The books of October 2012

October was a fast one! It's like time passed quicker than the temperature dropped...for once anyway. I'm still working on Christmas stuff most of the time, while watching different TV series on DVD.

Crafts:
Finally! Some of the events happened so I could give some stuff away!

I gave one cross-stitch away as a belated birthday gift. This particular friend and I often swap unicorn and rainbow thoughts and concerns, so I was thrilled when I found the pattern on etsy in Nerdy Little Stitcher's store:

Brings a bad meaning to the Skittles branding campaign...

Next up was the wedding of two friends. I found a very cute pattern from Lizzie Kate that I made for them:

Nothing snarky to say...cute gift for a cute couple.

Last, but certainly not least, probably the pattern I picked out the longest time ago. This one is from the Subversive Cross Stitch site...a gift for a friend who moved away from us to remind him of what he's not actually missing:

'Nuff said.

Movies:
I only made it to one movie that wasn't on DVD in my living room. I went to see Argo. It was really, really, really well-done. I remember the hostage crisis, but since I was in elementary school, I was pretty fuzzy on the details. And even though I knew the ending, I was still on the edge of my seat, freaking out, and hoping their plans worked. If you didn't make it to the theater to see it, make sure you rent it.

Books:
I bought something else on the Kindle that I don't remember, but I also finally read something on the Kindle again, so I'm okay with the forgetting. I also bought myself an early birthday present, In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death, and Duran Duran by John Taylor. I've not even started it and typing that made me squeal a little.

In October I read The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan, Sutton by J. R. Moehringer, High on Arrival: A Memoir by Mackenzie Phillips, Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography by Rob Lowe, The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure, and Total Recall by Phillip K. Dick.

The Throne of Fire is the second book of the Kane Chronicles series. In case you've forgotten, it's the teen series with Egyptian mythology. It was kind of long, but still entertaining. Sadie and Carter Kane are once again pitted against evil and used as the pawns of the ancient gods in order to raise Ra the Sun God from his slumber and keep the world from falling to Chaos. It's as entertaining as the first book and  introduced new teens to their story to help with the fight. Sadie still has a crush on Anubus and their parents are still in the Underworld. Not ideal, but with a basketball-playing ape, a powerful magician-uncle, and a cat god as their protectors, it definitely keeps you interested.

Sutton was another what-if, not-totally-history-based work of fiction. As old man Sutton leaves prison, a young writer and photographer pick him for an exclusive newspaper article about his past and his newly free present. No one found quite what he expected. It was essentially the author's re-imagining of living this gentleman-robber's past through a reporter who didn't expect that the subject matter might not feel like cooperating. That he might have had his own agenda for his first days of freedom. It was very interesting to read what the old man remembered and to hear the contrasting news clips the reporter had. Nothing completely matched up, but the story kept me very hooked.

High on Arrival was a little more than I could handle. I knew Phillips had led a drug-fueled, completely screwed up life and had somehow lived to write a book about it. What I didn't count on was the incest...it wasn't just once, people. It was many, many times. If you've got a weak stomach, this is not your book.

Rob Lowe's book was my next read. As biographies, these were VERY different. Lowe was an alcoholic, but he didn't feel the need to rehash every detail of his alcoholism or his very public arrest over a sex-tape...back when sex-tapes were just. not. done. I liked his descriptions of forging friendships with the guys in The Outsiders. I also was very interested in the part about The West Wing. It was a fluffy, fast read. Nothing horrifying, nothing outstanding.

The Wilder Life is one I've had on my shelf for a while. I totally loved the Little House books when I was a kid. I remember my sister and my mom reading them to me...and then getting to read them on my own...again and again and again every summer. I don't think I've picked them up in about ten years, but reading this book makes me think that I might. Wendy McClure found the books again and they took her to a time when she loved believing that all of it was real. She set out, as an adult, to recapture some of the Little House feeling by visiting sites around America. I really enjoyed this book and her tales of trying things from the cookbooks and frontier life. I get that she had to wrap it up and share why she wrote it...that's fine. I just found that I enjoyed her adventures a little more than the self-discovery part. I also learned some things: I could churn butter while watching a TV show, but I don't want to can butter...also, end times people can be a little scary when you're camping on the wild prairie.

Total Recall was just a short story, but I've seen both movie representations now, so I figured I should give it a whirl. It's not like either movie. It was quick and definitely takes another philosophical bend if you're inclined to read it yourself. I think I'll stick to the movies though. I know I downloaded a few things by Phillip K. Dick. I hope I don't spend too much time comparing them with their movie counterparts.

Well, that's it for October. November is going to have loads of stuff: new Bond, first Christmas craft fair, last Twilight movie, the Lincoln movie, a major holiday (no, I didn't dress up for Halloween this year...I was sick...and still am), and lots of crafting.