Catching up from a bit of a break

So, I really haven't posted in awhile, again. I have done some reading, though.

First, the last time I completed a big catch up list, like this one, I missed a little book - Junie B., First Grader, One-Man Band. It was a pretty good book; much like the others in the series. Junie B. is ready for the first grade kickball tournament, until an unfortunate practicing accident involving a watering can.

Okay, so I did read The Valentine Box before finishing Muse and Reverie. It was a pretty good story, but even shorter than I expected. Grabbing it out of the "checked in -ok" bin, I thought it was a children's chapter book, but it was a bit more of a long-ish basic kid's book. I still enjoyed it, though.

Then, I decided to read Not Quite What I Was Planning, Revised and Expanded Deluxe Edition: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. I had mostly just been filling a bit of time while Mom was checking email - I couldn't go to bed till she was done, and this was going to be a bit easier to leave off in the middle. However, it was also a quick read, so I finished it that night as well.

Then, at work the following day, I found Junie B., First Grader Boo...and I Mean It. Hoping I could finish it before we left for St. Cloud, I tried started it, but it wasn't quite that fast of a read - although we were leaving pretty quickly, and I also needed to finish packing a few things.

So, on Saturday afternoon, while helping my Aunt Jan with a session of "Peaceable Kingdom," I finished both the Junie B. book and Muse and Reverie. I enjoyed both books, but I have to say I preferred the CdL book. The characters and the whole setting in general is great, and then when such a good author writes about them it just gets better.

Having finished all of those, I started the book for the St. Francis Book Club, as it looked like a book that, though short, would take some time to read because of the amount of reflection it was going to require. However, it was actually a pretty quick read - but a very good one. I suspect that it will be easier said than done to act on the suggestions/advice in the book. The book is Henry J. M. Nouwen's Can You Drink the Cup?.

After finishing that I started one of two little books I'd grabbed from the library, Expecting the Doctor's Baby by Theresa Southwick. It was a pretty good story, about what I expected, but I suppose it can't quite count as great literature perhaps. It was entertaining and a quick and easy read, and as happens with enough books, got me to cry a bit at the sad parts. (the funny thing with it is when I went and looked and another stack of similar books I'd gotten earlier, but hadn't read yet, I found another copy of this book - apparently it was a book I was supposed to read)

Having finished that book, I read the other one of those books I'd recently gotten, I Still Do by Christie Ridgway. Again, it was pretty good, but about what I expected, and also made me cry a bit at times. There were some quite humorous scenes in this one too.

After finishing that book, I switched to a new Dorothy Sayers book the library got Lord Peter: The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories. I'm currently still in the middle of this book - I've spent lots of time watching movies and tv shows that I checked out from the library.

I've also sort of read Dorothy Sayers' book Lord Peter Views the Body - I'd thought it was listed as being the book in which Lord Peter and Miss Vane first meet, but in looking back at the description, I see I missed a title (I was really looking for Strong Poison), but later saw that it was 1/2 to 2/3 of the book I'm already in the middle of. I just returned it without actually reading it - the stories are pretty good so far, but a mystery just wouldn't be as interesting when reread this close to the original reading time - I'd remember too well what happened exactly and wouldn't be even a bit surprised at the ending.

In the midst of reading this, I've also read one other book by Barbara Park, Junie B., First Grader, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells (P.S. So Does May). It went pretty much the way I expected it would. I'm intrigued now, though, to see if Junie B. and May will get along better. I suppose I have to wait until the next book (whatever one it is).