Monday, January 31, 2011

a Cold Weekend and a Pizza Box

Monday Movie Meme: Worst Accents

Monday Movie Meme is hosted by The Bumbles on their blog which can be found HERE.
The topic this week is bad movie accents.

Though I am certain there are many notable bad movie accents, the one for me which ruined a movie to the point that I was unable to watch the show beyond the first minutes in which I heard him speaking it bothered me so much was:

Leonardo Di Crappio in Blood Diamond.

He hurt my ears.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

things that make me smile (and maybe even cry a little)

This is a television moment that I love. Whether you are a fan of Rosie O'Donnell or not it is worth watching to see the joy. It's long - about 8 minutes, but worth every one.



Have you done anything recently to bring joy to another person?
I tried to today!

making a mess while cleaning up

It always makes such a mess to get things cleaned and organized. The offices here are still undergoing a transformation and although there has been a LOT of traffic here - people who usually never have reason to stop by but have been calling in at the office lately - nothing has been said or stopped! The lady for blinds will be in tomorrow, the guy for windows was supposed to be here Tuesday, called yesterday, but knowing him from working with him in the past he will likely be here MAYBE in February?
I am waiting on a quote from the flooring people which may take forever as they are not the speediest, but I am anticipating a whole new look by the end of February. HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE!
In the meantime, here is some of the process for your viewing pleasure....

 A portion of the nasty carpet in my office.

 Trim colour
Paint - waiting for action!

  Paint on the walls
 Mess on the floor
Prep room - and the second room scheduled for work...

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

that's me in the spotlight

I have worked at my current place of employment for seven years, in fact I am half way though the eighth. In that time I have worked in the same group of offices but I have moved three times. I started out in a small office with a window. I was then promoted and moved to a big office with a window. I then got a new boss who wanted my office and so I was moved to a small office with no window. That boss moved on and so I moved back into "MY" office with a window.
In all that time there has been a water problem in the big office with a window. FINALLY about two, maybe three years ago the water leak was fixed but the HIDEOUS mess it left of broken drywall and nastiness remained and was never fixed. It has remained there in it's ugliness in plain sight of any student, parent, vendor, member of the community or staff member I meet.
In that time there has also never been any upgrades to the entire office space. No new carpet, no patches to holes in walls, nothing. The carpet is NASTY. In fact, it is so nasty that once we take off the area rug I might even update this story with a photo of it's nastiness.
I work in a VERY high traffic area and a very public area and the place looks gross. We have tried small things like putting down carpet runners, putting down area rugs and so forth to "make up" the space, but it is really like putting a band aid on an amputation. It looks awkward and does little to help the space.
So I took it upon myself this week  to do something about it.
Yesterday the wall in my office was fixed and primed with paint especially used for water damaged areas. Today my office has been painted - or rather - today my office has been STARTED to be painted.
Here's the thing. I work in an educational institution where there are some people who are very concerned with who does what and how and why and when. I think there are certainly times to be so concerned, but these people are concerned ALL the time. They are never, ever, "NOT" concerned.
Today as my office was being painted somehow word got out and it has been quite the hotbed of activity over here for the afternoon. People who have never walked into our office have had reason today to come in - and not just to the front counter, but past the counter and into the door marked 'STAFF ONLY" and all the way back to my door and INTO my office - which I will admit is a bit of a nightmare right now. It makes me laugh a little (in my head) -  I'm not laughing out loud yet because I think that the "rest" of my plans might be kaiboshed before I get further along in them. I have a feeling that word has reached people who take it upon themselves to be concerned and these people might be stopping in to see what is happening.
I don't think it is that big of a deal. The walls in my office were absolutely HIDEOUS for a VERY long time. What I have done is make an improvement, just not in the colours the walls were originally.
How does word travel so fast? How did my teeny office which no-one has cared about for so long all of a sudden get put into the spotlight?

