Chasing Shackleton by Tim Jarvis

This was a fascinating account of a crazy expedition. Six men tried to recreate Shackleton's "double." In 1914, Shackleton was on his way to attempt a land crossing of Antarctica, but got stuck in an iceberg on the way and was trapped for over a year! Eventually he and six men traveled by lifeboat (stage one) to the Island of South Georgia. Once they got there, they had to cross a glacier (stage two) to get to a whaling station where they could find help for the rest of their crew. They accomplished their goal, and were able to rescue the men left behind. Jarvis & crew traveled to Antarctica, to the starting point of the lifeboat journey. Using a replica lifeboat and materials and technology from the period, they recreated the experience. 

It was really interesting to read about both the back story of the expedition as well as the expedition itself. A crew accompanied them to film the experience for a documentary, also called "Chasing Shackleton." I appreciated learning the history of Shackleton's original expedition alongside the attempt by Jarvis. There were beautiful photos from both expeditions.

As someone who really, really hates being cold, I can't imagine willingly putting myself in that situation, especially using the period clothing and equipment.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Art: high-brow thread linking New York socialites, terrorists, antique dealers, orphans, grifters and Russian thugs.

Drugs: Addiction. Weed, heroin, crack, pills, Long periods of deep non-sensical hallucinatory imagery.

Parental involvement: gambling, prep-school bullies, ice queens, bi-polar disorder, kind-hearted guardians.

Love: lost, unrequited, misplaced, obsessive, pay-for, same sex.

Adolescence: all of the above.

Drowning:  in a veritable ocean of words; in annoying punctuation gimmicks; in excruciatingly detailed descriptions.   And a cute dog.    Have we left anything out?

Half Bad by Sally Green

  Half Bad centers on Nathan, a witch who is a half code; his mother was a White Witch (good guy) and his father was THE Black Witch (bad guy).  Nathan lives with his half siblings and grandmother, because his father killed his mother and then fled, continuing to commit atrocities as he went along.  Now the governing body is hunting Black Witches, and Nathan slowly loses his rights and finds himself being harshly discriminated against in the Witch community.  Because of his father, Nathan becomes a target of the witch government, and after that, it's a struggle for Nathan to survive.
  Half Bad was okay.  Something about it just fell flat.  The idea that the witch government could exercise such strong control in some cases and then completely drop the ball in others seemed far fetched, especially when it comes to Nathan and his father.  This is the first book in a series, and maybe the next will give me what I need to really enjoy, and connect with the story.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.
  Half Bad will be published on March 4th, 2014 by Penguin Young Readers Group.