Book Recap for July

Below is my list of reads for July.  There is a chance that I will finish Doc by Mary Doria Russell too.  My favorite was Olive Kitteridge and my least favorite was Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen, but don't be misled.  Rise and Shine is not a bad read.  It was however just ok. 

 Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

 Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

 Hush by  Kate White

 Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 

The Thief of Always by  Barker Clive 

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet  Evanovich 

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Black and Blue by  Anna Quindlen

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout 

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The Inn at Eagle Point by Sherryl  Woods

Booking Through Thursday

What’s the latest you’ve ever stayed up reading a book? Is staying up late reading a usual thing for you?

When I read Mirror Images by Sandra Brown, I stayed up until 3 AM, went to bed, and then got up at 6 AM and finished the book.  I just could not put it down but I knew I had to go to work and teach active 9th graders! I highly recommend this book for a "grab you by the seat of the pants" read!

W...W...W...

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I just started reading Doc by Mary Doria Russell

I just finished The Inn at Eagle Point by Sherryl Woods

Next up is A Real Basket Case by Beth Groundwater (I think....I have several books going and even more from the library).

Teaser Tuesday

Grab your current read

Let the book fall open to a random page

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

From...Miz B of Should be Reading...

"I've never seen him this bad.  Lord knows....she sniffed....things couldn't get much worse for the both of you than they are right now." page 190

Songs in Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris

The Inn At Eagle Point

The Inn At Eagle Point by Sherryl Woods

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am not a fan of romances, but this was a big surprise. Usually, the "heroine" is a strong, intelligent female in all ways but love. There she is a mish-mash of weepy indecision. Not so with Abby O'Brien Winters. She is smart in business, family, and love. She was never overpowered by the men in her life although there were references to her past. The "hero" is usually strong, powerful, and oozing with testosterone. Again, not so with Trace Riley. He has a good sense in business, family and love. They are a perfect match.

When Abby is called home to settle a family crisis brought on by her sister Jess's mismanagement of an investment, Abby and Trace are thrown together after ten years of separation. Abby struggles to smooth over Jess's mistakes as well as her own.

I picked up Inn at Eagle Point after reading a short blurb in a Literary Guild magazine. I wasn't sure but I am so glad I did. I will add the other books to my tbr list.




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Library Haul

I am amazed at the effect the computer has on my reading.  I belong to several online groups and good reads both of which provide endless suggestions.  In addition, it is so easy to reserve books at the library while sitting at home in my "jammies."

So today, I picked up the most recent arrivals for me at the South Coastal Library in Bethany Beach, DE.

A Real Basket Case by Beth Groundwater
Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthey
Life Sentences by Laura Lippman
Doc by Mary Doria Russell
The Inn at Eagle Point by Sherryl Woods

I started reading The Inn at Eagle Point.  How could I resist a Chesapeake Shores book..well a book about the Chesapeake area real or ficticious.  Now, if the electricity holds during the storm that seems to be brewing, I will be a happy reading camper!

My 52-52-52

I have decided to take the 52-52-52 challenge.  52 pounds 52 books in 52 weeks.   I am late signing up so my challenge will run from July 25, 2011 to July 30, 2012 (Monday to Monday!).  I will post my statistics every Monday for the previous week.  That should keep me on track.

I have copied the following information directly from Mandaland blog.  Amanda is hosting the challenge.  For all of her information click on the picture on the right.  This is her information.  I am not plagiarizing, just trying to avoid confusion.


The goal of the challenge is simple. It will go from June 1st, 2011 to June 1st, 2012 – 52 weeks. In those 52 weeks, challenge participants will try to 1) read one book each week and 2) lose one pound a week. If all goes well, a year’s challenge will lead to 52 books read and 52 pounds lost in 52 weeks. It’s that simple!

Five important notes on the challenge:

1..You don’t have to be a book blogger to join, or even a blogger at all. This challenge is open to anyone. Of course, having a blog or tumblr or any other place to write about your journey, while not required, is definitely helpful, both to you and to us all!

2.  I know many book bloggers naturally read well over 52 books every year. You can always choose to challenge yourself to read two books a week, or three, or whatever works for your level. Make the challenge work for you! There are also book bloggers out there who struggle to read a book a week, though, so hopefully this will make a good challenge for them!

3.  If you don’t have 52 pounds to lose, then you are free to adjust the challenge to work with your health needs. If you need to lose 10 or 20 pounds, great! Go for that! If you don’t need to lose weight at all and instead want to work for a specific health and fitness goal, that’s fine too! The main point of the goal is to help us all get healthier.

4.  If you don’t lose a pound one week, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed the challenge or should give up! Even if you don’t lose as quickly, you can still lose. If, at the end of the challenge, you’ve lost 10 pounds instead of 52, you’ve still done something wonderful for your body. The pound-per-week is just something to try for, not a do-it-or-fail clause in this challenge.

5.  You may join the challenge at any time. Of course, if you join next March, you can’t expect to lose 52 pounds by June 1st. The focus is instead on one book and one pound per week for the duration of the challenge.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the best book I have read all year. It is achingly sad. There were times I thought I was Olive and there were other times I prayed I wasn't.



