create the life you love

February Book Club

The 'babes' met at Flemmings this month for our book club ..

Our book was The Thorn Birds. I read this way back during a summer in college and enjoyed reading it once again.

Books .. Recent Favorites

I've read some wonderful books this summer!

 

One of the best books I have ever read ..

I highly recommend it

Unbroken

 

This was my book club pick.

The story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley.

 

The Paris Wife

 

This trilogy was not at all my normal type of reading ..

but I was drawn in and hooked. I will admit though, that by the third book

I was ready for it to end! 

The Hunger Games

 

I absolutely loved this book!

The Swan House

 

And, the sequel. Not quite as good as it's predecessor (in my opinion).

but still loved the story

The Dwelling Place

 

An amazing story of survival

A Stolen Life

 

Another summer book club pick. 

Suspenseful!

I have yet to see the movie, but really enjoyed the book.

Again, not my usual type of read, but this is what is so great about book clubs .. 

takes you out of your 'normal'

 

The Lincoln Lawyer

 

So enthralling .. and hard to put down!

Close Your Eyes

 

I am currently reading this book.

Just started last night and am loving this story

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb
 

Book Club Baby Shower

We had a little, surprise baby shower for Katie who is having her first baby (a boy!) in just a few weeks. Our gifts were all baby books to start baby Will's library. Suzi was our fabulous hostess!

*cute shoes *

Gorgeous momma-to-be

 

*Our book this month was "Bossypants" by Tina Fey .. just a fun, light read for the summer.

May Book Club

 

 

Our book this month was Paris Wife which we all enjoyed. Lots of conversation regarding Hemingway's life style.

I have read Hemingway's biography, A Moving Feast, as well as other biographies, and most of his classics. I've also visited his home in Key West. 

 

* On a side note .. this photo (and the one from Mother's day) were taken with my small pocket camera (Canon Powershot). I am not at all happy with this camera - all my pictures seem to be such poor quality. So much easy to carry this with me, but the results are disappointing. 

April Book Club

I hosted our book club this month, but our book, Cleopatra was not a hit. I think only 2 gals actually read it in it's entirety (and I was not one of them). Really hard to get into this book.

We had a wonderful time, non-the-less. 

 

Joan, Joanie, Suzie, Katie 

 

 Christine & Ginny

Debbie & Patty
 

 
Joan & I

 

 

 

This salad was a huge hit. I have made it many times since I love it so. Two of my friends who do not like salmon and never eat it, both LOVED it and had seconds. I actually made it again this evening and am giving half to one of my former non-salmon-eatting friends!

 

Ina Garten's Salmon Salad

2 pounds fresh salmon fillets, with skin on

Good olive oil, for grilling

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup small-diced celery (3 stalks)

1/2 cup small-diced red onion (1 small onion)

2 tablespoons minced fresh dill

2 tablespoons capers, drained

2 tablespoons rasberry vinegar

2 tablespoons good olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

 

Cut the salmon fillets crosswise into 4 inch wide slices. Rub them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brush the cooking surface with oil to prevent fish from sticking. Cook the fillets on grill ( I use grill pan on stove top) for 5-7 minutes on each side, until they are rare. Be sure they are still rare on the inside. Remove to a plate, wrap in plastic, and chill in the refrigerator until cold and very firm.

When the fillets are sold, remove any skin that hasn't come off during grilling. Break the fillets into very large flakes and put them into a bowl., adding any juice that has collected at the bottom of the plate.

Add the celery, red onions, dill, capers, raspberry vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and serve cold or at room temperature.

Serves 4 (I doubled the recipe)

 

*The coconut cupcakes were also sooo good (or so I hear). They are also Ina's recipe. I have made them, as well as her coconut cakes many times :)

 

Book Cub

A wonderful evening with my book club friends. Debbie was a fabulous hostess!

She served Ina Garten's Beef Bourgenoin, with potatoes, a wonderful salad and home made carrot cake.

I love her sweet pup, Chichi .. she even had cute pink bows for Valentines :)

Our book was 'A Land Remembered' .. I highly recommend this book.

We all really loved this story.

 

 

January Book Club

I completely forgot to post these fun photos of the book club babes ;)

 

Such a great group of gals! 
 

