Books I've Read This Week (June 30)

When I left you last week I had just started "P" is for Peril in my quest to read all Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries in order. I succeeded. I finished "S" is for Silence by Tuesday evening and now have to wait along with the rest of her legions of fans until "T" comes out next year. It will be a long wait.

These books are so unique. I don't know of any other mystery series that takes place in the '80s. I like how Kinsey is stuck in the pre-cell phone and internet era. Her life and work would be so different if she didn't meet people face-to-face. She certainly wouldn't get into as much trouble!

Things Kinsey and I have in common: single, live alone, like living alone, live in California, no pets, no plants, eat the same things all the time, don't wear make-up, don't wear dresses (she has to sometimes but doesn't like it), don't like having people tell us what to do.

I wasn't sure how to move on from a singular diet of books of such quality but Joanna had recommended the Miss Julia books by Ann B. Ross so I tried the first two in that series: Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind and Miss Julia Takes Over. I think I should've read something else. These books generally annoyed me. I gave it two books worth of a chance though since they were so highly reviewed. I didn't mind the stories so much or the characters, it was the writing of the dialect. They take place in the South so the author decided she had to write the dialog with the usual interruptive apostrophes and misspellings. I'd rather not have to muck my way through it.

On to another new cozy mystery I had picked up, Moving is Murder by Sara Rosett. I'm about half way through this "Mom Zone" mystery. The main character is a new mom who just moved with her Air Force husband to Eastern Washington and is immediately immersed in a murder investigation. She has highly evolved organizational skills picked up from her numerous moves as she and her husband have been transferred from base to base. There are moving and packing tips at the end of each chapter. So far it seems rather boring and unbelievable. I mean, who wants to read about babies crying all day and who would believe the murder victim was killed by wasps in a paper cup? I'll finish it to find out whodunit but I don't believe I'll be reading another selection from the Mom Zone.

Unread books on my shelf at home:
Sleep, Pale Sister, Joanne Harris
The Fan, Peter Abrahams
The Memory of Whiteness, Kim Stanley Robinson
Site Unseen, Dana Cameron
One Grave Too Many, Beverly Connor
His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik
Even Vampires Get the Blues, Katie MacAlister
Predator, Patricia Cornwell
Gone, Jonathan Kellerman

Books on hold at the library:
Virgin Earth, Philippa Gregory (due 7/18)
Micah, Laurell K. Hamilton (in transit!)
Darcy & Elizabeth, Linda Berdoll (2 of 7 holds)
Danse Macabre, Laurell K. Hamilton (5 of 19 holds)
The Art of Detection, Laurie R. King (10 of 17 holds)
Dark Tort, Diane Mott Davidson (33 of 33 holds)
Miss Zukas and the Library Murders, Jo Dereske (1 of 1 holds)
Miss Zukas and the Island Murders, Jo Dereske (ready for pickup)
Don of the Dead, Casey Daniels (ready for pickup)
If You Could See Me Now, Cecelia Ahern (ready for pickup)

Well, it's been a rather unsatisfactory second half of the week. I'm hoping my choices will get better. We'll see next time on Books I've Read This Week.

To the Max

I've sporadically followed the career of Belorussian tennis beast Max Mirnyi with some interest in the past few years. He's not the best or most popular player so it's not often I get a chance to see him play. He's had most of his success in doubles play (six total Slam titles) which rarely sees the airwaves in the U.S. I like his serve-and-volley style of play which brings him to the net a lot. His long arms, yoga discipline, and doubles training gives him a definite advantage in close.

Today he was set to meet the No. 8 seed American James Blake in the first match of the day on Centre Court at Wimbledon. I set my DVR for 5am knowing that ESPN couldn't help but televise that match-up. I was right and got to watch the first two sets before heading to work this morning. Max took the first set and Blake came back in the second. I had to avoid any sports websites and radio all day so I wouldn't accidentally discover the result.

