Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.



This one caught my eye at the library.

Finally! I can see what all the fuss is about!


What did you get this week? Claire's got the linky this week.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Teaser Tuesday-Girl In The Road by Monica Byrne

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"I have to find another place to apply the dressing, farther away from the explosion, the better. The barefoot girl can't track me if I'm on wheels." 
Pg 12 The Girl In The Road by Monica Byrne

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

I picked up two books I've been looking forward to for a while.

You know I love Ready Player One so I've been looking forward to Cline's second book. 

I wasn't the biggest fan of To Kill A Mockingbird (I know) but I do want to read Go Set A Watchman. I've been reading some reviews and hearing some positive stuff. I know a lot of people are unhappy with Atticus' portrayal in this one but I'm willing it give it a chance. Might make me reread To Kill A Mockingbird.

What did you get this week? Share your loot below.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Teaser Tuesday-Thor's Serpents by KL Armstrong and MA Marr

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Matt thought of Nidhogg-a giant serpent that gnawed at the root of the world tree. When Ragnarok came, it would finally break through into the world and...Well it was called 'the corpse eater' for a reason."
pg 50 Thor's Serpents by KL Armstrong and MA Marr

Monday, July 20, 2015

Stella by Starlight by Sharon M Draper

I picked up Stella by Starlight after reading Becky's review. Her rave review had me running to add it to my library hold list. Stella by Starlight did not disappoint. I enjoyed Draper's story about a young African-American girl, growing up in the South during the Depression.

Stella is the oldest in her family. She doesn't like to write but stays up trying not to be the worst writer in her school. Stella struggles to do what's right and find her place in the world. One night, Stella and her brother, JoJo, see some Klan members burn a cross in their home. Stella is scared of the Klan. Stella by Starlight is more than a story about Stella. It's the story of her family and community as well. I loved how Draper weaved Stella's church community in with the story. I loved how the sermons weren't overly religious but almost like motivational speeches. I especially enjoyed the scene were 3 of the townsmen (including Stella's father) registered to vote and the struggle they faced. I knew it was hard for African Americans to register to vote and actually cast their vote (sadly this remains the case in some places) but I'd never heard it described so vividly. It was heartbreaking and educational at the same time. Draper does an excellent job of making history come to life. With plenty of rich characters and an engaging plot, Stella by Starlight was hard to put down.

I would recommend Stella by Starlight. It's a great middle grade book. Others who shared their thoughts on Stella by Starlight: Becky's Book Reviews, The Nerdy Panda, Reading, Writing and Random Musings, and Diva Booknerd.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

I picked up Lost Lake because I've enjoyed the other books I've read by Sarah Addison Allen. And while Lost Lake felt like an old friend, it was rushed in spots and not completely satisfying.

Kate's been asleep for the last year. After her husband's death, Kate simply lived a fog of grief. During that year, she let her mother-in-law, Cricket handle her life and her daughter, Devin. Now, Kate's house is sold and Kate and Devin are moving into Cricket's house. While packing their belonging, Devin finds a postcard from Kate's aunt, Eby. Kate reminisces about the summer she spent at Aunt Eby's lakeside resort. Kate decides to take Devin and visit Eby. At the same time, Eby decides that it's time for her to sell the lakeside resort and travel again. Both women's decisions affect others in their lives and shake up everything in everyone's life.

Like Sarah Addison Allen's other books, Lost Lake has a lot of magical realism. Devin communicates with an alligator and spends a lot of the book trying to solve its mystery. Selma, one of the women that has been coming to Lost Lake for years, uses magic to gain her husbands. Lisette, the cook of Lost Lake, is haunted by the ghost of her lover. Lost Lake failed to be as good as her other books because it was too rushed. I think it were an extra hundred pages so things could happen more slowly, it would have been an excellent book. Lost Lake is good but not Sarah Addison Allen's best. I wanted the magic to develop slowly but it happened so quickly, I felt like I missed a lot of it.

