Inflatable cloud

VIA «Over a city high overcast is expected»

Clouds over London

Clouds by Tomas Saraceno

VIA «Olympic clouds»

Cloud 360

VIA «Park observatory»

The following people have participated in Weekly Geeks, either here or at Dewey's blog. Thanks for joining the community!

*Note: We are no longer regularly updating this list (as it is ginormous and time-consuming), but if you would like to be added, just send us an email with a link to one of your Weekly Geek posts. Thanks!

3M at 1morechapter

Aaron at That’s the Book!

Adrienne at Bookmark My Heart

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Adventures in Reading

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Presenting Lenore

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Word Lily

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Weekly Geeks 2009-15 comes from animal lover Wendy of Caribousmom:

How many of us remember a favorite pet from our childhood? Or have enjoyed visiting the zoo? Or relish in walking in the woods and hearing birdsong, or seeing a deer leap away through the brush? How many of us have been thrilled by a soaring eagle? How often have we sought the comfort of a dog or cat, or wept tears of loss when forced to say good-bye to a furred friend?

This week you are asked to share books (fiction or nonfiction) and/or movies which center around an animal or animals.

• Which are your favorites?
• Which touched your heart the most?
• Which have found their way onto your wish lists or TBR stacks?
• Is there a childhood favorite?
• Have you ever named a pet after an animal from a book or movie?

Please stop by the original Weekly Geeks post to see who has signed Mr. Linky and participated in this week's theme! Meanwhile, here are a few posts that caught my eye; please keep in mind that I'm a dog person, so it's possible I'm showing some favoritism.

Molly at My Cozy Book Nook shares her love of Labrador retrievers - Marley, of course, and a couple of her own - which perseveres despite her allergy to dogs.

Lizzy of Booking It named her Yorkie after author Douglas Adams, and the dog's toys are all named for characters from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

On her blog Kiss a Cloud, Claire shares animal-themed picture books and pictures of her brother's beagles. In a similar vein, Infant Bibliophile offers a round-up of all of the children's books about animals (and there are a LOT) that he (and his mom) have reviewed on their Chronicle.

But just to show that I'm not dog-ist, I'll point you toward a few other Geeks and their favorite critters:

Sarah of Puss Reboots is all about - go on, guess - cats!

Frances at Nonsuch Book raves about ravens

It's All About Books and animals at Suey's, where she has posted pictures of her pets and a list of her Top Ten Animal Books

Thanks to all the animal-loving Geeks who joined in this week! Look for the new theme to be posted tomorrow.

Can I start a review with holy shit? Well, whatever your answer is, I'magonnadoit.

Holy shit. I didn't think it was possible, but Jeffrey Eugenides has once again succeeded in writing a book that grabbed me by my eyeballs and yanked me into the story. I read Middlesex over the summer and I loved it so much I've taken to calling it my favorite book. I'm not committing yet, just trying it on for size. Since I survived the beefy, wonderful Middlesex, I wasn't afraid at all to try his other book, The Virgin Suicides, even though I had already seen the movie and that usually ruins a book for me. The movie did not ruin the book for me. Just like Middlesex, the writing in the first few pages was enough to make me sit still and read the crap out of this book.

"...our eyes got used to the light and informed us of something we had never realized: the Lisbon girls were all different people. Instead of five replicas with the same blond hair and puffy cheeks we saw that they were distinct beings, their personalities beginning to transform their faces and reroute their expressions. We saw at once that Bonnie, who introduced herself now as Bonaventure, had the sallow complexion and sharp nose of a nun. Her eyes watered and she was a foot taller than any of her sisters, mostly because of the length of her neck which would one day hang from the end of a rope" (26).
Eugenides goes on from that point to describe each sister in a similar fashion, exuding innocence and creepiness the whole way through. Everything in this book is innocent and creepy, suburban and having sex on the roof of your parents house. (Can I insert a little squeal here? Thank you.) The story is written from the point of a view of a group of boys in the neighborhood who watched the Lisbon girls their whole lives, except now they are adults and the Lisbon girls have been dead for a long time. They retell the whole story and occasionally talk about specific evidence they have. Photographs, clothing, makeup. They call these Exhibit 1-97, and they insert them occasionally throughout the story until you reach the end where the girls commit suicide (I'm not giving away anything here, you know the whole book it's going to happen) and the boys bombard you with evidence for everything as they explain to you why the girls died.

