2011)
44. Helen Humphreys – Wild Dogs (2004)
45. Siri Hustvedt – The Summer Without Men (2011)
46. Joshilyn Jackson – Between, Georgia (2007)
47. Joshilyn Jackson -- A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty (2012)
48. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees (2003)
49. Sue Monk Kidd -- The Mermaid Chair (2005)
50. Haven Kimmel – The Solace of Leaving Early (2002)
51. Barbara Kingsolver – Prodigal Summer (2000)
52. Barbara Kingsolver -- The Lacuna (2009)
53. Elizabeth Kostova – The Historian (2005)
54. Nicole Krauss – The History of Love (2005)
55. Nicole Krauss -- Great House (2010)
56. Aryn Kyle – The God of Animals (2007)
57. Jhumpa Lahiri – The Namesake (2003)
58. Jhumpa Lahiri -- Unaccustomed Earth (Short Fiction – 2008)
59. Ursula K. Leguin – Lavinia (2008)
60. Anne-Marie MacDonald – The Way the Crow Flies (2003)
61. Claire Messud – The Emperor’s Children (2006)
62. Lydia Millet – My Happy Life (2002)
63. Lydia Millet -- Oh Pure and Radiant Heart (2005)
64. Lorrie Moore – A Gate at the Stairs (2009)
65. Laura Moriarty – The Chaperone (2012)
66. Toni Morrison – Love (2003)
67. Toni Morrison -- A Mercy (2008)
68. Toni Morrison -- Home (2012)
69. Kate Morton – The House of Riverton (2006)
70. Alice Munro – Runaway (2004)
71. Alice Munro -- The View from Castle Rock (Short Fiction – 2006)
72. Eileen Myles – Inferno: A Poet’s Novel  (2010)
73. Sena Jeter Naslund – Four Spirits (2004)
74. Audrey Niffenegger – The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003)
75. Audrey Niffenegger -- Her Fearful Symmetry (2009)
76. Joyce Carol Oates – I’ll Take You There (2002)
77. Joyce Carol Oates -- The Falls (2004)
78. Joyce Carol Oates -- A Fair Maiden (2010)
79. Heather O’Neill – Lullabies for Little Criminals (2006)
80. Julie Otsuka – When The Emperor was Divine (2002),
81. Julie Otsuka -- The Buddha in the Attic (2011)
82. Helen Oyeyemi – The Icarus Girl (2005)
83. Helen Oyeyemi -- Mr. Fox (2011)
84. Ann Pancake – Strange As This Weather Has Been (2007)
85. Ann Patchett – Bel Canto (2001)
86. Ann Patchett -- State of Wonder (2011)
87. Marge Piercy – Colours Passing Through Us (Poetry – 2003)
88. Francine Prose – Blue Angel (2000)
89. Nina Revoyr – Wingshooters (2011)
90. Marilynne Robinson – Gilead (2004)
91. Marilynne Robinson -- Home (2008)
92. Mary Doria Russell –  A Thread of Grace (2005)
93. Mary Doria Russell -- Dreamers of the Day (2008)
94. Diane Setterfield – The Thirteenth Tale (2006)
95. Elissa Schappell – Blueprints for Building Better Girls (Short Fiction – 2011)
96. Sarah Schulman – The Child (2007)
97. Sarah Schulman -- The Mere Future (2009)
98. Mary Ann Shaffer – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2008)
99. Lionel Shriver – We Need to Talk About Kevin (2003)
100. Marisa Silver – The God of War (2008)
101. Jane Smiley – Private Life (2010)
102. Ali Smith -  Hotel World (2001)
103. Ali Smith -- The Accidental (2005)
104. Ali Smith -- There But For The (2011)
105. Zadie Smith – White Teeth (2000)
106. Zadie Smith -- On Beauty (2005)
107. Zadie Smith -- NW (2012)
108. Kathryn Stockett – The Help (2006)
109. Elizabeth Strout – Olive Kitteridge (2008)
110. Donna Tartt – The Little Friend (2002)
111. Jannette Walls – The Glass Castle (Non-Fiction 2005)
112. Karen Thompson Walker – The Age of Miracles (2012)
113. Sarah Waters – Fingersmith (2002)
114. Kathleen Winter – Annabel (2010)
115. Alissa York – Effigy (2007)

FrightFall Readathon Update #4

Pages read today: 335 (the first days) + 156 (fighting to survive)

Pages read total: 1159

Time read today: 3 hours 5 minutes (the first days) + 1 hour 32 minutes (fighting to survive)

Time read total: 11 hours 15 minutes

Comments: Late last night I started The First Days and just plowed right through to the end.  Oh my!  Such good zombie fun...  I stayed up way to late, but it was worth it.  Today I started the second book of the trilogy, Fighting to Survive. I may or may not finish it tonight, but I thought I would tally up my progress today before I got too tired.  Can't wait to see what happens!

The First Days by Rhiannon Frater

Title: The First Days (As the World Dies #1)

Author: Rhiannon Frater

Publisher: Tor Books 2011

Genre: Zombie

Pages: 335

Rating:   5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Zombie; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I won it

The morning that the world ends, Katie is getting ready for court and housewife Jenni is taking care of her family. Less than two hours later, they are fleeing for their lives from a zombie horde.Thrown together by circumstance, Jenni and Katie become a powerful zombie-killing partnership, mowing down zombies as they rescue Jenni’s stepson, Jason, from an infected campground.They find sanctuary in a tiny, roughly fortified Texas town.  There Jenni and Katie find they are both attracted to Travis, leader of the survivors; and the refugees must slaughter people they know, who have returned in zombie form.

