Little Thoughts About Books and Stuff

This challenge is being hosted at  My Reader's Block .   I have a slight problem with books (as my following list shows). I can't help it when I see a free book, or a deal to get a book at a really low price.  Being a librarian I also can't help grabbing books from the book donation piles.  My goal was for Mt. Vancouver which was to read 36 books from my TBR Piles .  I managed to read 26 books from my pile.  Four books are also off my pile but those I started and didn't like. 16 books were taken out of my pile because they were parts of series, and after a few book on the lists I realized I really don't have time to start a new series. So I'm calling this challenge "met" in that I cleared 46 books out of my basket/off my reading devices.  Here is my pile of books and here's my  Goodreads Shelf  for the challenge.  In my book basket: People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel The Dead...

I Love Library Books Reading Challenge 2014  hosted by  Book Dragon's Lair Description of Challenge can be found on the  sign-up post : My goal was the 'just insert IV' level which was to check out and read 50+ books. From the list bellow you can see that I checked out and read 68 books. With three books checked out but not read yet.  There were a good number of books that I checked out and either didn't read or started and didn't care to finish. You can find my ratings and/or reviews of the books I've read on my  Goodreads' Page . Books Checked Out and Read: Real by Katy Evans Francis: A New World Pope by Michel Cool Mine by Katy Evans Remy by Katy Evans Still Foolin' Em by Billy Crystal (BCD) Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman Boy21 by Matthew Quick Cordina's Royal Family: Gabriella & Alexander by Nora Roberts Cane by Jean Toomer Cordina's Royal Family: Bennett & Cami...

Well I've read everything that has been published and now I can relax and just read the new stuff as it comes out! This is the Complete Booklist from Nora Roberts'  website .  Highlighted books are ones that have been read.  Yellow highlighted books were read prior to the start of this list. Fuchsia  highlighted books have been read in 2011.  Orange highlighted books have been read in 2012. Blue highlighted books have been read in 2013. Lime highlighted books have been read in 2014. TITLE - Series(s)/Connected Book(c)  1981  IRISH THOROUGHBRED  s – Irish Hearts 1982  BLITHE IMAGES  SONG OF THE WEST   SEARCH FOR LOVE   ISLAND OF FLOWERS  HEART'S VICTORY  1983  FROM THIS DAY  HER MOTHER'S KEEPER   ONCE MORE WITH FEELING   REFLECTIONS  c – Dreams  TONIGHT AND ALWAYS   DANCE OF DREAMS c – Reflections   UNTAMED   THIS MAGIC ...

has been answered! Back in September I had posted A Call for Help in getting my hands on the last remaining Nora Roberts book on my backlist: Well a friend has come through and I am in possession of a copy of the book. She kindly checked it out of her local library and has lent it to me for her borrowing duration. I'll be reading the book this weekend! This is a great end to the year!

Study a stranger.  Go home and write a  tragedy  about his or her mother. Dennis gave a deep sigh as he turned down his street. All the other houses were decorated for the holiday season. Some houses simply had a few candles in the windows with a wreath on the door. Other houses were more ornately adorned with lights that danced and twinkled. There were houses with giant blowups on Santa or snow globes. Then there was his house with no lights and no decorations. He hated driving home on these winter nights when it was so obvious they were the odd family out on the block. He pulled into his drive way and groaned when he saw that the house was completely dark. His mother hadn't turned the lights on, which meant she was sitting in the dark. He wondered if she even realized that she was sitting in the dark. Dennis walked into the house and stopped. He heard his mother humming. It wasn't unusual that she was humming, but the song was one he hadn't heard her sing since his chil...

[ View the story "My Favorites from 2014" on Storify ]

Find a photograph.  Write a story about what's going on outside the frame. Claire turned the volume up on her iPhone. The music drowned out the voices of the kids playing next door. They were cute, when they were quite, and right now they were anything but quite. She had needed to get out of the house and since she technically was grounded the back yard was as far as she could go, not that it was a big yard. She was only about 100 feet from the back porch, but it was still outside. Claire leaned back and watched as some ducks made the turn to swim down their section of the lagoon.  She should have grabbed some bread to feed to them. They kept a bag of stale bread in the microwave just for feeding the ducks. She was debating on going to get some when the kids next door threw something into the lagoon. The ducks scattered and Claire swung her head around to look. Just as she turned her head another projectile launched towards the ducks. It was a rock! “Hey!” Claire stood up, rip...

