MysticKnyght’s Neighborhood

It has been entirely too long since I updated. There are so many reasons: I've been sick, I've been busy learning to knit and reading and I've been swamped at work.

However, I do have some book reviews to share.

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

I absolutely loved this book. If anything, I loved it more than Outlander. Jamie and Claire are the best couple I've read about in ages. I love Claire's fiery spirit and learning more about their lives together. I even cried a little toward the end! Of course, now I'm dying to dive into the third book.

Cross-X by Joe Miller

This is an engaging, though provoking story about high school debate and race. It's a great read.

Something Blue by Emily Giffin

This book is the sequel to Something Borrowed, but is told from the perspective of the best friend in that story. Though it was a tad predictable, I just loved it. It's a very sweet, happy story.

Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitting Handbook by Debbie Stoller

This is my first knitting book and the perfect reference for getting started. It has had answers to every single one of my questions and better explanations of techniques than any other resource I've checked. It's full of cool, hip projects, too.

Yellowcake by Ann Cummins

It was okay. There wasn't much plot to it, though the characters were well developed and interesting. If you think it sounds good, give it a shot. Otherwise, I'd recommend you skip it.

The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell

She is one of my favorite writers, and this is a perfect example of why I love her. She's witty, intelligent and kooky. These essay are a joy to read. I highly recommend this and any of her other books.

I've read 18 toward my 50 book goal for the year.

Some people think American Idol is too mean. They don't like the way Simon treats the contestants, and they criticize the producers for choosing to air the auditions of so many angry and inherently untalented people. I just cannot agree, as this meanness is precisely the reason I watch.

I think Simon is great. I cackle maniacally and pump my fists in glee when he asks the sad sack standing hopefully before the panel, "Whaaaat was that?" with his snooty British accent. "Thaaat was terrible," he'll snidely, affectedly sputter.

Yet, for whatever reason, the Simon haters prefer to coddle poor performers and spare their feelings. They hate his honest approach because it often makes people feel bad. Sniff. I think he's doing these delusional freaks and pathetic no-talents a favor.

The freaks themselves and their families love to hate Simon for this. Usually they manage to make themselves look even sillier than their singing did by ranting nonsense. During the San Antonio auditions earlier this season, the angry mother of a rejected contestant asked why Simon didn't just go back to France or wherever he is from. Ryan Seacrest helpfully pointed out that Simon is actually British, not French, which prompted the mother to suggest he "go back to British."

Honestly. If this woman doesn't have enough sense to know the correct form of the word would have been Britain or even England, it is no great suprise that she's not a good judge of her daughter's singing talents, either.

Here's my bottom line: If you put yourself and your singing out there for public scrutiny, you don't have the right to get your panties in a wad when you don't like the response. Simon is performing a public service by telling people the truth about their lack of talent. If no one else has leveled with them yet, it is high time someone does, and Simon is the man for the job.

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

This was a cute, fluffy read. I am impressed by these authors' ability to make the horrible, selfish mother quite sympathetic in many ways. I liked the main character and believed her conflict between telling the selfish parents to kiss her ass and staying because the child needed her. I read their other book, Citizen Girl, which I found disappointing. This one was a much better story.

The Nanny Diaries: A Novel

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Since it has taken me forever to get around to reading this, I'm sure there are much better reviews out there than I will provide, but I always like to share my thoughts. Aside from a couple of overly lengthy passages related to hunting wild boar and mushrooms, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The subject matter is incredibly fascinating and written in a very engaging, personal way. I highly recommend it. It will make you think, no doubt.

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

WTF is up with Melinda's song choice? Every week it seems to get worse. Ick. This is supposed to be a pop competition, not the entertainment at an AARP meeting.

I was disappointed in LaKisha's song choice tonight. First off, I was really hoping she'd listen to Lulu, because I think she'd have been dynamite singing that other song. Second, my brain was super bummed when the entry of the song didn't lead into Kanye West's, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone." I was ready to jam! Anyhoo, that song was boring and kinda creepy, IMHO. She's super talented, but I've enjoyed her more in past performances.

Jordin is so talented. What Simon said about wanting to jump off a bridge actually made sense to me in a weird "Simon" kind of way. She was that convincing in her performance. She did awesome.

I really enjoyed Blake's performance tonight. I loved what he did with his beat boxing and the acoustic guitar. Really smart and cool.

The bad? Gina was so, so, so, so terrible. Oh.my.god. Yeah, she's a rocker blah blah blah, but she was no match for such a great song. It was painful for me, and I'm not just saying that to be mean.

Everyone else was somewhere in the middle for me. (Except for Sanjaya, of course, who seems more like a drag queen every week.)

I finished reading Cloudstreet by Tim Winton last night, which is my tenth book of 2007.

I loved this book. It's the story of two working class families in Perth, Australia, over twenty years time during the 40s/50s/60s. It's really fantastic. The story is rich with details and description, and the characters are extremely well developed and compelling. I was sad to finish it. This is March selection for my book club.

Cloudstreet : A Novel

I recently joined Paperback Swap, and I don't know why I waited so long. This is a great system.

I've sent off at least ten books to people who really want them, freeing myself of clutter, and I've received two books. I have three others on the way. The selection is a bit limited for my tastes, but with a list of more than 200 books to read, it really hasn't been hard to go down my list and find titles someone is offering up.

If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it.

These are some other cool book-related sites:

Bibliophil
Book Crossing

I'm currently reading three books. And enjoying two of them so much that I am struggling to decide which to read at any given moment.

Cloudstreet by Tim Winton - This is my book club's March pick. It's an excellent story so far and drew me in quickly.

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon - The second in the Outlander series. I've been looking forward to finding out what happens to Claire and Jamie ever since I finished Outlander, so I'm loving this.

Cross-X by Joe Miller - This is an excellent nonfiction book with the pace and intensity of a great novel. It was our book club pick last month, and when I didn't finish it for the meeting, I lost momentum and put it down. I need to polish it off already.