As soon as I got home tonight I picked up the match in the third set. Blake won 6–4 but after that Max could do nothing wrong and Blake nothing right. I couldn't believe it but Max and his big serve won the 4th set 6–1 and then swept the 5th set 6–0. He's set to meet his current doubles partner Jonas Bjorkman in the fourth round. I'll be praying to the ESPN gods that they'll cover that one. Please, please, please.

Discovering the Tour

I thought I should read up on the Tour de France and recent cycling news tonight on the eve of the Prologue tomorrow in Strasbourg. I had to skim the "Operation Puerto" doping scandal articles. It's just too depressing that Jan, Basso and Vinokourov are out this year. We knew it wouldn't be Lance this year but surely it would've been one of them.

Anyway, I checked out my usual cycling websites for RSS feeds to add to my Safari lists and found that the Discovery team has been publishing video podcasts (they call them webisodes) for the last month and a half. So I downloaded them all into my iTunes. They sure are fun. All the behind the scenes stuff with the riders is really great. I wish they had closed captioning though. Some of their accents are kinda hard to understand. If you're a Discovery team fan, you should definitely check out these Race2Replace shows.

The Discovery guys have a good shot at some glory in the Tour now with the favorites and loads of others out of the race. I can't wait to get up early tomorrow to see what happens.

A Swap of Brothers

Well, the Angels did it. Jeff was sent down (or rather, designated for assignment) and Jered was brought up. I wonder how Jered will do in the big show now that he's been exchanged for his brother. You have to think that it will affect him.

It will be interesting to see where Jeff will end up. LA has 10 days to either trade him or they have to release him. He's getting paid too much for most teams to have much interest. Especially with his performace this year. The Angels will end up having to pay most of his salary anyway.

I guess I'll be watching Jered pitch Monday against the Mariners instead of Jeff. Makes me very, very sad. I'm glad I have the Tour, the World Cup and Wimbledon to distract me.

My New Tooth

The clock on my computer at work read 12:52pm when I was scanning my electronic calendar and saw my dentist appointment was to be at 1pm. Oops! I called the office but the phone kept ringing and ringing. Just my luck the receptionist was out at lunch. Eventually the machine picked up and I told it I'd be there a little late.

I climbed up the hill to Post St. and was there by 1:10 according to the computer on the front desk. They weren't ready for me anyway. Eventually someone came to get me and I settled in the mechanical chair awaiting the replacement of my temporary tooth. I was glad to get rid of it—the bump on the back was starting to annoy me.

Almost two hours later and I was back at work with my new tooth. It took them forever to grind off enough to get my bite right. Then the dentist decided to take a bit off a lower tooth since the new upper tooth was longer than the old one had been and he didn't want them hitting each other too much. Luckily, he could do it without shooting me up with anesthetic. Don't you hate getting over the numb?

It's amazing how close to real the crown looks. It matches my other yellow teeth perfectly. Can you tell which tooth is porcelain?



I like the new tooth. It's nice and smooth and fits just right. But it still has a big bump on the back. My tongue will just have to get used to it.

Word Games

I was next-blogging tonight and happened upon someone who had a fun word game, Match Up, in their sidebar. I've always liked vocabulary tests so I played a little while then thought why not share it with you all. So I added both Match Up and Hangman to my blog too so we can all work on our word skills. Scroll down and take a look. Can you get five out of five correct? Don't you love playing the Wheel at home without that annoying Pat Sajak?

Thanks to The Free Dictionary for helping us keep our brains working. Go visit them and see what other interesting tidbits they offer.

Weaver Woes & Wins

My favorite pitcher isn't very good. He's got okay stuff and can get guys out, but he's not been very successful this year. He's fun to watch though. I try to catch every game. I love seeing his fastball move all over the place. And I can't get enough of him dropping down, submarine-style, to throw a breaking ball at 80 mph while the batter stands there looking. He gets all fired up when he's not doing well too. I like seeing him get passionate about the game. I think that's better than looking like you don't care.

