This was a pretty slow month for me, I normally read at least 8. Here's hoping that May turns out to be an awesome month!
Fun Reading Facts for April:
Total books read: 6
New Authors: 5
Mystery: 3
Non-Fiction: 1
Fiction: 2
Young Adult: 0
Pages: 2079
Tacked to Death by Michele Scott
The help by Kathryn Stockett
Hella Nation by Evan Wright
Rules of Prey by John Sandford
Germania by Brendan McNally
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
I came across this one over at book-a-rama and thought I would play along every month, maybe this is exactly what I need to make sure I complete the challenges I joined this year. This is the challenge wrap-up post for April.
How many books did I read for challenges?
I read a total of 6 books that counted towards challenges. Due to overlapping books for some challenges, I was able to mark off 9 challenge books.
(that made sense right?)
How is my progress so far?
I think I'm doing pretty good so far. The only challenges I haven't read a book for yet are two that I joined this month. This month I wanted to focus on review books, since I'm rather behind. So that's why I didn't do better with challenges. As luck would have it, I was able to use several of the review books towards challenges, but not all of them.
Total challenges that I'm competing in as of April 1st:
13 challenges (this doesn't count the completed challenges)
Completed Challenges in April
None - I'm close on a couple - so maybe next month I can list at least one here.
Total completed challenges in 2009:
20 Books in 2009 - Challenge Completed
Challenges I read a qualifying book for in April:
The Pub Challenge
I read 3 books (The Help, Hella Nation, Dog on It)
At the end of April I had 6/9 completed
Read-Your-Own Books
I read 1 book (Tacked to Death)
At the end of April I had 9/26 completed
War Through The Generations
I read 1 book (Germania)
At the end of April I had 2/5 completed
Series Challenge 3
I read 1 book (Tacked to Death)
At the end of April I had 8/25 completed
1st in a series challenge
I read 1 book (Rules of Prey (alternate))
At the end of April I had 1/12 completed
Chunkster Challenge
I read 1 book (The Help)
At the end of April I had 1/3 completed
Cozy Mystery Challenge (April-Sept)
I read 1 books (Tacked to Death)
At the end of April had 1/6 completed
Progress for challenges that I didn't read a book for in April:
9 books for 2009 - 3 out of 9 completed
Arthurian Challenge (April 2009 – March 2010) - 0 out of 2 completed
Love Bites (April – June) - 0 out of 3 completed
Young Adult – 3 out of 12 completed
Paranormal 2009 – 4 out of 7 completed
TBR Challenge – 2 out of 24 completed
Total savings for the month: $298.94
Grocery store:
04/09 - $47.22
04/24 - $12.10
Total: $59.32
Walgreens/Target/Kmart:
04/20 – $93.66 (kmart)
04/20 - $4.10 (Walgreens)
04/20 - $5.74 (Target)
Total: $103.50
Books:
04/16 - $2.10
Restaurant:
04/29 - $1
Misc. House:
04/02 – Lowes - $10
04/05 – Lowes - $25
04/19 – Lowes – $59.74
04/20 – Leslie's - $24.99
04/25 – Lowes - $10
Total: $129.73
Rebate:
Walgreens - $3.29
Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 370
Challenges: War Through the Generations
New-to-me author? Yes
Author’s website
Simple Description
In simple terms, this is the story of the last days of the Third Reich and the short lived Flensburg Reich. While this is a fictional account of this time period, the author did use some real people and events to shape the story.
When the book first starts out it is about the Flying Magical Loerber Brothers. These are 4 brothers who perform what I would call a circus or acrobat act. They juggle and do flips, etc. Then it moves to several years in the future where their father is dead, the brothers aren’t talking to each other and it is at the end of WWII. The oldest brother is assumed dead, he disappeared and nobody knows what happens. We soon learn that two of the brothers are working in the Nazi party (although not SS) and are also spies for the allies or Soviets/Russians. The fourth broth is in the Navy. I must also mention that these brothers are Jewish. I assume these brothers are purely fictional because it doesn’t say otherwise. You see how their lives end up becoming intertwined during the Flensburg Reich and how each one reacts.
