Saturday, May 16, 2009

Last Exam Day

A few days ago I celebrated taking my last final exam for my degree-- hopefully last exam EVER.  I just have to complete some hands on work this summer and I'll get my degree in August. Woohoo!!

My husband was too sweet and celebrated by getting me some flowers and cooking dinner.  He even let me pick the movie to watch (I made him watch a girly movie) and he stayed awake through the whole thing. That's love right there.

Anyway, we also celebrated by opening a bottle of wine we got when we were in Texas. It was delicious. 

Thursday, May 14, 2009

BEA Begging

Ok. So I'm not above asking or begging for things I really want. So here it goes:

Is anyone going to the Book Expo America here in New York City? And if so, how are you able to sign up?


I've been seeing information about it and a friend of mine and I are dying to go. But it looks like it's only open to authors, publishers, librarians, etc. Can I, a small-time book blogger sign up?


I do know Book Club Girl, Julie of Booking Mama, Natasha of Maw Books, Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word, Amy of My Friend Amy and Dawn of She is Too Fond of Books, and Candace of Beth Fish Reads are all going.


So I'm asking--begging...how can I sign up?

The Sugar Queen - Sarah Addison Allen

After I read Sarah Addison Allen's novel, Garden Spells, I went to the library and happened to see her second novel, The Sugar Queen. I had to pick it up. And I liked it...not as much as Garden Spells but...

Ok. Here's the synopsis:

Josey Cirrini lives in a North Carolina ski resort town. And she's rich. And she's unhappy. Her late father, Marco Cirrini, was the one who years ago turned the small town into a prime resort. So she lives with her mom in their fancy home. Her mom thinks it's Josey's job to wait on her hand and foot. So Josey has no friends, no life, and resorts to stashing romance novels and junk food in her closet. (Every chapter's title is the name of some sort of candy which I thought was pretty clever.) Oh, and she has a crush on her handsome mailman, Adam.

Then we meet Chloe Findley, also twenty-ish, who owns her own food stand in the local courthouse. She's just had her heart broken because her boyfriend, Jake, told her he had "accidentally" slept with another woman. Oh, and she has an odd relationship with books. They just appear around her and often with relevant titles. Usually its nice, like when it's a much needed romance novel. But lately they've been self-help books with titles like Finding Forgiveness.

Josey and Chloe meet up and become friends through the appearance of Della Lee...a woman who starts living in Josey's closet. (Yes...you read that right.) Della Lee is running away from her life and her abusive boyfriend so she decides to hide out at Josey's house until she figures things out. And while she's at it, she starts giving Josey the confidence to start living her life for herself.

So yeah. I liked it. It's wasn't anything mind blowing but it was a fun quick read. Josey and Chloe are both in the stage where they are breaking out of their molds and finding who they are. And as usual, I like her side characters...like her mom is a perfect "love to hate" character, but she's got her own side story. And Della Lee is pretty funny. And while Josey was the "main" character, I think I liked Chloe better.

And I love the hardback cover. Isn't it gorgeous! I want a place like that to read. Sigh.

Here's some other covers.

This is the paper back version. I don't know...I get the candy thing but it just looks a bit depressing:
And this one is pretty, but I don't get the wings reference:
And this is the large print version. Hmmm...could have been pretty but the girl is kinda creepy...that's just my opinion
Also Reviewed By:
Girls Just Reading
S. Krishna's Books
A High and Hidden Place
Reading Derby

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope every mom out there is having a wonderful Mother's Day! My mother-in-law was in town this past week so we enjoyed spending time with her. But I wanted to wish my the other mother's in my family a huge happy Mother's Day.

My mom is an amazing lady who can still manage to whoop me when it comes to hiking Colorado's Fourteeners:
And to my grandma who is an amazing lady:
And to my sister who's has become such a wonderful and patient mom:

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen

I remember when Sarah Addison Allen's book Garden Spells came out because I adore the cover. It's so gorgeous! I finally found a nice hardcover copy at a library sale and have finally gotten around to reading it. And I loved it! It kind of reminds me of Practical Magic...but it might just be better.