The Goal:  To finally read 12 books from your “to be read” pile (within 12 months).   I pulled 12 books that I won't be getting to from my TBR Pile Challenge for 2014. (I did a different challenge in 2014 and kind of set myself up to fail with too many books on my list so I'm back to narrow down my challenge) People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel The Dead Beat by Mailyn Johnson American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld Truth about Mr. Darcy by Susan Adriani The Physician's Irish Lady by Susan Macatee Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden Maximilian Standforth and the Case of the Dangerous Dare by Scott Southard Blessed Isle by Alex Beecroft By Honor Betrayed by Alex Beecroft Captain's Surender by Alex Beecroft Nine Rules to Break When Romancing A Rake by Sarah MacLean

Here's Where I Stand on the I Love the Library Challenge Books Checked Out and Read: The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne (BCD) Super Graphic by Tim Leong Finding the Dream by Nora Roberts Holding the Dream by Nora Robers Little Humans by Brandon Stanton The Guernsy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows Stars by Nora Roberts Treasures by Nora Roberts Books Checked Out and Currently Reading The Gospel According to Coco Chanel by Karen Karbo Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson Books Checked Out and Not Read - Yet Think, Eat, Move, Thrive by James Rouse The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev Lizzy & Jane by Katherine Reay Here's Where I Stand on the TBR Pile Challenge In my book basket: Blood Trinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love Book from my Kindle App Elanor & Park by ...

Weekend Cooking is hosted by  Beth Fish Reads The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer My rating: 4 of 5 stars The obvious choice for this meeting would have been for someone to make Potato Peel Pie, but if you've ever looked at the recipe or read reviews of the dish you would probably veto the option just like we did and stick with our normal choices of baked goods, picky foods, and wine. I felt like we needed to have something potato related to discuss this book and looked around online and found a number of mashed potato pie recipe ideas.  I picked this one : Ingredients  instant mashed potatoes  1 teaspoon garlic powder  2 eggs, beaten  1/2 cup Parmesan cheese or 1/2 cup Romano cheese  1 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese ( divided)  paprika  Directions  Make mashed potatoes according to package directions for 7-8 servings.  Stir garlic powder, eggs, Parmesan and one cup of the ...

The Shape of My Heart by Ann Aguirre My rating: 4 of 5 stars Reviews of I Want it That Way  and As Long As You Love Me . We go back to apartment 2B in this third book of Ann Aguirre's trilogy. This book runs along side As Long As You Love Me  Nadia makes a reference to Rob and Lauren's break up over Thanksgiving. When Lauren moved out to go home, Courtney moved in to take over her spot in the apartment.  Courtney and Max were friends before she moved in and their friendship was the support both needed. Max needed her when things were going south with Lauren and Courtney needed Max when things were going horribly wrong with her breakup. Max has to go home, some place he hasn't been in years and he's not sure of the welcome he'll receive. He doesn't want to go alone and asks Courtney to go with him. In meeting Max's family, Courtney gets a better understanding of Max and an opportunity to see him as something more than just a friend.  The same can b...

Santa Claus Is for Real: A True Christmas Fable About the Magic of Believing by Charles Edward Hall My rating: 3 of 5 stars I was really excited to read this book by the Radio City Music Hall Santa, Charles Edward Hall. Charles has played the roll of Santa for over 25 years, he's the Santa many of us grew up with in experiencing the wonder that is the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. I was interested in his journey in becoming this roll (if you've had the pleasure of seeing him in this role, you know he becomes this character) from some one who didn't believe in the spirit of Christmas.  What bothered me about this book was his "discussions" with the real Santa. These just didn't work with me and wish they would have found a different avenue for sharing his conversion to a believer. I also would have liked some more from the show itself and how it's changed over the years and how his role of Santa has changed along with the holiday. It was an en...

Hosted by  I'm Lost In Books  this week This week's prompt: Diversity and Nonfiction: What does “diversity” in books mean to you? Does it refer to a book’s location or subject matter? Or is it the author’s nationality or background? What countries/cultures do you tend to enjoy or read about most in your nonfiction? What countries/cultures would you like nonfiction recommendations for? What kind of books besides different countries/cultures do you think of as books of diversity? What does “diversity” in books mean to you? Does it refer to a book’s location or subject matter? Or is it the author’s nationality or background?  There is so much talk right now about the need for diversity in reading. (Search "We Need Diverse Books") The movement is really about the large scale need for diversity on our bookshelves in both libraries and personal collections. I think it's a good movement and an important undertaking to diversify literature/reading. However, I f...