Weasel Of Doom

1. Happy Birthday, Daddy. Love you always.
2. After a week of cold weather, it’s finally back to nice and warm.
3. Because it’s warmer, I could take down my white trash air conditioner cover.
4. Spring is here, everything is nice and fresh and green.
5. Crabapples in bloom.
6. Dandelions on our lawn (my neighbors probably do not share my joy in them).
7. Tulips, daffodils, forsythia, and magnolias, all looking pretty.
8. Bunnies eating grass on the lawns.
9. Commie (red) squirrels running around our back yard.
10. Birdsong.

Books books books

1. Falls public library late book fine is a ridiculously low 10 cents per day.
2. Ordered “Under Heaven” by Guy Gavriel Kay from Amazon. Can’t wait to read it!
3. Since an order of $25 or more qualifies for free shipping, also ordered “Archangel’s Kiss” by Nalini Singh and “Mark of the Demon” by Diana Rowland. Hmmm, just noticed that there is a definite theme in the titles :-)
4. My copy of “The Dead Travel Fast” by Deanna Rayburn finally arrived. An homage to gothic romances. Now to find time and write a review on LibraryThing.
5. Finished “Legacy” by Lois McMaster Bujold, next on the list – “Passage.” Am enjoying The Sharing Knife series so far.
6. Finally got around to read some more P.D.James (she of the “Children of Men” fame) – read “Unnatural Causes,” “An Unsuitable Job for a Woman,” and “The Black Tower” (yay for omnibus editions). Enjoyed them, but not to the point of wanting to buy my own copies.
7. Re-reading Sharon Shinn’s “Archangel” and “Angelica.”
8. I am so glad I can lose myself in a good book.
9. Libraries. With LOTS and LOTS of books. I just wish they carried more of the authors I enjoy.
10. When I go to Russia, I am going to buy “Night Watch,” “Day Watch,” “Twilight Watch,” and “Last Watch” in their original Russian. Parental units will likely not be amused, but they should be resigned to my reading tastes by now.

I come slinking back… Let’s see if anybody notices :-)

FarmVille edition

1. Potatoes Mastery
2. Completed Nursery Barn
3. 1/3 of the way to Botanical Garden
4. New crops to master (not that I am done with the old ones, but it’s nice to know stuff is being added)
5. Fuel now available for coins!
6. Adoptable Llamas
7. Dogs (even though both of mine tried running away from neglect)
8. Pretty hanging flower decorations
9. Tons of mystery boxes and a few mystery eggs for Sergey to open when he gets in the mood
10. Looks like I will be done with limited edition tomatillo mastery WAY before the timer runs out (on May 5th)

1. People commented on my “rating the books” post.
2. Good time at Shannon’s.
3. Downstairs area is clean for Bill’s game tomorrow.
4. Sergey dancing and singing “I want to move it move it” – too funny.
5. Hugs and snuggles.

I have a question for you, my book-reading friends ;)

I use LibraryThing to keep track of my books, and among other things it allows me to rate books on a 5-star scale (half-stars allowed). I am trying to come up with method to my madness as far as assigning stars goes. This is what I have so far:

No stars – Did not finish the book. Because maybe it’s wonderful and all, but I just couldn’t get into it. Or it could be horrible, but once again, I did not bother to finish. Who knows. For example, I could not finish Justine Larbalestier’s “How to Ditch Your Fairy.” The book got good reviews from others, it just wasn’t what I like.

1/2 star – Awful. Finished, but no idea why. Perhaps it was a willpower-building exercise, or I am a glutton for punishment.

One star – Very bad (F). Writing is horrible, plot non-existent, protagonists inspire hatred. Somewhere, trees weep at the horrible use their brethren and sistren were put to.

Two stars – Bad (D). Writing is clunky, plot holes abound, protagonists are not likable. Won’t seek anything by this author out unless I am desperate, and books recommended by this author are automatically suspect. Case in point: “Undead and Unwelcome” by MaryJanice Davidson. The first book in the series (“Undead and Unwed”) was a 4-star for me, the second (“Undead and Unemployed”) a 3-star, and the rest are in the 2-star category.

Three stars – Average (C). Serviceable. Decent writing. Was enjoyable, time went by quickly, but I am not seized with desire to run out and buy the author’s back list. Will check out other books by the author from the library, or pick them up at Half-Price books. A lot of the romance books I read fall into this category.

Four stars – Good (B). Would recommend to others. Want them on my bookshelf at home, and might buy some of these books at Amazon.com in paperback if I can’t find them at Half-Price books (in particular those that verge into 4.5 star category). Most of J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series books would go there. Also most of Terry Pratchett books. Ditto Sharon Shinn, Louis McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Moon, and Connie Willis.

Five stars – Excellent (A). If I were told to pick books to take with me to a desert island, these are the ones I would take. Often, the authors are the ones whose new hard-cover books I would pre-order at Amazon.com. I am thinking of limiting the number of 5-star books to 100, to promote selectivity. After all, the books that didn’t quite make the cut can have the 4.5 stars rating. Currently, Robin McKinley’s “Sunshine” and “The Blue Sword” are in that category, as well as Guy Gavriel Kay’s “Tigana,” “A Song for Arbonne,” and “The Fionavar Tapestry” trilogy. Also Terry Pratchett’s “Small Gods” and the Pratchett/Gaiman collaboration “Good Omens.” And C.S. Friedman’s “Coldfire” trilogy.

**********

What do you think? Other suggestions on how to approach the ratings? What makes a book Excellent, Good, Average, Bad, or Awful for you? Where’s the line between Good/Excellent, and Bad/Awful? Go forth and comment!

1. Falling asleep early (reason for this post being back-dated)
2. Seven plastic bags and lots of tape later, the wind no longer blows right through the air conditioner in my office (incidentally, it snowed during the night. I knew that would happen the moment maintenance workers carried that air conditioner in).
3. Talking on the phone with Sergey, complete with “Mommy, are you there?” for refrain.
4. Yellow melon mastery.
5. Good coffee at an open house at work.

1. Kids let us sleep in.
2. My cold is getting a little better.
3. Mel came over to play with the boys, so I could stay late at work to make up for the fact that I came in late.
4. Grafton’s “U is for Undertow” was an enjoyable read. And yes, I read a 400-page hardcover in 4 hours.
5. Bill brought me breakfast in bed. (crepes with whip cream, yum!)

1. Got to work early, despite a rough night.
2. Quiet day inside, beautiful day outside.
3. Got some stuff done at work, despite feeling crappy.
4. New Sue Grafton book waiting for me at the library tomorrow.
5. Clean kitchen floor and downstairs bathroom.

1. Easter.
2. Great time at Aunt Peggy’s Easter get-together.
3. Qdoba’s Kids Eat Free weekend.
4. Unexpected beautiful weather.
5. Going to bed early.

1. Boys had a good time in gymnastics. Damien is moving up a level (an hour long class instead of 45 mins) for the next session.
2. Mel came over to play with the kids.
3. Laundry is done.
4. Easter clings are up, Christmas cards are down.
5. I cut the boys’ hair for the second time. Little guys were excited, big guy hid his dread very well.

1. Bill watched the kids all day so I could go to work and attempt to catch up
2. Aloe Vera mastery. Sugar Cane, you are next!
3. Another beautiful day.
4. Daffodils blooming by the garage.
5. Kitchen is clean, dishes are washed, and toys are put away.

1. Nice lunch with a friend from college
2. Beautiful weather – the temp was in the 80s today!
3. Damien’s new passport arrived, much earlier than expected
4. Good time at Shannon’s house with the kids. Everybody behaved!
5. Damien figured out how to swing on his own.