The story moves slowly and Eugenides has perfected the art of creeping through the pages. Even though it's slow I kept turning the pages just to soak up more of his writing. This is also the first time I have ever read a story where I believed it was told from a group of people rather than just one person. He doesn't spend a lot of time defining characters, but he doesn't have to because the point of the story is that no one really knows anyone. He doesn't glamorize suicide. He says things anyone who has been exposed to suicide has thought. Once again, he is a masterful storyteller.

Most people seem to think Middlesex is amazing and The Virgin Suicides is pretty great. I'll put myself in that camp too. I honestly don't have any complaints about the book at all, but when compared to Middlesex I just didn't feel that there was as much to the story. Part of that is probably the nature of the book, as I said there is very little characterization happening, just snippets here and there, but it wasn't enough for me to throw down the book at the end and start hyperventilating like I did with Middlesex (slight exaggeration).

To end this I'll share one of my favorite parts of the book, a part I think really shows Eugenides talent at summing up human emotion in one little thing.

"Jerry Burden found the following doodle: a girl with pigtails is bent under the weight of a gigantic boulder. Her cheeks puff out, and her rounded lips expel steam. One widening steam cloud contains the word Pressure, darkly retraced" (142).

I give this book an A.

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Weekly Geeks assignment 2009-04 was the brainchild of Chris of Book-a-rama. Inspired by our founder Dewey's passion for knitting, Chris wanted to know about our passions aside from reading and blogging:

What are you passionate about besides reading and blogging? For example, are you crafty (knitting, woodworking, scrapbooking, model building)? Do you cook? Into gaming (computer or board)? Sports (player or spectator)? Photography? Maybe you like geocaching, rock climbing? Or love attending events like renaissance fairs, concerts? Music? Dancing? You get the idea.

Tell us why you're passionate about it. Post photos of what you've made or of yourself doing whatever it is you love doing.
Chris also asked us to share outside links ("tutorials, recipes, YouTube videos, websites, fan sites, etc, anything that will help us learn more about your interest or how to do your hobby") related to our passions, and to visit other Weekly Geeks to learn more about their passions.

Bogsider at Lous_Pages wondered whether she had an answer to this question at first:

Passionate is such a big word. But then again, I do know that I do not have to take the meaning literally and that if I translate it to something like "what are your other interests" it applies (and appeals) more to me. I can see the gap between being passionate about something and having an interest in something. But taken literally, I am not red-hot with passion over anything. But I am interested in a lot of things, and definitely, I feel more interested in some things over others. And there are of course things which I am very interested in and spend a lot of time doing or thinking about. Surely.

Framed in those terms, Bogsider did have some passions to share. She is close to completing a master's degree in Egyptology, an interest which allows her to pursue two other favorite activities, photography and travel. Photography is a hobby mentioned by several other Weekly Geeks, too. A few folks, like work their photographs into another one of their passions - scrapbooking, either traditional, like Erin at Crazy Comma Momma, or digital, like Tasses of Random Wonder.

When they're not holding a book, Weekly Geeks seem to like using their hands for needlework crafts like crochet and cross-stitch are popular. Knitting is a favorite pastime of Julie from Booking Mama, while Yati of "Fiddle-de-dee's not English" is one of the Geeks who enjoys patchwork and quilting. Some geeks express their creativity through drawing and painting, like Claire at Kiss a Cloud and Sarah from Puss Reboots, and Care of Care's Online Book Club makes mosaics.

