Then We Came to the End: Review Haiku

Moments of brilliance,
but who needs four hundred pages
of real, drab life?

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. Little Brown, 2007, 400 pages.

Trouble: Review Haiku

A worthy story,
sure, but the messages are
subtle as mountains.

Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt. Clarion, 2008, 297 pages.

J. Edgar Hoover: Review Haiku

An accessible
intro to a sad, weird man.
Ten kinds of awesome.

J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography by Rick Geary and Andrew Helfer. Hill & Wang, 2008, 102 pages.

How to Steal a Dog: Review Haiku

The best-laid plans of
hard-luck girls sometimes fail for
all the right reasons.

How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor. FSG, 2007, 176 pages.

Certain Girls: Review Haiku

Helicopter mom
must learn to step the [bleep] off.
Great summer reading.

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. Atria, 2008, 400 pages.

Clementine's Letter: Review Haiku

Darling Clementine
learns the power of the pen.
I can't get enough.

Clementine's Letter by Sara Pennypacker. Hyperion, 2008, 150 pages.

Birthday Meme of Five

So, uh, last week kinda sucked. On Sunday I had my recital (which was awesome; no suckage); Monday I took the Boy in for tubes surgery (went well; he is chipper and infection-free but still speaks no English); Wednesday we found out Chloe was dying (sucked); Friday we put her down (SUCKED).

And now today's my birthday! Yeah . . . I won't tell you how old I am, but if I make it through this year I will be Older Than Jesus.

Regular posting will resume soon, but for now, Els of Librarian Mom has tagged me with the Meme of Five. Here it is:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the player's blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?
Working at my current job (same place, lesser title) and convinced that I would never get pregnant. Probably painting some room of the house. Seldom covered in miscellaneous food droppings/smearings.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
1. FIND BABYSITTER FOR TOMORROW NIGHT'S SOX GAME gaaaah.
2. Finish two freelance jobs.
3. Create database for high school reunion registrations.
4. Write agenda for college choir foundation annual meeting (my last one as president!)
5. Write haikus for two upcoming posts.

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. The discontinued, then happily revived, then sadly discontinued White Cheddar Pringles.
2. Girl Scouts Caramel DeLites.
3. My own chocolate chip cookies.
4. Stacy's Parmesan Garlic and Herb pita chips.
5. Caffeine-free Pepsi.

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
1. Give tons of money to my church, Habitat for Humanity, my choir foundation, the Harvard Crimson, the college fund, public radio and television, microfinance groups like Kiva, and so forth.
2. Redo my kitchen and upstairs bathroom. Vile mold, be gone!
3. Buy my husband a BMW.
4. Go shopping and buy things that aren't even on sale.
5. Hire a housekeeper, because I am a dirty, dirty person. (Although I suppose if I am a billionaire the housekeeper goes without saying.)

What are five of your bad habits?
1. Procrastination (known as "noodling" when it involves the computer).
2. Laziness.
3. Parking too close to my husband's truck in our driveway.
4. Stubbornness.
5. Impatience.

What are five places where you have lived?
1. Rock Island, IL
2. Cambridge, MA
3. Syracuse, NY
4. Jersey City, NJ
5. Bedford, MA

What are five jobs you've had?
1. Box office rep ("boxie")
2. Substitute teacher
3. Newspaper intern, features
4. Literary agency assistant
5. Editor

I now tag five people who have commented here in the past, or whose blogs I've commented on in the past.
Sarah Miller at Reading, Writing, Musing . . .
Miss Erin
Camille at BookMoot (she may still be on hiatus)
Anastasia at Picture Book of the Day
Fiona at Books 'n' Rocks

Too sad to read.

Chloe Wood Schuttler Mitchell. May 1, 1995 -- May 16, 2008. Guileless, fearless, possibly brainless; the sweetest sweetie beagle I've ever known.

The house is way too quiet. And the floor is full of dropped food bits. And I won't be reading #53 on The LIST any time soon.

I've been tagged for the Meme of Five, which I'll do sometime next week. But not today.

Shameless self-promotion!

If you are in the Boston area and are desperately looking for something nice to do for and/or with your mom this Sunday, why not come hear me sing?

I'll be performing "Girlhood, Womanhood, Wifehood, Motherhood: A Recital for Mother's Day" on Sunday, May 11, at 2:00pm at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Bedford, MA. The recital features favorite showtunes from past and present, all revolving around common experiences of women everywhere. It's about an hour long and should be a lot of fun. (Provided I don't forget the lyrics.) A freewill offering will be taken, with all proceeds benefiting Relay for Life, a program of the American Cancer Society.