Bible Reading .. New's Year Goal!

 

One of my goals for 2011 is to read the entire bible this year. I'll be quite honest and admit that I have tried this a few times in the past and have failed. But, this time I am using The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan and it makes all the difference (in the past, I just started reading from the beginning of the bible with no outline or plan). I started my reading  on 1.1.11 and am going strong. This plan is very do-able .. thank you Kim for recommending it! Also, I am doing my bible reading on my ipad, which I love. I read every single night (not a tv watcher), most nights I go to bed at 9pm and read for an hour or more .. but reading my bible in bed has always been difficult for me .. finding the correct pages, verses, etc. and being able to see! (even with reading glasses). Reading on the ipad is a breeze and I am able to bookmark pages and make highlights. By using the Discipleship plan, I spend about 15-20 minutes a night (5 nights a week) reading. I am making sure that I always do my bible reading first each night and then move on to my current book reading (just started reading 'A Land Remembered').

 

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

(Psalm 37:4)

…He has our best interest at heart…He is always with us…He never fails us…Delight yourself in the Lord…He will lead you…He will guide you…He will direct you…He will enlightened you…"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths."(Prov.3:6)…If you are looking for direction in your life…acknowledge Him…He gives good counsel…God is our delight…He loves us…He protects us…If you are going through a rough place…call on Him…don't aimlessly seek direction…call on Him…don't dwell on hurts…dwell on the all encompassing power of God…choose to be happy…make it a definite choice…dwell on His provision…dwell on His help…dwell on His promises…delight yourself in Him…Let these thoughts sink into your being…remember He is on our side…rejoice…we can not lose..He sees us through…When you feel a wave of despair approaching…call on Him…He will lift you up…whenever you are afraid…put your trust in Him…Jesus is able to turn things around…He tells us over and over again in His word to fear not…He tells us He is with us…He tells us the enemy can't triumph over us…God is our defense…Trust God with your life…watch what He is doing in your life…You will cry as the psalmist did in Psalm66:5 "Come and see the works of God,He is awesome in His doing towards the sons of men."…Nothing is to hard for the Lord…His power is truly awesome…Amen

 

Oh ... Ina!

 

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Ina Garten.

I have all of her cookbooks, have used each one, and have made many of her recipes.

Love her newest. I have already made the roasted vegetables and the beef tenderloin.

Both were winners!

And easy!

 

 

Simply Pink

My sweet friend Diane sent me this book ... just because!

She happened to see it in a store and thought of me (being all about PINK)!

Books and Pink just happen to be two of my favorite things

How sweet is she?!!

Thank you, Diane ... you know I LOVE it!

 

xo

 

 

Getting Schooled in Prep!

The Today Show

True Prep!

I can not wait to receive this book, due out September 7th.

I have it pre-ordered from Amazon.

The Official Preppy Handbook was like a 2nd bible to me during the early 80's. 

I just could not get enough of it, so much so that the pages started falling out.

 

 

Books!

I haven't written a post on books in a while, so ... my latest favorite reads.

 

Most of you have most likely read The Help or it may be on your list. 

If you like this book than I think you will love The Kitchen House. 

Dare I say I even liked it more than The Help!

More about The Kitchen House from the author, Cathleen Grissom

Mudbound is another book I throughly enjoyed. 

The story takes place on the Mississippi Delta at the end of WWII. 

Very different homecomings of two returning war heros (one white, one black) to the south.

Little Bee ... I don't want to spoil the story by saying anything!

 

Cutting for Stone 

A remarkable story beginning in India, progressing to Africa and then to American. I learned so much about these foreign countries. Very enlightening!

 

Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt

I loved this book!!

Southern fiction at it's best, in my opinion.

Love the characters, the setting, the story line ... everything about it.

Such beautiful writing with such strong southern women. 

I adored them and their wisdom!

 

Redeeming Love

This book (and others by author Francine Rivers) have been on my list to read for a long time.

A beautiful historical romance of God's forgiving, faithful and redeeming love.

It truly touched my heart!