Tonight he started against the Colorado Rockies and was taken out in the 3rd inning after giving up 6 runs on 9 hits, including a home run. Ouch. The Angels defense was not much help either. So Jeff has double-digit losses against only three wins. I bet the booing Angels fans are wishing he'd swap places with his brother, Jered, in Salt Lake. When Jered was up a few weeks ago he won his first four starts in the bigs. In his most recent start for the Bees this week, he shut out the A's Triple-A squad, striking out a club-record 14 batters and giving up only two hits after starting with five no-hit innings. He's a stud.

Tour de France Prep

The Tour starts on Saturday so it's time for me to start my own Tour preparation: getting up earlier. No more lounging around in bed until 8:00. OLN will be starting their coverage at 5:30 every morning which leaves me no time for sloth. I figure if I start tomorrow morning getting up a half hour earlier each day this week, I'll be ready for my 5:30 wake up call on Saturday. On the other hand, I could sleep in until 6:00 and fast-forward through the commercials. That may be a better plan. See? I'm slacking already.

What's Better?

1. Fresh ripe strawberries
2. Extra innings
3. Aroma of chicken simmering in marinara sauce
   
4. Becks' bending goal vs. Ecuador
   
5. Kinsey's latest intuitive leap
   

What's More Annoying?

1. Loud pounding bass line from next door
2. Moldy nectarine pit
   
3. Marcelo Balboa ranting about Becks
   
4. Endless repetitive tune from ice cream truck
5. Lingering taste of dental adhesive from temporary crown
   

Books I've Read This Week (June 23)

Is it Friday already? After being out of commission part of the week, it doesn't feel like it's time to again take stock of the Books I've Read This Week. Let's see if I did any better than last week.

I have to admit to returning three books to the library unread this week: A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester, The Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd, and James Patterson's The 5th Horseman (which I was complaining about earlier). I just ran out of steam with Simon's books, I guess, and I never felt like getting into a Rutherford book. I'm more into mysteries than historical fiction right now, but I'll read those two later, never you fear. So on to the books I did read. And it's not all Kinsey Millhone adventures, though there are plenty of those too.

I started out the week with the most recent Temperance Brennan mystery, Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs. Jumping on Dan Brown's coattails, Cross Bones blends the usual forensic anthropology and murder mystery with conspiracy theories and alternate histories of Jesus and his family. Tempe and Ryan head to Israel on the trail of bones and, yes, more bones. There was some interesting DNA science involved in trying to match sets of bones with each other according to mitochondrial DNA which is passed down through the mother. But I didn't enjoy this particular book as much as some of her others. Perhaps it was a little too much out of Tempe's usual environment.

Next were a set of two books by a new author for me, Peter Abrahams. I found the second, Behind the Curtain, on the new book shelf a while back and when I checked the stacks to see if my library had the first, Down the Rabbit Hole, I saw several other titles by him. So I was really hoping to like his writing because there's nothing better than discovering a new author who's written a lot.

Down the Rabbit Hole introduces us to 13-year-old Ingrid Levin-Hill, her football-playing older brother and their hometown of Echo Falls, somewhere in New England. Ingrid hates her name and secretly calls herself Griddie (which I personally think is even worse). She plays soccer, acts with the local drama group and, like any good sleuth, sticks her nose in where it doesn't belong. Following the teachings of her hero, Sherlock Holmes, she gets her culprit in the end and on the way interacts with some great interesting characters like her ornery grandpa, her new dog, and the sympathetic chief of police. I was excited to read more about Ingrid and her companions in the second book that was equally entertaining. These two books are good examples of why you shouldn't shun books just because they're classified as Young Adult.

By the time I was done with Ingrid, "K" is for Killer had arrived at the library so I could read Kinsey stories the rest of the week. I'm just now starting "P" is for Peril and only have three more after that, so I'm starting to mourn already. Last night while I was reading "N" is for Noose, I accompanied Kinsey on her travels around the state of California with my newly downloaded Google Earth. She lives in fictitious Santa Teresa which is based on the real-life Santa Barbara and Sue Grafton includes real towns and highways in her descriptions. I loved that you could see Santa Barbara fogged in!

Unread books on my shelf at home:
Sleep, Pale Sister, Joanne Harris
The Fan, Peter Abrahams
"Q" is for Quarry through "S" is for Silence, Sue Grafton
The Memory of Whiteness, Kim Stanley Robinson
Moving is Murder, Sara Rosett
Site Unseen, Dana Cameron
One Grave Too Many, Beverly Connor
His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind, Ann B. Ross

Books on hold at the library:
Virgin Earth, Philippa Gregory (in transit, I'm giving up. Eliz, can I borrow yours?)
Micah, Laurell K. Hamilton (9 of 24 holds)
Darcy & Elizabeth: Days & Nights at Pemberly, Linda Berdoll (2 of 7 holds)
Danse Macabre, Laurell K. Hamilton (5 of 16 holds)
Miss Julia Takes Over, Ann B. Ross (ready for pickup)
The Art of Detection, Laurie R. King (17 of 20 holds)
Dark Tort, Diane Mott Davidson (38 of 38 holds)
Miss Zukas and the Library Murders, Jo Dereske (1 of 1 holds)
Miss Zukas and the Island Murders, Jo Dereske (in transit)
Don of the Dead, Casey Daniels (in transit)

So, I think I accomplished quite a bit even with losing a couple days of being too sick to even read. I'm going to miss Kinsey when I'm done with "S" is for Silence but I'm looking forward to exploring the collection of new mystery authors awaiting me on my shelf. Maybe I'll even find one who will become a new favorite. I might tell you next week on BIRTW. Happy Reading!

I Should Be There

I should be San Francisco today. Yes, it turns out that I'm probably feeling well enough I could've been in the office today but that's not what I'm talking about.

My favorite pitcher, Jeff Weaver, is starting this afternoon against the Giants at AT&T Park. So I should be there. But I'm not. I didn't even plan to go before I got sick. I should have gotten a ticket immediately when I found out he was starting in this series. I don't often have the chance to see him pitch in person.

But it's a good thing I didn't. Besides the whole sick thing, it's way too hot to be sitting out in the sun today. And, for some odd reason, FSN decided to televise a weekday day game. So I can be at home in front of a fan, do some projects for work, and watch Weaves lose to the Giants.

Stomach Update

I didn't want to leave you on pins and needles worrying about my health so here's a bit of an update.

The tea came back up so I went back to bed. I slept for a couple hours but when I got up my system was still trying to clear itself out (read: dry heaves). I watched a little England/Sweden then tried to eat half a breakfast bar and some water. I was able to keep a little bit down though not without fighting for it.

I couldn't keep my eyes open at the half so I went back to bed. I slept another couple hours and am now still feeling quite tentative. I may just stick with water for the rest of the day.

p.s. Who is Owen Hargreaves and where has he been all my life?

Home Sick

WARNING: not for the faint of stomach

I'm home sick today. I was feeling okay when I went to bed last night but I woke up at 4am and heard a car horn bleeping (I hope it wasn't mine). I tried to get back to sleep but decided to go to the bathroom first just so I wouldn't wake up an hour later having to pee. I'm glad I did cuz once I got to the toilet I started feeling umm...unsettled. And I gave back my part of my supper. It wasn't pleasant and I can hardly believe you're still reading this.

I went back to bed and woke up again around 8, made another visit to the bathroom and gave back the rest of my supper. I was not feeling well at this point. I decided to try some tea and see if that would settle things down. It's not working very well. Every half hour or so I feel like I need to throw up again but there's nothing left to come up. And the last time things got pretty liquidy from the other end.

Soooo...I'll be staying home from work today and staying close to the bathroom.

A Plastic Tooth

My old tooth is gone. My new tooth is ordered. My current tooth is plastic. Yes, plastic. I'll only have it for two weeks so I hope it stands up. It feels really weird.

But then everything feels odd right now. My anesthetic has not yet worn off. And I'm hungry but I'm worried about eating with my lip still numb. There's no one else around to see me eat, but I'd rather not be messy if I can hold out another hour. Until then I can't be assured of full feeling in my mouth area.

A's Win! A's Win!

For those of you too sleepy to stay up for the end of the five-hour A's game: Good news! The A's got themselves out of some sticky situations in extra innings and finally beat L.A. 5–4 in the 17th on a bases-loaded walk to Bobby Crosby scoring Marco Scutaro from 3rd. Good eye, Bobby!

What I liked most about this game was the dugout. Those guys were into the game. The starter, Kirk Saarloos, was out there supporting the team in his post-game sweatshirt. The A's closer, Huston Street—who had given up the Dodgers' tying fourth run in the 9th inning—was still there cheering and rolling a rally ball in his hand. They didn't seem to care we were only one inning short of a doubleheader. They were just having fun.

Of course, it helps that tonight's game became the A's ninth win in a row. And their June record is now 13-2. Can you say "hot"? (and I'm not talking about Ellis either) Go, A's!!

A Book I Might Not Read

Today I started The 5th Horseman by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. I commented on the first four books previously and was surprised then at mistakes in the description of their San Francisco setting. As I began this fifth book I soon discovered a similar problem. On page 10, I read this sentence:

I met Yuki and her mother, Keiko, in front of Saks in the upscale Union Square shopping district out by the Golden Gate Panhandle."

Now I've worked in San Francisco for over 10 years but I've never lived there. I also don't do a lot of exploring in the City. So if you live there and can tell me this location description is true, I'd appreciate it (and be very, very suprised). Because unless there's another Panhandle I don't know about, it's not anywhere near Union Square.

Then the authors continue with "the three of us headed up Maiden Lane toward Grant Avenue." Come on. I went on Google Maps and figured out that Maiden and Grant are almost three miles from the Panhandle. Who are your researchers? Do you think your readers don't mind that you are so careless with the facts? Surely you have someone reading your proofs who is checking these things! I've about had enough of your shoddy writing and editing. I'm so not going to read this book.

Books I've Read This Week (June 16)

I waited to write this week's BIRTW until I finished Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris tonight. It would've been embarrassing to report that the only books I read the entire week were Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone mysteries. Last week I read "A" and "B" and, that's right, this week I read "C" all the way through "J". (Don't bother using your fingers to count. That's eight books.)

I could've read more but "K" was not on the shelf when I made my auxiliary library trip on Tuesday. So "L" through "R" are sitting on my shelf here at home hoping to get read sometime real soon. As are plenty of other books that really deserve my attention. I'm sure I'll get to them eventually but there's something about reading a series in order one right after the other. Of course, you do uncover some inconsistencies that way, but nothing major. I think I'm getting to the place when I left off reading them before because I don't remember Kinsey meeting her mother's relatives.

I've been trying to pick a favorite Kinsey book so far but they're all running together for me right now. One thing I like in general is the variety of locales in the series. Sometimes the investigation is centered mainly around Santa Teresa and other times Kinsey gets to travel further afield. I won't go on and on about these books as I'm sure I'll be talking about them again next week.

On to the only other book I read (today), Definitely Dead. The latest adventure of Sookie Stackhouse, telepath and barmaid, takes us to Shreveport for a fancy date with a new beau and to New Orleans for not-so-fun run-ins with the vampire Queen. My favorite, Erik the Northman, has only a small role in this book, sad to say. Bill shows up too (and not in a very favorable light either). Near the end, Sookie makes a new friend who promises to be a fun addition to the usual cast of characters in following books. This series and Charlaine Harris' Shakespeare series are inevitably good reads.

I told you last week I was reading A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester. Well, let's just say that one's been put on my own hold shelf of sorts. I'll get back to it soon, I promise.

