Happy New Year - Mailbox Monday

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia and hosted by Susan of Suko’s Notebook in December.  This is where we spotlight the books that came to our home in the last week. Caveat: Mailbox Monday can cause your TBR pile to increase exponentially.

This week has been a winner in the received books department. Santa brought me a Kindle Fire, so I downloaded the following from Amazon.

I have read the first of this series and enjoyed it a lot. It's  a time-travel story.

I know nothing about this book. It was free online. I like the cover.

Stephen King's novel has been on my TBR list for quite awhile. I found a bargin online this week, so I fell fortunate.

This one showed up as an addition to the dictionary on my Kindle.

Also in the mail were these two books. This Year Will Be Different by Maeve Binchey is from PBS and Geraldine Brook's People of the Book is a traveling book from Beth at Goodreads. As soon as I am finished I'll send it on to Gayle.  Of course, my new Weight Watcher magazine came in the mail too. As a gentle reminder that the holidays are over and it's time to get serious. Look at Jessica Simpson, doesn't she look great. Even it was for only a little while, she's pregnant again. Good Luck Jess, I gained weight with each baby I had.....


Until next time,

Stay Happy and Stay Busy

A Non-review: I'm Sorry I Feel This Way

Title: I'm Sorry You Feel That Way: The Astonishing But True Story of
a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother and Friend to Man & Dog.
Author: Diana Joseph 
Publisher:  Amy Einhorn Imprints
Publication Year: 2009
Edition:  Paperback
Source:  Purchased-Amazon
Date Completed: December 2012
Rating:  2/5  only because it was a little better than my 1 star books
Recommend:  No

I don't know where to begin. It's hard enough to write a review of a book that you fell in love with. It's harder yet to review a book you only just "liked".  But to write a review of a book that you really didn't like is hardest of all.

Maybe I just don't like memoirs. This book was on a list of books published by Amy Einhorn Imprints and since THE HELP was also on this list, I thought maybe that meant it would be as good THE HELP was. It wasn't. It was dull and boring. I raised a son too, I had trouble getting him to shower when he was an adolescent. I didn't bother to write a novel. I too made bad choices when I was young, I had sex with the first boy that asked, I got pregnant, I didn't write a novel.  I didn't smoke pot or experiment with drugs, I don't feel that I missed anything. My in-laws showed me what my husband was going to turn out to be, I didn't feel moved to write a novel.   In other words, don't bother with this book. There was very little that I found funny, cute, or outstanding, certainly nothing astonishing.

No Snapshot Saturday

I have no snapshot to share today. I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas and have been busy learning how to use it, downloading some inexpensive books, and catching up with laundry etc. I have a project that I am working on for a quilt challenge. I can't share photos until it is all done. It is kind of hard to explain, but a quilter friend is the organizer. She set up 6 groups of 5 quilters. The first on the list of each group get a photo, and makes a quilt of her interpretation of the photo. It must be 20X25, not bigger, completed as to quilting and binding. Then the 1st quilter sends her submission to the second quilter on her list. That person gets to see only the quilt, not the photograph. She makes her interpretation of the 1st quilt, then send her quilt on to the 3rd person on the list. I am the 3rd person in my group. I received the quilt and must now make my quilt. I have been stressing, drawing, thinking, worrying and cutting. No stitching yet, but soon. I have been taking photos along the way. When all are done, I will post them here. I am not sure why I signed up for this, but it is pushing my boundaries.  Maybe that should be my focus phrase for 2013.  Push Your Limits!! 



Until Next Time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Judy

Ready or Not Here I Come, 2013 Challenges

I have been perusing blog land, trying to decide which challenges I will do in 2013. I have decided to do What's In A Name 6 challenge, which I posted  here November 22nd. . Today I also decided on 2013 EBook Challenge hosted by Sarah at Workaday Reads. I received a Kindle Fire for Christmas and I need to learn how to use it. I figured this challenge would help me do that.I am going to sign up at the CD level, that's 10 books. Hopefully, I will be able to move up a level or two.  There is also a Mega Mix Challenge that has no time limit hosted by the Love of Reading group on Goodreads. I have already started that one. Three challenges is probably all I should venture to complete. I have failing at anything I try and I do still have a husband, a home and a quilting hobby. Wish me luck.

