Can't read

For some reason I am having trouble getting into any book lately. There have been many days in the last few weeks that I never even pick up a book. Of the last three that I started, one was just too stupid and the other two I had already read. I have started Joy in the Morning now by Betty Smith (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) and although it is not grabbing me, at least it isn't stupid. I hate that that's the best thing I can say about a book.

Rita brought over a few yesterday. One of which she earmarked for Megan called Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery. That was a TV show on CBC that I used to watch and I liked so I'm going to read that one next (before I give it to Megan).

tres libras

1 week, 3 books! That's alot for someone that hasnt read an actual novel in a couple of months. Jennifer Weiner is wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed all 3 books. And highly recommend them to everyone.

Good in Bed

Is just that... a good bedtime (or in my case mostly, plane ride) read. I started it on the plane Friday and finished Saturday evening in bed. Today, I went and purchased In Her Shoes which is her second book and will read Little Earthquakes next.

It's Okay - Go Ahead And Exhale

Today’s to-do list contained several errands to take care of. Planning my trip with as few left turns as possible it consisted of: library, bank, hair place, store. I am in the middle of a Jennifer Cuisie and have a Parker and an unknown left to read. This makes me nervous as I like to make sure at all times I will have something to read. So I take my stack of read books and head to the library. There are absolutely no cars parked at the library and my heart starts pounding. The library is under construction and was supposed to be closed for a few days last week. Sure enough I get to the door and there is a sign dated today that says “Library still closed due to construction in public areas” OMG. I have the interview tomorrow, hopefully it will be open on Saturday. I drop off my read books and head to complete my errands. As I am getting my hair cut I start to panic, what if the library is not open on Saturday, I’m going to be gone Monday through Wednesday next week and then it’s the holiday and they will be closed for the whole weekend. That’s almost two weeks, there’s no way even if the unknown is a good book that what I have left will last two weeks. Maybe I should just pick up a book at K-Mart. But I hate buying books, I really can’t afford to buy a book. But what if I have nothing to read. I have to have something to read. I’ll look at Mommy’s tomorrow she’ll have something. Oh yeah, she has that Good in Bed book. Yeah, but Adrienne wanted that, what if she’s reading it when I need a book. I have to have a book. I make it through the hair cut and don’t buy a book at K-mart. When I get home there’s a message on the machine, “This is Marcia from the library we have three books in for you, we’re not open to the public today but if you come by and knock on the new front window I can check them out for you through the window.” It’s okay to breathe again.

Leaky leak

It's easy to say "its not my problem" but that stupid leak is starting to make me lose sleep. Those slugs at the maintenance department couldn't even send one guy for one minute to shut off the valve under the sink. I am willing to go without water in my bathroom sink for the sake of their leak and they won't even do that.

I did manage (last Friday) to find the place where the water hits the floor and I put a frying pan under there. The pan got full and overflowing by morning and then again when I went to bed. I have to use a cup to take water out of the pan until it gets to a place where I can lift it to dump it into the sink. For a couple of days I put a cookie sheet under the pan to catch the overflow but now my best cookie sheet is getting all rusty so the heck with that.

Not counting today, only 3 more days before I get to go pick up Adrienne. Gretchen, we would be honored and excited if you would come to the party saturday night. Steph called and asked if it would be allright if Dana and Jeff came because they would like to see Adrienne. Kelly hasn't answered one way or the other yet.

Robert B. Parker

While Laurie was cleaning the living room (we have decided that she would rather be called Laurie) I took my book upstairs to get out of her way. When she was done and I came back down, I had forgotten to bring my book down, so I picked up another one I had down here called Perish Twice by Robert B. Parker. I think I love him. So easy to read. Kept me interested and I could finish the book without staying up all night. I didn't know it until I looked at the list of 38 books he had written but he is the one that wrote the Spencer books. I will have to start looking for him at the 25 cent used book stores.