I would recommend Lost Lake. I loved the characters and the story but be prepared for less than perfect. Others who shared their thoughts on Lost Lake: The Lost Entwife, Write Meg!, and On A Book Bender.
Lost Lake satisfies the Body of Water category for the What's In A Name Challenge.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

My Fitness Journey

I was on my way home from a Zumba class, thinking about how far I've come. From dance classes as a little girl to virtually no exercise as a teen to feeling forced to exercise in my twenties to an almost 40 year old lady who looks forward to her gym time. I thought I'd share my story so far.

When I was a little girl, I took dance classes like a lot of other little girls. Tap, jazz, and ballet from when I was 4 until 6th grade (12 years old?). While I enjoyed dance, I loved ballet. I loved the positions, the grace, and elegance. I felt my most beautiful when I was dancing ballet and other ballerinas were so gorgeous. At 8, I wanted to be a professional ballerina. But when it was time to transition to pointe, my ankles were too weak and I wouldn't be able to. My teacher told me I would never have strong enough ankles to dance pointe and steered me to tap and jazz. Tap is only fun when you are a little kid and I couldn't see a life in jazz. This was the late 80's and jazz/hip hop wasn't big yet.

Here are a ton of photos from me back when I danced. Remember it was the 80's but I have no excuses for the perms:
I think I was between 7-9 here. These are probably the best outfits I got to wear to dance recitals.
 Now for the embarrassing ones. I should have never permed my hair. The two on the right are my last year of dance so I was 10-11, What is up with the iridescent legs on the bottom one? The one on the left was my favorite costume and my favorite dance recital ever. We danced to Conga by The Miami Sound Machine, thus starting my love of Latin music. 

I was moving to a more academically rigorous school and I agreed to drop dance until I got settled. I never went back.

My mom did Jazzercise when I was little but stopped when I went to school. Exercise wasn't something she did after that. My dad played handball until he broke his leg. And exercise in our family was minimal at best. My dad tried but my mom always shut it down. She didn't like getting dirty or sweaty. She didn't think anyone else should either.

In high school, I joined the track and tennis teams. I quit tennis when I found out we had to run laps daily. I hate running and refused to run. I wound up on track team because I discovered I liked throwing the shot put. Running wasn't mandatory when you participated in the other activities like shot put and javelin. We did some weight lifting but not much. No one wanted to be bulky.

In college, I discovered you could take all sorts of classes for your PE credit. I took bowling. I tagged along with some friends when they went to the fitness room but I mostly complained I was hungry and wanted to lay down. Other than walking, I did virtually no exercise until I left college.

At my first job, my coworker invited me to check out her gym. My coworker and I took yoga classes together. My mom was getting sick at that time and the gym was a great stress reliever. I would hop on a treadmill, walk for 45 minutes, and turn off my brain. I worked out almost daily for 2 years.

Then I switched jobs. My new job got me home later and I missed some of the classes I had loved to take. Then I met Taiki and I had other things to do than go to the gym.

After our wedding, I headed to Zumba and did that for about a year. Then the times the classes were offered changed and I couldn't make it anymore. Taiki and I joined a gym but finding time to go was difficult. When my dad first got sick, it was harder to find the time.

Last year, I had enough. I was tired of not feeling my best. I made some changes to my diet and headed back to the gym. I no longer rely on classes to get my workout in. I use Pinterest to find new workouts and I discovered kettlebells. I love kettlebells and I feel like such a badass when I do my kettlebell swings. Working out has become less of a have to and more of a want to. The time I spend at the gym is my time. It's all about me. And finding me time is essential to reducing my stress and increasing my sense of calm and well-being.

It's no longer just about the number on the scale or about the number on the back of my pants. It's about how much more I can lift today. How much more I'll be able to lift in 6 months? It's about how I feel.

What about you? Have you found your workout groove or are you trying to get the groove back?

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.


I've been digging Milan's Brother Sinister series so I decided to try her other series.

And because I enjoyed Han's To All The Boys I've Loved series, I decided to check out her other series. 