But even though they love to read and blog and be creative, Weekly Geeks like to get outside once in a while too. Some Geeks enjoy working in their gardens. Some enjoy working with animals, like Wendy of Caribousmom and Bookish Ruth, while Gavin of Page 247 is a volunteer Beach Naturalist. One Weekly Geek, UnfinishedPerson, is preparing to run his first marathon this summer.

And every now and then, a Geek likes to come out from behind her books and entertain people. Ali of Worducopia sings with a choir, and Joanna from It's All About Me performs in plays and musicals.

Weekly Geeks are definitely more than just bookworms!

Ashfall by Mike Mullin is a post-apocalyptic novel that takes us into what it might be like if the Yellowstone Supervolcano were to actually explode.

I like in SE Idaho, which means that Yellowstone National Park is only about an hour and a half drive from my house. I spent many summers playing in the park, and I loved it. Seriously. If you've never been to Yellowstone, put it on your bucket list. Growing up so close to Yellowstone is what interested me in Ashfall in the first place. I knew the book wouldn't be about the park, because if the volcano erupts, I promise — there is going to be no park left. But I vividly remember the first time I went to the park after learning that it was one of the world's largest volcanoes. I was terrified and had these vivid mental images of my dad driving the car up the side of a giant mountain and straight down into the frothing, bubbling magma of the TV volcanoes.

Let me tell you — this book has made me insanely glad that I live where I do. Why? Because if the Yellowstone Volcano does explode? I die. Living so close makes for a great summer vacation but my survival chances are like 1 in 100gazillion million, if every single condition is absolutely 100% perfectly perfect. And even then, it's most likely that I'll live for an hour, getting to watch the massive, roiling cloud of dark death coming for me, and then I die.

Death isn't something I welcome, but I tell you what — after reading about the likely future for survivors?! I'm okay with it. The apocalyptic world that Mullin describes here in this book is freaky. And, not in the way that zombies are scary, because as much as we like to plan for 'when zombies attack' it's never actually going to happen. But this, this could definitely happen. If Yellowstone explodes, it would be absolutely devastating. We are talking thick blankets of ash coating most, if not all of the United States and worldwide weather changes from the ash in the sky. Everyone will suffer. Global chaos man. Ash coating a majority of the midwest or hanging out in the sky, obscuring the sun means that nothing will grow. No growing things means that animals will die. And, since most people don't keep much more food in the house than will last them a week, food will be scarce, people will start to scavenge, and things are gonna get nasty.

I'm glad I'm just going to go out with a bang with the volcano, because the afterlife has got to be better than this. But Mullin's main character, Alex, does an admirable job of surviving on his own. (And, he does make me regret, yet again, that I never learned karate as a kid...) Alex is left alone for a weekend, while his parents and younger sister go to visit his uncle about 2 hours away. And then — disaster. Alex is terrified, but stays for a few days with some neighbors, long enough for the insanely loud and massive rumblings of the volcano to stop. When Alex is no longer comfortable staying where he is, he decides to set out and find his family. Grabbing a pair of skis and some food and supplies, Alex walks out into the ash.

But Alex doesn't really know what he's doing. He doesn't bring enough food or water and he drinks it way too fast, drinking whole bottles at a time with his meals. But, Alex is lucky, and somehow, always manages to find what he needs right before, or right as his situation becomes dire. To be honest, it happened a few too many times to be wholly believable. When the world is in as much turmoil and panic, the likelihood of finding just exactly what you need just exactly when you need it, is slim. Like, finding an abandoned car right when you feel as if you can go no farther, even though you haven't seen any cars all day. There were a few times in the story when I thought, How convenient (mild eye-roll). But, we can't have our main characters dying on us, so I accepted the luck as necessary to the progression of the story, and honestly, the resourcefulness of the characters was a big help.