Last Wednesday 2012

Earlier this week I finished The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. I loved that book!. The author wove the two different characters, and the 2 different time periods, seamlessly. I did find one word that was unfamiliar to me.

pg 391    “ ’Tis impolitic thinking that keeps me ahead of the devil, your ladyship”

impolitic

adj.      not politic; unwise; injudicious; inexpedient

It is a word that is hard to say, for me at least. I would not use this word in my day to day speaking. But I'll remember it, in case I need to use it in writing.


Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Christmas Eve 2012 Mailbox Monday

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia and hosted by Susan of Suko’s Notebook in December.  This is where we spotlight the books that came to our home in the last week. Caveat: Mailbox Monday can cause your TBR pile to increase exponentially.

This week there were lots of deliveries to my mailbox and porch!. Most of them were not books. Most were Christmas gifts from family far away. Our son and his family lives in the Phoenix area, our daughter and her family live in Colorado. Here is a snapshot of the bottom of our tree, packages and Santa. Also two books from my DIL in Arizona, unwrapped so I know they were for me, RIGHT NOW!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I know most of you have read this one, but I have not and want to use it for  What's In A Name 6 challenge        at Beth Fish Reads. See more about this 2013 challenge on the side bar at Beth's blog. 

Also in the same box from AZ was Engaged to Die by Carolyn Hart. My daughter-in-law and I read some of the same kinds of books. The last book was She Who Remembers by Linda Lay Shuler. This was from PBS. I know nothing about this one, but I like Native American history. And the cover has a quote by Jean M Auel. If she liked it, I know I will too. I loved Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series. 

I won't be reading much today, too many preparations to be made for tonight. But I expect to read more and more in 2013.  

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

        Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

       Happy Holidays and a Blessed New Year

 

Wondrous Words Wednesday 12-18

 Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by BermudaOnion each week. It's an opportunity to share new words you've encountered in your reading, or highlight words that you particularly enjoy.

Again, this week my words come from The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. The book I am currently reading, The Winter Sea by Suzanna Kearsley has lots of unusual words, because the some characters speak Doric, a slang of sorts used in some parts of  Scotland.  I’m getting used to reading the phrases and can usually figure out what Jimmy is saying. The author is really good at using the dialogue between Jimmy and his sons or Carrie, the protagonist, to translate the strange words and phrasing.

pg 152   “Brown hair, brown eyes – not too close together, thank goodness -  a rather pert little retrousse nose”

Retrousse

Adj   turned up at the end, used describing a nose.

pg 200  “- she waved a porcine hand to signal that the fellow might be admitted to her bower.”

Porcine

Adj:  of or resembling swine or pig  

I was pretty sure of both of these words. But they are not words I use day to day.

Another word I encountered in often in The Secret Keeper, was Kirby grips.  Dorothy (Dolly) was always referring to “kirby grips” in her hair. I thought some sort of curler or clip. When I googled it , there were images of what I grew up calling bobby pins. 

As the holidays draw closer, I am finding fewer and fewer hours to read.  I have 2 quilts to construct, cookies to bake, meal shopping to do. My MIL fell and has been in the hospital. She should be able to be moved to a short-term assisted living today. It may be a long road back for her, but her attitude it great. 

So until next time,

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros 12-18

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph or maybe two of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.

Won in a contest on Goodreads. The following are the first 2 chapters. I am looking forward to reading this. Thanks to Goodreads and especially to Leigh Moore for offering the book as a prize. 