What did you get this week? Claire's got the linky.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Teaser Tuesday-Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
"Kate put the cup of coffee on the floor beside the bed. Every day for a year Cricket had come by to take Devin to her new school, and she always made coffee while she was here, horrible, tar-black coffee that Kate hated."
pg 13 Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

Monday, July 13, 2015

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

I've been slumping hard. I'll read a few pages of a book, then lose interest. I've tossed aside a dozen books. I had wanted to read Saint Anything so I decided to try it. No interest lost here. I was engrossed from the beginning and kept finding time to read more.

Sydney's brother drove drunk and hit a young man. Saint Anything is about how that night as well as her brother's actions affect Sydney and her parents. Sydney isn't like her brother, Payton. Where Payton is the center of attention, Sydney fades into the background. Sydney has felt that she lives in Payton's shadow. After Payton goes to jail, Sydney decides to make some changes to her life and heads to a new school, one without Payton's shadow. Now Sydney finds real friends and a place to shine.

I loved Sydney immediately. Dessen has this ability to write characters that jump off the page and crawl into your heart. I was rooting for Sydney right away. I also loved her new friend, Layla, and their easy friendship. It's amazing how sometimes the right people find their way into your life. Dessen really shows the power of friendship and that even when you mess up, your family (biological or not) has your back.

Reading Saint Anything made me realize that I don't read enough Dessen so I'll be going through her backlist now. Others who shared their thoughts on Saint Anything: Confessions of A Book Addict, Beauty and The Bookshelf, #lovebooks, and Writing My Own Fairytale.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Ten Bookish Questions


10 Bookish Questions
I spotted this on Trish's blog and have been saving it for a potential post. Here we go...

1. What time of day do you typically read/do you prefer to read?
I get most of my reading on the bus ride home. I'm usually not awake enough to read on my morning commute. I also like to read while I'm making dinner and before bed.

2. What is your strangest book related obsession?
It's not an obsession but I love going to the bookstore to visit books. I'll check on my favorites and pet the ones I love. Yes, I'm a book petter.

3. Like which author do you wish you wrote?
Rainbow Rowell. I love how honest and gorgeous her books are.

4. Who do you think is the most over-rated author?
Nicolas Sparks. His books just do not appeal to me.

5. What do you think is the most over-rated book?
50 Shades of Grey series

6. Which two authors would you like to see go head to head in a word-off (like a dance-off)?
Hmm. That seems like a normal day on twitter. I love it when David Levithan, Rainbow Rowell, Kiera Cass, John Green, Maggie Stefvater, and Veronica Roth are all tweeting it up. (I have no real answer for this one)

7. I’ve always wanted to read Lord of the Rings in a cabin in the mountains or Nora Roberts in an Irish inn or The Woman in White in an abandoned asylum. What book-location pairing do you wish for?
A stack of beach reads and a beach? I've never thought about where I wanted to read something. Although I do believe some books are cold weather, wrap yourself in a blanket reading and some are sitting by a pool, drinking Daiquiris. Perhaps an historical romance set in England while in an English castle might be fun.

8. Describe your bookish self in three words.
Adventurous, enthusiastic, voracious

9. Name one of your favorite characters and what you would do with him/her if you had one day together.
Sigh. A day with Anne Shirley. We'd probably sit and read. Talk about all the same things we liked. Mourn the loss of Gilbert. 

10. If you had one extra day in the week, that nobody knew about and didn’t count, what would you with it?
I could definitely use an extra day especially one no one knew about. I would probably lay in bed all day and read. And nap.

Grab the questions and play along! I’d love to see your answers.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Mid Year Book Review

So let's talk about how I'm doing in my challenges since I have less than 6 months to wrap up my challenges.


What's In A Name Challenge:
I have 2 categories left to finish: body of water and family relationship. Doing well and I think I'll finish this one soon.


Graphic Novel and Manga Challenge:

I've aleady surpassed my goal on this one. I said I'd read and review 24 and I've read and reviewed 35 so far. I'm going to try to ease off the graphic novels and read the ones I'm most interested in.



Foodies Read Challenge:
I've read three books for this challenge and I said I'd read 14-18. I have my work cut out for me!


Historical Reading Challenge:
Usually this is the challenge I finish the first but I've only read 10 for the year so far. I need to read five more to make it to my goal.

