On My Kindle

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver - So this is basically a reworking of Groundhog Day. A mean girl dies and then has to relive her last day alive over and over again. It's tough to write an interesting novel with a despicable main character, but that's what's done here. Samantha is pretty awful and her transformation is relatively unbelievable, but it's the secondary cast of characters who make this novel - her friends, her family, and that mysterious girl who plays a pivotal role at the end.

Some Girls: My Life in a Harem by Jillian Lauren - I wrote about this book already, so I won't bore you by repeating myself, but this book pissed me off. I want motivation and instead I get a giant void where explanations and desires should be.

The Eight by Katherine Neville - Actually, I got this from the library. It's not available on the Kindle. I read about half of this 624 page book before I just gave up and returned it. It was plodding, dreary, and I'm pretty sure some of the plot points would have come together if I had endeavored to finish it, but I didn't. If you love this book, good on you. I'm going to stick with Dan Brown for my badly written plot driven books.

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta - This book gets four and a half stars on amazon, which is the virtual equivalent of a standing ovation. However, I'm going to go ahead and admit (much to Elizabeth's chagrin) that I would be the person who clapped once for this book and then stared at my hands and picked the lint off my pants while everyone else finished clapping. Character development: nil. Suspense: nil. Number of times I had to flip to a map to see what the hell was going on: approximate six million. I can't recommend this book. This was the third time I've tried to read this book and the first time I've made it through. I now know why I've given up on it in the past.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Haunting, beautiful, and brilliant. I loved this. Please read this book and tell me you love it too.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan - I was so excited to see that part of this book was told from the perspective of a female character. I was getting a little tired of Percy Jackson and this book is an awesome way to bridge the Percy Jackson series to a new crew. Love!

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - I remember reading this book when I was young and loving it. But now as I read it I am horrified that my parents let me read such pretentious, sanctimonious bullshit! I'm pretty sure I can't read any more Alcott.

Soul Identity by Dennis Batchelder - This was a free download and it was a fun and funny concept. I enjoyed this bit of fluff.

Easily Amused by Karen McQuestion - McQuestion is one of amazon's writers and I like her a lot. This book was fine. She has traditionally written young adult books and this was a foray into romance/chick lit. Eh. Maybe she should stick to young adult work? I mean, this is perfectly acceptable, but there's no fire here in this novel.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - Really, this is what The Hunger Games led to? I was disappointed, but I take it that I may be in the minority here. However, I was disappointed by the last book in the Harry Potter series at first, but upon rereading (and rereading and rereading) I have grown to believe it may be my favorite HP book, so maybe I'll have to give this book another shot down the road.

Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen - I loved this book. Seriously loved it. That is all.

What have you been reading recently? What should I put on my Kindle for my travels in the next couple of weeks?

$18

He was an old man. His white beard fell just below his chin, the lines around his eyes were deep, and as he paced back and forth on the curb, his limp was pronounced. Everyone else kept their eyes averted, looking anywhere but at him. He stopped walking and I read the sign he was holding: Please Share.

I liked it. It wasn't a lie; there was no request for funds to travel to see a dying relative, no plea for money for food or to buy clothes for a "new job", and no excuse for the panhandling, but a simple appeal. It's that time of year, right? Peace, love, and understanding.

I looked around. My brand new car, still less than 100 miles on it, my nice warm winter jacket, coming from a part-time job that pays me far more than I'm worth, and I was suddenly worried, ashamed, and disgusted. What kind of world allows the distribution of wealth to be so varied that I can sit there without a care in the world, while this man begs for coins in below freezing weather? Even if that man is not homeless, even if he has chosen to make it his full-time job, as many of our city's panhandler's do, even then, what kind of world is it that forces him to choose that as his job?

In my wallet, I had $18 - a $10 bill, a $5 bill, and 3 $1 bills. I had earmarked the $10 for a treat for myself on my next (hopefully last) trip to the Mall of America (a crepe and an Icee, if you must know specifics). The 3 $1 bills were for this type of situation exactly - people asking for money for the bus, Salvation Army bell ringers, and street people asking for money. The $5 is there because I like to have $5 in my pocket.

I took out my wallet and stared at the contents. I rolled down my window. The old man hobbled over to me. His eyes were cross-eyed and he smelled like liquor. I slowly closed my eyes and counted to three. I held out the $10 bill to him. Have a nice holiday, I said to him as I closed the window, the light changed to green, and I drove away.

I don't know what he'll do with that money and I guess I don't care. It didn't help to alleviate my guilt or shame. It didn't help to put me in the holiday spirit. I just hope it helped that guy make it through one more night.

NGS's Christmas Card Rules

1) I despise photo cards with lame generic "Happy Holidays from the Smiths" on them. Handwriting is essential to cards. I'll even take it as handwriting if you merely sign your name to the photo card, although of course I strongly prefer some snarky comment or inside joke written specifically for me. You can have typed address labels, but the only demand is some sort of handwriting.

