A noun’s a thing. A verb’s the thing it does.
An adjective is what describes the noun.
In “The can of beets is filled with purple fuzz”

of and with are prepositions. The‘s
an article, a can‘s a noun,
a noun’s a thing. A verb’s the thing it does.

A can can roll – or not. What isn’t was
or might be, might meaning not yet known.
“Our can of beets is filled with purple fuzz”

is present tense. While words like our and us
are pronouns – i.e. it is moldy, they are icky brown.
A noun’s a thing; a verb’s the thing it does.

Is is a helping verb. It helps because
filled isn’t a full verb. Can‘s what our owns
in “Our can of beets is filled with purple fuzz.”

See? There’s almost nothing to it. Just
memorize these rules…or write them down!
A noun’s a thing, a verb’s the thing it does.
The can of beets is filled with purple fuzz.

~ from Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry, selected and introduced by Billy Collins

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Post tags: poetry

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Hold on to your seat as you experience a show like no other. “The ride you are about to take will be worth every minute,” raves Newsday.

Out of nowhere, a mysterious flash causes nearly everyone in the world to lose consciousness and gain a glimpse of his or her life six months into the future. As one elite FBI unit attempts to solve the mystery, the rest of the world’s population soon discovers, that when it comes to destiny, nothing is set in stone.

Uncover the answers and delve even deeper into the mind-bending story with riveting bonus features, including an in-depth look at the entire series from pilot to final episode and inside stories from cast and crew. Relive every brilliant twist of the groundbreaking show’s complete series – uninterrupted – in this 5-disc collection. It’s a must-have for any FlashForward fan!

It’s been a challenge to find things to keep Natalie distracted while she waits to find out what the next stage of treatment will be, but FlashForward: The Complete Series on DVD has fit the bill perfectly. I’ve already seen the first half of the series, so I have been re-watching as I type lesson plans, and have gotten completely sucked into the series again. I was a bit hesitant to watch any further, because I know that the series was canceled after only one season, but a friend has assured me that it ended with a semi-satisfying conclusion, so I’m excited to watch to the end.

One of the best things about FlashForward is the casting. Joseph Fiennes heads up the FBI task force attempting to figure out the cause of the blackout, based on what he saw during his own flash. Sonya Walger (Penny from Lost) plays his wife, a surgeon, whose own flash is a bit confusing – she saw herself with another man – Lloyd Simcoe, played by the dashing Jack Davenport (will someone find him another series already?!), who is a quantum physicist who may or may not be responsible for the event.

While you have an intriguing science fiction premise, you also have a meta-physical dilemma: are the flash forwards destined to happen? Or are they simply one possible future? Is there any way to avoid a fate you’re afraid of – or bring about more quickly a future you are anticipating? What if your flash seems completely impossible – like in the case of gay FBI agent Janis Hawk, who saw herself 17-weeks pregnant and getting a sonogram?

This series is addictive television – mutli-layered storytelling with fantastic characters and terrific writing. I only wish it could have lasted longer than one season!

(Discosure: I received FlashForward: The Complete Series for the purpose of review from Click Communications. Many of the links on my site are Amazon affiliate links; if you click on one of those links and subsequently purchase anything, I will receive a small percentage in commission.)

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Post tags: television, TV on DVD

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Heresy by S.J. Parris

I crossed the room back to the body with its protruding arrows and considered it again from various angles, touching my finger to the bloodstains on the shirt, which left a thick residue.

“This body could well have been here since Saturday night,” I said.

Matched by Ally Condie

I didn’t think that Aberrations could have access to artifacts, but Ky obviously does. Did he give it to me on purpose?

To read other book bloggers’ teasers, or to leave a link to your own, visit Should Be Reading.

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First of all, can I say that it really shouldn’t be the last Sunday of August yet? I can hardly believe that the month is almost over, though Natalie is very glad that the last couple of weeks have gone by quickly. (Brief update for those of you following her progress: she has a C/T scan scheduled on Wednesday, the 1st. If scan shows that inflammation is gone or greatly improved, we will start to advance her diet slowly and continue with Remicade treatments; if scan shows no or not enough improvement, we schedule her for surgery to have about 8 to 10 centimeters removed from her small intestine. She’s hanging in there, but is really tired of the whole IV at home thing.)

