TGIF Friday 56 and Book Beginnings

This week I have finally begun a new book or books to be more correct. I have a couple of challenges to be finished before the end of the year and need to get reading to complete them. I joined Cruisin' Thre the Cozies, hosted by Yvonne at Socrates Book Reviews. I joined at the Investigator Level - 7-12 books. You can find my changing list here.   I also have a Favorite Book Challenge going at Goodreads with the group Love of Reading. You can see my post about that one here.  So here goes:

Friday 56 : Page 56 from A Corpse for Yew by Jim and Joyce Lavene.

"You can't exactly call me a redhead anymore." She pushed at her white hair self-consciously. "Now in my youth..."

Book Beginnings : Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

                                       Lydia is dead. But they don't know it yet. 

I need to read quite a few books that start with the letter "E".  This will be one.

Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday 10/13/15

I've been absent here for a bit. Just busy I guess and not finding any wondrous words in my reading. This remains true today. So I turned to my Word of the Day emails from Merriam-Webster. I found several words that were very familiar to me.

delve - verb   to dig or labor with or as if with a spade.

 "I finally found time to delve into the instructions to program our new blu ray player."


proclivity - noun    an inclination or predisposition toward something; especially :a strong inherent inclination towards something objectionable.

     Martin's proclivity to lose his temper made him difficult to work with.



And I found a couple that were completely new to me.


manque - adj    short of  or frustrated in the fulfillment of ones' aspirations or talents

       Natalie is an actress manque who moved to New York ten years ago and is still looking        for her first big break. 


haplology - noun    contraction of a word by omission of one or more similar sounds or syllables. 

" Haplology is responsible for a number of forms found in rapid speech in English: not just "probly", but also "libry" ( library) or "nesry" ( necessary). 

I did not know there was a name for that!


Did you find any Wondrous Words this week.?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 10-5-15

It is Monday!  Time to link up with Sheila at Book Journey and see what everyone else is reading. Come join us!

I finished reading Trail Mix by Paulita Kincer. My review is here.  

I am still reading Fire On the Mountain by John McLean. As with much non-fiction, it is bit slow going. Because I know the outcome of the event he is reporting on, I may be reluctant to get to the end.

Last night I started Flesh On the Bone by Karen Schutte. It is the 3rd installment in the series by Karen Schutte. The one started of very well. I am enjoying the story and finally turned off the light last night at 11:45pm.

That is all I have planned for reading this week. It is rainy and much cooler here in NE Wyoming today and probably for the rest of the week. So I suppose if the sun does come out I should put away deck furniture, bring in my house plants and put hoses away.  I may even help Mr Busy winterize the camper. I have my fingers crossed for a couple more weeks of warmer days at least. I am not ready for winter!


Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday - The Bell Jar

Wednesdays are wondrous in this part of blogland. We can share words that we found while reading or listening. My words this week are from my recent read , The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

roman-a-clef - noun : a novel in which real persons or actual events figure under disguise.

---and in fact, Plath was quite insistent that it shouldn't be published in America because it's roman-a-clef elements would be hurtful to her family and friends.


sepulchral - adj:  very sad or serious, very dismal or gloomy

"My!", I said, in the same sepulchral tone. "That was quick!"


animalcules - noun :  a minute usually microscopic organism; nearly invisible to the naked eye.

.... and Buddy's arms went on waving feebly as antennae from the other side of the field swarming with tiny moving animalcules like germs, or bent bright exclamation marks.


Join us at Kathy's blog, Bermuda Onion's Weblog. You will learn a new word or at least you can show off your vocabulary and say you knew them all!!!  "grin"



Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros 9-29-15 Trail Mix

I am linking up this post with Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea. Diane offers a place to share the first paragraph of the first chapter from a book you are currently reading or want to start soon. If you read my Monday post and my last review, then you know I have been reading heavy depressing stories. I needed a change. As I was perusing my Kindle at bedtime last night I remembered I had downloaded Trail Mix by Paulita Kincer. Paulita is a fellow blogger and I have read her other books and enjoyed them. So I clicked it open and here are the first two paragraphs of the prologue.

Trail Mix

Paulita Kincer

2014 

Raindrops trickled down Jess' nose. Her sodden boots plodded along, squooshing the mud with each step. 

"Why did I do this?" She threw her head back, her face raised in lament to the sky. The hood of her rain poncho slipped off.  The empty forest around her offered no answer, just a steady rain. Then, far above the treetops, she glimpsed a bolt of lightning streaking toward a nearby mountain and heard an answering boom of thunder. She cringed and scuttled faster down the trail.  

I am going to really enjoy this book. Although Jess and Andi are the ages of my daughter, I remember being the mom of teenagers and college bound, unhappy with my then life. Not seriously unhappy,  just in need of a new adventure. How about you, does this book speak to you? Would you read more?


Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Review: The Bell Jar by Sylia Plath

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am having a hard time giving this book a star rating. I finished it last night and then continued on with the P.S. features in this edition. A poem Syliva Plath wrote, a review of her life and more about The Bell Jar.

The Bell Jar tells of the descent into darkness of the brilliant, enormously talented Esther Greenwood. Like Sylvia, Esther's breakdown was slow and excruciating. The words are beautifully written, hauntingly real, understandably sad and poignant.This is not a feel good book.

In 1963 when this book was published I was a teenager, experiencing peer pressure, studies, and my first boyfriend. In 1953 when this book takes place, my grandmother was spending time in our state's mental hospital. Maybe that is why this book touched me so. As I read of Esther's experiences in The Bell Jar, I could not help but see my grandmother in a different light. I felt for her, I wish I had understood when she was still alive. My own life has endured depression and so have my daughter and my granddaughter. I truly believe that depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain and thankfully better treated now than in 1953, or even 1963.

So I guess it deserves at least 4 stars for the brilliant writing and capturing of the real feelings of depression. It made me think and feel some of the things I had "suffed" in the past. But no, I did not "like it", I did not "really like it" and I did not feel "it was amazing". Read this book at your own risk. Know going in that you will come out changed.


View all my reviews

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I am linking up with Sheila at Book Journey. It is Banned Books Week, so I should pick a banned book to read this week. Most are pretty heavy though, so I am not sure. What do you think?  Is there a banned book that would life my spirits?


I finished The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath last night. It had been on my TBR list since March 2012. Not sure why it took me so long. I cannot say I loved it. I cannot even say I liked it. Though beautifully written, it is not for the faint of heart. Depression is too close to me evidently.


Today I will start reading Flesh On The Bone by Karen Schutte. It is the next read for my F2F bookclub.

This is a depressing cover too, isn't it.?

I need to finish Fire On the Mountain by John McLean. It is residing in my car at the moment but I will bring it into the house and get it done. It is cool here today, a good day to read and sew.

Then I think I will treat myself to something lighter, happier. I am not sure what at the moment. Any suggestions? 

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy