Wednesday, April 30, 2014

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 love coffee and I love books about foods. I hope this is a good one. 

A child's story about the Holocaust. Who thinks this graphic novel is going to reduce me to tears?

The second in the Baskerville Affair series.

Sounded like a good graphic novel series.

What did you get this week? Add your loot below!



Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Teaser Tuesday-A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard (Something Strange and Deadly #2)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!


"Cold gripped me. Thank goodness I had put the letters in my carpetbag." 
pg 31 A Darkness Strange and Lovely by Susan Dennard

Monday, April 28, 2014

Cress (#3 in the Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

I'd been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Cress since I finished Scarlet last year. And now I have to wait until next year for Winter to come out. How will I ever stand it? The Lunar Chronicles is shaping up to be one of my favorite series.

Cress starts off where Scarlet left off. At the beginning I was disappointed that Meyer was bringing yet another character to the book. I really wanted more Cinder and Iko. How about Kai? But I was glad that Cress joined the team and I really loved Cress. Especially with Thorne. Swoon! I love all the romance in this series. There was plenty of action in this one. And Kai had a larger role in this one like I predicted after I read Scarlet. Again, the romance and the development of the characters makes this series so wonderful to me. And I loved how the story lines all tangled together. Especially since I see how things are going to start out in Winter. Oh, I can't wait.

If you haven't been reading this series (which I recommend to those who like YA sci fi and fairy tale reltellings), wait til Winter is released or close to it. It's so hard to end each book knowing it will be a year before the next book is in my hands! Others who shared their thoughts on Cress: Caffeinated Book Reviewer, On A Book Bender, The Broke and The Bookish, and Reading After Midnight.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

What To Eat This Week

We did really well last week on eating at home. Let's see how we can do this week!

Breakfasts: Tai's taking french toast sticks with maple syrup. I'm taking peanut butter and jelly roll ups and yogurt.

Lunches: Japanese chicken curry and Ham and Lentil Soup.

Dinners:

Monday: Ham and Tater Casserole with kale chips

Tuesday: Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad with corn chips/Beanitos

Wednesday: Taco pie with guacamole

Thursday: Take out

Friday: Sweet and Sour Chicken with rice

Saturday: Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops

Sunday: Steak with mashed sweet potatoes

What's on your menu this week?

The Read-a-thon: End of The Event Survey



1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Hour 20. I always pass out around then. I actually made it to Hour 21 this year. My eyes were tired so I switched to my audiobook and was able to stay up a little longer.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I stuck with novellas and graphic novel for the most part. I also liked having my audiobook so I could be up and around and still reading.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I think this was the best yet. The prep ahead of time was fantastic. I think the hosts did an excellent job of raising a lot of interest. 

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
See above.

5. How many books did you read?
Finished eight and made another hour's progress in one.

6. What were the names of the books you read?

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
The Selection Stories. I made me more excited to read The One. 

8. Which did you enjoy least?
Glacial Period. I don't think I understood it.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I was a #teamrogue cheerleader and I appreciate having that option. This year's cheerleaders were great. I think that they did a fantastic job.

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Yup, already planning on participating in October. That will be my 10th 24 hour read-a-thon. 

Saturday, April 26, 2014

The Read-a-thon: Midway Survey


1. What are you reading right now?
Just finished Phoenix Overture by Jodi Meadows. Considering listening to The Ocean At The End of Lane while I vacuum. 
2. How many books have you read so far?
Two. Phoenix Overture and The Selection Stories by Kiera Cass.
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
I took Friday off from work so I could run some errands. My family knows it's the read-a-thon today so when they see me not reading they ask "why aren't you reading?"
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Not too many interruptions other than those of my own making. I may have taken a tiny break to play Hearthstone.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
The number of people reading and tweeting. I love the response this year. Amazing.
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Keep doing what you're doing. It's going great!
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
Get up earlier. Not stay up so late the night before.
9. Are you getting tired yet?
Nope, but it's early here.
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?
No, love seeing what others are doing. Everyone's making this a great Read-a-thon!

Readathon: the start


Ugh. I stayed up way too late last playing Hearthstone. But I'm ready to start now
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Bellevue, WA

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

The Selection Stories and What I Thought Was True. I've got my complete stacks here:http://sillylittlemischief.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-read-thon-loot-novellas-books-and.html and http://sillylittlemischief.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-read-thon-loot-graphic-novels.html

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

Skinny pop. I have an addiction. 

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I'm a 38 year old married lady. Besides reading I love to cook. My husband and I have decided to go gluten free so I'm loving the challenge of making foods without gluten.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?


This is my seventh (!) read a thon. I think this is the latest I've ever started. I'm looking forward to meeting lots of new people on here and on twitter.