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Wishful Wednesday

I have been on a reading tear lately but as my "Completed" list grows so does my TBR list.  It seems the more I read the more I want.  Visiting other blogs and participating in online book discussions doesn't help.   Just this week I have added the following books:
1.  Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray
2.  Bad Girls of the Bible and What We Can Learn from Them by LIz Higgs
3.  Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon
4.  Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
5.  Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
and
The "Clair Hanover, Gift Basket Designer Series" by Beth Groundwater

Hot Tea Month

January is Hot Tea Month.  It is not very wdell advertised.  If I were Twinings or Bigelow or Lipton, I would have that plastered on all my ads and in all my commercials.  But then....they have not consulted me on their ad campaigns. I do not imagine any of those companies need my input.  Come to think of it, when was the last time I saw a commercial on television for hot tea?  It is the dead of winter and a good cup of tea takes the chill off a winter evening.  It has to be better for you than hot chocolate.  There is no sugar in tea except the heaping teaspoons the drinker adds and in my house Equal is the king. 

Regardless, this is Hot Tea Month and I for one intend to give honor.  As I work on this post I am sipping my favorite:  Twinings English Breakfast with Equal and a bit of skim milk.  It provides inspiration.

There are several sites devoted to the history of tea. A History of Tea Timeline and History of Tea are good places to start for the novice's guide to tea.  Kinds of Tea is a good source for tea varieties; but, there is another way readers can get this information wrapped in fun.  Laura Childs has a wonderful series of books called "The Tea Shop Mysteries."  She disguises the tea education by working the names of various blends into the titles such as Shades of Earl Grey and Death by Darjeeling, by including wonderful "doable" recipes in each book, and by creating the majordomo of tea blends, Drayton Conneley.  His regal bearing and vast knowledge leads the reading willingly into the world of tea.  Having little to do with the mystery aspect of the series, this character is the heart of the tea shop.

Admittedly, I take the easy way for a cup of tea.  I usually pop a K-cup into my Keurig or steep a bag in my cup of hot water but Drayton makes me wish I could wander into Theodosia's tea shop for the "real" thing.  I will settle instead for waiting for the latest installment in the series Scones and Bones which is due out in March and for my English Breakfast Tea.

Hail to the Redskins

I have been a fan (truly a fanatic fan) since 1950 when I was born.  Well let's be honest.  I probably was not a fan until I was old enough to sit up in the rocking chair with my grandfather Pappy, so make that 1951.  I will never say that we are a pitiful team; however, there have been some sorrowful years.  But, oh, have there been some glory years.  There have been Super Bowls and Pro-Bowls.  We have had the Hogs and the Fun Bunch but none more wonderful than The Over the Hill Gang.

No one has to remind me that they were old retreads hanging on my their last shoe laces, but they brought something almost better than wins.  They brought hope.  Hope is something we are sorely lacking now.  Oh I HOPE we will beat the Giants today.  That kind of hope ranks right up there with "I hope I will win the lottery" and "I hope I will lose weight this year."  The hope we need is that of a wobbly Billy Kilmer pass, an "I Like Billy/I Like Sonny" tussle, a Dancing Bear lumbering down the field and that is the hope we lack.  The Redskins need some characters  Oh they need some character too, but that is another post.  What they need is the underdog that inspires enthusiasm not pity.  We need an owner who is not afraid to spend money on players his coaches want.

I worked once with a guy who loved to bet on games, not just football but any sporting event.  I think in his spare time he was a bookie/numbers runner but I am not sure.  He told me I would never win money as long as I bet with my heart not my head.  Mr. Snyder you need to follow that advice.  I am not insinuating that Dan Snyder is betting on games.  I have no doubt he wants a winner as much as I do (at least I hope so).  What I mean is that Mr. Snyder you are a fan.  You buy and sign with your heart not your head.  Leave the figuring to the experts and you worry about the figures.  I do not know if Bruce Allen is as smart as his father, but the bloodlines are there so give him a chance.  Enjoy your owner's box.  Count your money.  Sign the checks.  Let the experts do their things.

Oh, and Mr. Snyder one more thing.  Nobody likes a tattletale.  Talk to your players.  Ask about their families, their charities, their interests.  Do not listen to tales from the locker room.  That is beneath your dignity.  If you have a question or a concern, take a page from the military play book:  Follow the chain of command.  It goes both ways.

I hope for a good 2011 season.  I hope we win the Super Bowl next year.  I hope I win the lottery.  I will lose weight.

Happy New Year!

In the first entry from her book Simple Abundance Sarah Ban Breathnach begins with a quote from Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.  "There are years that ask questions and years that answer."  This quote presents the opportunity to move beyond setting resolutions and to move closer to an analysis of the year gone by in order to use that data to create a road map for the new year.

Some years seem to ask more questions than they answer; they leave us with more opportunity to look for answers in the new year.  It is not easy to deal with the questions.  Questions are often associated with trials and disasters.  Certainly 2005 presented more questions than answers during the hurricane season when Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.  It may be that those questions still have not been answered.  Years in which we lose love ones pose questions that may baffle more than clarify.  As we enter 2011 a new decade in the 21st century hopefully answers will come in volumes and questions will come with new directions and instructions included.

Part of my day will be used to examine 2010.  I am looking for the progress that I have made using the questions from the past. But part of my day will be used to examine the BCS Bowl progress.  Football is an important part of the day.

I am tucked up in my easy chair with a cup of hot coffee, a book, and the remote.  Ring in the New Year:  Go Gators and Roll Tide.  Happy New Year dear friends.