Jesus and pork chops

I have started his book this weekend. I started it while waiting for Adams team mates to arrive because as usual we were ungodly early for his game. So I'm reading it to Adam and he is laughing hysterically. He decides he wants to read it and take it to school for his book to read this month. That's when I had to explain that I was reading and censoring at the same time and that George Carlin is not appropriate school reading.

Time to read

With no TV and no computer, reading was the only thing lift. I finished Good in Bed. Then I picked up a James Patterson "3rd Degree". Very quick reading. I finished it in about 5 hours. After that I got about three quarters through "The Pilots Wife" by Anita Shreve. Really good.

Catching Up Again

Okay, I haven't had as much time to read but I have managed to read a few good ones in the last month. Along with a couple of Spenser novels I read Trace by Patricia Cromwell it is the latest in the Kay Scapetta series, always good but not my favorite. White Hot by Sandra Brown very good, very easy read, very Nora Roberts. The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber very cute story of three very different women who sign up for a knitting class. And three quick romance novels Faking It by Jennifer Crusie, Babyville by Jane Green, and P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. Bet Me was the first Jennifer Crusie I read and I am now catching up on hers. I'm looking forward to Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich, Echoes by Danielle Steele, London Bridges by James Patterson, and Hour Game by David Balducci all coming out in November.

When I read Safe Harbor by Danielle I was very disappointed in some of the lapses in the story. For instance at one point the daughter tells the 'boyfriend' that Mom is working at nights, and then 20 pages later he is terribly upset at finding out that she is working at night. There were a few of those types of things in there that I found very distracting, as I had to keep going back and rereading the original passage to make sure I was right.

Costco

They have got the greatest selection of books! I bought George Carlin's "When Will Jesus Bring The Pork CHops". I son't know when I will have time to read it tho, I have a stack of magazine next to my bed to catch up on.

Finished Danielle Steele

I forced myself to turn out the light last night and saved the end of Safe Harbour for lunch today. It was pretty good, although it felt like a not very good Lifetime movie waiting to happen. Its the Zone (a diet book) next for me.

Sushi

I just finished Sushi for Beginners. Am I bringing it to Michigan?

Little Earthquakes

Erika gave me Little Earthquakes when I got there on Friday and I finished it before I went to sleep last night. I brought it home anyways so the Rita and Gretchen could read it before Adrienne takes it home with her next month. It was the easiest, best read I've had in a long time. She also gave me Good in Bed so I have something to read this week.

There's a Danielle Steele that I haven't read

I couldn't believe it--I didn't want to spend any money, but there was a Danielle Steele that I hadn't read--"Safe Harbor" (at least I hope I haven't read it, because now I own it.) I'm going to the library on Monday. I'm going to try to make myself walk there a couple times a week--Jackson likes it.

Curious Incident

You guys go so fast. I am almost done with Little Earthquakes, but only because I sneak a page or two in whenever I possibly can (like stuck at a train, eating my lunch, etc.) I may not have liked this book ten years ago, because it is all about three women who just had babies, but it is absolutely perfect right now and I am loving it.

I also just started The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime on tape (since that is the only version my library had). Lyle, Jackson, and I are driving down to Bloomington next week so I will be able to get through it then. It is OK, but a little disconcerting. It is written in the first person in the voice of an autistic kid, but it is very articulate; so there seems to be a disconnect that is distracting to me. It might be better if I were reading a hard copy, but I'll never know.

Tourist Style Digging for Gold

I finished Beach Girls--it was very good. I think I recognize a couple of the side characters from another book, so I'm going to remember this author. Now I'm going to read a couple of Nora Roberts re-published books. I'm not sure if I've read them already, so I'm going to give them another read. Years ago when I'd take the kids to the library, I would search through the paperbacks which had no order in the stacks and every once in a while I'd find a Nora Roberts that I hadn't read. It was like finding gold. Now she's re-publishing all her old books as collections--making is super easy to find the gold.