The only major complaint that I had with this story was the narrative style, but that is something that is more my problem than a problem with the writing. I find that I personally have a hard time feeling the proper urgency of a story when the main character already knows how the tale ends. I don't know what the proper name for this tense it, but it's first person, past tense? or something like that. But there are comments like, if 'I knew then what I know now', or 'I didn't know at the time, but found out later'. I hope that makes sense... For me, the story loses a bit of its urgency when I know the main character already knows how the story will end. It's not a conscious thing initially but it's been there in every story I've read that uses this style of writing. There's nothing wrong with it, I just don't connect to it as well as I do to some other styles.

This is a book about a journey, and it's a hard one. Alex struggles to travel, struggles to find genuinely good places to find food and water or sleep and Mullin doesn't hide from that. In the beginning, after Alex sets out to find his family, he realizes that it took him 6 days of walking on the skis to travel the distance it takes 30 minutes in the car. And Alex learns hard lessons too, many of which make him grateful for what he had and rueful that he ever took it for granted. It's a struggle every day for Alex to survive, and even with the luck thing, I would never want to be in his position. He finds enough to sustain him, but it's not like it's easy, and there is definitely no luxury to be had.

I was also impressed with Mullin's capture of human nature. The reactions of various characters Alex meets along the way are so varied, but so believable. Some are cruel and vicious, looking to scavenge or rob anything they can. Other communities rally together to protect and preserve all they can, realizing their chances of survival are better in a team. Still others seize and take power where they can, abusing those beneath them. And even in the communities where people are working together, you have to barter and trade for items you need and they pull every grain of food from you they possibly can. When faced with death, we will do pretty much everything in our power to ensure we can stave it off as long as possible and I thought Mullin captured that perfectly.

This review is already long enough, so I'll end with that even though I'm sure I could talk for hours about Yellowstone (and the interesting vacation pictures of me in it) and what the effects of this supervolcano erupting. It would be an absolutely devastating event, the likes of which civilization has never seen. You think the natural disasters we've experienced are bad? Just you wait until that gargantuanly massive volcano hanging out underneath Wyoming decides the pressure is too much. The world will be doomed.

*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review from the author in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Bonnie from A Backwards Story has graciously brought us another fantastic interview, as always combining her great questions with our fun silly ones! Today she chats with debut author Victoria Schwab! Enjoy!

1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them?
I grew up with Grimm. Well, I grew up with the toned-down versions of Grimm, and then later discovered the originals in all their morbid glory. But what's always drawn me to them, and why I decided to write one, was the FEEL. Fairy tales have this archetypal quality. They SEEM simple, but there's so much at play, and we as readers are only glimpsing a small portion. We never get full lives, only moments, only days. But those glimpses are so chock full of culture and character, and usually magic, that I was and still am captivated by them. It's as much to me about what we don't see, what's already there, as what we do see.

2) Can you tell us more about your upcoming novel, The Near Witch?
The Near Witch is a fairy tale. It's also a ghost story. And a mystery. It is a glimpse into a world where there are no strangers, where there are shadows of past magic. It's a world that's asleep until a set of events--the appearance of a stranger, the disappearance of children--begins to wake it.

3) I would love to know more about how you came up with the story of The Near Witch. What gave you the idea?
It actually all came about from two sentences thought up about six months apart. One was "There are no strangers in the town of Near" and the other was "The wind on the moors is a tricky thing." I knew immediately I wanted to put them together. My first thought was, "Where's Near?" I started to ask questions and explore the village in my head. It was very exploratory at first, organic, just getting to know the place, as told through this girl's voice. Then the mystery began to form from those two sentences.

4) How did you come up with the nursery rhymes and all the back story told in bedtime tales?
Much of it came out of that early exploration. I love, love oral history, the way stories are passed down, so I knew that this would be a part of my fairy tale world. That's how people learn, and truths can be so relative and warped when passed down that way. There is no objectivity, and that was key to this story.