And how am I doing on my Goodreads challenge to read 150 books this year? According to Goodreads I'm ahead 17 books with 93 read for the year. Yeah, I think I'll make it.

How are you doing on your goals and challenges this year?

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.


I've had  my eye on this one for a while. It looks cute.

I actually saw a women reading this the one the other day, I had no idea that Collins had written anything but the Hunger Games. 

After devouring Bowman's Playful Brides series, I decided to check out another of her books. 

What did you get this week? Share below!


Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Teaser Tuesday -The Colony by Jillian Weise

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"The hair around the cranios had been buzzed. The cranios themselves were small and flat, receptacles for something to be snap into, and I didn't want to hurt him."
pg 70 The Colony by Jillian Weise

Friday, July 3, 2015

June Book Tally

Unexpectedly Eighty by Judith Viorst
In A World Just Right by Jen Brooks
Fables vol 2 by Bill Willingham
Fables vol 3 by Bill Willingham
The Unexpected Duchess by Valerie Bowman
The Accidental Countess by Valerie Bowman
The Unlikely Lady by Valerie Bowman
I am Her Revenge by Meredith Moore
The Last Unicorn by Peter Gillis
The Heartbreak Diet by Thorina Rose
This Song Will Save Your Life by Lelia Sales
Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty
 PS I Still Love You by Jenny Han
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

Not a bad month. I read some good books but I was slumping hard. Especially at the end of the month. Life was getting in the way of my reading.


Stats:
What's In A Name Challenge: this month: 0 (None this month ) YTD: 4
Graphic Novel and Manga Challenge: this month: 4 (Fables vol 2, Fables vol 3, The Last Unicorn, and The Heartbreak Diet) YTD :35
Historical Reading Challenge: this month: 3 ( The Unexpected Duchess, The Accidental Countess, and The Unlikely Lady) YTD: 10
Foodies Read Challenge this month: 0 (none this month) YTD: 3
Total: 93

Thursday, July 2, 2015

All Falls Down by Jennifer Weiner

I remember my first Jennifer Weiner book, Good In Bed. I remember staying up all night, reading it and crying. I had been unable to put it down. It was high on my list of favorite books for a long time. But Weiner's other books didn't make me feel the same way. Slowly, I stopped reading her books. I don't know why I picked up All Fall Down. Maybe I hoped to recapture that feeling I had when I read Good In Bed. But I'm glad I did. Weiner has a way of making you feel like the main character is you. Or maybe I just identify with her characters. But I couldn't put All Fall Down down.

Allison has it all. The big suburban house, a daughter, a handsome husband, and a sucessful blogging career. But Allison can't keep up. Her father has Alzheimer's. Her mother calls crying each day. Her daughter is sensitive and is prone to tantrums.  Her husband is distant, Her boss wants her to blog more. Each day is a struggle for Allison. She never seems to get ahead. Unless she takes one of her pills (Oxycontin, Vicodin. etc), Allison feels like she'll lose her mind, But the pills make everything easier. One pill, two pills, then four or five just make it through. Allison finds herself losing everything to keep herself in pills.

While I don't have a pill addiction, I do have I can do everything attitude like Allison. I can clean the house, make dinner, do the laundry, go to work, exercise, plan family vacations, arrange schedules, until I collapse and lay in a heap, crying. Life is stressful. I can see how Allison took the path she did. I can also see how easy it is to go from one pill to my life revolves around taking these pills and procuring more. Weiner doesn't pull any punches. The reader takes the ride with Allison, feeling her highs and her lows. I loved Allison by the end of the book. She felt like my sister or my friend. I wanted her to find her way out of her mess. I wanted her to keep being Allison. She was smart, funny, you want her to succeed.

I'm so glad I took a chance on All Fall Down. I think this would make an excellent book club book. There's plenty to talk about! I'm going to be picking up Weiner's books again in the future. Others who shared their thoughts on All Fall Down: Booking Mama, Novelicious, and Running 'N' Reading.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Time to read more Gaiman.

I recently read If I Stay and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading Where She Went. Forman nails it every time.

What did you get this week? Clare's got the linky.