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| User: | intheweeds (773436) The Ball is Round. The Game Lasts 90 Minutes.
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| Name: | Xena | ||
| Website: | Joy Hensley | ||
| Location: | Virginia, United States | ||
| Bio: | And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time." - T. S. Eliot "Little Gidding" "I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be still." -Sylvia Plath (from poem when she was 15 or 16) After redirecting my life during a 600 mile hike, I am teaching English in rural South-West Virginia where I live with my handsomely Australian husband and our overweight Akita named Gwyn. This is my second year of teaching and while I'm not quite as nervous about it, I'm still excited about the job, though I complain much! Oh, and WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!! In my spare time I write, read, play guitar, run, walk with the dog, hike with the hubby, and try to fix up the house we recently bought! I finished my first book in December of 2005, and hope to get it signed in 2006! This journal is Friends Only, but let me know if you want to be added! Ewan McGregor is Scottish Books Read in 2007 1. Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts. 470 pgs Books Read in 2006! ( I did a horrible job of this in 2005. Let's hope this year it's better! 1. Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon 1070 2. The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman--by far one of the best books I've ever read. 391 pages in 12 hours. Can't argue with that! 3. Love That Dog by Sharon Creech 118 pages What a cute book! Filled with some of my favorite poems and done in such a creative way! 4. On The Road: Getting Married a good financial guide for the prenuptual people, and the nuptual people, out there looking to get their finances straight. 232 pages. 5. The Prize Winner: How my mom raised 10 kids on 25 words or less by Terry Ryan. 352 pages. A triumphant story of a woman who beats the odds of an alcoholic husband and the difficulty of raising 10 kids in the 1960s by winning brand contests. 6. The Dark Hills Divide 272 pages. A wonderful young adult fantasy. WAY better than the Eragon books!!! 7. Beyond the Valley of Thorns Great continuation of Dark Hills Divide-240 pages. 8. The DaVinci Code 454 pages. Amazing until the ending. What a freakin' cop out. 9. The Naked Mole-Rat Letters by Mary Amato. 208 pages. The most adorable YA fiction I've read in a long time. Deals with honesty and parents entering the dating pool again through a series of journal entries and e-mails to the Ratlady, a woman who works at a zoo and is currently interested in Frankie's father. 10. The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman. 400 pgs. Another great novel by a suspense writing. Not as un-put-downable as The Lake of Dead Languages, but definitely worth the read! 11. A Highland Christmas M.C. Beaton, 160 pages I listened to this on audiobook. An absoultely adorable mystery for the Scottish highlands. Two mysteries are solved by policeman Hamish MacBeth--who stole the town's Christmas lights, and who broke into an old woman's house and stole her cat. Highly enjoyable! 12. A Break with Charity: A Story of the Salem Witch Trials 320 pages. A fictionalized first-person account of the Salem With Trials. A sad, thoughtful read that moves quickly. Good for young girls on the power of gossip! 13. Death of a Village by M.C. Beaton 272 pages This is another Hamish MacBeth mystery. I'm becoming quickly addicted to the red-headed policeman from the little Scottish village of Lochdubh! 14. The King of Torts by John Grisham. 480 pages. I haven't read a Grisham in a long time and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I actually listened to it on audio CD, but I still consider it read. A great on the edge of your seat book. And the stupid lawyer gets just what he deserves in the end.5/06 15. gods in Alabama 288 pgs. A great coming home story for a screwed up family. I read it in 24 hours. This is by the famous blogger Faster Than Kudzu 6/06 16. The History of Love. 252 pgs A great story about a man hanging on to the love of his life and a young girl struggling to find out who she is. 6/06 17. Christy 576 pgs I've read this book probably at least ten times. I absolutely love it. It's the story of a young woman who goes to find herself while teaching to Appalachian Mountain children. It's just wonderful. 