5) What, if any, lore did you use as a model/starting ground when weaving together your own tale?
I didn't really have a model, but I knew the world had to be small. The only way I was going to get the level of detail and believability I needed was if the physical size was confined. Doing that made it so the reader could really (hopefully) visualize, even with less description. Then, there was the issue of the magic. I needed to create a very intuitive system for it, something that felt natural in the truest sense but still had order, rules. So these were the guiding principles of Near--small, tightly woven, natural, intuitive. I knew if I could pull off that foundation, it would help the reader stay in the world, and hopefully, after finishing, cause the world to stay with them.

6) What other ideas are you working on right now?
Right now I'm getting ready to send the draft of my next book, The Archived, off to my editor! It's currently scheduled for next fall, and it is not set in Near. It is Buffy meets The Shining meets a library: p

7) Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building? How did you bring everything together?
YES. That was single-handedly the most difficult and the most exciting part of this project. I wanted to create a world that would read like it had decades, centuries, of folklore. Everything had to be nuanced and intuitive, and believable, and I wanted it to read like a fairy tale as opposed to a fantasy, which largely came down to tone and execution. It was very messy at first, with scribbled timelines alongside scribbled nursery rhymes, but in the end I hope it feels right and real to the readers. It feels real to me.

8) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors?
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. One of my favorite novels of ALL TIME.

9) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why?
Little Red Riding Hood, without a doubt. I just love the idea of the big bad wolf (and apparently readers do too, just look at trends in YA), and, in many of the early versions, Little Red is pretty fierce herself. I wrote a short story once, about how MY Little Red would go.

Time for some fun, quirky questions!

~Best fairy tale villain and why?
Villains are my favorite archetypes. I'm going to say Maleficent, for sheer epicness of name.

~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult?
Again, Little Red. I can't help it.

~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
I think I would be named after a cloud formation, or the sky, or the stars, because I'm always looking up.

~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale:
Sky goes for a walk while watching clouds and accidentally stumbles off a cliff into a land of magic and evil and magically evil unicorns.

~Would you rather:
- — eat magic beans or golden eggs?
Beans. I'm not really an egg person. Something about the texture. I wonder if golden eggs have a different texture than regular ones. I wonder if they taste expensive. But now I'm also wondering if magic beans cause gas, or if I'm going to end up with some trippy hallucinations or something...

- — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers?
I'll polish those slippers. I can't even keep my own hair styled, and it only comes to my shoulders.

- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming?
Ohhhhhh. Yeah, I am going to have to go with the fairy godmother, because she can help me get Prince Charming, and all that other stuff I probably want.

This week Terri had us revisiting another old favorite that Dewey had come up with--a week's worth of memorable quotes. It was fun to see the themes some Geeks came up with to organize their thoughts.

Some Geeks focused on one favorite author. Nonsuch Book featured Proust, to go along with a Proustian read-along she'll be leading soon, Between the Covers highlighted quotes from six Jane Austen books, and Paxton offered some of Mark Twain's words of wisdom.

Need a pick-me-up? You'll find an array of quotes about optimism at Erotic Horizon. How about some food quotes? Dave at Gluten-free Portland is happy to provide them! Some of these will make you hungry and some of them . . . won't. But the recipe for Cauliflower Curry posted right below the first quote definitely has my mouth watering. And Claire of Kiss a Cloud posted quotes about the sea.

It's Dark in the Dark can always be counted on for something...peculiar (and usually funny as well) and this week was no exception, with quotes from people as varied as Ezra Pound and Dr. Seuss, and one by poor Oscar Wilde about his duel to the death with the wallpaper in his hotel room.

Can't get enough of the quotes? Neither can Bookish Ruth! In fact, she's decided to make this a weekly feature, so you can find a new "Quotable" passage every Friday on her blog.

Thanks to all of you for participating in Weekly Geeks this week!

Author Bio: Jocelyn Koehler grew up in the wilds of Wisconsin, but now lives in a tiny house in Philadelphia that is filled with books, tea things, and places to read, sleep, and write. She has worked as a librarian, bookseller, editor, archivist, cubicle drone, popcorn popper, and music store clerk. Her books are available through Amazon or through her publisher, Hammer & Birch. Her new book The Way through the Woods, a collection of fairy tales based in the mythical land of the Nine Kingdoms, will be available May 1.