Monday, January 24, 2011

What's Butch - and what do I like about it.... (part uno)

An interesting question posed on the blog of the  Bookish Butch, "tell me what you like about butch".
And before I begin let me just clarify that I am not referring to "Butch" the husband of my friend Tari, but "butch" as in (from Wikipedia) butch and femme are LGBT terms describing respectively, masculine and feminine traits, behavior, style, expression, self-perception and so on.

I am not a fan in any way of the labels butch and femme. They are too broad, to easy to misinterpret, too misunderstood.

Let's face it. I am a gay person living in a VERY, VERY straight world. I know that there is this "need" for people to understand my relationship to my spouse and part of this need is to try and fit us into these roles of male and female. I have been predominantly put into the "role" of the male, the butch,  (my in-laws before they even met me asked my spouse who was the new "uncle") and I like it not one whit.

I don't identify as a male, nor do I find excessive masculine traits in a woman appealing. Having said that....


Have you ever seen the movie "Bound"?
DAMN Corky is hot!
There is some definite appeal to butchiness. Without a doubt.

There is such a thing as a stupid question.....

Shel and I have spent a LOT of time educating ourselves on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. We have been to conferences, read books, searched the internet and taken every opportunity that has ever presented itself to us to learn about FASD.
Both of our sons were exposed to alcohol prior to their births and both of them suffer permanent brain trauma as a result of this exposure. So we need to know.
We want to be able to parent our sons the best way for them and for us, and in a way that will enable them to be the most successful they can be in this world.
With that preface...
One of the things that we know about this kind of brain injury is that judgement is impaired.
Here are some other things we know already about our sons:
1. They need a lot of time to make decisions.
2. They act very impulsively without thought for any consequence to their actions.
3. They are often unable to reflect on how an action "caused" a result.
4. They have trouble planning ahead.
5. They get frustrated VERY easily when things are not exactly as they WANT them to be.

Last night we were laying in our bed watching television as is the before bed ritual in our house. Max said to me "I hope my DS is in my room", to which I responded "What will you do if it isn't?"

I thought this was a GREAT parenting moment in which I was trying to teach him to think ahead and make a plan in case what he wanted didn't turn out exactly as he had planned. As the words were coming out of my mouth I was congratulating myself in my head on the amazing job I had just done of seeing and using an opportunity to teach him something. I expected him to stall, or to take a minute to think about it - or - as he USUALLY does when I ask him questions like this - completely ignore me. Instead, without a moment's hesitation he turned and looked at me and said sarcastically.... " I won't play it then!"

DUH, MOM.

Friday, January 21, 2011

When Winter starts getting you down......................

You may already have seen this but every time I think of it I laugh. Oh too funny.
This is what it is like driving in my community today!




and ...

Thursday, January 20, 2011

getting a library card

We have a small library in our community but it is a lifesaver for me. If they don't have a book they will order it in. We have been members of the library for the eight years that we have lived here (this is the beginning of the 8th year) and the staff there know us well enough that they don't even ask us for a library card when we come in to pick up books, they just type our name into the computer.
I went in today to pick up a book that had arrived for me. When they entered my name it said that my membership needed a renewal. It costs $20.00 to renew my library membership for one year which I think is VERY inexpensive.

I asked if I could renew as a family membership this year instead of two adults - mine and Shelly's. They looked in the computer and had no record of Shelly and the librarian asked me who she was.
I almost laughed. Who she was? Then she said to me - well how old is Shelly? Is she related to you?

I think the librarian must be on crack. I guess she has no idea who Shelly is, but how could she? I keep her under lock and key at home. I never let her out of the house unchaperoned. I didn't think Shel wanted me blurting out how old she was, so I just said - let's leave our memberships as they are. The extra ten dollars I would save by switching Shel's adult membership to a family one was not worth saving if I had to reveal her age to a complete stranger. I know she will appreciate the lengths I go to preserve her dignity while I have her locked away.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Letter to Max