Ok. Here's the synopsis:

The Waverley family of Bascome, North Carolina have a reputation for being sort of gifted...magical...special. This story is about two Waverley sisters, Claire and Sydney. Claire is the older, tamer sister who's talent lies in the kitchen and the garden. The Waverley's garden is known for it's magical quailities which are passed on in the food Claire makes. Everything she cooks has something from the garden: rose petals, pansies, nasturtiums. And Claire knows which flowers aid in keeping secrets, bringing forth memories, and such. And never...never eat from the apple tree. The whole town knows that one. But Claire hasn't seen her sister in years, not since Syndey ran off after high school. Now Syndey has come home with her young daughter Bay and they are running away from something.

Sounds sort of similar to Practical Magic, right? But I just love the characters. Bay is so adorable. Aunt Evanelle is a kooky old lady who just has a feeling when she needs to give someone something they need (and they WILL need it). So she might randomly give someone a melon peeler, or a shirt two sizes to big, or whatever. And I LOVE the cooking in it...at the end of the book the author lists the different types of flowers and what they are good for. It made me want to live in North Carolina.

It was the perfect book for curling up in bed to read while getting over the flu.

Here's a few other alternate covers...although my favorite is the one I have, this one is gorgeous...although I don't know what the dress means...
This one is kind of boring:And here's the newer book by Sarah Addison Allen that I want to read now (another beautiful cover):

Also Reviewed By:
Reading Adventures
Reading Derby
Medieval Bookworm
Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic
Bookfoolery and Babble
Peeking Between the Pages
Out of the Blue

Quick Question

Hello!

Just popping in to ask a quick question. I changed my blog template to be more stretched out so more of the page is used. Do you like this new format or do you like the older regular style?

The purpose in the change would be to try and get the photos I take to be a bit larger.

I'd welcome any thoughts, tips, comments, whatever.

Ok. Thanks!

**************************************************************************

Note: I went back to original template. I'm still going to try and post a bit bigger pictures though. We'll see what happens.

Thanks everyone for your input!!!

P.S. You can still comment or give me tips/thoughts/etc. Thanks!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Little Book - Selden Edwards

I've been in a bit of book blogging slump lately and it's mainly because of Selden Edwards The Little Book. I just can't figure out what I want to say about it. So I'll give it a whirl. In a nutshell...not too thrilled with it. I finished it, so that says something. Actually I was pretty annoyed that I couldn't just quit reading it...so I finished it. But not my favorite read of the year. And since I wanted to love it...man it was disappointing..but mainly since I had such high expectations. But I love the cover darn it all. See...I'm torn.

Here's the synopsis:

Legendary musician, baseball player, and perfection embodied, Frank Standish Burden III, known as "Wheeler," is in his forties when he somehow gets transported back in time to Vienna, circa 1897. There he meets his father, whom he never knew since he died in WWII, and a slew of other characters of Vienna's elite including Freud, Mark Twain, and other intellectuals. He also meets his grandmother and old professor, the "Venerable Haze," who were in Vienna at the time. Oh and Hitler as a boy is somewhere in there. The books flashes between his time in Vienna in 1897 and detailing his life's accomplishments. And the book is supposedly written by Wheeler's mother.

Ok. First I'll say the good things.

1) The writing was pretty good. Definitely a lot of research. Selden Edwards was an English teacher and began writing this in 1974. So a lot of years went into this book. And it shows.
2) The history aspect of Vienna. I took Eastern European classes in college so not a lot of the information was new but still very interesting.

Ok. That's it. Here's why I was annoyed.

1) If I saw the word "legendary" or "venerable" or whatever again I was going to scream. I understand that Wheeler was a legend...the perfect game, the perfect pitch, his band became the epitome of 1960's music and he wrote the anthem for the age. AAAARRRGGG.
2) It was written by his mom. HIS MOM! Mom's are notorious about perhaps glorifying or hiding the negative.
3) His love affair. I'm not saying anything...but it was creepy. That's all I'm saying. You'll have to read it to judge for yourself.

But just because it wasn't my cup of tea, I can understand if people like it. And a lot of people really do.

I read a review in the Washington Post though that totally nailed how I felt about the book so at least I know I'm not alone.

So I'm curious...have you read it? If so what did you think?

Also Reviewed by:
The Tome Traveller's Weblog