Interview:
What do you make of the resurgence in popularity for fairy tales? (Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsmen, all within a very short time)? Do you see it as a trend that will sort of peter out, or is it just getting started?

There sure have been a lot of movies and TV shows with a fairy tales theme lately. Partly, I think that cynical marketing types do work in cycles. Ten years ago it was all angels, all the time. Then vampires got big. Then zombies stumbled in (I fondly remember a time when not every classic novel had a "zombie" version). So fairy tales might be getting a "what's next?" push. However, I don't believe that fairy tale retellings will vanish next year. Whether it's books, film, or TV, people like these stories, which means that there will always be a market for them.

What impact do you think fairy tales have on society (especially with the same tales popping up in various forms in every society)?

No question... the impact is huge. The themes and messages from fairy tales are absolutely everywhere. During March Madness, the sportscasters drool whenever they get to talk about a "Cinderella" team that makes it to the "big dance." I think it's clear that almost everybody wants to live in a fairy tale of some sort, whether they recognize it or not.

Book in a Tweet: Your fairy tale in 140 characters or less?
Cindrelle defies her stepmother to attend a mysterious ball, falling in love with the prince who gives it. But who is he? Can he be trusted?

Favorite fairy tale:
Picking a single favorite is impossible, but I have to admit that Cinderella is right up there. When I started writing my retellings, the first one I completed was Ashes, Ashes, which is based on the traditional (pre-Disney) Cinderella story, complete with the three-night-long ball and the wish-granting hazel tree.

Most underrated fairy tale?
East of the Sun and West of the Moon doesn't get the attention it deserves. Where's that movie? Come on, one of the main characters is a bear.

Most overrated fairy tale?
I won't name names, but it rhymes with "schmilight."

Last year we asked everyone’s fairy tale hero/heroine name; this year, we want to know your fairy tale villain name:
My best friend once drew a picture of me and titled it Baroness von Blissblok. I'd wear all black, of course.

Using that name, give us a line from your villainous fairy tale:
The Baroness von Blissblok appeared in a cloud of swirling grey mist. "Fools! My tea was lukewarm today. I had to put it in the microwave for thirty seconds. As punishment for slightly inconveniencing me, I vow no one shall smile again!"

If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would they be?
1. the total extinction of centipedes
2. world peace
3. a long and happy life with my beloved (that one's half-granted already)

Best way to read fairy tales? (i.e. location, snacks, etc)
Think of all the things you should accomplish today. Write them down on a piece of paper. Burn the paper. Then grab your book of fairy tales and a fluffy blanket, curl up on your favorite couch or chair, and start reading. If you find yourself getting hungry, enchant a dog to be your servant (ineffective on cats, trust me). Have the dog make you a cup of tea or cocoa hourly, as needed.

If one of your books was being turned into a movie and you could cast 1 character, which character would you cast and who would play them?
I'd cast Tilda Swinton as the evil stepmother in Ashes, Ashes. Nobody does cool, competent scary like her!

Giveaway: Jocelyn has been generous enough to donate five copies of her book, Ashes, Ashes, to giveaway! It's only available as an ebook, which means that this giveaway is also international! Just leave a meaningful comment on this post and tell us what you liked best about the interview, or why you want to read her book! And, make sure you've filled out the giveaway form!

Click the button to be taken to the
Fairy Tale Fortnight Main Page & Schedule
(button image via)

Just do the following:

• Grab your current read


• Open to a random page


• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page


• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)


• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser comes from THE SECRET SPEECH by Tom Rob Smith:

"As the cloud thinned it revealed a hole in the wall twice the height of a man and equally wide. The damage made it appear as if a giant had accidentally put the tip of his boot through the church and then apologetically retracted his foot, sparing the rest of the building."

What's your teaser?