Four Things

1. I've cut my fingers enough times on my hand held zoodle maker... It's time to invest in something that won't leave me bleeding! The Paderno Spiralizer looks perfect. Do you have a zoodle maker you prefer?

2. I'm not sure if it's the L.L. Bean girl in me or the fact that I've been in the south too long, but I need a hat just like this. Monogrammed and faded navy? It goes straight to my heart. I'll be hitting up Etsy to buy this hat soon unless I can find someone with a monogram machine...

3. Last weekend I spent part Miles' REI dividend on the black pair of Chaco Dorra sandals. I'm going back this weekend to buy them in brown leather. Full post coming about them soon (just know they are the best sandals I've found in my entire life).

4. I have three day weekend (do other parts of the country let out for Easter or is it a Southern thing?), so I'm finally going to dive into Rain Reign by my favorite Ann M. Martin. It recently was awarded the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children along with being named an ALA Notable Book (among other recognitions). I'm betting it will be wonderful; I'll give you all he full scoop next week! Any other YA or Ann M. Martin lovers out there?

#WBN2014

Everyone knows I love books, so when I learned of World Book Night, I immediately added my name to the email list so I would know when to apply. That was this this time last year! Last fall, I applied and earlier this year, I was selected. Yesterday, I picked up my box and on April 23, I get to play Book Fairy and pass out 20 copies of Hoot by Carl Hiaasen. Basically, World Book Night hopes everyone will go home tonight and read. Not sit at home and binge-watch Breaking Bad... but read. A book. An actual book. Will you join me?


Side note: I've been reading a lot this year, but I haven't been telling you. I'm not sure anyone has noticed or even cares! Mostly, I'm reading mysteries, but I did just start Eleanor and Park. You can friend me on GoodReads!

Side note 2: Does anyone else think of Shakespeare when writing April 23? No? Just me?

Books Read in January 2014

  

 

Canadian West series books 3-6 by Janette West

Mama Ph.D. edited by Elrena Evans

The Yard by Alex Grecian
Return to Tradd Street by Karen White

So January consisted of 5 extra days off of work thanks to the polar vortex in early January and the southern snow storm in late January.  For some, those extra five days means extra sleep, cuddle time with kids, binge watching BBT, or Facebook. For me, extra days means three things: Lewis, Clark, and a book! (Lewis and Clark being my cats!)

Reviews: Mama PhD has been on my to-read list for a while. I'm thinking about getting a higher degree, but I also want to have kids. This is an enlightening read about being in graduate school or on the tenure track and having children. The Yard was a random book I grabbed in B&N back in December. It wasn't bad. Think Jack the Ripper & Sherlock Holmes.  Return to Tradd Street is the 4th book in the Tradd series. The Tradd series is by far one of my favorite book series (ever), so it's not a surprise that I loved this one, too. If you like ghosts (I do), you'll like the Tradd series! As for the Canadian West books... I loved the 1st & 2nd book. The 3rd (When Hopes Springs New) was okay. The rest of the series (especially the last book!) wasn't anything to rave about. And the ending of the last book made me want to vomit. But because I'm committed to finishing a series, I stuck with them. Lucky for me, they were all library eBooks, so they didn't cost me anything.

What are you reading?

Books to Read?

Books to read before the movie!

Have you seen this article of books to read?

I think I'll be ordering Winter's Tale, Wild, and Serena.

And maybe Vampire Academy. After all, the movie is by the directors of Mean Girls.

Books Read in 2013

For those who read my other blogs, you know that I'm a reader. After years of trying, I finally met my reading goal of reading (for enjoyment) 50 novels. In fact-- I ended up reading 62! Here's my final list. The books that are starred are my favorites from this year. At the end, I've recapped my final thoughts.

Adult books read in 2013:

1. The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
2. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
4. The Invisible Thread by Yoshiko Uchida
5. Voices from the Fields by S. Beth Atkin
6. Children of the Midnight Sun: Young Native Voices of Alaska by T. Brown
7. Maritcha: a 19th Century American Girl
8. After the Rain by Karen White
9. Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson*
10. Murder on St. Mark Place by Victoria Thompson
11. Murder on Gramercy Park by Victoria Thompson
12. Murder on Washington Square by Victoria Thompson
13. Murder on Mulberry Bend by Victoria Thompson
14. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
15. The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb*
16. Murder on Marble Row by Victoria Thompson
17. Murder on Lenox Hill by Victoria Thompson
18. Murder in Little Italy by Victoria Thompson
19. Murder in Chinatown by Victoria Thompson
20. The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb*
21. Murder on Bank Street by Victoria Thompson
22. Murder on Waverly Place by Victoria Thompson
23. Murder on Lexington Avenue by Victoria Thompson
24. Murder on Sister's Row by Victoria Thompson
25. Murder on Fifth Avenue by Victoria Thompson
26. Murder in Chelsea by Victoria Thompson
27. Not the Killing Type by Lorna Barrett
28. A Rather Lovely Inheritance by C. A. Belmond
29. A Rather Curious Engagement by C. A. Belmond
30. A Rather Charming Invitation by C. A. Belmond
31. A Rather Remarkable Homecoming by C. A. Belmond
32. The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman
33. The Christmas Secret by Donna VanLiere
34. When Calls the Heart by Janette Oke*
35. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
36. When Comes the Spring by Janette Oke
37. The Time Between by Karen White
38. When Breaks the Dawn by Janette Oke

MG/YA/Teen novels read in 2013:

1. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
2. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park*
3. The Abduction by John Grisham
4. Tangled Threads: A Hmong Girl's Story by Pegi Deitz Shea
5. Black Star, Bright Dawn by Scott O'Dell
6. The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by W.W. Shang
7. Brooklyn Bridge by K. Hesse
8. Freak the Mighty by W. R. Philbrick
9. Sadako and a Thousand Paper Cranes
10. Best Friends Forever: A WWII Scrapbook by B. Patt
11. Yellow Star by J.R. Roy
12. The Accused by John Grisham
13. The Activist by John Grisham
14. Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
15. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
16. 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
17. Baby-Sitter's Haunted Mansion by Ann M. Martin
18. A Gathering of Days by Joan W. Blos
19. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
20. Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea*
21. The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School by Candace Fleming
22. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
23. Mallory and the Ghost Cat (BSC Mystery #3) by Ann M. Martin
24. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Overall thoughts: I hated Gone Girl*. When I find a new author I love, I will read every book she's written! (I highly recommend Wendy Webb!) I will not hide it-- I get attached to characters and I love series. Mysteries are my favorites. The books by Janette Oke came as a surprise. I picked up the first (When Calls the Heart) because I saw that it's going to be a TV movie on Hallmark and, well, I was bored. Oke is considered Christian Fiction-- a genre I do not typically read. But Oke isn't very preachy. And well, I love (love love love) stories set in the early 1900s. So, I read them. And I loved them. If you like YA fiction, read A Long Walk to Water. Do it. Amazing. It's a true story and you will weep. I did not want to jump on the Fault-train, buuut I couldn't stay away and now I know why!


*Hate is not a strong enough word for how much I disliked this book.  It's rare for me to say I don't like a book, but not this one.

My goal this year? To read as much as I want, to try to read some nonfiction, and to get my non-reading husband to read something-- anything-- for fun.