Half of Book, not really better than none

I have still been reading half books. I read half of James Patterson's When the Wind Blows. Its about children with wings, too fanciful for me. Then I read half of Sue Grafton's P is for Peril. Story wasn't bad but too much description. Every time she entered a room or turned a corner there were three paragraphs about what she was looking at. I stopped caring. Now I am halfway through a book called Ransom by Julie Garwood. Takes place in England and the Highlands during the time of English King John A bit of fluff but it still has my attention and I will probably finish it. I think Kathy might like it. I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't read or doesn't own some Julie Garwood books. She has written a Rose Trilogy of One Pink Rose, One White Rose and One Red Rose. I might seek them out.

Irish Sushi

I just started Sushi for beginners, and am still a little confused about what an Irish women's magazine has to do with Sushi but I will stick it out to find out. Beach girls was very good.

Will Somebody Read a Book Already

I'm reading Beach Girls by Luanne Rice (got it from Adrienne)--it's pretty good so far. I allowed myself a lunchtime break from "diet" books.

Nancy Pearl

I just read "Book Lust" a book about reading books by a librarian in Seattle (well actually she's from a lower middle class neighborhood in Detroit, but I didn't recognize the name of the library she went to as a kid--Parker Library?) Nancy Pearl is the librarian who got all of Seattle to read the same book--citywide book club. I heard about her on NPR in a piece that discussed great first lines in a book. Well "Book Lust" is categories of books that she loved for every mood or topic. There is a baseball topic, biographies, world war 1 and 2 in fiction and nonfiction, California, New York, 9/11, fantasy, futuristic, coming of age, Father's and sons, Mother's and sons, etc, etc, etc. And there is a section for books with great first lines. There's a section on Dickens--explaining to people who were forced to read Dickens that when he wrote that stuff it was in weekly installments and that ships were met by anxious readers who asked if Nell was dead. The section goes on to list other authors who wrote in that genre. I skimmed through the entire book and I only recognized a handful of the books, so I'm going to take it to the library with me and get started. It's cool, because she obviously loves books so much. She also said that there is a rule of 50. If you are under 50 years old, never give a book you don't like more than 50 pages and if you are over 50, subtract your age from 100 and that's how many pages you give a book--life's too short to waste time. Of course, she being this incredible book lover, she did admit that sometimes she's just not in the mood for some books and she'll go back to them another time giving them a second chance.

Little Earthquakes

I just started Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner. I liked her first two books a lot (Good in Bed and In Her Shoes) and I read her blog. She had a little girl just about the time I found out I was pregnant with Jackson. It was fun (and informative) to read about all of the stuff she went through with a newborn. I admit that she got me to buy the hardcopy the day it came out (I had been reading about it for sooo long) so we can pass it around.

TV Heaven

Once again, Mom is up on her TV. They have already done the movie for The 5 People You Meet in Heaven.

Scott Turrow

I have reached page 144 in Stott Turrow's The Burden of Proof and have decided that page 143 will be my last. Maybe his stuff plays better in movies. The basic outline sounds like a good story. Lawyer comes home to his wife's suicide, how he and the family deal with it. Wife had lots of money, some of it missing. Brother-in-Law a stock broker being investigated by a grand jury. You really have to work hard to make all that seem dull. Scott Turrow has made it up there with Nathanial Hawthorne in my "run the other way" list of authors.

Is Heaven Real?

Yay!! I just finished the Mitch Albom book 5 People You Meet in Heaven. Having a day off or even a few hours make such a world of difference. Anyway, I started the book yesterday while I was get a pedicure. The korean guy that was working on me asked what the book was about. I told him it was about a guy who goes to heaven and has to meets 5 people (I had only read two pages at that point). His next question left me a little speechless. "Is it a real person?" No, alas, it is a work of fiction. He looked very disappointed. It was a good book (not earth shattering, but good) and a perfect size for my reading ability right now.