** And I wanted to add that I have read the first 2 books of the Series 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. Really enjoyed them both, although they are not my normal type of book. I plan on reading the 3rd book too - just taking a break from all the action .. a lot happening in stories with the tattoo / fire girl!!

Book Club

 

  

The first meeting of my new book club was held last night at my home. Although not all of the gals could make it, we had a wonderful evening. Our discussion was on the book, 'Eat, Pray, Love. I had already read this book when it first came out, but read it again with the group. Mixed reviews on this book, but most of us did at least like certain parts of the book, the authors style of writing, and we all agreed that there were many good lessons to apply to our own lives.

Griff was so kind to be our photographer ...

 

I served a few Italian, light dishes. Mixed green salad, with roasted peppers and capers, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, caprese salad and cannolis ... with wine, of course.

  
 

 

 

Book Winner

The winner was #11, which is Janel!

Email me with your address (mccaligiuri@aol.com) and also initials and your two favorite colors. I have a little something else to send to you with the book.

Thanks, Janel!

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 10 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 

 

Thank You ... and a Book Giveaway

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions and tips regarding book clubs. We have 7-8 gals so far and are hoping to 'grow'. Our group is very diverse. A few of the ladies I haven't seen in years, but I am excited to be coming together again through a love of reading. I will be hosting the first book club in March at my home and the book I chose is "The Elegance of the Hedgehogs".

And ... to thank you all. I am offering this book, 'My Enemy's Cradle' to one lucky winner. The book is 'used' - lovingly read by me and a friend.

To enter the drawing, just post a comment here and tell me one of your favorite books. I will draw the winner on Friday, January 23, 9pm Florida time!

I have read a lot of books about the Holocaust (both fiction & non-fiction) and this was one of my favorites. I was hooked from the beginning and was completely unaware of this Nazi atrocity that occurred. The book was full of intrigue, suspense, heartbreak and joy.

Read on the book more here and here

 

Favorite Books of 2009

{ studio melsa }

The following is a list of some of my favorites reads this past year. I always keep record of each book I read both here on my blog and at goodreads. Last year I read over 80 books and this year only 50. Not sure why so many less this year. I still read every night (I am not a tv watcher and rarely watch), but I have been busier with my little business and work more at night now. Must be working more and reading less.

My favorites (in no particular order):

Half Broke Horses

The Help

South of Broad

The Weight of Silence

What I though I Knew

The Well and the Mine

The Mercy Papers

Sarah's Key

My Enemy's Cradle

Firefly Lane

The Secret Life of Cee Cee Wilkes

 

And, since I am talking about books ... those of you in a book club, can you please share some tips and suggestions on how your book clubs work. I am determined to get one started this year (one of my 'goals'). I have a few friends interested and I want to keep it as low key as possible. Just a fun time to get together with other readers! Any suggestions are appreciated.

Be sure to check back this week too. Although I now own a Kindle and download most of my books, I believe I read a few of the books mentioned above in 'real' book form. I am going to check and see which I have and then will have a giveaway!!

 

Book Recommendations ... For Little Girls

{ a favorite book of mine }

My god daughter's 5th birthday is next week. I like to buy her special books for her birthdays, holidays, or just because. I have already bought her the 'Pinkalious' books and one or two of the 'Fancy Nancy' books ... as well as a variety of Christmas, Easter, Valentines, Halloween books.

Also, I bought her this doll and a few outfits for her upcoming birthday. It's all I can do to keep myself from taking her out of the box and playing with her ;)

I would love any book suggestions from you all!

b o o k s

I have read some wonderful books lately - just love when I hit a 'good' run ... and I am loving my Kindle! 

My summer favorites (so far) ...

My Enemy's Cradle

 

Sarah's Key

 

The Help

 

The Mercy Papers

 

The Well and the Mine

 

What I Thought I Knew

 

**All you readers, feel free to post your favorite reads!**

 

 

 

 

E t s y . F i n d

 

The sling purse - such cute Kindle holders! A great travel bag too. They hold either size Kindle - 1 or 2. I purchased the zebra print, which was on sale! Available at JanieKingDesigns  on etsy.

 

P i n k . S a t u r d a y

A very happy Pink Saturday to you all. This week I am sharing a photograph of some of my pink books with a vase of little green pom-pom flowers :) ...

 

 

And, see my previous post for a look at my newest 'pink' book (the cover at least)!

To see more of Pink Saturday, visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

It's Here

 

 

I received my Kindle a few days ago and am reading away. I just love being able to easily take it with me wherever I go. It is very easy to use and has some great features; downloading samples of books (not just a paragraph or 2 but many chapters), looking up words with the dictionary feature - just a simple click, having as many books as my heart desires right in one place to read or ordering another book at any time in just a flash. Oh, and although I haven't used it yet, the 'read out loud' feature. I am a little worried about missing 'real' books. I absolutely love shopping in book stores, buying hardbacks, including cookbooks and decorating books, which I collect. I doubt if I will ever give up buying them, but most certainly will be buying less - most likely 'special' hardbacks that I want a copy of. No more paperbacks for sure - I never keep them, always pass these on to friends - sorry friends, I feel bad I won't have any more to give away!

k i n d l e

 

I finally did it ... bought the much coveted kindle. I have been eying it ever since it first came out, but waited until the second version was released, then waited until the price dropped .. and it did so a few days ago. Patience pays off! I also also purchased a few accessories - a pink leather cover and pink light (almost excited over these as I am the kindle). Can not wait to receive this and download my first book. Not sure what book it will be? Something special since it is a first - Suggestions welcomed!

 

 

Book Give Away - I Forgot!

 

So sorry, I completely forget to draw the winner on Friday. Did so last night though and the lucky gal is ... Katherine!

Summer Reading .... And a Give Away!

 

A few of the books to read this summer. I actually read year a round, all the time so summer reading is not much different for me. I do usually chose a few fun, easy reading or chick books to reading during the summer though. I am currently reading Pretty in Plaid - very cute story :).

And, I have a brand new copy of this book to give away (maybe a little something else too) ...

 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I read this book last year when it first came out (the hardback) and loved it. It is currently the #1 best seller on the trade paperback chart.

Just leave a comment here and I will draw a winner on Friday, June 26

** A few more books that I recently read and highly recommend**

My Enemy's Cradle

Sarah's Key

The Help

 

Book Recommendation List ... From you All

 

{ studio melsa }

A big thank you for all the book suggestions. I complied a list for those of you that may want some book recommendations. Now that I have so many great choices, I can't decide which to read first - I think I will have to do a drawing!

• The Penderwicks (book 2)
• The Help
• The House on Trade Street
• The Wednesday Letters
• Witch of Portobello
• I'll Scream Later
• Honk and Holler Opening Soon
• Waiting for Snow in Havanna
• A Mad Desire to Dance
• Books by the author Chris Bohjalian

 

I did pick up this book, The Girls of Ames a Story of Women and Friendship at Costco a few days ago and am really enjoying it. Oh, and I have to mention this book, How Not to Look Old(also from Costco), so many fabulous tips ;)

 

Book Recommendations ... From All of You!

I would love to hear any book recommendations from you, my blogging friends. As most of you know, I am a voracious reader. My taste in books include; historical fiction, history, biographies, memoirs, and some contemporary fiction. I do not like sci-fi, fantasy or other 'out there' writing. For example, Twilight was not the book for me  ... sorry all you fans ;)

Thanks all!

Okay All You Twilight Fans ...

Please tell me this book is going to get better? I am almost half way through it and it is sooo boring to me! I honestly am ready to quite reading it and more on to another book. Someone needs to convince me to stick with reading Twilight!

Joining the Masses ... A Little Late!

 

 

My friend, who I have swapped books with for many years now, insists that I read this series ... and that I will love it. You may remember that I gave Harry Potter a try (read the first book and about half of the second), but did not care for HP at all. I just started Twilight last night, so we'll see.

 

Book Share

   

I did this on facebook, so I thought I would post it here too. Since February is 'book month' - at least it was last year ;) - it is good timing. Also, every year in January I post my personal book list - my favorites from the books I read during that year and the total number - I believe last year I read 84-85 books! So, I plan on getting to my 2008 list tomorrow.

