It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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Hello!  Welcome to It’s Monday What Are You Reading?  The meme that we use to share what we read this past week and what our plans are for the upcoming week.  It’s a great way to see what others are reading and add to your own To Be Read list. 😀  You never know where that next great read may come from!

Happy end of the year!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, and now we are on our way to the end of the year… I have to say I am looking forward to it, 2014 was not an awesome year and I am hopeful that 2015 will have a better flow to it. 🙂

Here is what I posted this past week:

 

Maze Runner Movie Thoughts

 

The Kindness Of Strangers by Mike McIntyre

 

Love Letters by Debbie Macomber

 

Still time to join in FIRST BOOK OF THE YEAR!

 

I wish I would have posted more this week, I have reviews I wanted to wrap up on by year end and I dont think I can fit them all in now 🙂

 

 

Here is what I have planned for this week:

 

For My Ears:

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Darcy Patel has put college on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. With a contract in hand, she arrives in New York City with no apartment, no friends, and all the wrong clothes. But lucky for Darcy, she’s taken under the wings of other seasoned and fledgling writers who help her navigate the city and the world of writing and publishing. Over the course of a year, Darcy finishes her book, faces critique, and falls in love.

Woven into Darcy’s personal story is her novel, Afterworlds, a suspenseful thriller about a teen who slips into the “Afterworld” to survive a terrorist attack. The Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead, and where many unsolved – and terrifying – stories need to be reconciled. Like Darcy, Lizzie, too, falls in love – until a new threat resurfaces, and her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she cares about most.

 

 

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Sarah Nickerson is like any other career-driven supermom in Welmont, the affluent Boston suburb where she leads a hectic but charmed life with her husband Bob, faithful nanny, and three children—Lucy, Charlie, and nine-month-old Linus.

Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son’s teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it’s a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to breathe.

A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.

A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.

Now, as she wills herself to regain her independence and heal, Sarah must learn that her real destiny—her new, true life—may in fact lie far from the world of conference calls and spreadsheets. And that a happiness and peace greater than all the success in the world is close within reach, if only she slows down long enough to notice.

 

For My Eyes:

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Hazel Rose never dreamed that the murder mystery book group she and her friend Carlene started would stage a real murder.

Nevertheless, the normally composed Carlene is unusually angry and rattled one night during a book group discussion and dies after drinking cyanide-spiked tea. Despite a suicide note, Hazel is skeptical; Carlene never seemed suicidal—she was busy making plans for her future. Incidentally, Carlene was married to Hazel’s ex-husband, and Hazel has always suspected there might be something more to her past than she let on.

How much does anyone really know about Carlene Arness? And did she die by her own hand or someone else’s? Hazel begins a search for the truth that produces no shortage of motives, as she unearths the past that Carlene took great pains to hide. And most of those motives belong to the members of her very own book group…

 

 

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When Penny Farthing nearly dies, brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick manages to implant a brass “Ticker” in her chest, transforming her into the first of the Augmented. But soon it’s discovered that Warwick killed dozens of people as he strove to perfect another improved Ticker for Penny, and he’s put on trial for mass murder.

On the last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthings’ factory is bombed, Penny’s parents disappear, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom note demanding all of their Augmentation research if they want to see their parents again. Is someone trying to destroy the Farthings…or is the motive more sinister?

Desperate to reunite their family and rescue their research, Penny and her brother recruit fiery baker Violet Nesselrode, gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling, and Marcus Kingsley, a young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.

Cleaning up a few reads before the end of the year and then next week.. well, I have some news I will share soon 🙂

What are you reading/listening to this week?  Is this a good reading week for you with the holidays or is it a hard week to read with everything going on?  I will have a mix of quiet days and crazy days… but all should work out to a good week to read 🙂

Please add your What Are You Reading link below where it says click here:

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Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

 

For those who read mainly children and middle grade books please add your link here as well:

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Love Letters by Debbie Macomber

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Jo Marie Rose knows that summer is the biggest season for the Inn so she and handyman Mark Taylor have been working side by side to prepare everything.  While she and Mark has been friends for a while now, Jo Marie is surprised she knows little about Mark and decides that this will be the season when she finds out about this mysterious man.

Ellie Reynolds is coming to the Inn to meet a man she has been corresponding with for the past few months.  Eliie is frightened on her soon to be encounter but can not pass up this opportunity to meet someone she feels she may be falling for.