Dear Max,

Well I sure fell down on the job of writing to you each month didn't I big boy. I am sorry. I will get back to it this year I PROMISE.
Well. You are amazing - but did we think any less? You are talking and talking and talking - in fact once you wake up you never stop talking, but I am so thrilled about it given the rocky start we had. Your imagination is growing in leaps and bounds and you have been playing elevator with the broken bed from ( from the bed you outgrew - AGAIN) Will you ever stop growing? You are so tall and so handsome and you are the most helpful kid I know. In fact you are not ever as happy as when you can be helping me or mommy. If we could only find enough things for you to fix in a day as you desire to fix in a day you would be in heaven.
You love to cook, you love to clean, you rarely stop moving and you most especially love the pets and being outside.
I am loving watching your relationship with Zuva grow. She is not a fan of small kids - you know small kids can do pretty random things to dogs and Zuv doesn't quite trust them - but she wags her tail when you come into a room and you are gentle with her and get down and greet her when you walk into the room and she loves it. Of course Hugo is YOUR dog and you make sure we all know it!
You have been helping me shovel the snow off the roof, and as much as you like to help you don't let an opportunity pass that you tell us you can't wait for spring. We can't either!
Your hair is really starting to get long and usually by now we have cut it short - but I am loving your touque head too much!
I love you my boy. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine.

Love mama.

Letter to C-note

Dear Baby.
I know - you aren't a baby anymore. Last night we sat on my bed and played a game. You would look off into the corner of the room and I would ask "Where's my baby?" then you spun your head around and looked at me and I said 'THERE'S my baby!" and we snuggled and tickled and laughed. You would say "gen" (it means again) and we would play all over again.
It is so hard for me to watch you growing bigger each day. Don't get me wrong, I love it - but it is also so sad as each phase passes to know I will never have that teeny tiny four pound baby in my arms again. You are my joy. You wake up int he morning so happy and you are happy until the last moment at night. Each night when I carry you to bed you still snuggle into my arms and lay your head on my shoulder and I would do anything to freeze those precious moments in time.
You are getting SO tall. Mom dragged out a box of clothes that were Maxies and when I came home today you were wearing a shirt that in my mind is a "big boy shirt". You looked SOO cute, but I can't help the twinge of sadness I felt when I saw you in it.
I am loving your sense of humor. You tease your brother and I am thrilled about it - because he teases you! I love it when you call him 'Max - WELL' and then laugh. He calls you "CJ - well" whenever you do it. Last week you came with me when I took Max to school. When we went to pick him up we were waiting in the lobby of the school when he came down the hall. You RAN to him and HUGGED him and didn't let him go for at least a minute. He stood there hugging you back and I wish I had a camera with me to save the moment - it is saved in my mind though. You love your brother so much.


You love to wear my hats and you love to wear your hollywood glasses and we have come up with a special wave that means ' I love you'.
You are talking so well, saying new words every day, and the absolute highlight of my day is when I come in the door at night and you SHRIEK with excitement and run to me and I pick you up and hold you. I cherish you my boy.
Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine.

Love mama.

12 of 12

One of my favorite things is 12 of 12 - an idea conceptualized by a guy whose blog you can link to on the blogs I follow (down on the right hand side of this page - his name is CHAD DARNELL. He has a way interesting blog (when he blogs!) He came up with this idea of posting 12 photos on the 12th of each month and I have been doing it MOSTLY without missing for a while now. I absolutely love it. Have I mentioned that yet? For some reason this month I have been so stupidly busy at work that I completely missed the 12th. In fact I didn't even know the 12th had come and gone and all of a sudden it was the 19th. I am sad that I missed it this month -
did you know I love it so much?
So I have decided that I am going to post 12 photos from the month of January to date - and I have to admit that I didn't even take these photos - my spouse took many of them - but I am posting them still - and maybe I will motivate her to get back on the blogging bandwagon cause I LOVED when she blogged..... hint hint to the spousal unit......

Here are 12 photos from this month.

 Shel and I were watching this snow falling off the branch for days. It was so cool to watch and it hung on for dear life. I'm happy Shel got a photo of it before the winds came and blew it down.