Book Share

1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
4) Tally your total at the bottom.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen X
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte X+
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (only read the first book and I am probably the one in a million that didn't care for this book)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee X+
6 The Bible- X+
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte X+
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell X+
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X+ (LOVE this book and movie - and oh how I wish I had some 'lttle women' in my life!)
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller X
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (not the COMPLETE works but many of them in HS)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du X
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger X+
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger X+
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot X
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell X++ (one of my all time favorite books)
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald X+
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy X
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky X
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X+
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll X+
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame X+ (a childhood favorite)
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy X
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens X
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen X+
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen X+
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis X+
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini X+
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden X+
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X (LOVE
Winnie and his friends)
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell X
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown X+
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez X
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving X++ (another all time favorite book)
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery X+ (another childhood favorite)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood X+
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding X+
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan X
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel X
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen X+
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X+
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon X
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez X
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck X+
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt X++
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold  X
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding X
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville X
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens X
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker X
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett X+ (another childhood favorite)
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce X
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath X
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker X+
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert X
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White X++ (LOVE this book)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom X +
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery X+
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams X
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl X

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo X+ (saw the broadway muscial - loved it, love the music)

TOTAL = 60 Books

For the Bird Lover

One of my friend's birthday is coming up in a few weeks. She is a bird lover and actually encouraged me to to be one also by buying me a bird feeder.

For her gift, I ordered this book, Birds: The Art of Ornithology and one of these mercury glass birds from Wisteria. ETA: 15% off all orders at Wisteria until 2/28/09 - use code SALE2009

 

{ I absolutely love this display }

These little bird candles are sweet also ...

 

And these glass bird vases ...

 

And ... bird nests :)

 

ETA: I just came across this beautiful wrapping paper and 'book' bird house at Kate's Papier ...

   

Ina Garten's New Cook Book

I can't wait to get Ina's new book, back to basics. (released October 28). I am a huge fan of hers, have all of her books to date and every recipe I have made has been fabulous!

Book Winner

Sorry I am a little late. Griff drew the winner last night but I am just now getting around to posting.

And the winner this time is ... BELLE!

Email me (mccaligiuri@aol.com) with your address and I will send the book out to you, along with a little something else!

Cookbooks

 

 

 As you can see, I have many cookbooks - and these are just some of my collection that I have on my kitchen shelves. Many more in cabinets (including my Christmas collection).

I recently came across this site, Tastebook  where you can make your own cookbook. I would love to have all my favorite recipes in one book. I need to do this!!

Book Give Away

Charles Martin is one of  current favorite authors. I have read all of his books to date and have enjoyed them all immensely. So ... I would like to share one with one of you, Chasing Fireflies.

From Publishers Weekly
In his fifth novel, Martin (Maggie; When Crickets Cry) offers the same brand of sentimental Southern storytelling that has endeared him to readers. Just before T-boning her Impala into a train, a woman on a suicide run kicks her horrifically abused little boy, known only as Snoot—or to the state, John Doe 117—out of the car. Chase Walker, a reporter for the Brunswick Daily in Glen County, Ga., is assigned to follow up on the boy, whose abandonment mirrors Chase's own haunted past. The little boy, apparently mute, is an artistic prodigy who excels at chess and quickly works his way into Chase's heart. Martin's strength is in his memorable characters, especially Uncle Willie, whose fresh quips ("as out of place in South Georgia as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs"), penchant for Krispy Kreme doughnuts and mysterious past keep readers engrossed. Here, as in some of his other novels, Martin can't resist piling on unnecessary tragedies; his characters and their issues are enough to keep the pages turning. Although the plot needs fine-tuning, Martin's prose is lovely, and the flashback parallel stories of a grown man abandoned as a child and the neglected boy will ensure readers keep the Kleenex handy.

Just post a comment here and I will do a drawing next week - let's say Monday (Sept. 29) evening.

Books

I feel the need to mention a few of the last books I have read since I enjoyed them so much.

The Invisible Wall  by Harry Bernstein. A remarkable story written by H. Bernstein at the age of  97. The book entails his life as a young boy growing up in an English mill town during WWI. Very much like the book "Angela Ashes" and one of the  true-life stories I have read. A sequel, "The Dream" is due out later this year. I can't wait.