Friday, April 25, 2014

A Study In Silks by Emma Jane Holloway

A coworker recommended A Study In Silks to me. She knows I love steampunk. While this was a mystery (one of my least favorite genres), I did enjoy A Study In Silks.

Evelina Cooper has finally found a place in Society. The niece of Sherlock Holmes and the bastard daughter of a member of the ton and a solider, Evelina hasn't always been living in luxury. Her grandmother, Sherlock Holmes' mother, retrieved her from the circus many years ago. Evelina's friendship with Imogene Bancroft has helped her tremendously. Now as the two girls start their Season, a murder occurs in the Bancroft household. Evelina decides she's going to channel her famous uncle and solve the case.

I really liked Evelina. She's smart, got a level head, and knows when to rely on her friends. She's also got some magic flowing through her blood. Plus she enjoys tinkering her mechanical trinkets. I enjoyed learning about her and the London she inhabits. Her friend, Imogene, is a sweetheart and tries to help Evelina where she can. Of course there's some romance in it. I favored Tobias over Nick but both have their redeeming qualities. I really enjoyed the villain. He reminded me of those old time villains who tied up women to railroad tracks.

A Study In Silks was a great first book in a series. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Others who shared their thoughts on A Study In Silks: Fangs For Fantasy, Parajunkee, and Ageless Pages Review.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Awesome and Awkward Thursday


Awkward:
-Tai introduced me to a new game, Hearthstone. I want to play all the time. Very addictive.
-Also on the list of things I want to do all the time: Watch House of Cards. I'm hoping we can finish season one this weekend. 


Awesome:
-Today's my Friday! Yay for 3 day weekends!
-Dewey's 24 hour read a thon is Saturday. I'm going to read all the books!

What's been awesome and awkward for you this week?

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

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.


No Loot! Shocking but I actually have no loot to share today. Those last couple of books I requested for the read a thon did not show up. Oh well.

I can't wait to see what you got though.

Claire's got the linky this week.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Teaser Tuesday- Cress (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!


"Even now, Cress used those hours to crawl beneath her bed and nap or read or write sings in her head or work out complicated coding. She still did not like to look at the cities of Luna; she harbored a secret paranoia that if she could see the Lunars, surely they could look up beyond their artificial skies and see her."
pg 4 Cress by Marissa Meyer

Monday, April 21, 2014

The Read a Thon Loot-Novellas, Books, and Audiobooks

While I love having a huge pile of graphic novels to read during the read a thon, I know that sometimes I need a break from the graphic novels. So I have also been stockpiling novellas, shorter books, and audiobooks. So let's see what I have in that pile.

I see myself diving into this early in the day. I'm so excited for The One to come out in May!

I might save this one til later in the day. I know once I start it I won't want to put it down.

I recently finished Infinite but I'd love an excuse to visit Ana's world once again.

Young Adult romance? Always a good thing.

I have this one on audiobook. I've got about an hour or so left. 

What about you? What does your stack of books look like for the read a thon?

Sunday, April 20, 2014

What To Eat This Week

Another week of delicious meals.

We did very good this week. We ate at home everyday but one. We ate all the food I bought last week. I'm excited to have an empty fridge and freezer!

Breakfasts: Tai's still got plenty of cereal. I'm still enjoying yogurt, waffles topped with peanut butter, and fruit.


Dinners:

Monday: Tacos with guacamole

Tuesday: Swimming Rama with rice

Wednesday: Juicy Lucy with sweet potato fries

Thursday: Spicy Cobb Salad


Saturday: Crockpot Sour Cream and Bacon Chicken with roasted broccoli


What's on your menu this week?

Friday, April 18, 2014

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

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.

Every since finishing My Life Next Door, I have been anxiously awaiting Fitzpatrick's next book. So excited to start this one.

What did you get this week? Share your post below!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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 am not a wizard, but I play one every Thursday night. To be nerdy about it-and trust me, there is no other way to approach this-I am a divine spell caster, a lawful neutral twelfth-level cleric. In the world of Dungeons & Dragons, that makes me a pretty major badass."
pg 4 Of Dice and Men by David Ewalt

Monday, April 14, 2014

Favorite Restaurants-The Eastside Edition

I've been meaning to write up a list of our favorite restaurants so here we go. I'll do a Seattle one later but this is just the Eastside (Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, etc)

Seastar (website, yelp)-hands down our favorite seafood place. The food is always excellent. We usually get the Seastar Iced Shellshock Bowl. It has all our favorites including oysters and crab. Tai will always get the scallops if they are on the menu.

Ginza (website, yelp)-a great Japanese restaurant. They have some great sushi but I love their cooked food best. A lot of their dishes are seasonal so I usually get whatever the special is. The parking sucks. I recommend parking on Main or closer to Bellevue Square and walking.

Din Tai Fung (website, yelp)-Our usually place for Chinese. It's dum sum without the carts. I love their spareribs. Tai loves their spicy dumplings. We both love their cucumbers. Peak times have long lines. We usually go at off times.

