Weekly Round-Up 2/8 + an award!

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week and anything of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

I had actually picked out The Hollow (Verday) to read last week, but I just never got around to it and it's due back at the library so I'll get it another time and actually read it.  I started A Little Princess (Hodgson) and read a whole slew of Nancy Drew books.  So this week I'm going to finish A Little Princess and read The Clue in the Diary (Keene) and Rampant (Peterfreund).

Reviews posted:
And Another Thing (Colfer)
Bloodchild (Butler) (GLBT February Mini-Challenge)
Nancy's Mysterious Letter (Keene) (done in character)
The Mystery at Lilac Inn (Keene)
The Secret of Shadow Ranch (Keene)
The Secret of Red Gate Farm (Keene)

Louise from Adori Graphics gave me the Sunshine Award.  She is the one who made my header and is so super nice and very talented.  I'm in love with all of her designs so check her out.

I can pass this on to 12 bloggers.
1.  Juju at Tales of Whimsy
2.  Amanda at The Zen Leaf
3.  Jill of The O.W.L.
4.  Trisha at Trisha's Book Blog
5.  A Buckeye Girl Reads
6.  NotNessie at Today's Adventure
7.  Runa at One Reader's Trash in Another Reader's Treasure
8.  Jenny at Wondrous Reads
9.  Brit at Confessions of a Book Habitué
10. The Literary Omnivore
11. Nina at J'adore happy endings
12. Celi.a at Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia


From the Library is my weekly listing of what I checked out from the library recently.  In addition to those listed below, I checked out the Madeline books.



10 Things I Hate About Me - Randa Abdel-Fattah

(I liked Does My Head Look Big in This? well enough to try another book by Abdel-Fattah, but I'm hoping the writing is a little better)
"At school I'm Aussie-blonde Jamie -- one of the crowd. At home I'm Muslim Jamilah -- driven mad by my Stone Age dad. I should win an Oscar for my acting skills. But I can't keep it up for much longer..."

Jamie just wants to fit in. She doesn't want to be seen as a stereotypical Muslim girl, so she does everything possible to hide that part of herself. Even if it means pushing her friends away because she's afraid to let them know her dad forbids her from hanging out with boys or that she secretly loves to play the darabuka (Arabic drums).
But when the cutest boy in school asks her out and her friends start to wonder about Jamie's life outside of school, her secrets threaten to explode. Can Jamie figure out how to be both Jamie and Jamilah before she loses everything? 

Wild Seed - Octavia Butler

(I reviewed Bloodchild for the GLBT Challenge, but the only book I've read by her was Clay's Ark and I've been meaning to read this one.)
Doro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflexor design. He fears no one until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu is a shapeshifter who can absorb bullets and heal with a kiss and savage anyone who threatens her. She fears no one until she meets Doro. Together they weave a pattern of destiny unimaginable to mortals.




From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (audio) - E.L. Konigsburg, read by Jan Miner

 (I use to love this book.  Read it more times than I can remember.)
When Claudia decided to run away, she planned very carefully. She would be gone just long enough to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation. And she would live in comfort - at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She invited her brother Jamie to go, too, mostly because he was a miser and would have money.
The two took up residence in the museum right on schedule. But once the fun of settling in was over, Claudia had two unexpected problems: She felt just the same, and she wanted to feel different; and she found a statue at the museum so beautiful she could not go home until she had discovered its maker, a question that baffled even the experts. The former owner of the statue was Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. And without her help Claudia might never have found a way to go home.