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore. Another true-life story that absolutely captivated me. A story of hope - two totally different people and an unlikely friendship. A deeply inspiring book. I laughed and cried (sobbed at times). In fact, I don't think I have ever cried so hard reading a book as I did with this, but don't let that discourage you from reading it - this is an amazing story!Again, one of the best truee-life books I have read.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. I'll admit that I am a bit obsessed with reading and learning about the fundamentalist Mormon life of polygamy. I have read many books on this topic lately and it is just astonishing ( so unbelievable!) to me that people ever lived this way much less still do so today. The book interweaves two stories. One a historical fiction story about the first years of the Mormons and the other a modern day murder mystery. Fascinating.

Book Give Away

I read this books a month or so ago (passed it on to a friend to read) and now I would like one of my blogging friends to read it also :). I am sure most of you have heard about The Shack. I know Maureen has read it ;). It is a fiction, faith-based book, which really touched me in many ways.

From the back of the book:

'Mackenzie Allen Phillips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God,inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant 'The Shack' wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as they did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!

To read more on the book, here.

So, if you would like a chance to win this book, just post a comment and I will draw the winner next week on Wednesday.

Book Winner ...

Griff was happy to do the drawing, but he would NOT let me take his picture. And, the winner is ...

** ETA: Christina has been a friend for many years now (1999?). We first 'met' at Two Peas in a Bucket, back when it just started. I believe we were both in the first 100 members. I always loved her scrapping style and good for her, she is still at it!! (Unlike me, who needs an intervention or something to get me back to scrap booking!) I hope to some day meet Christina in person. Next time you visit Disney Christina, I will be there for sure!

CHRISTINA!! Yea for you :) When I told Griff the winner was getting a book (a used one), he said 'that's all?' ... so, I will be sending you a little some extra with the book!

Also, I will certainly be having more book give aways soon, so there will more chances for those losers, who did not win! ;)

Monday, Monday (and a BOOK GIVE AWAY)

• I have absolutely NO photos of 4th of July, but then again, we really didn't do much. Dan & Griff played golf earlier in the day and we had rain storms in the early evening, so we decided against going to the club for the pool bbq. The fireworks were still on though, so Dan & Griff rode the Vespa over to watch (no room for me on it, so I stayed home!). Actually, I chose to not go (I was ready for reading in bed!) but, I did see a bit of the fireworks from our front driveway.

A few layouts of Griff on 4th of July a few years back ...

• Today, I had the carpet cleaners come to clean all the upstairs bedrooms - always a load of fun :(. Bax and Murph were mad at me since I had to keep them both downstairs, back in the media room, out of the way. Sad pups ...

• Went to the gym again TWO TIMES today. This morning, I did cardio (elliptical) and weights and back again this evening for pilates. Since I have been doing pilates 3-5 times a week now for the past month or so, I am starting to feel the results. Guess this is what is takes to stay in shape at my age - working out two times a day - jeez!!

• AND ... I must mention this book, Year of Fog. This book was sooo suspenseful, so riveting and beautifully written. A great summer read. I do not want to spoil it, so that is all I am saying! If you would like a chance to win this book, post a comment here and I will draw a winner on Friday, July 11.

*** ETA: The reviews on Amazon are very mixed. Many readers did not like this book at all! Although, I did enjoy reading this book - very compelling hard to put down, I do have a few 'issues' with the ending and one of the characters. Still - I give it 4 stars!!

Another Book List ...

'106 Books of Pretension'

{ I've seen this list on a few other blogs }

Books I've read in bold: 45 total (although there are a few more on this list I may have read, way back in school - I can't remember)

1. Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell
2. Anna Karenina
3. Crime and Punishment
4. Catch-22
5. One Hundred Years of Solitude
6. Wuthering Heights
7. The Silmarillion
8. Life of Pi
9. The Name of the Rose