I couldn’t pick out one main character in this book. There are several characters where we get their point of view and live through them for several chapters. Some are the brothers mentioned above and others are Nazi generals and other people who were working for Hitler. You get a hint of what it was like for the German Government in the last days before being imprisoned.
Why did I read this book?
I really like reading books regarding WWII and the Holocaust. Since this was from a different point of view than I normally read, it caught my interest.
What I liked most:
Prior to reading this book, I don’t believe I have ever heard of the Flensburg Reich. This was the German government that was set up after Hitler died and before the Allies dissolved it. This story was interesting for me because it was told from the Germany point of view but also about a part of the war that I wasn’t very familiar with.
Was there something I didn’t like?
I admit that is mostly my fault, but I was confused at first. The very beginning takes place in 1933. Then the next chapter is 1945. I, um, didn’t read that and so was rather confused about what was going on. Haha! So just make sure you do read what is written under the chapter number.
Do I recommend the book?
I do. I thought the book was very interesting and I feel those who like reading books that are about WWII will enjoy it.
Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Leave me a comment to let me know and I’ll link it below.
Sorry, no linked reviews yet.
(click on link to go to the Thursday Thunks blog)
I'm currently reading Hella Nation by Evan Wright. It's very different from what I normally use, but very interesting. The blurb under the title says: Looking for happy Meals in kandahar, Rocking the Side Pope, Wingnut's War Aganst the Gap, and Other Adventures with the Totally Lost Tribes of America.
To be perfectly honest, some stories are better and more interesting than others. But I think which stories that interested or don't interest me could be totally different for you. So be waiting for this review. I hope to have this book finished before the end of the week. I have less than half the book to go, but reading has been slow for me lately, so who knows.
Coming up next is Rules of Prey by John Sandford. It's a series I've been wanting to read, but as usual kept putting it off. One of my yahoo groups has this author as the Author of the Month, so that was just the kick in the pants I needed to finally read it.
For something different, I'm borrowing a question from … here! One of the very first questions ever at Booking Through Thursday. Back from 2005 when Laura owned the blog but, because it was so new, it didn't get as many responses as it does now … so, why not revisit?
Here's the question:
Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…
Are you currently reading more than one book?
If so, how many books are you currently reading?
Is this normal for you?
Where do you keep your current reads?
Oddly enough, up until about 3pm today I was reading two books at once. Now I'm back down to one. So I'm going to say that I was currently reading 2 books since I officially was when this question was asked this morning. That is very abnormal for me. I'm not the type to have several going at once. I like to start one and finish it before I pick up another one. I keep my current reads all over the house. I take it to work with me, where it usually sits on my desk in one of those file sorters (when I'm on a bad call it kinda calms me to look at it – I know – such a book-a-holic). If I'm doing errands or driving around, it's usually in the car with me. While I'm at home…it could be anywhere. It could be on the kitchen table, on the kitchen island, on the end table in the family room, in the master bedroom. On occasion I'll be walking around with it and put it on a shelf in the closet and forget to take it out, so that's always a good place to look for it. It pretty much gets put down wherever I was last reading it or if I'm thinking, I put it in the family room on the back of the chair or on the end table because that's the central room in the house.
Oh, and to answer the question you were dying to ask, why was I reading two at once when it's so uncommon for me? Well..this happens every once in awhile and it's almost always for the same reason. I leave the book at work. Haha! I either leave it in my workout bag or on my desk. I don't usually go an evening without reading, so when I get home I usually pick up a new book to start reading. Then once I'm reunited with the first book, the second one sits on the island or back on the bookshelf till I finish the first one.
Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Putnam – Amy Einhorn books
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 451
Challenges: The Pub Challenge, Chunkster Challenge
New-to-me author? Yes
Author's website
So..what to say about this book. I guess you first want to know if I liked it right? You're probably like me and have read lots of excellent reviews and wondering if it could really be that good. Let me say this, I might not have liked it as much as others did, but I still loved this book. I read reviews where they said they were drawn in right from the beginning. I'm not sure that happened with me. I like it right from the beginning, but I didn't have trouble setting the book down so I could watch tv or play on the computer. That doesn't mean the book wasn't excellent, just means that it didn't suck me in the way others were. Here's why I'm stressing that point. When I read a lot of excellent reviews about a book and nobody has a bad word to say about it, I end up reading the book and being disappointed. I had built up the book and it never lives up to it. So I love when I can read some excellent reviews and then read some where people say they liked it but that it wasn't great. Then I don't expect as much from the book and I end up liking it a lot more than I would have otherwise. So If you are like me, here's that review. The review where the book is said to be excellent and great and recommended, but also saying don't go into it expecting it to be your ultimate favorite for the year (but you are more than welcome to love it so much that it does become your favorite).