    A trumpet blast, followed by silence. We were all frozen on our marks. Center stage, my arms were raised in a V, and the insides of my eyelids turned from pink to black as the lights went out and the curtain fell, sending the odor of musty velvet swirling around us. Applause filled the house, but on our side was the swift click-clack of tap shoes, the whisper of tights against taffeta, fishnets and feathers. I dropped my arms and exited stage right.
   The glare of the spotlight had dazzled my eyes, but I'd done this so many times, I could find my way blind. I caught the small hand waiting for me in the wings as I passed. Not so small anymore, I thought as we navigated the maze of boxes and discarded scenery back to my dressing room. 

So would you continue? I hope to start reading next week. 

Until next time,

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Mailbox Monday 12-17

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia and hosted by Susan of Suko’s Notebook in December.  This is where we spotlight the books that came to our home in the last week. Caveat: Mailbox Monday can cause your TBR pile to increase exponentially.

On 11-29-12, I entered a contest at Goodreads called Mystery Cover. The moderator there, Christina, disguised the cover of a book and each day revealed a part of the cover. The prize was a copy of Rogue by  Leigh Talbert Moore. To make a long story short, I made two guesses. The second time I guessed,  it was only because a very small portion of the lower left hand cover of the book had writing, and I remembered seeing a copy of a book in the side bar that had writing in the lower left corner. So I guessed, The Paris Wife. There were two correct guesses that day, and by random chance my name was drawn. Anyway, the book arrived in my mailbox on Friday. I am really anxious to read it. 

Trapped in the underground theater world of 1890's New Orleans, Hale Ferrer has only one goal: escape. But not without Teeny, the orphan-girl she rescued from the streets and promised to protect.  Freddie Lovel, Hale's wealthy Parisian suitor, seems to be the easy solution. If only his touch could arouse her interest like Beau's, the penniless stagehand who captures her heart. Denying her hears, Hale is poised to choose love until an evil lurking in their cabaret-home launches a chain of events that could cost her everything. 

from the back cover of Rogue by Leigh T. Moore. A gift from the author in a contest on Goodreads. 

Such Sadness

Today I am trying to keep an ear to the television and still go about my daily chores. It is hard to continue on my everyday life as there is a town in CT experiencing such tragedy. It is unbelievable that so many have died. My prayers go out to all involved and I pray for wisdom for those left to deal with the aftermath. Parents and teachers alike will have to be strong for those children.

Mailbox Monday Dec 10

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia and hosted by Susan of Suko’s Notebook in December.  This is where we spotlight the books that came to our home in the last week. Caveat: Mailbox Monday can cause your TBR pile to increase exponentially.

These are images from Amazon.  From the inside flap of The Stupidest Angel.  Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe.

From the back cover of The Winter Sea: In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the  exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown. 

Now Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors and starts to write.  

This week there were no books in the mailbox. So to help my feelings of sadness, I made a trip to the library. The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror is the December read for the Love of Reading group on Goodreads. I wasn't sure what the story was about. If I had been better informed, I would have chosen the "side read" or alternate, The Weight of Silence.  I have finished the book, but definitely am not a fan. Of course I don't watch Will Ferrell or Adam Sandler movies either. It's irreverent, gross , R rated humor. 

The Winter Sea is the December read for Ladies and Literature on Goodreads. I hope I enjoy this one more. I will start it tonight probably. Today I have to get the oil changed in my car, do some grocery shopping and Christmas shopping, then home to finish some Christmas items and part of the graduation gift for one of my granddaughters. 

Hope everyone else has a wonderful Mailbox Monday and a wonderful week to come. 

Until the next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Snapshot Saturday 8 Dec12

 

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by At Home With Books. To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky (at At Home With Books). Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

This is my old Christmas cactus. Every year I am afraid it is not going to bloom again, and every year it faithfully delivers several bright pink blooms. you can see the buds from at least 4 more. Do you have a Christmas cactus? Is it pink or red. ?