2) Including only photos of your children. For the most part, I don't know/like/care about your children. Don't take it personally, but I'm interested in only the adults for about 75% of the holiday cards I receive. If it's a picture of your newborn infant I've never met, it's going straight into the recycling. If it's a picture of your family as a whole, I'll coo over how wonderful it is to see a happy family and it's definitely going to go on the fridge. From there, it will go to the photo album.

3) If you put confetti or glitter inside the envelope, I will be most unhappy with you. One of my aunts does this and I open her card over the trash can, read the generic lame greeting, and then toss it into the garbage.

4) While I don't mind a seasonal picture, I prefer a photo I can keep on the fridge year round. I have trouble justifying a picture of the kids on Santa's lap on my fridge after January 15. If, however, you send me a snapshot from your vacation to Idaho, I can keep that up on my fridge until you send me a more updated picture (probably next Christmas).

5) If you handwrite a newsletter, awesome (see #1 above). If you send out a typed newsletter, it better be awesomely sarcastic or some really big events better have happened to you to warrant it. Any bragging about promotions, how smart your kid is, or how your fiancee vomited blood in a major way, is totally not going to be okay with me.

6) Know your audience. My aunt, the same one with the confetti, sends us holiday cards every year with some variation of Jesus our savior is born on the front. Whatever. Save me from your uber religion and give me a reindeer. She also addresses the cards to Mr. and Mrs. BB and NGS BB's Last Name. First up. My husband is a doctor. Second up. I did not take his last name. I seethe every year. (The address and the confetti do me in every year.) I usually get a variety pack of cards at the end of Christmas sales every year with Hanukkah, Christmas, Season's Greetings cards and just send to the appropriate people. If I don't know which one to send them, I figure I probably shouldn't be sending!

7) If someone never reciprocates cards, I assume no interest and stop sending them cards. It make actually take two or three years before I kick you off my list, but I will get there eventually. I have an exception or two for a few friends who I know are adamantly opposed to sending cards (although the enjoy receiving them) and I don't have a database or anything (although that sounds like an excellent idea), but I do try and keep track of non-reciprocating folks.

8) So this list sounds harsh. I love receiving and getting cards. Even if you break some of these rules, you should still send them. It's always nice to be thought of, even if it is by some crabby aunt who tries to fill my apartment with glittery confetti and gets my name wrong.

Soul Sold, Winter Fun, and General Awesomeness

This is our new Hyundai Elantra. Try not to be jealous of us attempting to dig her out of the snow tomorrow morning. It's going to be...something.


In case you haven't seen enough pictures of the Blizzard of 2010, here's ours. I love the snow blowing at the camera. You should have heard the boy screaming about Getting. The. Camera. Inside. Now. Stop. Taking. Pictures. Now. Dumbass. It was like listening to someone read a telegraph.

Our Little Slice of Christmas

The ribbon we use on our tree is the same ribbon we used on our wedding invitations. When I put it on the tree, it makes feel incredibly grateful to be married to a man who thinks this little ritual is just as important as I do. It's only a little tree because we aren't really in our apartment for Christmas proper. But for the next two and a half weeks, this is going to remind me to be happy for the holidays, happy for the time we have together, and happy that the snow chose Friday afternoon to come down in eight glorious inches so I could have all weekend to enjoy it.

It's just that he's lost so much weight that I look like a human elephant here. But regardless, we were so pleased with our tree that we couldn't resist cheesy Vanna White poses with it.



It's not much, but it's all ours.

My Soul is Worth $4000, Visibility, and Cup Holders in the Back

The car shopping (I should call it car looking) is, well, it is what it is. We walk into dealerships, the car salesmen joke about how slimy they should be, both reinforcing the stereotype and making me feel dirty, we drive the smallest cars on the lot, we joke about how every car is totally better than the vehicle we are currently driving, and then we get in that same vehicle and drive home. At home we look up specs and APR rates and stare at each other.

So we want a relatively high MPG, high reliability, safety especially in wintery conditions, cruise control, and, you know, warm feet. We don't need or especially want power windows, power locks, a sunroof, a car that talks to us, leather seats, seat warmers, or anything else that costs $500 to repair when it inevitably breaks down.

We looked at the Hyundai Elantra (a decent car at an exceptionally decent price made in Korea). We looked at the Honda Fit and the Honda Civic (the Fit was fun, but loud and the visibility in both cars was next to zero). We looked at the Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta (the Focus has a great rebate right now, the Fiesta not so much, both are made in Mexico).

So our finalists appear to be a 2010 Elantra or a 2011 Focus. Either way, the part of me that was raised in Michigan and knows about the impact of the auto industry on day to day life in that part of the country is dying. The Honda cars are made in the United States, but they are kind of crappy and cost about $4000-5000 more. That's a difference that makes a difference to people like us.

I guess I know how much I can be bought for now.