reading (catching up)

After moving books back from storage I've sorted through books I haven't read yet and focused on "quick read, probably will only read once." As a result, most of my recent reading has been kid books.

Mary Logue's Dancing with an Alien is a strange mix. The sentence structure is simplistic, just above "See spot run." So I would peg it for primary school reading level. The length of the book and the size of the print reinforce this impression. But the main character is 17 and the plot is not primary school appropriate. The only target audience I could imagine for the book is barely literate 15-16 year olds, but the main characters are generally bookworms, so that seems an unlikely match for the demographic. This book doesn't fit fish nor fowl. I'd certainly not give it to a primary school kid, there are much better available for them. And I would imagine any teenager who will pick up a book would require more challenge than this book can offer.

Ann Downer's Hatching Magic is a kid book, no doubt about it. The main character is younger, but generally smart, strong, and competent. The setting is modern Boston with lots of reference to local landmarks. It was a fun light read.

Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl is somewhat the Richie Rich of crime. Even when things are hard for Artemis they're easy. He's a twelve year old genius who comes from a wealthy family. The story arch does have redeeming qualities, emphasizing the power of friendship, kindness. Even though Artemis starts as the cackling bad guy, I'm pretty sure he'll end the n-th book doing good deeds. But I'm not sure anyone should bother following the whole arch. It just doesn't seem worth it. I've read the first and third book now and have the fourth and fifth in the stack, but I'm not going looking for any more. I'd recommend the Series of Unfortunate Events in the place of this series.

38. Mary Logue Dancing With An Alien
39. Ann Downer Hatching Magic
40. Asimov's October November
41. Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl
42. Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code

miscalculation

Earlier this week my left knee started bothering me. It would get painful and stiff when I was sitting down, but walking seemed to loosen it up and make it better. I figured it would pass. I took Thursday off to use some of my use or lose vacation time and just have a quiet day. When I woke up I could barely stand, but after a while I decided walking down to the bank wouldn't be bad. It was a really pleasant walk, I took a break in the middle and had lunch and a couple miles seemed to be fine.

Yesterday we went to the Common Ground fair. That was a mistake. Riding in the car for 3 hours up and back and walking around for 6 hours in between was a huge mistake. By the time I got home I couldn't walk at all, my knee was swollen and hot.

In hindsight, I now realize that the whole thing started when my quads got tight from lifting boxes last weekend. Then sitting at a desk all week just allowed them to get tighter and tighter. First I have to rest enough to get the swelling down, then I need to gently stretch my quads to get my kneecap back to where it belongs.

Now I must move, because I can't sit in front of this computer anymore.