Maggie and Roy Porter’s marriage is in a rocky state.  The trip to the Inn is one that they are both hoping will possibly save their marriage.  Maggie is working hard to forgive Roy, but at the same time knows that has something she must confess that may destroy any chances they may have of putting their marriage back together.

What is it about writing words of love on paper?  And how can such letters for these people at the Inn change everything?

 

 

I used to read Debbie Macomber frequently many years ago.  I enjoyed the people you meet in her towns.  I found it brilliant how she created a series set around a town and named each book an address where you met the people within that household and how they interacted with the other characters you would meet book by book.

Love Letters took me back to that town I enjoyed reading about all those years ago.  This time centered around the Inn.  While Love Letters was sweet, it did not hold me like the earlier books had.  I found the relationships to feel forced and I never connected with any of them.

A pleasant read,yes, and fans of Debbie Macomber may find this book to be a great fit.  For me, my time in Cedar Cove may have passed, or perhaps it was just a bad visit and at some other time I may come back again.

 

Morning Meanderings… Sunday Books and Lyrics… Oh YEAH!

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Good morning!  Happy Sunday!  I am looking forward to a day of some projects, perhaps some reading, and even a little dancing.

First lets talk about the books that came to my home this week.  Hello books!

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The Housemaid’s Daughter by Barbabra Mutch

Salt and Stone by Victoria Scott

Walking On Trampolines by Frances Whiting

Cold COLD Heart by Tami Hoag

13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do by Amy Morin

 

AND I received a set of books for Christmas from my son:

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Yes!  The boxed set of The Harry Potter books with the new covers.  LOVE IT!  Smelled them all!

 

On another note, I posted a while back a post called Sweet Books Are Made Of This and Jill from Rhapsody In Books commented that I had put that song in her head.  And I thought… I can do better than that.  SO here is the music…. hit play and then sing/dance along to the new words below.  You are welcome Jill.  😀

Sweet Books

Sweet books are made of this
Who am I to disagree
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody’s reading for something

Some books just want to use you
Some books just want to get used by you
Some books just want to abuse you
Some books just want to be abused
Sweet books are made of this

Who am I to disagree
I travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody’s reading for something

Hold your head up, readin on, keep your head up, readin’ on
Hold your head up, readin’ on, keep your head up,readin’ on
Hold your head up, readin’ on, keep your head up, readin’ on
Hold your head up, readin’ on, keep your head up

Some books just want to use you
Some books just want to get used by you
Some books just want to abuse you
Some books just want to be abused

Refrain

 

LOL.  So that’s the extent of my limited talent for today.  Off I go!  Have an AWESOME Sunday!

Oh, and are you ready for the first book of the year?

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The Kindness Of Strangers by Mike McIntyre

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When Mike McIntyre found his job and life so far to be unfulfilled, he decided to make a move.  He steps away from his job, his home, and his girlfriend.  As an experiment in human kindness, Mike decided to hitchhike from San Fransisco to Cape Fear North Carolina with only his back pack.  He would take no money and accept no money along the way, only food and shelter.

The result was unpredictable.  Along the way Mike found his way on to a talk show.  He stays in homes of those who have nothing and those who have plenty, he spends time with drug addicts, abused and used people, families, and loners.  Many times he finds shelter in homes or in a tent.  A few times he battles the elements of weather.

Mike comes out of this experience as a changed man, one who knows more about the society we live in, the generous and the not, probably more than most of us do.

 

 

 

I didn’t love it.

When I picked up this audio I had visions of WILD and struggling through the elements trying to find yourself and that was not this listen.  AND maybe, that is my issue that I did not find it to be the hardship I was expecting, the life changing experiment… and that is on me.

What I did find was that for the most part people are still caring and generous.  Mike rarely goes hungry.  Often he is taken to homes for meals as well as out to restaurants.  Many times he accepts a meal just so not to be rude although he is not really hungry.  There are times he turns down food to take with him as he does not have the ability to carry it.

It was interesting to hear about the different people he stayed with, but I was turned off by some of the dialogue he included in the book.  I did not need to know about sexual escapades of those he stayed with.  I did not need to know about those who were hoping for a little more from Mike or his attraction to one of the women he stayed with.  I felt that took away form the main story.

I did find it interesting how the faith community reacted to him, where often he was not allowed to stay in the churches themselves, they usually offered him a place to stay including a few times, hotels.

Overall, I did not walk away from this one with any “AHA” moment.  I was also surprised to learn that this journey took place almost 20 years ago where I thought I was hearing about a recent journey.