 This is the my baby playing in the driveway - the dogs playing behind him are TRES DANGEREUX!
One of our winter break sagas happened to me when the dogs and the boys were playing outside and the baby fell. I bent over to pick him up at exactly the same time as our Great Dane Hugo bounded past and he and I crashed heads. His head is bigger and thicker than mine and I lost that interaction! I had a black eye and I still think he cracked my skull - it hurts to touch it where we collided and it was close to a month ago!

 Winter clothes impede play.
 This photo from out of the living room window is our official snow depth measurer.... Here we look out at the beginning of January....

  Hugo can't sleep without touching the cats. Here he is touching Nyx.

And here is our snow depth measurer after this weekend - the third week of January.

This is the edge of the roof over the back porch.
If you live someplace where it snows and your roof looks like this - you have a problem. We have a problem!


 A different view of the same shot.

 This is the back part of the roof where I have started to rake off the snow. That snow is about four feet deep which you can't really tell. I would climb up and show you but I think my spouse would kill me.

This is the back kitchen window where we have more problems. We dont look through this window in the kitchen, but we couldn't now if we wanted to anyway.

Here is an example of the depth of the snow at the beginning of the month, 

and here it is now.
We actually have better pictures of it but my spouse is playing with her new camera and the new photos are in some kind of "raw" file so I can't open them. Sorry!

So I hope you enjoyed photos of our January - even if I messed up on 12 of 12.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Name Changes

Last year  my spouse and I combined our last names to a hyphenated last name.
We have been together for 14 years and we have been married legally for almost 7 years already, so you may ask why we did it now. Well in part we did it because we were adopting two boys and we wanted the boys to have the same last name as we did. In part we have never really been able to agree on what to change our names to.
I think this is interesting because when we married, my spouse filled out the marriage registration form and listed me as the male - the HUSBAND and herself as the Wife. Though it is legal in Canada for same sex couples to marry the forms have not caught up with the changes legally so there still has to be a "husband" and a "wife". It is a bit of a joke between us that I am the husband because people really like to pigeon hole gay couples and it is as though they have a "need" for someone to be the male and someone to be the female in the couple, though in reality it is not so simple. ANYWAY... I have told my spouse that since I AM the legal husband I think she should take my name - and THAT never happened. Then I proposed we take the first letter of her last name and combine it with the remaining letters from my last name and have a blended last name but she thought that was a bit of a joke (maybe because the first letters of our last name are the same?) But regardless of the reason it took us so long to blend our names, we have now done it.
Just last week I had to fill out tax papers and I asked the lady who does our taxes how we needed to fill out this one form and her response to me was that this form was typically for the "WIFE" to fill out. Shel and I laughed about it. I guess since the wedding certificate has made it so - she is the wife!
Today at work I got an email from HR. At work I have legally changed my name to our hyphenated name. So my paychecks come to that name and sometimes mail comes to that name from HR but I really haven't changed anything else - including my email signature. There has been a discrepancy in the work computer world and my login name is still my first initial and MY last name - not my hyphenated name. So they have to change it to make all the files jive, but the logon password to the network only has so many characters so they can't change my logon name to my hyphenated name, just my first initial and my spouse's name!
Too funny. So much for being the man and wearing the pants in the family. (WAIT .... how come SHE gets to be the wife AND wear the pants?!)

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

99 things to do

1. Sort through the box in my bedroom closet that I have moved to two different households without sorting through. (COMPLETE January 2011)

