The books of June 2011

Another month down and we're halfway through the year. It's insane how fast it goes! So far summer is ok (although today in particular was ridiculously hot...and still is, but with the air conditioning running, it's not so bad inside)...I've been hanging out with friends, seeing movies, doing crafts...you know, the usual.

I did two more Iron Craft challenges this month: You Are Here and Scan This! I think that brings my total done so far this year to 5. I was hoping to hit 13 by the end of the year since that's a quarter of the challenges.

We're all Snooki to you

I made several cross-stitch gifts...some were QR codes (like the one for the Iron Craft above) and others were fun sayings, like this:

I'm feeling like everyone needs a biscuit...right now!

I also knit myself a pair of wrist warmers and am currently working on finishing up a matching scarf. I realize that it's now July as I write this, but some places, like the movie theater, are always chilly inside.

I didn't buy too many books this month. I got The Host by Stephanie Meyer (out of the bargain bin...score!), The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate, Passion by Lauren Kate (third of the Fallen books), Makoto's Cross-Stitch Super Collection by Makoto Oozu, and Cowl Girls: The Neck's Best Thing to Knit by Cathy Carron.

I was feeling the need for books, but not feeling the need for giving up money, so I went to the library in addition to raiding my own shelves and night stand. Overall, in June I read: Under the Blood Red Moon by Mina Hepsen, Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, Tattoos and Tequila: To Hell and Back with One of Rock's Most Notorious Frontmen by Vince Neil and Mike Sager, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson, and in preparation of the July 15th final movie release, I re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling.

I grabbed the Hepsen book from the library. It was a fluffy, little vampire tale with some twists into Victorian London...and some odd tie-ins to history. It was fast read...something I was able to put down, but still, fairly well done and interesting enough to keep me reading through the whole book.

Linger was just as good as Shiver. For some reason, I don't get into Stiefvater as quickly as some of the other teen series books that I've read. Which makes no sense. Werewolves are something I read about on a fairly regular basis at this point <cough>nerd alert</endcough> but these books move slowly for me. They don't take a lot of time to read, but it's not the first thing I want to do as soon as I get home. But I do know the characters now and am invested enough that I want to read more. The ending for the second book is a sad twist in the tale and I wonder where she's taking the story...huh. Looks like I was intrigued by it...more than I thought. Although maybe the reason I don't think I'm as intrigued is because there's no Jacob whipping his shirt off every other scene :)

Every summer, I like to read a blond celebrity bimbo book. The Cybill Shepherd biography stands out as a pretty good one. I'm sure I'll read more than one, but this month, I took the focus off of the ladies and read the Vince Neil biography. Everything I knew about Motley Crue at this point, I learned from The Dirt (an AWESOME book about the band). I remember reading it a long time ago and thinking that it was weird that the frontman didn't feature prominently in that book. Later I read Tommyland (an AWFUL book on Tommy Lee) and learned pretty much that Tommy likes himself...a lot. I have not read the Nikki Sixx bio. After reading the Vince Neil bio, I gotta say, I am totally rooting for the guy! He has had so many huge ups and downs and still manages to be alive and trying to get through things. He's clearly got a lot of problems, but it seems like he's trying to put the past behind him and I really hope he succeeds. This book was great fun and I'm kind of sad that I got it from the library and had to return it. It's a good conversation piece (be careful how you carry and place the book on the table...he's being a little "cheeky" on the back cover and I had to explain myself /reading choice several times)...and it made me listen to "Dr. Feelgood" for like three days straight once I was done with it.

I finally finished the new Erik Larson. I read it while I was reading these other books. It's a heavy one that feels better if it's broken up by other tales. Hitler...man...that guy was seriously uncool. Reading about his rise to power in the year leading up to WWII was very interesting and disturbing. Like a couple of other Larson books, it's slow reading, possibly because you do know the topic and it is a heavy, complex, sad topic. You wanted the ambassador to do more, but you felt sympathy for him being in this impossible situation and really, what more could he have done before someone decided he and his family were just unnecessary? I did like this book, but it wasn't something I'll talk about a lot because it's just depressing. I do not think it's as good as Devil in the White City, but it's still well done.

Sigh. I so do not want Harry Potter to end. In a bad, bad way. And yet, I'm so excited to see the movie that I took the whole day off from work so that I can see it the day it releases. No, I'm not doing the midnight show...I enjoy sleeping too much for that...but I will see it early the first day...and possibly more than once. My roommate realized she hadn't seen the first half of the movie, so we watched it last Saturday night. That prompted me to re-read the Deathly Hallows last Sunday. I just sat and read. And reminded myself of the story and tried to gauge my crying/sobbing tendencies because I'm sure it'll be much worse watching it on the screen...it always is. Also, I'd completely forgotten about (blocked from memory on purpose) the spiders joining the fight. SHUDDER! I was hoping maybe it would be one of the things they would cut from the movie, but no-o-o-o-o. I watched the preview and there they were, crawling in the background on their creepy, ginormous legs. Ugh! It won't keep me from the theater, but it will keep me form looking at the screen during a crucial part or two :\

It's time to continue cleaning and start cooking. Hope everyone has a great July 4th!