 

 

  • Audible Audio Edition
  • Listening Length: 8 hours and 54 minutes
  • Program Type: Audiobook
  • Version: Unabridged
  • Publisher: Mike McIntyre
  • Audible.com Release Date: December 9, 2014

 

Morning Meanderings… Christmas, Weather, and A New Year Is Coming

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Good morning!  We made it to Saturday!  My house is quiet, the boys are gone, Al is out working, and the day is all mine.  LOVE days like this.  No agenda.  Nada.  I thought for Saturday Snapshot today we would take a peek at Christmas, but first… look at this shot out my front window this morning…

Central Minnesota - 12/27/14
Central Minnesota – 12/27/14

Yup.  Central Minnesota has no snow.  Some are complaining.  I get that there is no tubing, skiing, snowmobiling…  but to me it means there is no super cold, super wet, slippery roads, driveways to plow, sidewalks to shovel….   I’m good with this. 🙂

Christmas as I mentioned yesterday was lovely.  We had a great day of food and games and movies.  We opened gifts and hung out together.

PicMonkey Collage

Good times!  Now this week is fairly quiet but I have a big trip coming up soon so need to prep for that.  (More details to come!)

 

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For those of you participating in the First Book Of The Year (and I hope you all are!)  please send in your pic of you and the book by December 31s so I can prep the collage to go up on January 1st.  Details about first book are here.

Morning Meanderings… Christmas Wrap Up

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Good Morning!  How was your Christmas?  We had a wonderful time here at the house with the boys and board games, movies, and cooking.  We opened gifts in the morning and I received:

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All my gifts were amazing and I was able to use them all right away:

The candle and scents I found a home for and put to use.  Mmmmmmm

The bowl set (I always need bowls) was used for our dinner.

I received pull tabs in a card and won $100!

The Harry Potter book set the ones with the NEW COVERS, I smelled the new book smell 🙂

 

We ended the night or perhaps early this morning (about 2 a.m.) with Harry Potter 5 and 6.  I love picking out things I had not noticed before (for instance, the Umbridge gag gift at the Weasley’s Joke Shop in the 6th movie).  This morning Justin and I are going to watch the8th movie which is the second half of book 7.  Our goal was to get through the movies 3 – 8 over the last couple of days but it just didn’t happen so we have to pick and choose.  😀

I hope everyone has had a lovely holiday!  I am looking forward to a little reading this afternoon, the house is pretty much cleaned up and Justin has plans with friends this afternoon so I will have the house to myself.  Book time for sure 🙂

 

Morning Meanderings… Sumo Potter

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Every once in a while I see something on Pinterest and I think, “I can totally do that!”  This would be one of those times…

hp ornament

I seen this Harry Potter ornament and thought of Justin right away (My Harry Potter geek and accomplice son).  I went out and bought the paint, brushes, clear ornament…  seriously how hard could it be?

I covered my table with newspaper and supplies.

I spent one day alone putting on coats of the beige and letting it dry overnight.

Then I spent the next day working on hair, glasses, and the scar… letting it dry.

And then I tackled the scarf.

The results?

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Yup.  I call him “Sumo Harry”.  His face is too wide, glasses too thick… he looks like a sumo wrestler.  LOL….

So…

project put away… I have another plan… an easier one… 😉

Have a SUPER Christmas Eve everyone!  My son will be over in a few hours and I am happy to spend the day with him.  We may take in a movie, and tonight we are having pizza… keeping it low key for the plans for tomorrow. 🙂

 

Maze Runner – Movie

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James Dashner’s book, The Maze Runner became a movie this year.  Way to go James!

 

All Thomas knows is that he wakes up in a world he is unfamiliar with.  He is surrounded by other male teens and is welcomed to the Glade.

The Glade?

The Glade, as he learns is a walled in community that protects the group from the Maze.  The Maze is a world of walls and changing routes and creatures that come after anyone who dares to go into the Maze.  Thomas learns that a box appears every 30 days with a male teen in it, Thomas is the latest arrival.  A few, called runners, go into the Maze during the daylight hours (safer than nightfall), looking for a way out of wherever they are.

As Thomas becomes familiar with the surroundings and engages with the other boys, things in the Maze start to change.  Some blame Thomas, saying he is not like them … and Thomas has no idea what that means, he knows as much as they do about The Glade and that is not much.

Then… another person arrives in The Glade.  The box is early… it has not been 30 days and this time it is not a male teen…

it is a girl.