2. Write monthly letters to my sons.
3. Start my thesis.
4. Finish my thesis.
5. Graduate with my masters degree. Hopefully people will start calling me "master" - especially my sons...
6. Do at least ONE cross stitch project.
7. Renew my first aid.
8. Lay new carpet on the staircase.
9. Fix the squeaky stairs.
10.Make myself a bookmark.
11. Work on the boy's baby books.
12. Take all the furniture from the old guest house to the dump.
13. Get family portraits done.
14. Get the boys passports.
15. Take a trip to see family in the U.S.A.
16 . Take a family picture at Lake Louise.
17. Get a Christmas gift to my parents.
18. Finish at least ONE of my cross stitch nativity people for my mom's cross stitch nativity and send it to her.
19. Send out a family letter
20. Stain the deck.
21. Paint the barn
22. Fix the barn windows
23. Fix the lamp from Homa. COMPLETE JANUARY 2011!
24. Install new screens in windows.
25. Install new screen doors - front and back.
26.. Install new doors. Front and back.
27. Plant a garden.
28. Get a tattoo.
29. Get Hugo Fixed.(COMPLETE JANUARY 2011!)
30. Make curtains for the bathroom.
31. Make curtains for the back porch.
32. Make curtains for the upstairs hallway.
33. Get the sewing machine down and mend some clothing.
34. Buy a new fridge.
35. Build a pantry in the kitchen.
36. Pay my taxes EARLY!
37. Get a lampshade for the lamp from Homa.

99 things to do: Update - It turned into 93 things....

Oh My GOODNESS!
I didn't complete TWENTY things on my list of 93. That's deplorable. That's only a 78 percent accomplishment rate. Man oh Man my statistical brain is reeling. How could I have let my list come to this dismal end?

Well, Thank goodness it is time to make a new list and I will start with some of the things I didn't get done on this list.  I will abandon one or two of the ideas also......

Hip Hip Hooray For Lists. Again, I'm not a fan of the resolution thing but I LOVE lists, So I will make another list of 99 things to do. Hopefully I will reach 99 this year and accomplish them all.

Here's how I did with my last list....