This is the kind of book that I read way past my normal bedtime (which is embarrassingly early) and when I finally stopped reading it, I would continue to think about it and it would work its way into my dreams. It's the subject matter. The relationship between whites and blacks in Mississippi during the early 1960's is fascinating to me. This books subject matter is just that. It's about some of the local black women working as maids to white women. But there is one white woman who doesn't really go think things are as they should be. Due to the time period she can't really say anything out load, but she comes up with something that she can do. She wants to get the maid's stories. She wants their views about what it is like to work for a white family, the good, the bad, and the ugly. She doesn't set out to make any changes or make a statement; she just thinks it needs to be heard. She is eventually able to get one maid to agree to help her. Due to circumstances I'm not going to get into, she ends up getting enough maids to help that she can write a book. Then..when the book is published and word gets out that it could possibly be about people in their home town..things really get shaky (names and locations were changed).
Now, the book isn't only about the book. The story is about relationships. There are three main characters that get to tell their story. Two are maids and one is the white lady who is writing this book. You get to see firsthand their relationship with each other and those they work for or who work for them.
I would also find myself staring off into space at times and just thinking about the whole civil rights movement. I wasn't born yet, I wasn't even a though yet. But my parents grew up during that time period. What must it have been like for them? Did it impact them at all? They didn't live in Mississippi or the deep south, they grew up in and lived in the Midwest, in St. Louis. It also boggles my mind that stuff like that happened not so long ago. I am always surprised that this was happening in the 1960's. It just seems like something that should have been fixed by then.
So for me this was a very good book. It made me think and it was enjoyable to read. The author's writing was great and surprised me that it's her first published book. In fact, I sure hope she is working on another.
So pick up a copy if you haven't already and give this one a try. Hope you like it!
This book has also been reviewed by:
Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Leave me a comment to let me know and I'll link it below.
Happy Reading and thanks for stopping by……Kris
Excel is one of those programs that you can do a lot in, but most people aren’t aware of just how much they can do. I’m going to try and cover some of the functions you can use and then some other stuff that I think of. I’m not sure how well I’ll do this, sometimes I think that excel is one of those that you have to be shown to really understand it. Also, remember that I’m using Office 2007, so directions I’ll be typing are for that version. I used to know how to do all this stuff with an older version, but now I can’t remember. If you can’t figure out, let me know and I’ll see if I can find it online or get access to a pc that has an older version. I also didn’t include screen shots this time. If you are interested in trying this, but having trouble and you think the screen shots will help (they always help me) please let me know. I would be happy to email you a copy of this document along with screenshots.
Now for some Random stuff:
First – just to make sure we are clear, excel uses columns and rows. Rows are the numbers that go down the list (usually located on the left side). The columns are the letters that go across the top (usually in letters). A cell is the individual square or box that you enter data in.
F2 key – ever type something into a cell and then want to add to it or edit it? Select the cell, then hit your f2 key, notice that now your curser is after the last character you typed. You can now make any changes you want.
Freeze panes
Have you ever been viewing a spreadsheet and scrolled down and then tried to figure out the column heading. Let’s say you find the row you want and you need the data in a specific column, but you can’t see the column heading anymore and you forgot which letter it is. What a pain right? It’s an easy fix though. You can just freeze the top row (or the first column, or anything else really). Then when you scroll down the list, that area you “froze” is always visible. I actually do this on all my spreadsheets. In Office 2007, click on the view tab, then click on freeze panes. If you want to freeze the top row or the first column, select the option that applies. If you really want to see the first 5 rows or even more, anything other than just the first one, you can do that too. Let’s stick with 5. You want to see the first 5 rows whenever you scroll further down the document. You will want to highlight the 6th row (you always highlight the row below the last one you want to remain at the top). You select the row just by clicking on the number, so I want to select row 6, so I click on the 6 on the left side. Then you click on freeze panes and select the option for “freeze panes” (you would follow the same process for freezing columns). Let’s say you accidentally freeze the wrong column or row or you just don’t need it anymore, it’s easy to remove. Click on freeze panes and then unfreeze panes. Easy right? I know this was more difficult to do with older versions, just because it was harder to find the freeze pane option (or at least I thought it was). Once you know where it is, great, but finding it on your own can be hard.
Print titles
Have you ever printed a spreadsheet that takes up more than 1 page? Ever wish you could see the heading for each column and/or row on each page? You can! (It would be pretty funny if I said “Too bad, still can’t do that. Haha!). OK. This is rather easy in Office 2007 as well. I remember having a hard time finding it in older office versions, but that could also be because I didn’t know what it was called, just what I wanted to do. So, click on the page layout tab. Then click on print titles. This will bring up a page setup dialogue box. Notice where it says print titles. Under that it says “rows to repeat at left” and under that it says “columns to repeat at left”. Obviously, depending on which one you want to do, depends on which one you work with (or both). I tend to do this with columns more than I do with rows. So to the right, at the end of that field, there is an icon that has a small red arrow in it. Click on it. Notice the dialogue box is now smaller and it says “page setup – columns to repeat at left (obviously that’s the option I selected). Also notice that your curser now looks like an arrow pointing down. What you need to do is select the columns you want to repeat at the top. Obviously you can select all or just specific ones (I always do all that I’m using). To select the columns just click it with your curser. If you are selection more than one, click on the first one, hold down the mouse key, then move the mouse to select the rest that you want. When all are selected, unclick the mouse button. Now notice that in the page setup – dialogue box it will show the columns you want to repeat (along with some other characters). Once you have selected all the columns, click on the icon to the left that has the red arrow. Now you are back at the normal page setup screen but in the columns to repeat field, notice it now shows the columns you wish to repeat. I will also like to point out that you can manually type in this info, but I find it easier to do the method I described above. If you are finished, click on “ok” at the bottom. If you also want to select some rows, just repeat the process for the rows field.
Sort & Filter
This is one that I think a lot of people know, but I do get calls on it once in awhile so thought I would include it. A custom sort will allow you to sort several columns at once. For example, I work on a project each month where I have to create a new excel document and sort the info. I have one column for department name and another for employee name. I want to sort by department and then employee. This way I can get all entries for the same department together and then list the users alphabetically (I do this because sometimes the users are entered more than once). This is very easy to do. Click on the Home tab, then click on sort & filter, then click on custom sort. This will bring up the sort dialogue box. Under column, there is a field for sort by, you need to select which column you want to sort first. Then in the sort on field you select which ever option works best (I normally select value), then in the order field select the option you want. Then at the top click on add level. You will get another row of these same fields. Fill them in starting with the next column you want to sort by. Then just fill in the first of the fields and add more levels as you wish. If you add a level and later decide you don’t want it, there is an option to delete the level.
Now filtering, that’s something I never really had a need to do until recently. Speaking of the same spreadsheet I mentioned above. I have to assign co-workers different pc’s to work on. I created a column where I type in the persons’ name who’s assigned to it. I like to print my list in the morning and that’s what I use to jot down notes and keep track of what I’m doing on these pc’s throughout the day. So I like to filter the spreadsheet so I only print the ones that I’m interested in. It’s rather easy to do once you get the hang of it. On the home tab, click on Sort & Filter, then click on filter. Notice that there is now an arrow in each column in the first row. If you click on the arrow for the column you want to filter, it brings up your filter options. Notice about half-way down or towards the bottom, it will say select all and have a check mark in it, then under that it will have each entry listed. If you only want one or a couple selected, unselect “select all”. This will unselect all entries. Then just select the ones you want to see. Then click ok. Now you should be looking at just the entries you want. To remove the filter, click on sort & filter, then click on clear. Or you can click on the arrow again and select all or unselect what was selected and select something else. You can also filter all or several of the columns too, you don’t have to do just one at a time. Once you are done with the filter option, just click on sort & filter and then click on filter.
