Grandbabies.

We have grandbabies!
Very small (2 months early), but they are doing good.

Eli and Emerson, a boy and a girl.
Very small.... but so pretty and precious. Eli weighed in at a whooping 3lbs 14oz and Emerson at 3lbs 3oz.
They are in the NICU and will be for a couple of weeks or more...we'll just have to wait and see howl long.

Mom and Dad are doing okay. Mom is sore...it was an emergency c-section, but they got her up walking this morning.

Thanks to everyone who kept them in your thoughts and prayers!

Musing Monday, A book-mark and book club news

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your tbr pile…

How many books (roughly) are in your tbr pile? Is this in increasing number or does it stay stable? Do you ever experience tbr anxiety in the face of this pile? (question courtesy of Wendy)

Oh...my.....gosh. My "To be read pile" is HUGE!! And I keep buying more books. And going to the library. I used to think I was a fast reader, and I'm faster than average, but not nearly as fast as you BOOK BLOGGERS!!!

I actually think I have a sickness, when it comes to buying books. Truly, my tbr pile is close to 60-70 books and I just keep buying more and more. But to be fair, I do frequent used book stores, so I have my list and I "stock up". But I do it OFTEN. It would not be unusual for me to leave a used book store with 15 books. And because we live in a rural town in Northern Nevada that doesn't have a bookstore, when we travel to Reno and I go to Barnes and Noble or Borders, I feel I must buy some books, even if I don't need them.
It's a horrible obsession. No one needs a pile of books, 60-70 deep, that they haven't read. IT'S EXPENSIVE for one thing. And it's clutter for another... but, oh what nice clutter, books just waiting to be read!!
***************



Last weeks, Booking Thru Thursday question... ( I know it's Monday, but I've been real busy....food blogging, (sorry, book blogging world) but I still want to put my answer down) :

Which is worse:
Finding a book you love and then hating everything else you try by that author, or
Reading a completely disappointing book by an author that you love?

It's a toss up. I think that finding a book I love and then going and BUYING (see the Monday Musing above) other books by that author, and then being disappointed in them, is a huge let-down.
I love the book "Beach Music" so much, that I'm afraid to try anything else by Pat Conroy. That's a lie. I read and liked "The Prince of Tides" also. But no others.... I'm afraid to.
I guess I would be more forgiving of an author that I already loved, if he/she had a bad one. Loving one book and hating others is a disappointment. It's a hard question to answer.
***********

Bookmarks on Monday

Oregon Coast Bridges. I love Oregon. I love the Oregon Coast, but I have a love/hate relationship with bridges.
I grew up around bridges. I had to cross bridges all my life...to go to work, to go to school, to come home, to visit friends. We grew up in Southeast Washington State, where the Columbia River and the Snake River and the Yakima River all come together.
These are big rivers. Rivers big enough to have barges and also cruise ships come down. Think the Mississippi of the Northwest, when you think of the Mighty Columbia River.

When I cross a bridge tho, for some reason my heart is in my throat. I don't know why. I love the water. I love the rivers. I love the ocean. I guess I've seen that video clip of the suspension bridge coming down. YIKES. That and there is no where to go on a bridge if you needed to pull over. I don't like knowing that... it makes me feel claustrophobic.
I am weird. That's it.

This book-mark has two sides, because the Oregon Coast Highway has so many bridges to cross. It's very beautiful.

Last week, one of my book clubs met to discuss the book "Snow Falling on Cedars".

It was an older book, and I was kind of disappointed in the choice at first, but once I began to read, I fell in love with it.

That's the whole reason I belong to different book-clubs: to be exposed to different genre's of literature. It was a story of love, and small town life and prejudice and war. Set on an island off the coast of Seattle, Washington in the 1950's.

I am not a book reviewer...as I've said many times before, but I can talk about how wonderful our evening was. We had great discussion, which is always good, but one thing that also made the evening special was our host April. She made up a bunch of oriental appetizers. She had a book theme going on.....some of the characters in the book were Japanese and April had lived in Tokyo. She had just the right dishes and decor. Great ambiance.

While we eat, we discuss.

Check out her appetizer table!
Tomorrow I will post April's fried rice recipe on my food blog. (it was so good---just hit my sidebar button for my food blog)

And our next book is.....

Not enough time in the day

Here is my book mark for Monday.
A little late in the day.
I still want to answer last week's, "Booking Through Thursday", as well as today's "Musing Monday" as well as post about last week's book club, before this week's book club.
Whew!
I better stop doing food posts on my other blog.

My bookmark.

My Monday Bookmark and My Monday Musing

My Monday Bookmark and my Monday Musing.....


Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about 2009 favourites…
Coming towards the end of April, we’re a third of the way through the way through the year. What’s the favourite book you’ve read so far in 2009? What about your least favourite? (question courtesy of MizB)


It was hard to think of what book was my favorite, but I think I have to go with "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" or no, no....maybe one of my old most favorite authors, Margaret Maron's "Hard Row".
It's so hard to pick when you really love a book.
I love Maron's "Deborah Knott" Series, I have never not loved one of her books...and I'm always sorry to see them end.
The Guernsey book was read for one of my bookclubs (see here) and it was loved by everyone there.

The book I liked the least this year, has been "I'm With Stupid". I just couldn't get into it (see it on my sidebar? Well, I stopped in the middle and sent it off to my daughter in law). It just wasn't the book for me.

*****

My bookmark for Monday is a "Lewis and Clark" bookmark.

