Two Books (audio) and a scarf

The weather suddenly feels very autumnish, which makes sense because it is, in fact, autumn.
I've finished a couple of audio books this week. The first one is called Masterpiece by Elise Broach. This is a story of a boy who befriends a beetle that can draw. The beetle draws a picture as a birthday gift for the boy but the boy's family thinks he drew it and that he's suddenly revealed a hidden genius talent. The boy and his beetle get drawn into a plot to foil some art thieves who are planning to steal a famous drawing from the local art museum. One thing that bothered me in this story is that the art thief turns out to be someone that the boy and his father and his father's friend know, and when they find this out, they actually consider not turning the thief in to the police because he is their friend. They actually say he is 'good' friend. This bothers me because a good friend doesn't use his friend's connections to art museum collections in order to steal from said art museum. That's not being a good friend. Otherwise, if you have an appreciation for art, you'll probably find a kinship with this author. She definitely likes to talk about art.

If you like mysteries with a scottish flair, this book is for you. Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer is a terrific noir mystery featuring a hard-boiled 12 year old detective named Fletcher Moon. Eoin Colfer seems to have tapped in to the preteen psyche. As in the Artemis Fowl series, he deftly crafts grand adventures for his heroes while balancing the action with the kind of humor that preteens and the parents of preteens can easily appreciate. The book was expertly read by Sean Patrick Reilly who really brought the noir mood to life. Think of a 12 year old Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade. I highly recommend this one.

Now, I know you want to know what I've been working on while listening to these audio books. Remember the Nerd Wars tournament I participated in over the summer? Well, Tournament 3 has commenced, but this time, I'm on a zombie themed team called Team Braaaaaains. Here is my first project submission, it's called You've Got Red On You.

This particular challenge required us to write a haiku to go with our projects. Here is my haiku:

Shamble, moaning, bite
Swing cricket bat at the head
You’ve got red on you

More than red on you
It seems you have intestines
Wrapped around your neck

Now you must be inspired to write your own zombie haiku so share it in the comments!

Wow, that went quick!

Well, this is it. The last week of Summer. That sure went by quickly. I didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked but I did have some fun. I went to visit my mom and dad in Tehachapi. We caught up over quilting and knitting. My mom has become quite adept at quilting and is working on a beautiful quilt for her first great grandchild that she's expecting to come someday, but not soon. I worked on this Doctor Who illusion panel for Nerd Wars:When you look straight down on it, it just looks like blue and white stripes, like this:Pretty cool, eh?

After that, I paid a visit to my dear friends in Fullerton who had their first baby in June. Remember, I knitted a blanket for the baby back in May? The baby is healthy and happy as are her parents and I had wonderful visit with them.

Next, I flew to Portland to visit two of my highschool girlfriends and together we went to see The Go-Go's perform at the Portland Zoo. It was super fun and just like old times. One of them I see about once a year, the other I haven't seen in about 16 years but when we were all together it was like no time had passed at all. We promised each other that we wouldn't let that much time pass before our next visit.

And now school is about to start and here is what I did accomplish this summer:

As for reading, I've been busy with A Game of Thrones, which is long and not for children. I enjoyed very much so now I'm on to the next volume A Clash of Kings. There are 3 more books in the series so I'll finish these as fast as I can and get back to the kidlit soon! In the meantime, I have lots of terrific books to bring back to school and I have orders waiting for my return. I'll give you a sneak peak next time.

I am looking forward to getting back to school next week, partly because I'm out of money, but mostly because I miss everyone and all the books over the summer. See you all next week!

Go go, Gryffindor!

So Mr. Richards and I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2 last week and it was fantastic! I wore my Gryffindor house scarf:

I was very impressed with the number of people dressed up in line at the theater. Most were dressed as Hogwarts students. Speaking of the line, we happened to line up right behind the library clerk from Forest Hill who was there with her daughters and their friends. At the same time, I was texting my daughter who was in line for a theater in Oregon, where she lives now. She wore the Quidditch sweater I had made for her. It made me happy that she wore it but sad that we weren't together.
Back to the movie. My expectations for this movie were pretty high, as were the world's. I was not disappointed! It was very satisfying. Harry finally steps into his hero role and defeats ulitmate evil. (I don't think this is a spoiler at all because even if you haven't read the books, you know this is coming.) I think it's important, when critiquing the movie, not to compare it to the book. One of the biggest complaints I hear about the movies is how much of the story is left out. But that's why books are always better and you just have to take the movies for what they are. They have limitations in storytelling. Putting words on a page costs nothing. Sets, costumes, actors, special effects, etc., cost millions of dollars. So accepting the fact that some things are left out due to time or budget constraints, I feel like they left all the important stuff in. I thought Harry's final conversation with Dumbledore was handled beautifully. Everyone in the theater cried when the fatalities were revealed. It was so quiet you could hear the sobbing (I'm sure it wasn't just me). Likewise, everyone cheered when Molly confronted Bellatrix and for Neville's big moment. The epilogue was also very nicely done. The aging effects were perfect and it was a lovely, quiet goodbye to these characters we've been following for 10+ years. Really, a very satisfying close to the franchise.