If that is not incentive enough, please note that I will be wearing a turquoise, 1950s-era prom dress.

Hope to see you there!

And the Chinese comment spam is back

Oh, well. I'll just ignore it unless it becomes a real problem.

My Most Excellent Year: Review Haiku

It's so giddily
unbelievable, you can't
help but fall in love.

My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger. Dial, 2008, 403 pages.

P.S. "Ramon Garciaparra" (p253)? Ahem.

The Miracle at Speedy Motors: Review Haiku

Should I review this
one, or just sit back and have
a cup of bush tea?

The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith. Pantheon, 2008, 224 pages.

Waiting for Normal: Review Haiku

Another deadbeat
mother story, but Addie's
worth your sympathy.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor. Harper, 2008, 290 pages.

Queen of Babble Gets Hitched and Big Boned: Review Haiku

Two women, one voice:
One solves crimes, one makes dresses.
Oh, Meg, I heart you.

Queen of Babble Gets Hitched by Meg Cabot. Avon, 2008, 288 pages (read as ARC).
Big Boned by Meg Cabot. Avon, 2007, 280 pages.

The elements of story, as understood by the Munchkin

Scene: We're in the car, on the way to the mall for dinner. (Daddy's in Germany. What do you want from me?) We pull into the drive-through bank to get some money. The Munchkin spies the stack of deposit envelopes.

Munchkin: Mommy! I need one of those!
Me: Uh, okay. [give her envelope]
Munchkin: I need a pen! I need a pen to write a story!
Me: Not in the car. It's hard to write when the car is moving. Wait till we get to the mall.
Munchkin: I NEED A PEN!
[repeat last two lines ad infinitum as we drive]

Scene: Arrival at Sears. We get ten feet into the store.
Munchkin: I need a pen to write a story!
Me: Fine.
[Give Munchkin pen. She sits down at patio furniture display and begins to write.]
Munchkin: "How do you spell 'fish'?"
[Go through spelling rigamarole: "Well, what letter says /fffff/?" Munchkin scribbles, then finishes with flourish and hands me envelope.]
Munchkin: "Now you write 'for school.' At the bottom!"
[I do. Munchkin folds envelope in half, in vague approximation of book fold.]

Munchkin: "See? There's my book! READ IT!"

Here, in its entirety, is the Munchkin's book.

We needed a fish for school.

I've got to hand it to her -- it's got all the classic elements of story.
Characters: "We"
Plot: "needed a fish"
Setting: "for school"
Tension: Why do they need a fish? Is it an assignment? A class pet? A secret password?

I'm telling you, she's got Newbery written all over her.

The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower: Review Haiku

Crime and punishment
for an innocent mark turned
collaborator.

The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower by Lisa Graff. Harper/Geringer, 2008, 250 pages.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks: Review Haiku

Lockhart rocks again:
Eat your heart out, Skull and Bones --
Frankie's got you beat.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart.

Show me the way to go home

I'm waiting in the Dallas airport for my flight home. TLA was fun; I liked Dallas, everyone I met was nice, and I scored a bunch of great galleys, which I'll surely review in the weeks to come. (I even met a fan of this blog!)

Thanks to all the librarians, authors, illustrators, publishers, and others I met this week. Yee-ha.

Bird Lake Moon: Review Haiku

So many ways to
lose someone; an honest look
at grief, and summer.

Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow, 2008, 192 pages. To be published in May.

TLA note: Last night a bunch of publishers hosted a cocktail party. Kevin Henkes was one of the guests, and at one point he was just a few feet away from me, in a knot of people. I was pretty sure I recognized him, but I wasn't positive it was he, and his arm was holding a drink in such a way that I couldn't see his nametag. Not two seconds later, a fearless librarian walked over, bent her torso ninety degrees, stood up, and reported back to her cluster of friends, "Yep. It's him." Hee.

Dallas: First impressions

Good God, everyone is so . . . nice. It's like I'm back home in the Midwest. And the streets are so wide, and there's so much sky, and did I mention everyone is nice?

Day 1 of my TLA was busy and long, but good. Anastasia and Mitali signed for us, and I met many lovely librarians. The highlight, however, was definitely the Book Cart Drill Team finals. Most impressive.

Thank you, Dallas, for a lovely 24 hours.