1. Sort through the box in my bedroom closet that I have moved to two different households without sorting through.
2. Write monthly letters to my sons. ( I am thinking this should actually count as 24 "things to do" and not one. Depending on how much I get accomplished I may change this later!) INCOMPLETE 2010 - How did I fall of the wagon on this one when I was doing SOOO well?
3. Start my thesis.
4. Finish my thesis.
5. Participate in Chad Darnell's 12 of 12 every month. (COMPLETE DECEMBER 2010)
6. Go to a movie, in a theater, with my spouse. (COMPLETE AUGUST 2010)
7. Clean out the bathroom cupboard. (COMPLETE APRIL 2010) - but I need to do this one again! What happened?!
8. Do at least ONE cross stitch project.
9. Get an updated criminal record check (COMPLETED APRIL 2010 - and AGAIN in OCTOBER 2010 - it expired before the adoptions were complete!)
10. Get a carbon monoxide detector for the house. (THIS IS COMPLETE! January 2010)
11. Fence the dugout.
12. Renew my first aid.
13. Find our marriage license. (didn't find it - so I ordered a new one! APRIL 2010)
14. Change our last names - to a blended last name. (COMPLETE MAY 2010)
15. Send my spouse to see her dad in the USA. (COMPLETE FEBRUARY 2010and SEPTEMBER 2010)
16. Get haircuts for the boys. ( COMPLETE - I cut it myself in June!) Max got his cut again in August, and both again in October.
17. Take family photos.
18. Finish my stats class. (COMPLETE DECEMBER 2010!)
19. Work on my mom's 60th birthday present BEFORE her birthday! (Unfortunately this was not complete in time to send to mom on her birthday..... FAIL)
20. Get the carpet up off the staircase - remove the staples from the steps. (COMPLETE MARCH 2010!)
21. Get the hallway painted.
22. Lay new carpet on the staircase.
23. Make myself a bookmark.
24. Replace Shels' cell phone (COMPLETE. FEBRUARY 2010)
25. Cancel the contract on my cell phone. (COMPLETE. February 2010)
26. Put up Maxie's toddler bed. (COMPLETE. APRIL 2010)
27. Change the furnace filter. (COMPLETE. January 2010)
28. Hang hooks in the bathroom. (COMPLETE. January 2010)
29. Put together the smart shopper cards from IGA. (COMPLETE. February 2010)
30. Sort the tools. (STARTED May 2010)
31. Work on the boy's baby books.
32. Get an electrician quote on the house. (COMPETED MARCH 2010)
33. Hand in all the paperwork for foster care BEFORE March 31.(COMPLETE March 2010)
34. Take all the furniture from the old guest house to the dump.
35. Get tinkey winkey fixed (COMPLETE APRIL 2010) need to get new brakes, new windshield, and fix the lights before the end of the year. (LIGHTS and PLUG fixed NOVEMBER)
36. Teach Max to ride a bike. (COMPLETE OCTOBER 2010) - he got on his bike and started riding!!
37. Box up all the clothes too small for the boys and donate them. (STARTED JUNE 2010) We have done this twice and need to do it again before school Starts in September. (December 2010 - we have done this a few times this year.)
38. Go camping with the family. (COMPLETE JULY 2010) We went for one night to the foster family camp and I am counting it! Next year we will have a tent trailer for SURE and we will do a lot more camping. I think the boys are finally old enough.
39. Take a family picture at Lake Louise.
40. Get a Christmas gift to my parents BEFORE Christmas!
41. Send out a family letter before December 31 2010.
42. Get a dutch oven.( Shel and Max found me a dutch oven in June! YAY!) Now there is a fire ban on in the Municipal District where we live so this might take a while to get completed.
43. Cook a dutch oven meal!(COMPLETE OCTOBER 2010) Cooked with my mom on her visit and it was YUMMY!
44. Stain the deck.
45. Get a haircut. (COMPLETE APRIL 2010) for me and Shel! and again in JULY and NOVEMBER!
46. Submit receipts again up to the end of July 2010. (COMPLETE September2010)
47. Order Checks. (COMPLETE APRIL 2010)
48. Start Stats Class in Burns Lake (COMPLETE SEPTEMBER 2010)
49. Get an electrician to the house to start on rewiring (COMPLETE APRIL 2010)
50. Pay my taxes. (COMPLETE APRIL 2010)
51. Put the new windshield wipers on the van. (COMPLETE APRIL 2010)
52. Get a brush for Zuva and brush her. (STARTED APRIL 2010)
53. Prune. (STARTED APRIL 2010)
54. Fix the lamp from Homa.
55. Finish painting the barn.
56. Rototill the garden spot. (Started May 2010)
57. Take the lawnmowers in for repair. (Bought a new one! JUNE 2010) now the new one needs to be repaired. We are hard on our lawnmowers..
58. Get Shel a new pair of glasses. (COMPLETE JUNE 2010) She got two new pairs!
59. Get the septic tank pumped. (COMPLETE JUNE 2010)
60. (?) What the heck happened here?!
61. Get new wires installed for HDTV and PVR. (COMPLETE June 2010)
62. Get a new dishwasher. (COMPLETE June 2010)
63. Pin the Yard.  INCOMPLETE 2010
64. Fence the yard. INCOMPLETE 2010
65. Install new screens in windows.
66. Install new screen doors - front and back.
67. Install new doors. Front and back.
68. Plant a garden. (INCOMPLETE FOR 2010)
69. Plant some flowers. (complete JUNE 2010)
70. Put up the shelving unit on the back porch
71. Submit all paperwork for the LAST of foster care maintenance. (COMPLETE SEPTEMBER 2010)
72. Trade in the van. (COMPLETE AUGUST 2010)
73. Get a new vehicle.(COMPLETE AUGUST 2010)
74. Paint the back porch.
75. Frame some of the prints from mom and dad. (COMPLETE JULY 2010)
76. Make a 2011 photo calendar. (COMPLETE DECEMBER 2010)
77. Get a tattoo.
78. Dig out my journal and start writing again. (COMPLETE DECEMBER 2010)
79. Spend Thanksgiving with family.(COMPLETE OCTOBER 2010)
80. Go to Utah for Jill's wedding. (COMPLETE NOVEMBER 2010)
81. EAT MEXICAN FOOD IN UTAH! (COMPLETE NOVEMBER 2010)
82. Take a risk. (COMPLETE SEPTEMBER 2010)!
83. Get Hugo Fixed.
84. Get costumes for the boys for Halloween and take them out! (COMPLETE OCTOBER 2010)
85. Make curtains for the bathroom.
86. Make curtains for the back porch.
87. Make curtains for the upstairs hallway.
88. Get the sewing machine down and mend some clothing.
89. Buy a new fridge.
90. Finish the adoptions. COMPLETE NOVEMBER 2010
91. Order New birth certificates for the boys COMPLETE DECEMBER 2010
92. Make 2010 Photo Albums for the boys and the grandparents. COMPLETE 2010
93. Get Shel a DSL Camera. COMPLETE OCTOBER 2010