Oh My!  What a zombie novel!  We are immediately thrown into the action.  The first scene is utterly horrifying.  I was terrified at what would come next.  The book starts in action and just never stops.  Right away I latched onto Katie as my identifiable character.  She is strong and yet has a vulnerable spot.  I loved the chapters told from her perspective.  Jenni was a bit crazy or as Juan would say loca.  I just never completely came around to her.  But I understand that her background as a battered woman defines her current relationships with others in the fort.  The other inhabitants are just as interesting and engaging.  The novel has just the right amount of gore and suspense and then quiet moments between survivors.  I am so glad that Rhiannon Frater was encouraged to publish the book.  I can't wait to dive right into the next installment...

As the World Dies

• #1 The First Days
• #2 Fighting to Survive
• #3 Siege
• #4 Untold Tales Volume 1
• #5 Untold Tales Volume 2
• #6 Untold Tales Volume 3
• #6.5 Deadly Night: Jenni and Katie's Untold Tale

FrightFall Readathon Update #3

Pages read today: 189 of Persuasion

Pages read total: 479

Time read today: 1 hour 40 minutes

Time read total: 6 hours 38 minutes

Comments: I finished Persuasion today, but got sidetracked with cleaning and crafting.  I attended a great meet and greet and came away with a ton of new scrap papers.  So I crafted instead of read.  Bad Tobe!  I promise to get back on track tomorrow with the start of The First Days by Rhiannon Frater.  So excited to get to this trilogy.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Title: Persuasion

Author: Jane Austen

Pages: 333

Rating: 5 /5 stars

Reading Challenges: Back to the Classics -- Reread; Mount TBR; Book2Movie; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: Own It!

Book

Say what you want about Elizabeth Bennett, Anne Elliott has always been my favorite Austen heroine.  Underneath it all, she's the one that keeps the Elliott household running, even in Bath.  She understands who she is and what mistakes she has made in the past.  She knows people and how to deal with them.  I love this story of growing up and realizing your mistakes.  Plus Captain Wentworth is just so dreamy!  Definitely my favorite of all of Austen's novels.

BBC Miniseries :

A few years ago I had a short-lived book club with some of my high schoolers.  We read Persuasion and then I hosted a movie night to enjoy a viewing.  Afterward we went around yelling "Wentworth" all over school.  Good times good times.

As to the actual movie, this is my favorite adaptation.  The casting perfectly fits the characters.  Anthony Stewart Head is imposing as Sir Walter, perfect casting.  Amanda Hale  is a nervous wreck of a Mary.  Rupert Penry-Jones is just dreamy as Captain Wentworth.  And Sally Hawkins has those long looks so perfect for playing Anne.  My absolute favorite scene is the first time that Anne and the Captain meet again.  Their looks convey a huge range of emotions.  In that instance, you know that they still love each other even with the betrayals of the past.  And I love all the scenes in Bath if for nothing more than the architecture in Bath.  Even the deviations from the novel fit with the story and characters. I forgive the filmmakers and still watch it over and over again.

Quote Wednesday - McGuire

Stories are like fairy gold, the more you give away, the more you have. -- Polly McGuire

So I have failed at writing more fiction pieces this year.  I started out with a goal of writing at lest once a week.  And I have failed miserably.  I even have a dedicated notebook for short pieces.  I carry it with me almost everywhere and yet there's only four entries.  Bad Tobe!  I really need to get back to this.  I want ti create and give away fairy gold, so I can get more...

FrightFall Readathon Update #2

Pages read today: 144

Pages read total: 479

Time read today: 1 hour 55 minutes

Time read total: 4 hours 58 minutes

Comments: I spent the day up in San Francisco visiting a friend.  I did get to read on the train to and from, but the idea of lugging around a bulky book just seemed like a bad idea.  Thankfully I had the iPad charged up and ready to use.  I plunged into Persuasion by Jane Austen as a great comfort read.

Sadie Walker is Stranded by Madeleine Roux

Title: Sadie Walker is Stranded

Author: Madeleine Roux

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin 2012

Genre: Zombie

Pages: 335

Rating:   5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Zombie; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

Sadie Walker is one of the survivors in this new world. Living in north Seattle behind barrier that keep the living in and the dead out, she trying to get back to a normal life, while raising her eight-year-old nephew, if anyone even knows what “normal” is anymore.  Then everything goes sideways when Shane is kidnapped by a group of black market thieves and they bring down a crucial barrier in the city while trying to escape, and flood the city with the walking dead. After rescuing her nephew, Sadie and Shane escape Seattle on the last remaining boat, along with other survivors. However, now they must face the complete chaos of a world filled with flesh eating zombies and humans who are playing with a whole new rule book when it comes to survival in their journey to find a new place that they can call home.

Oh!  Such ambiance.  Such suspense.  Such horror.  I was concerned that a continuation of Allison Hewitt's story would disappoint.  That book had such vibrant characters that I worried.  Thankfully I was wrong in my concerns.  This story jumps right into the action and never stops.  We follow Sadie and a ragtag band of misfits as they try to survive after The Outbreak.  I loved the setting of the Pacific Northwest.  I could almost hear the seagulls and smell the brisk salt air wind.  This zombie novel doesn't have much gore, but it sure has enough terror and gotcha moments.  I loved this book so much that I plowed right through it in one sitting.  Great novel!