10. Don Quixote
11. Moby Dick
12. Ulysses
13. Madame Bovary
14. The Odyssey
15. Pride and Prejudice
16. Jane Eyre
17. The Tale of Two Cities
18. The Brothers Karamazov
19. Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
20. War and Peace
21. Vanity Fair
22. The Time Traveler’s Wife
23. The IIiad
24. Emma
25. The Blind Assassin
26. The Kite Runner
27. Mrs. Dalloway
28. Great Expectations
29. American Gods
30. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
31. Atlas Shrugged
32. Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
33. Memoirs of a Geisha
34. Middlesex
35. Quicksilver
36. Wicked: the life and timesof the wicked witch of the west
37. The Canterbury Tales
38. The Historian : a novel
39A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
40. Love in the Time of Cholera (read half of this book)
41. Brave New World
42. The Fountainhead
43. Pendulum 
44. Middlemarch
45. Frankenstein
46. The Count of Monte Cristo 
47. Dracula
48. A Clockwork Orange
49. Anansi Boys
50. The Once and Future King
51. The Grapes of Wrath (HATE)
52. The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
53. 1984
54. Angels & Demons
55. The Inferno
56. The Satanic Verses
57. Sense and Sensibility
58. The Picture of Dorian Gray
59. Mansfield Park
60. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
61. To the Lighthouse
62. Tess of the D'Urbervilles
63. Oliver Twist
64. Gulliver’s Travels
65. Les Misérables
66. The Corrections
67. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
68. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
69. Dune
70. The Prince
71. The Sound and the Fury †
72. Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
73. The God of Small Things
74. A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
75. Cryptonomicon
76. Neverwhere
77. A Confederacy of Dunces
78. A Short History of Nearly Everything
79. Dubliners
80. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
81. Beloved
82. Slaughterhouse-Five
83. The Scarlet Letter
84. Easts, Shoots & Leaves
85. The Mists of Avalon
86. Oryx and Crake : a novel
87. Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
88. Cloud Atlas
89. The Confusion
90. Lolita
91. Persuasion
92. Northanger Abbey
93. The Catcher in the Rye
94. On the Road
95. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
96. Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
97. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values †
98. The Aeneid
99. Watership Down
100. Gravity's Rainbow
101. The Hobbit
102. In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
103. White Teeth
104. Treasure Island (Griff is currently reading this for his summer classic book)
105. David Copperfield
106. The Three Musketeers

The New Classics

This list is from Entertainment Weekly of The New Classics: The 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008.

The ones I've read are in green (40 total):

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988) - I did not finish this book
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The things They Carries, Tim O'Brrien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48.The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67.The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78.Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Attonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86.  And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

Gifts

Connor had a graduation party to attend yesterday - 6 high school girls, so I whipped up some stationery for them ...

And a little 'summer' gift for my god daughter. I think this is the first time I have bought her a clothing item in a color other than pink! Found this cute RL seersucker swim suit at the Polo outlet (shopping for my boys, ok ... I did find a thing or 2 for myself). I can't tell you how much I absolutely love little girl clothes. I can spend hours shopping/looking at girl things. I know, I seriously need help. This suit just melts me!

I have no idea if this will fit Bridget since I haven't seen her in so long :( and do not know what size she wears.

I also found this set of books at Costco a few months ago, Dick and Jane. Oh, how I loved learning to read using these books and I can actually remember a few moments when I was a child using these books ...

 

The Last Lecture

I'm sure most of you have seen this video, The Last Lecture by Randy Paush, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, father of three young children, who has terminal cancer. If not, please take the time to do so - it is incredibly powerful and inspiring. After watching the video, I immediately thought of my college boys and emailed it to them. I can only hope and pray that hearing Paush's wisdom on life will be instilled in their lives in some way.

I also just read his book, The Last Lecture. Like the video, the book was brilliant and so much more than the lecture. I am at a loss for words - I was so touched by his writing and know I will refer back to this book over and over again. This is a book that should be shared with all your loved ones for generations to come.

** Shari emailed this link to Randy Pauch's web page - thanks Shari. Also, the book is out of stock at Amazon (due in May 7), but I bought my copy last week at Costco. **

I can not explain just now much this book, Mistaken Identity has touch me. I read it in one day and cried (sobbed at times) through out the book. An unbelievable and amazing testament of two families incredible faith in God and how His power and loved carried them through the most traumatic ordeal.

' The story of how two girls, Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak, could be mistaken for each other may seem fantastic and unbelievable, yet that's not the real story here. This book is really about how God has sustained two families through His grace.'

