Update on Summer Reading List

Way back in May I created this post about my aspirations for reading this summer.  Needless to say, it did not go as planned, but here is the update of my journey so far.

1. The Dresden Files -- Read them, loved, them, and so obsessed that I found almost all the short stories that go in between the books.  For my immediate reaction after reading Changes see this post.

2. Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy -- I have been trying to find them all summer, however they are constantly checked out as they seem to be the IT books of the summer.  However, Tony, the library specialist from the Modern Languages Library is on the look out for their copy for me.  He's such a nice guy.

3. Devil in the White City -- I started it in May and just finished yesterday (7/31).  It isn't really that long of a book, it just moves a little slowly and is rather jumpy going from the architect to the serial killer to the insane assassin.  Also, each chapter tries to end with a mini cliff hanger which gets tiresome after awhile.  But all in all I really liked it, especially the little bits of sarcastic humor Larson threw in every once in awhile,

"No one saw Twain.  He came to Chicago to see the fair but got sick and spent eleven days in his hotel room, then left without ever seeing the White City.

Of all people."  (285)

I think my favorite quote about it was the Chicago Sun-Times one on the back of the book, "Larson is a historian with a novelist's soul."

4. Kathy Reichs' series -- I have started Deja Dead, the first book of the series and so far, I am unimpressed, especially in comparison to Bones.  The characters aren't very engaging so far and it's a little too graphic for me.  I will at least finish it, but if I don't end up liking it, I'm not going to read the others.

Update 8/11: I got through most of the book and just didn't care what happened. It's probably because I love Bones so much, but Reichs' characters seemed kind of flat and the attention to detail was a little too much for me.

5. Orwell's 1984 --  It's in my bag right now and I plan to start it today, as soon as I finish the other book I am currently reading (I'll get to that a little later).

Update 8/11: 1984 just stayed in my bag. I'm just not in the mood for disturbing, dystopian novel, as I'm already bummed enough that classes are starting up and my relative summer freedom is coming to an end.   

6. A.S. Byatt's  Possession -- I have it checked out from the library and will get to it, but it's a HUGE book, so I am not sure I will be able to finish it before classes start.

7. Italo Calvino -- I am currently reading the revised edition of The Path to the Spiders' Nests (finished 8/2) and so far it's okay.  It reminds me For Whom the Bell Tolls a little. I prefer his more experimental fiction so I also checked out If on a winter's night a traveler.

8.  The Woman in White -- I still have to catch up to Renae.

At least I have most of the books, and no those aren't all the Dresden Files.

As mentioned in the May post, my reading this summer was not limited to the above list.  In addition to the list I have read Namaah's Kiss and Namaah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey (just get past the sex goddess thing and it's an epic tale), Mercedes Lackey's The Sleeping Beauty (see this post), the graphic novel version of Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton, and a few trashy romances to rot my brain. 

I really don't think I did too badly, considering all the time I've been at work, plus the TV I've watched as well and the blogs I read daily.  But hopefully, I will finish the rest of the list in the next few weeks.

How To: Appliques on Canvas

After one of my roommates moved out at the beginning of the semester, she took her photos with her that had been our sole decoration in the living room.  I stared at the blank walls for a few months and finally decided I had enough and started to think what I could do about it.  I was immediately inspired by all the HGTV I've been watching recently and decided to cover some canvases with fabric.

I wanted something floral and swoopy (you, know vines running all over and making swirly patterns).   This is the fabric I found at JoAnn's:

Sorry about the wrinkles.

It was a little more pricey than I wanted to spend, but it was the closest match to the ideal fabric-in-my-head.  Once I had the fabric and looked at the pattern, some of the individual flowers were interesting enough to stand on their own, so I decided to do some decoupage appliques on canvas too.

Supplies for both projects:

Fabric covered canvases -- fabric of your choice cut to dimensions that will cover and wrap around to the back of the canvas and push pins or a staple gun

Appliques on canvas -- fabric you want to applique, canvas, plain tea bags, Modge Podge or similar product, sponge paintbrush

Instructions:

The fabric covered canvases are fairly easy to figure out, so I won't bore you with the details.

The appliques are a little more complicated, so here it goes.

Step 1:  Boil some tea bags in a small pot of water.

Step 2:  After the tea has come to a boil, carefully pour into shallow pan or baking sheet. Place canvases face down, to die the tea.  When they reach the color you want, remove from the pan and allow to dry.

Step 3:  While the canvases are soaking/drying, pick out which flower(s) you want to feature and carefully cut them out.

Step 4:  Use Modge Podge to affix the cut out to the dry canvas.  Brush the paste over the back of the cut out.  Then place flower, glue-side down, and completely cover the canvas with a coat of paste so that the fabric doesn't unravel and there is a consistent look to the canvas.

Step 5:  Let paste dry...

...and Voila!

Summer Reading List

The beginning of summer: a time for freedom from homework and academic pressures. But about two or three weeks in I start getting bored, even though I will be working almost 40 hours a week.  This summer I am being proactive about what to do in my free time, so I am planning out what to read.

1. Beginning the list is Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files.  My friend Emily has been hounding me to read this series, and I am intrigued.  The premise is that Harry Dresden is a modern day private investigator/wizard and he fights all sorts of bad guys.  I've read the first book Storm Front, and was not impressed.  But Emily assures me that they get better after the first three (there are 12), so I remain hopeful, plus I read his Alera Codex and was blown away. 

2. Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy.  It's a crime series and I don't know anything more about it, except for the fact that they always pop up on Amazon as suggested reading and the titles are intriguing.

3. Devil in the White City by Eric Larson. My mom has been trying to get me to read this book for a while.  It's about the architect of the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago 1893 and a series of murders that occurred at the same time.

4. Kathy Reich's series about Temperance Brennan.  Ever since I found out that Bones is based on a book series, I have wanted to read it.

5. 1984 by George Orwell.  I read Animal Farm and liked it and have had tons of people tell me to read it.  So I am.

6. Possession by A.S. Byatt.  Two of the Ellens took an class on A.S. Byatt and Margaret Drabble; they couldn't stop talking about it.

7. I took a comparative world literature class and had to read Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. It was an awesome book and I want to read more by him.

8. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.  I first heard about the book when it was alluded to in The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.  Setterfield was less than impressive, but Collins sounded interesting, so the next time my friend Renae and I were at Barnes & Noble we both picked up the book and said we would both read it.  Well that didn't go as planned, but now she's started to read it and loves it so far.  Now I have to catch up. 

That's the list of what I definitely want to read.  I will of course read other books, most likely trashy romance novels and snack lit, but the above list WILL be read this summer.