I did get a bunch of school-related stuff done yesterday, so I’m not going to feel too guilty if I take some time to sit and read today. I am currently one disc away from finishing The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo on audio (I’m typing this Saturday night, so I may actually have finished it before crashing), and am in the middle of reading Matched by Ally Condie – which is fantastic so far – and Heresy by S.J. Parris, which is beautifully written but a slower read.

If you get a chance to read on this last Sunday of the month, which books will be your companions?

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Post tags: sunday salon

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We then participated in a round table discussion via e-mail. Each one of us is posting a portion of the discussion, so you will need to click over to the other participants’ blogs to read the whole thing.

Participants:

Bryan at Unfinished Person
Thomas at My Random Thoughts
Pete at The Fiddler’s Gun
Teresa at Shelf Love
Heather at Book Addiction
Hannah at Wordlily
Amy at My Friend Amy

Here are the majority of my comments in the discussion (the rest are found in the other participants’ entries):

“The second thing that I did like was Godric’s take on prayer. This passage especially stood out to me:

What’s prayer? It’s shooting shafts into the dark. What mark they strike, if any, who’s to say? It’s reaching for a hand you cannot touch. The silence is so fathomless that prayers like plummets vanish in the sea. You beg. You whimper. You load God down with empty praise. You tell him sins that he already knows full well. You seek to change his changeless will. Yet Godric prays the way he breathes, for else his heart would wither in his breast. Prayer is the wind that fills his sail. Else waves would dash him on the rocks, or he would drift with witless tides. And sometimes, by God’s grace, a prayer is heard.

LOVE this passage – in fact, reading this book was worth those few sentences. As many of you know, our family has been struggling lately. My 13-year-old daughter, Natalie, was recently diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, and we have spent a combined total of 14 nights in the hospital this summer. She is currently at home on IV nutrition and no food except clear liquids, with the hope that this combined with a new medication will bring about improvement. If not, she will undergo surgery to remove part of her intestines.

While we were in the hospital, Natalie and I had some amazing, and often heartbreaking, discussions about the nature of faith and prayer. We have both wept, have been angry with God, felt like our prayers were bouncing off the ceiling. And yet we pray. Not because she has a right to be healed, but because God is there, whether we “feel” Him or not. Because He is faithful, whether or not we receive the answer we want. Because He may not heal her, but He will walk through this with her, and will bring good out of this situation.

Sorry to go off on a tangent. I guess in a nutshell: I didn’t like the book, but I’m glad I read it for that paragraph on prayer that will stick with me for a long, long time.”

Be sure to click through to the other blogs to read the rest of the discussion.

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Post tags: faith 'n' fiction

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Eve is the kind of woman who is continually reeling from the things that happen to her. Her first husband died, leaving her to raise their son Marcus. Her second husband, Chuck, walked out on her and Marcus and his own daughter, Noni, in the middle of a yard sale. Eve is left to pick up – not only the detritus of the yard sale, but the wreckage of their family, their home.

To make things even more difficult, Eve’s mother, Charlotte, has decided to stay in Binghamton and “help,” when in reality, she has gotten to the age when she needs Eve’s assistance more than the other way around. With the help of some Korean students, an African-American parks worker, and her irascible, difficult mother, Eve must find a way to make their newly structured family work – all while maintaining her sanity.

Rosenberg’s novel is the kind that makes you laugh – not just because it’s funny, but because sometimes life is so darn hard that if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. Eve doesn’t expect things to happen in threes – she believes that, at times, life can be flooded with one crisis after another, and during these times, even the smallest event can become the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I very much enjoyed the time I spent with Eve and her children. I admired her patience with her mother – I don’t think I could have handled that woman with as much grace as she did. The characters that Rosenberg peopled this book with were wonderfully quirky and real, and each of them had a hand in helping Eve change from a woman to whom things happen, to a woman who has taken charge of her own life, acting instead of reacting.

After the summer we’ve had, I was perfectly positioned to appreciate a book that demonstrates how we can survive all that life throws at us, and that in the midst of the worst of times, there are little moments of humor, beauty, and grace that help see us through.