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Books I read in 2010

I have had a super slow start to the new year in blogging this year. Mainly because I have been crazy busy with work and over the holidays I had no access to the internet to post..
I thought I would get the ball rolling just by posting a list of the books I read last year. I didn't do to badly!
The top of the list is the book I completed most recently.

I am typically not a fan of New Years Resolutions, but I have decided this year if I HAVE a resolutions is is that I am not going to finish every book that I start. To be a little more clear - I have always had this "thing" about finishing books. I will finish a book no matter what. If I start something I don't like it just holds me up because I dawdle and dilly dally and dont just put it down and move on. It is RARE that I don't finish a book. I think in my lifetime it has happened two or three times but I can only actually recall one book by name that I didn't finish... so ANYWAY. This year I resolve to spend my reading time reading books I LIKE and not wasting my time on books I don't like.

Anywhoo.

Here's a list of the books I read last year:

1. Pray for Silence (Kate Burkholder, #2) by Castillo, Linda 2010 date pub edition

2. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Roach, Mary
3. DragonKnight (DragonKeeper Chronicles, #3) by Paul, Donita K.
4. DragonQuest (DragonKeeper Chronicles, #2) by Paul, Donita K.
5. Room by Donoghue, Emma
6. A Recipe for Bees by Anderson-Dargatz, Gail
7. The Hearts of Horses by Gloss, Molly
8. Dragonquest (Pern: Dragonriders of Pern, # 2) McCaffrey, Anne
9. Secret Daughter by Gowda, Shilpi Somaya
10.The Owl Keeper by Brodien-Jones, Christine
11. Ape House by Gruen, Sara
12. The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1) by Dashner, James
13. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) by Collins, Suzanne
14. The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1) by Ryan, Carrie
15. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

16. DragonSpell (DragonKeeper Chronicles, #1) by Paul, Donita K.
17. The Book of Lost Things by Connolly, John
18. Road Dogs by Leonard, Elmore
19. A Week in December by Faulks, Sebastian
20. Life Sentences by Lippman, Laura
21. Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #2) by Stiefvater, Maggie
22. While My Sister Sleeps by Delinsky, Barbara
23. Souvenir by Fowler, Therese
24. Home Safe by Berg, Elizabeth
25. The Last Time I Saw You by Berg, Elizabeth
26. These Is My Words by Turner, Nancy E.
27. The Choice by Sparks, Nicholas
28. The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Tsukiyama, Gail
29. BoneMan's Daughters by Dekker, Ted
30. The Necromancer (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #4) by Scott, Michael
31. East by Pattou, Edith
32. My Name Is Memory by Brashares, Ann
33. The Graveyard Book
34. The Kings of Clonmel (Ranger's Apprentice, #8) by Flanagan, John
35. The Stone Key (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #5)  by Carmody, Isobelle
36. Wavesong (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #5) by Carmody, Isobelle

37. The Keeping Place (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #4) by Carmody, Isobelle
38. Erak's Ransom (Ranger's Apprentice, #7) by Flanagan, John
39. Ashling (The Obernewtyn Chronicles, #3) by Carmody, Isobelle
40. The Season of Second Chances
41. Touching Darkness (Midnighters, #2) by Westerfeld, Scott
42. Blue Noon (Midnighters, #3) by Westerfeld, Scott
43. The Magicians by Grossman, Lev
44. The Help by Stockett, Kathryn
45. Obernewtyn (Obernewtyn Chronicles, #1) by Carmody, Isobelle
46. The Siege of Macindaw (Ranger's Apprentice, #6) by Flanagan, John
47. Lamplighter (Monster Blood Tattoo, #2) by Cornish, D.M.
48. The Fire Thief  by Guppy, Stephen

