Tag: Morning Meanderings

It is a rainy day here.  I wish all I had to do today is curl up with a blanket in a big comfy chair with a book.  That is not the case though…. I am due in the office in about 22 minutes but I have to get this find out of my head and onto the page…

Coffee Cup and I were strolling through the blogs this morning…. looking for that one book or review that would make me stop in mid space (literally).  And….

It happened.

It started at Boarding in my Forties when I found the review on Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton.  I read this book and reviewed it recently and loved it!  (My review here) and my book club, The Bookies, are currently reading it for our August review.  What I found at Boarding in my Forties, was within the review she mentions another book, The Girls From Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow.  What is this?  It sounds wonderful!!!  Off I go in another direction, careful not to spill my coffee…

From The New York Times, I found an article called The Power of Friendship, about this book and a quote from the author,

“I’ll drive carpool with my 13-year-old, and I’ll listen to the kids in the back seat,” Mr. Zaslow says. “They’re arguing and laughing and talking and gossiping. It feels like all those interviews with the Ames girls, and I know where they’re going and how they’re going to get there. I know a few secrets now. When I see my daughters struggling with friends, I can reassure them that the conflicts can be resolved. If you find friends you can hold onto forever, that’s a great gift.”

My final travels took me to a blog called Every Day I Write The Book, where they are talking about this book.

So that’s it.  Decided.  I am on a mission.  Today I am picking up Pope Joan as well as this book, Girls From Ames at our local book store.

Has anyone read Girls From Ames and reviewed it?

Update to this post:  I had first hear about this from Natasha at Maw Books Blog and earlier today Mike from A Few Minutes with Michael sent the link to the amazing Pope Joan contest going on!  Mail your receipt of this book by August 9, to the address provided and you can win tickets for two to walk the red carpet and go to the premiere of this movie with the author, Donna Woolfork Cross!

Click on the logo above to go to the website and check it out for yourself!

How exciting is that???

Lazy Saturday morning….  I have read a little and I have cleaned a little.  I have laundry going, letters to mail, book reviews to write and an exciting authors interview with a good friend!  Watch for that later today! Tonight my hubby and I will go out to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  We married young, and I still cant believe it has been 22 years.

The coffee cup and I have been cruising through some great blogs this morning…. as I keep reading more and more, I just cant imagine all there are to choose from for BBAW.  I am going to have to print out the category list and spend some time on that.

Of course, I come to you with a review.  I found a great review and read over at Luxury Reading this morning.  Vera has a post up for Annie’s Ghost: A Journey into a Family Secret by Steve Luxenberg.  It must be the chilly weather happening here in central Minnesota that makes me want to get a copy of this book and curl up in a warm blanket in my reading room and let the afternoon drift by…

Stop over to Luxury Reading and see this as well as other great reviews she has posted.  (I have my eye on a more recent post of hers as well, The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn…)

I have been in a kind of funk most of the week.  I haven’t worked out since Sundays bike ride which is not like me at all… but I just am….

tired.

And really for no reason, I have had plenty of down time this week, in fact took an extra day of it after the midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie.  Yet, I just cant seem to shake this tiredness.  My plan today is to help out in our office, go to my gym class (oh yes – I am going!) and this late afternoon spend some time just reading.  Nothing big on the agenda for this weekend so maybe that will help.

Enough rambling…  I am excited to say that traveling with the coffee cup through blogs this morning, I found a great looking blog and a great looking book!  At Book Fanatic I found The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.   The book looks perfect for a day like today!  Central Minnesota has been a bit dreary lately, low 60’s for a temperature, cloudy days… no wonder I am in a funk!  Maybe this book is just what the doctor ordered!

First I am so incredibly excited to debut my new Journey Through Books meme thanks to the brilliance of Michael over at A Few Minutes With Michael.  It is fantastic and he really captured me as I am about 91% books and 9% coffee…..  Thank you Mike!  I bow to you!

I am a little late this morning.  The coffee cup and I are just not quite functioning fully yet.  Last night I took our Kinship partner Chance (he is 14) to the midnight showing of Harry Potter.

Seemed like a good idea at the time…

I didn’t take into the fact that we would get there at 10:30 and wait in line for an hour and a half so as not to wind up in the way front seats.  OR that by the time we rolled out of the parking lot it would be 2:40 a.m.

Oh…. but it was worth it.  ; )

That being said…. I did meander over to Alyce’s At Home With Books yesterday and seen a book and a review that has me adding to the wish list.  Alyce’s shares about the book Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen.  The cover is gorgeous… the review is… well, stop by At Home With Books and be sure to tell Alyce hi and look around her beautiful blog site.