So, I know your next question is, Mrs. Richards, what have you been knitting? Well, it's round two of the Nerd Wars tournament and I've finished one project so far:I submitted these fingerless gloves with a fishtail lace pattern for the Mythology challenge. The are supposed to represent mermaids and they are linked to Harry Potter because mermaids live in the lake on the Hogwarts grounds. I'm also working on a large piece of illusion knitting for the Big Nerd Love challenge. We are supposed to knit something from one of the other nerderies in the tournament. It's hard to explain what the illusion knitting is so I'll show it to you when it's finished. It's pretty cool though.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer and reading lots of books. I've been reading and listening to lots of different things, but I'll tell you about it next time because this post is already too long! Leave me a comment and tell me what you've been reading.

Harry Potter Harry Potter Harry Potter

The final Harry Potter film opens next week, bringing to a close the story of the boy who lived that began 14 years ago. I'm going to miss ol' Harry Potter. Reading the books and seeing the movies played a significant role in my kids' lives, especially my eldest daughter who has been a big Potter nut since the 4th grade, about 12 years now. I'm a little sad to see it all end. But wait. There's this: pottermore.com I don't know exactly what this is yet, but it looks like it's never going to end after all! Yeay!

In the mean time, I can still participate in Nerd Wars* on Ravelry.com on team Dumbledore's Army and relive the glory days! Here are some of the projects I've completed so far:

In this photo, we see a first year Gryffindor scarf, Mrs. Norris - Filch's cat, and a miniature first year Gryffindor scarf for Mrs. Norris. This is an elf hat for a baby. One of the challenges is called "Giving Geeks" and in June, we were to make baby hats and donate them to needy babies. I made two more hats in addition to this one and donated them to an organization which distributes them to homeless families. And this is a Golden Snitch.
There are three rounds in the tournament, each round is 1 month long. There are 6 challenges per round. In June, I could only complete 4 of the 6. I don't think I'll be able to complete all 6 this month either. It really is a challenge!

*Nerd Wars is a knitting/crocheting tournament with a nerdy theme.

Closing for the Summer

The book shelves are getting pretty tight as all those fabulous books are coming back to the library to hibernate for the summer. I'm going to miss my little library regulars but I'm sure they'll be enjoying plenty of books over the summer. In fact, the Saratoga Library children's librarians came to Marshall Lane today to present their Summer Reading Program. You can find out more about it here. If you click on the orange "kids" button, you can find lots of ideas for what to read next. There are lists by grade level or you can subscribe to Next Reads to get recommendations by email. Another great place to find out about books is Kidsreads.com. At Kidsreads, they have a team of reviewers reading and reviewing lots of new kids books. They keep archives of their reviews so you can read about older books. They also have author interviews, previews of coming releases, plus contests and giveaways.

As for what I'm doing this Summer, I'll be heading to New Orleans to attend the American Library Association's annual conference later this month. There will be some authors there (Jeff Kinney!), so I'm hoping to add to my author shrine and get some books signed. Then, as soon as I get back from that I'll be heading up to Berkeley to see Neil Gaiman on his American Gods 10th anniversary tour. Last fall I went to an American Gods event at the House on the Rock in Wisconsin. You can read about that here and here. And you if haven't read American Gods yet, grown ups, I highly recommend it.

The last Harry Potter movie will be coming out in July so I'm kind of nerding out over that. In fact, I'm participating in a knitting challenge on Ravelry.com called Nerd Wars. I'm on Team Dumbledore's Army and I'm currently working on knitting a year one Gryffindor house scarf for the team spirit challenge. If you want to learn more about Nerd Wars, you can read about it here. And, of course, while I'm doing all this knitting in anticipation of HP7P2, I'll be listening to books 1-7 on my nano.

Finally, I'm thinking of another project for the Summer, having to do with books, but it's kind of super secret right now. If it gets off the ground, I will let you know and share it with you, but if not, I will let you in on my failure. In any case, getting it out of my head and into other people's expectations will surely motivate me to act on my idea.

Well, Mr. Richards just told me it sounds like I'm writing a paper over here so I must have written enough by now. One more quick thing: the Fabulous Room 3 is working on a 90 Second Newbery film of Charlotte's Web! They have been working very hard and I can't wait to see the results!

Have a great last 3 days of school! Don't forget to check the blog over the summer, I'll be here!