Until Next Time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday 12-5

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by BermudaOnion each week. It's an opportunity to share new words you've encountered in your reading, or highlight words that you particularly enjoy.

Again, this week both of my words come from The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. I am nearly finished with the book. It is taking me a long time. Less reading minutes this month, with holiday preparations and parties. My definitions come from dictionary.com.

Doppelganger 

“The older he became, though, and the more he grew, the clearer it became to all that he was on a collision course with his fate: to become a doppelganger of Mr. Arthur Smitham.”

Used in the sentence I thought  it was to become a copy. It is from the German  for double, so I was on the right track.

 noun

A ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its fleshly counterpart.

Truncheon

“Hand resting on his truncheon, Constable Suckling jostled across the beach.”

My thought was his nightstick. 

noun

1.     OBSOLETE a short, thick club; cudgel

2.     any staff or baton used as a symbol of authority

3.     CHIEFLY BRIT. a policeman's stick or billy

4.     OBSOLETE the shaft of a spear

5.     OBSOLETE a trunk or stem, esp. one with the branches lopped off

The story is set in London during WWII, and the year 2011.  Both words were used in chapters 7 & 8, set in London 1938,  so I guess definition  number 3 is the one the author used.  I don’t think I will be using either of these words in my normal vocabulary, but I like knowing them just the same.

I have come across several new words in reading this book. I love that!! 

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

 

FCFP Tuesday Intros Dec 4

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph (maybe two)  of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.

  Well, I have broken the toilet. I flushed, the water rose, the rose higher, too much. I stared at it, told it, "No!" slammed the lid down, the raised it back up again. Water still rising. I put the lid down, turned out the light, tiptoed out of the bathroom, across the hall, and into my bedroom, where I slid under my bed. 

  Now I hear the water hitting the bathroom floor. It goes on and on. Niagara Falls, where the honeymooners go and do what they do. There is the heavy tread of his footsteps coming rapidly up the stairs. I hear him turn on the bathroom light and swear softly to himself. "Katie!" he yells. He comes into my room. I stop breathing. "Katherine!" I am stone. I am off the planet, a star, lovely and unnamed. He goes into my sister's room. " What the hell did you do to the toilet?"

 Would you continue reading?  This series was recommended to me by a friend. A teacher and fellow quilter. I am going to read all three for a book challenge.  Elizabeth Berg is a new to me author, but not to many. I received the first  of the series from PBS after my friend loaned me a copy of the 3rd in the series and another of the author's stand alone books.


Today I am going to finish decorating the Christmas tree, attend my Stitchin' Club Show and Tell, then go to the month meeting of my face to face book club. We are having a bookmark exchange and will discuss The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Another author that I had not read previously. I really liked that one, and gave it 5 STARS!!.

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

December 3 Mailbox Monday

Welcome to Mailbox Monday, a meme started by Marcia and hosted by Susan of Suko’s Notebook in December.  This is where we spotlight the books that came to our home in the last week. Caveat: Mailbox Monday can cause your TBR pile to increase exponentially.

The image above is not really the truth. There has been lots of stuff in my mailbox, but only those ghastly "junk" catalogs that fill mailboxes this time of year. I am hoping for some Christmas cards in the near future. I haven't ordered any books, but hopefully will get to the library to pick up a few this week. I am sending a book to someone through Paperback Swap, so next week she will have a mailbox goody. That makes me happy too. 

I am still trying to get a signature to appear at the end of my blog, that is not surrounded by a box. I have not accomplished that yet. But I will persevere. 

Until next time, 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

ps: it looks good as I write the post , but when I publish it changes. 

Saturday Snapshot #1 December

Saturday Snapshot

is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books.

Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is a really BAD photo of a really gorgeous lighted bridge at our local college. Every morning when I drive by on my way to the gym, it just makes me smile.

Hooray!!! the tree is up in the living room. It is pre-lit, so that part is done. Now to drag out all the totes full of decorations!  


So Until Next Time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy