Good morning!  Looks like it is going to be a gorgeous day here in Minnesota.  Al and I and a couple of friends of ours are going to take a motorcycle ride this morning around the area.  This will of course require the helmet that I purchased a couple of years ago that reminds me of something Schultz would wear in that old series, Hogan’s Heroes.

Ok, maybe it is not that bad….. but every time I wear it I like to say “I know nothing…. NOTH -ING!”  You would need to know the show to understand that line… 😀

Here is what popped up in my Email box this morning… these are the books that became available this week in either hard cover or paperback.  Joy In The Morning is one that catches my eye as it is written by Betty Smith, author of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.

How about you?  Are any of these books on your wish list?

New in Fiction
	“The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet” by David Mitchell Read more “Work Song” by Ivan Doig Read more “A Vintage Affair” by Isabel Wolff Read more “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives” by Lola Shoneyin Read more “Her Fearful Symmetry” by Audrey Niffenegger Read more “Tatiana and Alexander” by Paullina Simons Read more “Joy in the Morning” by Betty Smith Read more “A King of Infinite Space” by Tyler Dilts Read more “The Quickening” by Michelle Hoover Read more “Paths of Glory (Penguin Classics)” by Humphrey Cobb Read more

Woo!  Sorry about my lateness…. I have been up, but doing other things and prepping my day…. and honestly I have so many things going on in my head right now for the “topic” of the morning that I couldn’t choose….  (yeah, I know my coffee cup is upside down)  😀

So fair warning – I have no idea which direction this post is going to go.

Ok – for starters…. is anyone reading, listening too, have read,  or considering The Passage by Justin Cronin?  I was in line for it at BEA.  Justin Cronin was there signing the books and he gave out his last book to the girl right in front of me.  Apparently his full shipment for the signing had not come in.  I did not know a lot about the book, other than it was plastered everywhere in large signs all over the convention center.

When I came back home, I found it on Audible.com and downloaded it to my IPOD.  It is 15 35 hours of audio so you know – C O M M I T M E N T.    I am probably a couple of hours in and seriously the jury is still out.  I loved the beginning, then it went a different direction and was odd and I was lost…. then it connected to the beginning so I was back – but now I am confused again….

Second random topic – I am excited to participate in the Book Blogger Appreciation Week which will take place in September of this year.  More info on this will be on a separate post.

Third random topic – you know I mentioned that I went to Eclipse with my friend Wendy.  What I did not mention is that she is crazy.  A complete loony.  Ok, maybe not – but here is the full size movie poster  she left in my office:

I also have June comments awards to do – and yes, I am doing that for July too…. just need to get things organized around here.  🙂

I hope you all have wonderful 4th of July plans!

Morning all.  We wound up going to the 10 pm showing of Eclipse last night.  The plan was to go to the 2:25 pm, but both Wendy (who I was going to the movie with) and I, were in a planning meeting until after 2 pm and the timing just wasn’t right. I really enjoyed the movie and some moments were laugh out loud funny…. others really made you think.  We had a good conversation on the way home about the over all effect of the movie – good vs. evil, and of course I love the fact that two lifelong sworn enemies (the vamps and the werewolves) come together for a greater cause, and you start to see what may be the beginning of peace between these two tribes.

What they leave out of this clip is what is said next – and that’s really what I wanted to show you.  Jacob then goes on to say, “and she broke her hand punching me in the face.  It’s complicated.”

This morning I woke up to an email that said my cluster map has been reset as it has been a year since I had signed up for it.  The cluster map is the little map thing way down on my right sidebar that keeps track of where people are visiting my blog from.  Its kind of cool, and when I first put it on the blog, I looked at it every couple of days…. it fascinated me.  Now – a year later, I have kind of ignored it, but today I took a look at the stats of a year and it was kind of interesting:

Well, some of its interesting anyway.  Today I work – and then blade or bike, not sure yet but think I may just throw in my ear buds and hit the trail for a while.  I have had a lot of requests to get the Wordshaker Book Club rolling again and I plan too, I just need to create a group to connect with those who I know are interested as well as a form to sign up on for those who want to be included.  I let this lapse way to long but am hoping to have that ready to go live sometime in the next few days.

Ok – I am babbling….. I am coffeed up and need to get out the door!  Later!  😀