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1. Favorite childhood book?
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

2. What are you reading right now?
Heresy by S.J. Parris and Home Repair by Liz Rosenberg

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
Half-Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls and Die For You by Lisa Unger – both on audio.

4. Bad book habit?
Buying books when I have over a hundred unread books already at home!

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
The audio editions of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling, and The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman

6. Do you have an e-reader?
Nope, but after carting a bag full of books to the hospital three times this summer, I am really wishing I had a Kindle – especially if Nan ends up needing surgery.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Several at once.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Yes – I read a much wider variety of genres, and I’ve discovered some new favorite authors.

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
Godric by Frederick Beuchner

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
Just one? It’s a three-way tie between The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Not very often – there are only a few genres I’m not interested in, so I have a wide comfort zone.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
I will read almost anything, with the specific exceptions of horror, erotica, and self-help books.

13. Can you read on the bus?
I get carsick when I read in a moving vehicle – I use audiobooks while traveling for that reason.

14. Favorite place to read?
At the lake while my kids are swimming.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I loan my books out to close friends and family all the time.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Not any more.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Yes, especially non-fiction.

18. Not even with text books?
Ironically, I never wrote in my text books because I always resold them.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
I only read in one – English.

20. What makes you love a book?
Authentic characters, strong sense of place, beautiful writing, a good story.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
I recommend books all the time – sometimes because they wowed me personally, and sometimes because I know that someone else will really enjoy them.

22. Favorite genre?
Ooo, that’s tough. So hard to pick just one, but I guess I would say historical fiction.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
I wish I read more non-fiction – especially history.

24. Favorite biography?
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Yes, a long time ago.

26. Favorite cookbook?
The classic Betty Crocker cook book – basic answers and help and classic recipes.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
The Help by Kathryn Stockett

28. Favorite reading snack?
Popcorn and coke.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
I don’t pay attention to book critics.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
It’s not always easy, especially if I’ve had contact with the author, but it’s important to be honest in reviews if you want to maintain your integrity as a book blogger. I will be honest without being brutal or attacking the author personally.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
Italian

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

35. Favorite poet?
Billy Collins

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Anywhere from 3 or 4 to 15 or 20!

37. How often have you returned a book to the library unread?
Not very often – maybe once or twice a year.

38. Favorite fictional character?
I have a new favorite – Octavia Frost from The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst.

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Voldemort

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Mysteries, thrillers, and contemporary women’s fiction.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
I honestly can’t remember ever going without reading – maybe a day?

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Most recently, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
My kids bickering.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
To Kill a Mockingbird

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
Eragon

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
$150

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Never.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
If I didn’t care what happened next.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
I have them roughly organized – a shelf for borrowed, a shelf for review copies and ARCs, then the rest scattered throughout all the shelves in the house. And on the floor in our bedroom.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I keep the children’s and YA fiction, all classics, and any 4- or 5-star reads. The rest I give away or sell.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Moby Dick by Melville – not sure if I’ll ever give that one a try.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
I hate Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

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Post tags: memes

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I’m not going to write a review, because there’s simply no way to do it without talking about plot points and I want all of you to read it without anything spoiled. I will say, though, that Collins has outdone herself and that Mockingjay is, hands down, the best book of the series. It was such an emotional experience to read it. I’m still processing and my eyes are still tearing up when I think about certain scenes. Sigh. If you haven’t read this series yet, what are you waiting for?

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Post tags: dystopian fiction, science fiction, suzanne collins, YA fiction

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Another word for father is worry.

Worry boils the water
for tea in the middle of the night.

Worry trimmed the child’s nails before
singing him to sleep.

Another word for son is delight,
another word, hidden.

And another is One-Who-Goes-Away.
Yet another, One-Who-Returns.

So many words for son:
He-Dreams-for-All-Our-Sakes.
His-Play-Vouchsafes-Our-Winter-Share.
His-Dispersal-Wins-the-Birds.

But only one word for father.
And sometimes a man is both.
Which is to say sometimes a man
manifests mysteries beyond
his own understanding.

~ from Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry, selected and introduced by Billy Collins

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