And with her is a note, “This is the last one”.

 

 

I read The Maze Runner a couple of years ago after I met James Dashner in New York and found him to be delightfully funny.  I enjoyed the book very much, yet for some reason I never continued on with the series.  Now, after watching this movie, I will be pursuing the rest of the books… I am hungry to know more.

Author James Dashner and I - New York 2012
Author James Dashner and I – New York 2012

The Maze Runner movie is done very well.  I was actually surprised how much I enjoyed it.  Definitely recommend the book, the movie… and the author.  😉

Morning Meanderings…Christmas Eve Eve

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Happy Christmas Eve Eve for all of you who do Christmas.  Things are wrapping up (*pun intended) nicely here. I have most of the shopping done, the tree is set and tomorrow Justin will roll in about noon to start our two days of awesome Christmas time fun!  I am not sure what will be on our agenda yet other than board games, movies, snacks, and hanging out.  In other words… it is perfect. 🙂

This morning I have a small list of last-minute items from the grocery store, one last gift stop, and then I should be done.  I am heading out early (now!) to hopefully beat the hordes of last minuters such as myself.  Once home I think I will pop into a book for a while… it has been a lot of audio lately and I could use a little book time. 🙂

How is your holiday weekend coming together?  Big plans?  Staying at home or venturing out?  Any fun traditions or happenings?  🙂

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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Hello!  Welcome to It’s Monday What Are You Reading?  The meme that we use to share what we read this past week and what our plans are for the upcoming week.  It’s a great way to see what others are reading and add to your own To Be Read list. 😀  You never know where that next great read may come from!

Finally feel like I am getting ready for Christmas.  Wrapped gifts this afternoon, finishing touches on shopping, and even turned on the Christmas tree lights!  So excited that in a few days the boys will be here hanging out at the house… good food, good games, movies and just being together.  These are my absolute favorite times!  😀

*Quick note on the late posting…. uhh… yeah, sorry about that.  We were out with friends last night and when I got home I was just too tired to put this post together. 

 

Here is what I posted this past week:

 

Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican

 

My Living Room Facelift (Color makes a difference!)

 

 

The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham

 

2014 The Books That Made My Year!

 

The Innovators by Walter Isaacson

 

What I Know For Sure by Oprah WInfrey

 

 

As for this week…

 

For My Ears

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Stuck in a job he no longer found fulfilling, journalist Mike McIntyre felt his life was quickly passing him by. So one day he hit the road to trek from one end of the country to the other with little more than the clothes on his back and without a single penny in his pocket. Through his travels, he found varying degrees of kindness in strangers from all walks of life-and discovered more about people and values and life on the road in America than he’d ever thought possible. The gifts of food and shelter he received along the way were outweighed only by the touching gifts of the heart-the willingness of many he met to welcome a lonely stranger into their homes…and the discovery that sometimes those who give the most are the ones with the least to spare.

 

 

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Goodnight Moon is an adored childhood classic, but its real origins are lost to history. In Goodnight June, Sarah Jio offers a suspenseful and heartfelt take on how the “great green room” might have come to be.

June Andersen is professionally successful, but her personal life is marred by unhappiness. Unexpectedly, she is called to settle her great-aunt Ruby’s estate and determine the fate of Bluebird Books, the children’s bookstore Ruby founded in the 1940s. Amid the store’s papers, June stumbles upon letters between her great-aunt and the late Margaret Wise Brown – and steps into the pages of American literature.

 

For My Eyes

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Everyone who lives at 23 Beulah Grove has a secret. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be renting rooms in a dodgy old building for cash—no credit check, no lease. It’s the kind of place you end up when you you’ve run out of other options. The six residents mostly keep to themselves, but one unbearably hot summer night, a terrible accident pushes them into an uneasy alliance. What they don’t know is that one of them is a killer. He’s already chosen his next victim, and he’ll do anything to protect his secret.

 

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Also.. do not forget the First Book Of The Year!  This is going to be a lot of fun!  If you are signed up remember to send me your pic this week of what you will be reading and if you are not signed up, it is not too late and this is a pretty cool thing to do to kick off the New Year!  Check it out here.

 

I think that is the plan.   What are you reading/listening to this week?  Is this a good reading week for you with the holidays or is it a hard week to read with everything going on?  I will have a mix of quiet days and crazy days… but all should work out to a good week to read 🙂

Please add your What Are You Reading link below where it says click here:

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

For those who read mainly children and middle grade books please add your link here as well:

2aaa