Szechuan Chef (websiteyelp)-Our other go to Chinese restaurant. I love their hand shaven chow mein noodles.

Kukai Ramen (website, yelp)-Tai and I were over the moon when a ramen place opened up near us. We like Kukai's traditional broth. I like the tonkotsu shoyu ramen and Tai likes the yuza shio ramen.

Noppakao Thai-(website, yelp)-Jeff took us to this Thai restaurant a few years ago. Tai and I have gone back multiple times. The food is so fresh and delicious.

Naan-N-Curry (website, yelp)- Tai's favorite Indian restaurant. He loves their Chicken Tikka Masala.

Mayuri Indian Cusine (website, yelp)-My favorite Chicken Tikka Masala. I can eat the sauce with naan for days.

Saigon City (yelp)-Kind of unfair since I know the family that owns Saigon but my favorite pho ever. I love their vermicelli bowls in the summer.

This isn't a comprehensive list. I'm sure I'll add more as time goes on. And I'll do a Seattle list soon too.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

What To Eat This Week

What yummy meals will we eat this week?

Last week I was about to give myself a pat on the back. On Tuesday, I was following the plan perfectly. Then I got sick on Wednesday and dinner plans went out the window. I got back on track Thursday so it wasn't all bad. Besides, I expect to usually miss one day a week. The problem starts when I miss more than 2 or 3 days. 

Breakfasts: Tai's still enjoying his cereals. I'll be taking yogurt, a banana, and waffles topped with peanut butter. 


Dinners:

Monday: Hamburger Soup 


Wednesday: Chicken Cordon Bacon with sautéed green beans


Friday: Orange Chicken with roasted broccoli

Saturday: Going over to a friend's house for dinner but thinking about bringing these pork ginger gyoza.

Sunday: Tom Ka Gai

What's on your menu this week?

Friday, April 11, 2014

The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger

I spotted The Divorce Papers on one of those best upcoming books of 2014. It sounded funny so I added it to my library queue. I'm glad I did. The Divorce Papers was witty and charming. I enjoyed reading every minute of it.

Sophie is a criminal law attorney. Her clients are in jail and she rarely has to see them. This suits Sophie fine. But one day, one of her firm's biggest clients has a daughter, Mia, that needs a divorce attorney immediately. All the divorce attorneys for Sophie's firm are disposed and Sophie's the only one that can meet with this client. But Mia likes Sophia and, despite Sophie's lack of divorce experience, Mia chooses Sophie to be her attorney.

Told through letters, inter-office memos, court records, and emails, The Divorce Papers had me smiling and laughing. While divorces can be serious subjects and sometimes not laughing matters, Rieger makes this divorce less glum. For me, Mia was very relatable. She's got her faults and can be odd at times but she's honest and loyal. I loved her daughter, Jane. I'd love to see a novel about a grown up Jane. Sophie was also very relatable with her train of thought emails and romanic challenges. I was smiling and giggling through a lot of the book. Everyone seemed very real and that sold me on The Divorce Papers.

I wouldn't quite call The Divorce Papers a beach read. It's a little too bulky for that (480 pages!) but it is a great read for a long trip. I had a hard time putting it down. Others who shared their thoughts on The Divorce Papers: Turn The Page Reviews, That's What She Read, and It's A Book Life.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Anne & Kristilyn’s 2014 Book Bingo Reading Challenge Update



So here's where I am so far.
TBR Pile:

One Book: The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Two Books: Joyland by Stephen King and Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
Three Books: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach, Sense and Sensibility by Joanne Trollope, and Paris Was The Place by Susan Conley.
Four Books:
Five Books:

Mix It Up:
Nonfiction:
Classic:
Reread:
Free Square:
Contemporary:

Series:
One Book: Cornerstone by Kelly Walker
Two Books: Wild Heart and Wild Desire by Lori Brighton
Three Books:
Four Books:
Five Books:

Genres:
Fantasy:
Free Square: Boy21 by Matthew Quick
Historical Fiction:
Mystery:
Romance:

New Releases:
One Book: Tsarina by J. Nellie Patrick
Two Books: I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe and A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller
Three Books:
Four Books:
Five Books:

How are you doing on your bingo card?

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

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'm holding onto this one until the Read a thon

Reloot.

What did you get this week? Claire has Mr Linky this week.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!

"Where does character come into it? Just this: I've always been pretty sure I could kill someone if I had to."
pg 7 Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Monday, April 7, 2014

Gearing Up For The Readathon

I'm getting ready for Dewey's 24 hour read a thon on April 26th.

This is my seventh read a thon. Why do I keep participating?