6/06 18. Riptide496 pgs A bizarre book my hubby made me read. A supernatural treasure hunt for the holy grail. Not quite sure if I liked it or not and it took me about 100 pages to get into it, but I read the whole thing. 5/06 19. Never After272 pgs A very light but entertaining fantasy combinging about ten fairy tales. Nothing substantial at all, but very enjoyable for a summer time read! 06/06 20. Death of a Poison Pen-A Hamish MacBeth Mystery 256 pgs Another fabulous HM mystery--and this time, he finally gets the girl! 06/06 21. Rebel160 pgs A story about a girl doing, guess what? Yeah, it wasn't that good. 06/06 22. The Last Juror496pgs I listened to this on Audio CD but still count it as having been read and after years of not reading much Grisham I was pleasantly surprised and quite astounded that he pulled off something meaningful. Well done! Even made me cry--good thing i was almost home!! 6/06 23. Deja Dead560 pages This book is what the Fox show Bones is based on. Now, I haven't read a real murder mystery in a long time so maybe I'm out of touch, but it was quite grusome. More than enough blood and guts to last me a lifetime. I will probably try out another of her books just to see if it's a bit less...harsh. However, I do like her writing and I love the show! Go Bones! 7/06 24. No One To Trust 336 pages An interesting suspense novel. For some reason Deja Dead got me on a murder/mystery/suspense kick and this one was next in line. While it was a bit graphic, it wasn't nearly as bad (in my opinion) as Deja Dead in that respect. I will be looking for more of Iris Johnasen's books! 7/06 25. Dead Aim 368 pages Another mystery by Iris Johansen. This one was not as good as No One To Trust but still enjoyable. I liked getting to know more about Judd, the character that went "bad" in No One To Trust. Now it's off to the Highlands for another Hamish MacBeth mystery! 7/06 26. Vanish 416 pages A murder mystery by Tess Gerritsen. I listened to this on audio CD awhile back but forgot to put it in! 27. Death of a Scriptwriter224 pgs Hamish must solve the death of a scriptwriter and lead actress before anyone else dies...can he do it? OF COURSE HE CAN!!! 7/06 28. On the Run352 pgs by Iris Johansen. Another murder mystery/chase book with some of my favorite characters. Not her best, but enjoyable if you don't mind cliches. 7/06 Audio book. 29. Blaze400pgs Hmm...listened to it on audio book and got quite distracted by some sexy scenes... 30. Arrows of the Queen320 pgs An oldie but a goodie. I was giving it to one of my students to read and had to read it again myself! 31. Arrows Flight320 pgs The second of the trilogy. 32. Arrows Fall320 pgs. The finale. Loved every second of it. 33. Body of Lies400 pgs I must have missed an earlier book that introduced the characters, but it was still pleasant reading. I like the thriller/romance crossover genre, though this was not the best one of Johansen's that I've read. I'll find another one though. 34. In the Company of Men: A Woman at the Citadel256 pgs Read this for research for the book I'm writing. Not the best written book, but wonderful in its own right. Way to go, girlfriend! 8/06 35. The Search336 pgs Another Iris Johansen. This one was better than the last. 8/06 36. Reversible Errors 576 pages audio book, murder/mystery/meyhem. I've read better, but it was entertaining for my daily drives! aug 06 37. My Losing Season by Pat Conroy. 416 pages. Pat Conroy is my hero. Best book of the year by far. Blows all other books out of the water. Just freakin' amazing. Audio book. aug. 06 38. The Devil Wears Prada368 pgs audio version. It was pretty good, and though I enjoy the carnal pleasures of the chick lit genre, I guess I was hoping for something deeper. That's ok, next is Beowulf. I'll probably kill myself for wanting to look deeper after this...august o6 39. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown 384 pgs I listened to this one on audio book. Divinci Code was better....but this was still interesting, though the heroine was annoying at times....sept. 06 40. Boy2Girl 304 pgs A young adult book about a boy who goes to London and dresses up like a girl. Interesting. Really cute and entertaining, though I'd be careful how young I'd give it to... Sept 06 41. Seabiscuit 399 pgs Not at all what I expected, but very entertaining. It kept the drive to school not-so-boring. sept 06 42. Peter and the Starcatchers451 pgs. How did Peter Pan become the flying boy with the fairy? Well, this fantastic kids book tells us how! 43. Breaking Out: VMI and the Coming of Women 384 pgs What a wonderful bio of VMI and the "struggles" they went through to become co-ed. A wonderful book. 9/06 44. Morrigan's Cross 352 pgs A mindless bit of fun with Norah Roberts and vampires. Completely predictable, but needed in my current state of escapeism. 10/06 45. Dance of the Gods 352 pgs The second in the Norah Roberts/vampire trilogy. Again, completely predictable but that's what we love about her, right? Now I have to wait until Halloween to get the next one. Will give me some time for some serious reading :) 46. Northern Lights by Nora Roberts (you'll see a trend here towards the end of the year for smut! 672 pgs 47. Black Rose by Nora Robers 384 pgs 48. Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts 384 pgs 49. Red Lily Nora Roberts 384 pgs 50. Angels Fall by Nora Roberts 448 pgs 51. Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts 448 pgs 52. Gap Creek by Robert Morgan 352 pgs 53. Teen Idol by Meg Cabot384 pgs 54. Big Stone Gap by Adrianna Trigliani 304 pgs My favorite of the year, by far! 55. Valley of Silence Nora Roberts 352 56. Cross Bones Kelly Reichs 368 pgs Not so into her...Love the show, though! Phew! That, ladies and gents, is 20,759 pages of reading! Go me! | ||
| Memories:: | 2 entries | ||
| Pictures: | fewer than 10 public | ||
| Interests: | 60: akitas, appalachian trail, at, australia, backpacking, benno furrman, books, bourne trilogy, buffy the vampire slayer, canoeing, chic lit, coldplay, czech republic, damien rice, david gray, diana gabaldon, elizabethtown, english, etymology, franka potente, freelance writing, french, friends, german, hamish macbeth hiking, ireland, iris johansen, james marsters, josh groban, katie melua, kayaking, literary fiction, literature, lola rennt, long ridge writers group, lord of the rings, love actually, m. c. beaton, maroon five, monarch of the glen, movies, norwich university, outlander, reading, rock climbing, run lola run, running, scotland, singing, snow patrol, spike, teaching, teaching english, teaching middle school, the killers, the oc, the waifs, traveling, walking, writing | ||
| Schools: | Eastern Mennonite High School - Harrisonburg, VA Greensboro College - Greensboro, NC Norwich University - Northfield, VT | ||
| Friends: | |||
| Mutual Friends: | 37: bandraoi, bookshelf_elf, bostonerin, carriejones, debg, dleighc, doisneau, drivelikejehn, fashionista_35, goldmund, jennirabbit, keeumm, keigan, laduchesse, lethanon, ma_ee_uh, madaussie, madwriter, megancrane, melwil, midschoolteach, newport2newport, nuffy74, oneeyedcat, platostruth, prakriti, queenoftheskies, reannon, sedefendendo, shanna_s, teranm, thecheshirekat, twodogs333, un_dia_normal, vishuddha_spin, weezeroni, whycaro | ||
| Also Friend of: | 22: ___avenue, afraclose, ahuilani, bring_back_food, dannys_album, devampirelestat, elizabethbear, eyes2theskye, isidian, josie_in_praha, makaidiver, morbid_wolf, princesswitch, russian_fun, shuggah, tenpixels, threelinenovels, tiasabrina, trusturjourney, turtlewaxz, whiskersink, ytsevai | ||
| Member of: | 35: 1st_yr_teachers, __iiicons, academics_anon, anthropophobia, awesome_places, badass_teacher, bookgrope, chicklitbooks, english_majors, englishteachers, etymology, fictionwriters, genrechallenge, gradlitgeeks, grammar_nazis, great_write_way, julnawrimo, june2007, linguaphiles, literaryagents, literaryquotes, michelesminionz, nbpts, notyourmothers, nov3rdclub, novelwriters, old_grad, paidmembers, teaching, teachingcomp, teenliterature, thetrail, theyansweredit, trigeeks, what_deadline | ||
| Account type: | Plus Account | ||