Functions
SUM
Sum is one of those functions that gets used a lot, I would guess it’s the most common one. Sum will add up everything in the columns you select. You don’t just have to be talking finances either. If you noticed on my blog, on the right side I like to keep a running tally of the amount of books I’ve read, the genre’s, and the page numbers. Well..the first year I did it I realized that I sometimes forgot to update that after I reviewed a book and so it wasn’t always correct. So I created an excel spreadsheet where I actually keep track of each months stats. I then sum each row up so that at anytime I can look at the total and see where I am at for the year. (See what happens when a book-a-holic likes computers?). So let’s say you have a column or a row that you want to add up all the numbers in. Select the column or row after the last entry you entered in the column/row you want to add. Type an = sign and then start typing “sum”. If you have office 2007, you will notice that you get suggestions; you can either type all of sum or use your arrow keys to select it from the list. Either way, when done click the TAB key. This will input the entire word (SUM) and put an open parenthesis behind it. Now, you just select the cells you want to be added together! If all the cells are together, such as in a row or column, then click on the first cell you want to add, hold down your mouse button and drag it through all the other cells. When you have all the cells selected, unclick your mouse button and hit enter. That’s it! If the cells you want to add aren’t together, no big deal. Click on the first cell, hold down your ctrl key, then use your mouse to select the rest of the cells. If any of the cells you select are empty, it will count it as a zero. If you later enter a number into that cell, it will update the total automatically, you won’t have to do anything else.
Count or counta or countblank
These are functions that I didn’t even know about until last year but have since been able to use several times and love it.
Count will count the number of cells that you select that contain numbers. It doesn’t add them up, it just tells you how many of the cells you select have a number entered.
Counta will count all cells that have something in them, so in other words, the cells are not empty. This is the one I use a lot. For the spreadsheet I mentioned above, our boss likes to know how many pc’s we need to work on and how many we have completed working on. The counta function allows my boss to access the spreadsheet at anytime and look at the cell I created for this and know the answers. So I basically use it as a way to measure our progress.
Countblank does the opposite of counta. It will count the number of empty cells in your selection.
To use any of these functions, you do the same think you did for SUM. You access the cell you want this function to be in, then start typing it. Also, what’s really cool about office 2007 is that if you use the arrow to highlight the selects that office shows, it will tell you want the function is used for.
Ok..so there are a lot of functions out there, but those are the only ones I’m going to cover. Some are very simple, some are very complicated. If you have a question about one you want to use but it’s not work, feel free to let me know and I’ll see what I can come up with. There is a formulas tab that can come in handy. I personally don’t normally use it, but that’s because I am always using the same formulas and I know what they are. I have played around with it though and it’s pretty cool.
I just realized this is going to be a rather long post and there’s one more thing I want to cover.
With office 2007 you are given the option to check for errors when using functions. This is a live saver. Sometimes you will be using a function, such as SUM, and notice that it’s not correct. Or you will notice that there is an #ref or something else in a cell. So you know that somewhere in the spreadsheet this is a mistake. Now I don’t normally run into this myself but that’s because I’m not using large spreadsheets with lots of functions. However I do get calls on this at work. Click on the formula tab. Click on error checking. This will just check your entire spreadsheet to see if there are any errors. Or, if you know you have a field that is wrong, click on it. Then click on the formula tab. Then click on either trace precedents or trace dependents. Depending on which one you select, this will either show you which cells either affect the cell you select or are affected by the cell you selected. This can really help cut down you having to find the cells and view the data entered.
Ok…so long enough, I’m going to stop talking now. I hope some of this made sense and if it didn’t but you want to know more, I hope you feel comfortable asking me. There is sooo much more you can do with excel that I didn’t even touch on. I like excel, I use it a lot, but I don’t use it a lot to where I need to do a ton of fancy smancy stuff. So, if you have an excel document and want to do something, but not sure how or if it’s possible, feel free to ask that too…I might be able to figure it out.
And if you have read this far..I have just one other request. What other topics would you like to see me discuss or give tips and tricks on? I currently don’t have ideas for anything else and welcome any suggestions you might have.