1. It's a lot of fun.

2. I love spending the whole day reading.

3. It's a great way to knock out a bunch of books.

4. Hundreds of other people reading at the same time all over the world. How cool is that?

What are my tips for making the read a thon successful for me?

1. Have realistic expectations. I know I won't finish more than 2 novels (about 300-400 pages each). Set smaller goals.

2. Read novellas and graphic novels. It feels great to finish books. Unless you have a few books already started on read a thon day, your book count will be lower. That's why I love graphic novels. I can read 10 easy.

3. Make time to participate. Be active on twitter, participate in the challenges, visit other bloggers. Read a thon is about reading and celebrating the book blogging community.

4. Plan your food in advance. Have snacks ready, plan on takeout, give someone else the meal planning responsibilities for the day. My family knows it's the read a thon. I plan on throwing some food in the crockpot and making snacks the day before.

5. Don't stress. It's suppose to be fun. So what if you spend 2 hours visiting blogs and chatting on twitter? So what if you only finish half a book? So what if you take a nap and wake up 4 hours later? No worries!

Will you be joining in on the fun on April 26th? I'll be posting my progress here and on twitter (@sillylittle). I'll have another post about all the graphic novels I'm planning on reading.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

What To Eat This Week

It's time to meal plan!


We did really well last week on our Eat from the Larder Challenge. We only have 2 days worth of ham left and one pound of ground beef left. Woo Hoo! First we'll finish that up and then try to only eat what we buy for now.

Breakfasts: Cereal for Tai and waffles with peanut butter and yogurt for me.

Lunches:  Ham and cheese sandwiches and left over split pea soup.

Dinners:

Monday: Split Pea soup with ham (full disclosure: we were supposed to have this Sunday night but I got back too late so we had hamburgers instead)

Tuesday: Tacos with guacamole

Wednesday: Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp with roasted asparagus. 

Thursday: Marmalade Chicken with mashed cauliflower  

Friday: Individual pizzas and salad

Saturday: Tai and I are having dinner with friends. Dad will have leftovers. 

Sunday: Meatloaf with mashed cauliflower

Friday, April 4, 2014

March Book Tally

The Dinner by Herman Koch
I Love Him To Pieces by Evonne Tsang
Double Enchantment by Kathryne Kennedy
A Mad, Wicked Folly by Sharon Biggs Waller
The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe
Tsarina by J. Nellie Patrick
Bayou vol 2 by Jeremy Love

I slumped hard this month. While I read some great books, I couldn't seem to want to pick them up. It's ok. The readathon is this month and that usually helps me out numbers and slumpwise.


Stats:
Romance Reading Challenge This month: 2 (A Mad, Wicked Folly and Double Enchantment) YTD: 5
Historical Reading Challenge  This month:3 ( A Mad, Wicked Folly, I Shall Be Near To You, and Tsarina) YTD: 4
What's In A Name Challenge This month:0 (none this month) YTD: 3
Yearly Total: 33

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Tsarina by J. Nellie Patrick

I added Tsarina to my to be read list after reading Catie's review. I don't read much fiction set in Russia but was excited to read some. I'm glad I picked up Tsarina. It was a wonderful story and very engaging.

Natalya's in love with Alexei Romanov, the heir to the Russian throne. Natalya and Alexei are truely in love and feel that they are destined to be together. Natalya looks forward to being the tsarina but mostly looks forward to spending her life with Alexei. But this a tumultuous time in Russia's history. Will Natalya and Alexei survive? Will Natalya be able to save Russia?

At first I wasn't sure about Natalya. She was a little spoiled and I knew her life was going to change drastically before the middle of the book. But she quickly stepped it up and I enjoyed seeing her take charge. Natalya would have been a kick ass tsarina. Her love for Alexei and Russia kept her from running away. It kept her in Russia, fighting not to lose what she loved dearly. Her friend, Emilia, helps her as does Leo, a Red who wants to bring down the government and put Lenin in power. Leo is an unlikely ally. I wound up liking him a lot.

Tsarina was an excellent story about love, war, and loyalty to one's beliefs. I enjoy reading historical fiction that's outside of the United Kingdom. I'll be looking for more from J. Nellie Patrick. Oh, I just found out that J. Nellie Patrick is Jackson Pearce's pen name. No wonder it was so fantastic. Others who shared their thoughts on Tsarina: Pub Writes, Books Take You Places, Just A Lil' Lost, My Friends are Fiction, Read. Breathe. Relax, and The Incredible Librarian.
This is my forth book for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.


Wednesday, April 2, 2014

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.

Lee & Low Books had asked on Twitter about books with heroines of color and someone mentioned Weedflower. I'm always looking for more Japanese fiction and this one also touches on Native Americans too. 

The story of two young women who give up their New York society lives to become teachers in Colorado in 1916. Sounds fascinating. 

It's here! It's here! It's here! *collapses happily*

What did you get this week? Share below!