(from the prologue of the book)

Books

I feel the need to mention these two books that I am reading. Beautiful Boy and Tweak.  The first book is written by the father of the drug addicted son. The second, written by the son himself. I hope you all do not think that I have a drug problem or God forbid, that one of my boys has a problem. All is well here in my family, and I thank the Lord for that. I pray constantly that my boys stay safe.

I love reading memoirs and am drawn to stories of people's addictions and their overcoming of them. I know most others find these stories to be quite depressing, but I am always so enlightened and so amazed with these stories. In most of the memoirs I have read, the authors are able to beat their addictions and go on to live very meaningful, productive lives. Reading these books show the human being's determination to survive, its desire to thrive and its capacity to forgive. Very powerful.

Thankful Thursday (on Friday)

:: Thankful for the beautiful spring like days we are having, with a bit cooler weather. And these beautiful trees (the name escapes me?) that are in bloom. I took these photos with my iphone while walking a few mornings ago.

:: Thankful for the Oprah Show. I rarely get to watch it these days since I am usually driving Griff to a practice at the airing time, but I did see the show yesterday. Marianne Williamson was the guest and the show topic, The Age of Miracles; The New Midlife. Perfect timing for me, since I will soon to be entering a new stage in life! Also, thanks to Oprah, I am reading A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. I am also signed up for the Monday night on-line class.

:: Thankful for girl friends who are fun to get together with, for a glass of wine, a bit to eat - even at the last minute.

:: Thankful for my mother's care giver. She is such a God send, a wonderful patient woman. We are very fortunate to have her.

:: Thankful that Griff has such a love of lacrosse. He is over the top with excitement for the game, so excited that the spring season has started.

:: Thankful that Connor has his confederate uniform and it fits! It was actually shipped over night and was at the frat house last night. Thank you Lord. Praying he arrives safely (he should be arriving to Savannah shortly). He had a late start after going to get his oil changed - waiting until the last minute - and the mechanic telling him his break pads were shot, and no way could he make  a 3.5 hour trip! Another typical Connor situation. Dan about blew a gasket over this - the fact that Connor waited until the day of the trip to have his car checked out! But, all is well ... an oil change, new break pads, new tires (of course more $$ deposited into his account to pay for it all) and he and his gang (his date and another couple) are on their way.

Dreaming of Tuscany

I had the pleasure of hearing Barbara Milo Ohrbach speak today at the Orlando Museum of Arts Council 101 annual antique show. I own many of her books, and bought her newest, Dreaming of Tuscany today and had her sign it. Dan and I are hoping to travel to Italy in the near future and Tuscany is most definitely a region I want to visit.

Book Winner

Sorry, I didn't get around to posting last night, but Griff did the drawing and Sherryg is the winner! My camera battery is dead, so no picture. Sherry, email me with your address and I will mail the book out to you. Thanks!

A Party

My dear friend, Sharon's birthday today. So, lunch out at The Cheesecake Factory with a group of girlfriends ... a lovely afternoon! No pictures of the luncheon, but one of my gift. This book that I own myself and love.

Book Give Away

In honor of President's Day (well .. not really, I was planning on doing this regardless), I am having a book give away. My friend, Tonia was so sweet to send this book to me and now I would like to pass it on.

Pawley's Island by Dorthea Benton Frank. A delightful, southern novel. Very entertaining!

From the back of the book:

'Catapulted from her home, her marriage, and her children, artist Rebecca Simms has come to Pawley's Island to hid herself. Little does she know that on this"arrogantly shabby" family playground, she'll encounter three people who will change her life: a wise and irresistible octogenarian who will pry her secrets from her; a gallery owner who caters to interior decorators and, heaven save us, tourists; and a retired attorney for Columbia who's complacent in her fat and sassy life until Rebecca's story advent. With characteristic humor and a full cast of eccentric and wonderfully lovable characters, Dorthea Benton Frank brings us a refreshingly honest and funny novel about friendship, family, and finding happiness by becoming who you are meant to be.'

If you would like a chance to win this book, just post a comment here and I'll draw the winner Thursday evening (Feb. 21).