Summer is nearly done in terms of my duties as a stepmother, and I will confess a new empathy with that commercial featuring a dad ecstatically wheeling his shopping cart through the office supply store, with "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" playing the background.  While I've had time to grow closer to my 14 year old stepdaughter, I'm looking forward to having the structure of the school year.  She and I have spent a lot of time at the library this summer, and she's read more than I have I think.  Her new favorite author is someone I met at a workshop, Gail Giles.  If you like unreliable narrators, unpredictable plot twists, a bit of the macabre, suspense, and untidy endings, check out her work!  :-0 

This summer I decided to check out a couple of classics I've never read.  The Mark Twain remained untouched.  I did read Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass.  I found my mental version to be very Disneyfied, with elements of the two books combined.  My goal in reading it was to gain a better understanding of the many times it's referred to in a variety of other books, and thus I feel newly virtuous and knowledgeable, though rather annoyed by the little girl, in truth.

My book reviewing work turned up little I could garner a bunch of excitement for, unfortunately.  I think my personal tastes are getting pickier as time goes on.  I'm hoping to review the list and post a few that I had on my Web site but didn't include here on the blog, perhaps with links to their published versions on www.barnesandnoble.com, such as this review of Eoin Colfer's Airman.

Up next, I'm trying to slog through some nonfiction I've been avoiding before I reward myself with finally delving into Stephanie Meyer's trilogy, as insisted upon by my friend Denise Bowman.  Apparently there is quite a movement afoot that I've not been a part of!  Perish the thought!