Good morning!  What a wild weekend I had!  A ball game Friday night, Saturday the hubby and I went out to dinner, and Sunday I met my cousin at 5:30 a.m. to drive about 90 miles to participate in the Tour of Saints bike 50 mile bike ride.  I had so much fun!

And now, as I sit here… honestly all I can wrap my brain around is that tonight is out annual Book Club (The Bookies) Queen Event at Kiwanis Park.  What we do is we take July off from choosing a book because well… its July.  Instead we meet the second Tuesday (always) dressed in formal gowns (only in July LOL) and we all try to win the coveted position of Queen of the Bookies for the next year.

It’s true.  I couldn’t make this stuff up.  ; )

It actually is a lot of fun.  We all bring potluck food to share, our books we want to give to our own charity sale, and we sit and chat about what we read and what we should read, eat and then nominate a Queen.  The Queen privileges are:

• If we are voting on a book to read and there is a tie, the Queen breaks the tie
• If the person who is to choose the next months meeting spot is not in attendance, the Queen chooses the place.
• It’s good to be the Queen.

We also have a runner up position too, you know, in the event that the Queen is unable to perform her duties… I guess this would be a Vice Queen?  There is a scepter, a crown… and yes, even a royal throne.

This all came out of a book we read in 2007 called Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King.  This actually became our book club pick of the year.

So today…  I was shocked to discover that we read this before I blogged so while I have my review written in my book journal, it is not here.  Or I should say wasn’t here.  I am putting it up now as my meandering moment – which today… took me back to 2007, and a review about a book, that changed the way we do book club…

I am still working on my speech for tonight!  This is our third year doing this and we get more talented as we go.  I am deciding between a poem and changing the words to the Brady Bunch song to The Bookie Club…. either way, I’ll probably post it with the pics….I think I need to make a wand with a foil star on the end….. it’s all part of the speech….  😉

Have a super fab awesome day!!!

I am actually in a great little town this morning about 90 miles form my home (and my computer) called St Joseph, Minnesota.  My cousin and I are participating in the Tour of Saints, a 50 mile bike ride through the area.  Its a lot of fun, this will be my 5 year, his 2nd.  This is my third bike tour this year, gearing up for the big 175 mile tour this September (never done that one before!)

I was hoping to find  a meandering moment for you Saturday evening but alas…. I am just too tired.  I will be posting later on Sunday with a couple book reviews and my Sundown Sunday (Week in Review) post…..

Have an awesome Sunday!

So my morning starts out like this…. I get up and see another beautiful day coming across the horizon.  I start the coffee, prep my work space, pour a cup of coffee, and set it by my computer, let the dogs out, stand on the deck and feel much joy in the warmth of my favorite time of year, pour myself a cup of coffee and sat down to get started.

Did you catch that?

Yup…. I look across my work space and I have poured myself not one… but two cups of coffee.  LOL.  Whatever…. I drink them both.  🙂

So… the “coffee cups” and I start our ritual of email checking, and blog visiting.  This morning is a bit different because I am not returning to write this post with a book to check out (well, in a way I am….) but more with a question and an answer.

Over at My Friend Amy’s, she presented her Faith N’ Fiction Saturday question as to what is the best Christian Fiction book we have read so far this year.  Hmmmm….. great question!

I came back with the answer as In Search of Eden by Linda Nichols.    The question is timely too because I have several great reads in this category that I have purchased and are now waiting on the book shelf.  I actually pulled a couple off the shelf and added them to my TBR pile.

Good morning!  I am off and running this morning with a list of “to do’s” and then I will be back this afternoon to post the winner of last weeks Freebie Friday (that means you still have time to sign up!)  and put up the new contest.  Make a memo to stop back later today…

In the meantime, as me and the coffee cup traveled this morning I found this little treasure at Books, Movies, and Chinese Food:  Faking Grace by Tamara Leigh. The review made me laugh, and I really like Deborah’s blog.  It’s clean looking and fun!  Take some time today to stop by Book’s Movies, and Chinese Food and tell her hi as well as check out this great read.  I might just hit the book store and pick this up before I come home.

(Thank you to Mike at A Few Minutes With Michael who is working on a Morning Meanderings meme for me!  This is the first draft… he is still tweaking  a bit but couldn’t wait to use it!)

Another great morning here in Minnesota.  I actually really enjoy Mondays, they are pretty laid back for me… almost an extension of the weekend…

This morning as I traveled around visiting a few blogs with my steaming hot cup of coffee, I wandered over to a blog I really enjoy staying caught up on, Drey’s Library.  This morning she put up a review for A Worthy Legacy by Tomi Akinyanmi.  The book has caught my eye before but this mornings review sealed the deal for me.  It goes under my wish list tab.

Enjoy your morning everyone and please take a moment to visit at Drey’s Library.