Unread books on my shelf at home:
The Rebels of Ireland, Edward Rutherfurd
The 5th Horseman, James Patterson
Sleep, Pale Sister, Joanne Harris
Cross Bones, Kathy Reichs
Behind the Curtain, Peter Abrahams
The Fan, Peter Abrahams
"L" is for Lawless through "R" is for Ricochet, Sue Grafton
The Memory of Whiteness, Kim Stanley Robinson
Nail Biter, Sarah Graves
Moving is Murder, Sara Rosett

Books on hold at the library:
Virgin Earth, Philippa Gregory (still in transit. sure. fine. whatever.)
Micah, Laurell K. Hamilton (9 of 23 holds)
Darcy & Elizabeth: Days & Nights at Pemberly, Linda Berdoll (2 of 6 holds)
Danse Macabre, Laurell K. Hamilton (5 of 14 holds)
"K" is for Killer, Sue Grafton (in transit)
"S" is for Silence, Sue Grafton (check shelf)
Site Unseen, Dana Cameron (ready for pickup)
One Grave Too Many, Beverly Connor (ready for pickup)
His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik (ready for pickup)

I almost added Janet Evanovich's Twelve Sharp to my hold list today. But when I saw it had over 113 holds on it already I decided to not clog up my list anymore than it already is. Even with thirty books in the system, it could take three months to get a copy. I guess I have a couple books on my hold list right now that have been there that long. I'm just not sure I need to add another. Maybe I'll change my mind. You'll have to see next time on Books I've Read This Week.

Words I Had to Look Up

Here is a list of words I looked up while reading recently:

saphenous: relating to or denoting either of the two large superficial veins in the leg

flinders: small fragments or splinters

anomie: lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group

arnica: a plant of the daisy family that bears yellow daisylike flowers (a preparation of this plant used medicinally, esp. for the treatment of bruises)

effusion: an instance of giving off something such as a liquid, light, or smell (medicine: an escape of fluid into a body cavity)

pronate: put or hold (a hand, foot, or limb) with the palm or sole turned downward

tautology: the saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style (logic: a statement that is true by necessity or by virtue of its logical form)

How many did you know?

Definitions are from my Oxford American Dictionary Widget (gotta love that Tiger).

Broken Tooth

Yesterday I had an apple for lunch. It was crunchy and delicious. But afterwards I kept feeling like I had some peel stuck between my top right front tooth and the incisor beside it (7 and 8 in the chart). I absentmindedly picked at it the rest of the day until I just couldn't stand it anymore. So last night out came the floss and I went to work.

I thought the peel would slide right out but there seemed to be something in the way so I tried again; the floss strands separated and I felt something loosen. Uh-oh. Quickly I grabbed my mirror and sure enough the corner of my tooth was coming off. There was no apple peel after all. The tooth had cracked and my flossing had only made it worse.

My usual dentist recently left my health plan and I haven't tried finding a new one. Today I had to. I did a search for those near my office and called one whose office is in the same building as my old dentist. I didn't want to have to go wandering around. They had an opening at 3:45; I would have to try to keep that corner attached at least until then.

I carefully ate breakfast and then lunch and the corner was still hanging on. I walked up to the dentist's office, filled out the paperwork, sat patiently through the X-ray and then the dentist came to chat. He told me the various options, completely leaving it up to me to decide. How was I supposed to know what was best? composite resin? porcelain veneer? crown? He gave me some papers to read about the options and left.

When they asked me to sign saying I understood the options and fee schedules I said I had some questions. The receptionist (dental translation technician?) came in and was talking about how veneers are rather fragile and can break and you need to cut up your food and never bite into apples ever again. I was shocked. I needed something more durable than that, I thought.

So I signed up for a crown and will be getting one on Monday. I have to wait with the corner of my tooth hanging off in the meantime mourning the loss of my natural tooth. Even with a crown, they tell me, I may not be biting into many crunchy apples in the future.