A Word About Chicken Soup

I was at a convention for ABWA and the very inspirational speaker told a story that she said she got from a new book (this was many years ago) called Chicken Soup for the Soul. It was a good story and I bought the book. It was a blatant and merciless tear jerker, but I read the whole thing and bought the second one when it came out. The second one (thankfully) was a collection of poorly written stories that no longer moved me to tears and I was saved hundreds of dollars from buying any more of the Chicken Soup books. But I have no will power and I bought Chicken Soup for the Working Women a few years ago as a gift for someone that I ended up giving something else. I've had the thing on my nightstand now since Christmas and I read a few stories now and then. The good part is I'm almost done, the bad part is I can't remember any of the stories--they were mostly poorly written and yet, I am sad to be coming to the end. It's slightly nice to read a slightly inspirational story before going to sleep at night. I think the jokes are good.

Jennifer Cruise

Yea! I'm in. Well the other day I allowed myself to start the last Jennifer Cruise book (romance with wit) that I hadn't read (or should I say devoured). Sometimes I start a book at lunch, put it in my drawer and forget to bring it home--not this one. It was called Bet Me. Utterly light, but entertaining and I finally put it down (when I was finished reading it) at 2 a.m. One day, not a record, but I'm disappointed to be finished reading all the Jennifer Cruises. I hope she's hard at work writting a new one.

I finished Animal Dreams in one sitting also, coming home from Michigan. It wasn't related to Pigs in Heaven or Bean Trees, but very good just the same. Poisonwood Bible is still my favorite Kingsolver.

Dr. Phil is my lunch time reading, because I'm not having any problem putting it down and getting back to work. Of course, there is all the guilt about eating two cookies for dessert while reading a diet book.

The Oath

After I finished Fault Lines, I started The Oath by John Lescroart. I recognize a couple of the characters so I know I have read something of his before. Who could forget a name like Dismas. But even looking at a list of his works I can't remember which one.

None of you probably lost any sleep about the Laurence Sanders book that someone took home from dominos after I had picked it out. She did take the books by mistake and brought them back today. So now I have two large hardcover books waiting in line. The Laurence Sanders book is McNally's Risk and the other one is The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow.

Fault Lines

So, I'm reading this Anne Rivers Siddons book called Fault Lines and I'm having trouble making myself put it down to go to bed on Friday night. I was completely engrossed. Of course, yesterday was not a day for reading so I didn't get back to it until after my nap this afternoon. Oh my God. I am up to the "title bit" and she meets this guy that is into earthquakes and starts explaining it all to her, how they happen, and how you can tell where they'll happen and blah, blah, blah. I could have read a little longer on Friday night and fallen asleep right there.

I skimmed a lot of that and she's finally getting back on the story line so after one more nap, I will pick it up again.

p.s. Roddick won, Serena won, and Jennifer is winning. Its OK for me to nap for a while.

What does one have to do to be a contributor?

I didn't get an invitation, and there wasn't one pending for me when I went in to set myself up. But I did it myself, and now have Amazon Readers listed on my dashboard. But I am not listed as a contributor. Hopefully since I am contributing that will change.

Welcome to Me

Thanks to my Amazing daughters I am set up on the AmRead blog. I picked up a Laurence Sanders hardcover book at the clubhouse before dominos and when I got ready to go home someone else had taken it. So I got another Anne Rivers Siddons book called Fault Lines (paperback). I have only read a couple of pages because the print is so tiny that I have to take my glasses off and I'm reading while watching the US Open so its a nuisence.

I'm in!

This is cool. I love technology.

Sedaris? Didn't he write Me Talk Pretty (insert link here)? If he is the one and same , please save corduroy for me and I will read that when I get there, or send it home with Mel.

Test Post

I am signed in as "ezynda" and posting on the Amazon Reader site. Woo hoo!!