49. Education of a Wandering Man by L'Amour, Louis

50. Foundling (Monster Blood Tattoo, #1) by Cornish, D.M.

51. The Sorcerer in the North (Ranger's Apprentice, #5) by Flanagan, John

52. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series #1) by Riordan, Rick

53. Stormbreaker (Alex Rider, #1) by Horowitz, Anthony

54. The Battle for Skandia (Ranger's Apprentice, #4) by Flanagan, John

55. The Icebound Land (Ranger's Apprentice, #3) by Flanagan, John

56. The Burning Bridge (Ranger's Apprentice, #2) by Flanagan, John

57. The Secret Hour (Midnighters, #1) by Westerfeld, Scott

58. Peeps by Westerfeld, Scott

59. The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice, #1) by Flanagan, John

60. Last Known Victim by Spindler, Erica

61. White Picket Fences by Meissner, Susan

62. Specials (Uglies, #3) by Westerfeld, Scott

63. Pretties (Uglies, #2) by Westerfeld, Scott

64. Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fablehaven, #3) by Mull, Brandon

65. The Book of Unholy Mischief by Newmark, Elle

66. Incarceron (Incarceron, #1) by Fisher, Catherine

67. The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Search for the Value of His Handicapped Son's Life by Brown, Ian

68. Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1) by Stiefvater, Maggie

69. Uglies (Uglies, #1) by Westerfeld, Scott

70. Hunting Fear (Fear, #1) by Hooper, Kay

71. The Birth House by McKay, Ami

72. Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven, #2) by Mull, Brandon

73. Gravity by Gerritsen, Tess

74. The Scarpetta Factor (Kay Scarpetta, #17) by Cornwell, Patricia

75. Fire (The Seven Kingdoms, #2) by Cashore, Kristin

76. Twice Born (The King's Man #1) by Gedge, Pauline

77. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Hosseini, Khaled

78. Fablehaven (Fablehaven, #1) by Mull, Brandon

79.The Song of Kahunsha by Irani, Anosh

80. Iron River by Parker, T. Jefferson

81. Stitches by Small, David

82. Graceling (The Seven Kingdoms, #1) by Cashore, Kristin

83. Cutting for Stone  by Verghese, Abraham

84. Midnight Fugue: A Dalziel and Pascoe Mystery by Hill, Reginald

85. The Ravine by Quarrington, Paul

86. I, Alex Cross (Alex Cross, #16) by Patterson, James

87. City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3) by Clare, Cassandra

88.The Chalk-Circle Man by Vargas, Fred

89.206 Bones (Temperance Brennan, #12) by Reichs, Kathy

90. The Stolen Child author by Donohue, Keith

91.The Retreat by Bergen, David

92. The Bag Lady Papers: The Priceless Experience of Losing It All by Penney, Alexandra

93. City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2) by Clare, Cassandra

94. City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1) by Clare, Cassandra

95. A Reliable Wife by Goolrick, Robert

96. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Ogawa, Yoko

97. Secrets of Eden by Bohjalian, Chris

98. Outlander (Outlander, #1) by Gabaldon, Diana

99. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) by Larsson, Stieg

100. Small Beneath The Sky by Crozier, Lorna

101. Love Walked In by Santos, Marisa de los

102. Jackdaws by Follett, Ken

103. The Witch Doctor's Wife by Myers, Tamar

104. Little Bee by Cleave, Chris

105. The Singing by Croggon, Alison

106. The Crow: The Third Book of Pellinor by Croggon, Alison

107. Gideon the Cutpurse (The Gideon Trilogy, #1) by Buckley-Archer, Linda

108. The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #2) by Scott, Michael