My husband and I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where the Lewis and Clark trail is everywhere you turn. It's one of the biggest historical things in the area.
Sacagawea park was one of our favorites.
We grew up knowing all about Lewis and Clark.
Sadly, when I went back to Virginia, my sister and law, were flying from Richmond to Atlanta, and we struck up a conversation with a local man and we were discussing what wonderful history Virginia had.
It was a nice visit, but when we started talking about our history, and Lewis and Clark, he was kind of dumbstruck. He knew nothing.
I live in the west, but I LOVE every regional thing about all of the United States. I would love to travel and experience every state, every town, every people!
But it makes saddens me when my friends on the East Coast act like nothing ever happened in the west.
HOW CAN SOMEONE NOT KNOW WHO LEWIS AND CLARK WERE?

Here are two great websites for you to check out. (actually two aspects of the same website)

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

"Hat Rock" is a picnic place that I fondly remember from my youth.

Booking Through Thursday--Windfall

This weeks "Booking Through Thursday question" is:

Yesterday, April 15th, was Tax Day here in the U.S., which means lots of lucky people will get refunds of over-paid taxes.
Whether you’re one of them or not, what would you spend an unexpected windfall on? Say … $50? How about $500?
(And, this is a reading meme, so by rights the answer should be book-related, but hey, feel free to go wild and splurge on anything you like.)

******
Actually, I would spend the money on some bookshelves.

I've read a couple of other blogs and they both said bookshelves, but really...who doesn't need more book space for their books?
How about a whole library for my grandbabies? If I had a windfall, I could stock their bookshelf with books I want them to know, want them to love.

I will do this anyway, but as you all know, it will have to come in increments because of finances, etc (one cannot stock a whole childhood of books cheaply), so in my windfall, I could get a really good jump on that.

I have 3 grandbabies coming this year (and a few older ones), but right now I'm talking about the three this year, and especially the twins who are due July 2nd, but are silly and impatient babies and want to come early....probably to read with their grandma. (so far they are staying put, making their poor mom, tho lie on her back all the time)

My son, their father, says he doesn't remember Nursery Rhymes, so I've been stuck on a Nursery Rhyme book buying binge for the twins. So, far I've gotten them 2 books and one CD (with another two books on their way from Barnes and Noble). Probably 4 Nursery Rhyme books is enough, but the artwork is noteworthy. And I like themes and collections.
so, if I had a windfall.... I could add to their Nursery Rhyme collection and begin them on their way to a very well-stocked library.
Of course, I would stock all of my grandchildren's bookshelves with books I thought of as "treasures".
$500 doesn't go as far as it used to, does it?

Children's Classics Carnival--Bunnicula

I'm late. Late in the day for this Children's Classic Carnival. But I'm going to make it.... it is only 8:05 PDT, so I have a few more hours of Tuesday.

One of my very favorite children's classics (at least I think it's a classic) is Bunnicula by James Howe.
While technically not a book "about" a dog, it is a book about a rabbit, "written" by a dog. Harold.
Harold the dog, Chester the cat, Howie the puppy and Bunnicula the vampire bunny, live in the Monroe Household, with Mr. and Mrs. Monroe and their two sons, Peter and Toby.

While this is not a "coming of age" book about a boy and his dog, it is a funny, lighthearted spoof of "scary" books.

The Monroe family finds a little bunny rabbit at a movie theater , during a showing of Dracula, so in keeping with the theme, name the bunny "bunnicula".
Harold, the dog, likes the new member of the family and feels sorry for the rabbit, especially when Chester the cat begins to see Bunnicula as a real "vampire" bunny, who sucks the life out of the veggies in the vegetable garden.
Many antics take place as the animals of the Monore household are involved in this mystery.
It's cute and a bit slap-stickish, with enough "scary" thrown in to amuse even the most hardcore young reader.
It's just cute. A fun read. And everyone needs a light, fun read once in a while.

There are 4 sequels to Bunnicula, and the whole series is good and worth a try, if you ask me.
At the beginning of each book, there is an Editor's note (part of the novel) which includes a letter from Harold the dog, to set the scene. I also love Harold's point of view of the Monroe family. It's funny to see things thru a dog's eye (just read the adult books "The Art of Racing in the Rain", or "Dog on it" for other great dog points of view).
Bunnicula is a good choice for a family read. I liked it. My boys liked it, and my grandson likes it.

Have I got cookbooks for you! Weekly Geeks.

Today is my frist time being a "Weekly Geek".
Here is the question (or assignment, as the case may be..... )

What shall we cook today? It seems that for most of us, a bit of our book obsession would carry over to the cookbook genre, so this week for Weekly Geeks, let's talk cookbooks! Here are some ideas to get you started:--Describe your cookbook collection. How many cookbooks do you own? A lot? Just a few? None at all?--Do you even buy cookbooks? Or do you gather family cookbook compilations and/or recipe files instead?--Do you like to collect certain types of cookbooks? Say, from certain chefs? From places you visit? From a particular food group or style?--When buying cookbooks, what do you look for? Does it need to have pictures? Spiral binding? A specific type of font?--What is your favorite cookbook? Tell us the story behind it.--Tell us about your most well-used cookbook. Is it different from your favorite cookbook? Or are they one and the same?--Take a picture of your collection. How and where do you organize it?--Share a recipe from one of your favorite cookbooks. Include a picture if you can.
**********

I'm sorry if you arrived here expecting a long blog post about my cookbooks. Only sorry, because I'm going make you go here, to my cooking blog.


Please click on the link......Please check it out. I just didn't want to explain all over again about what a cookbook addict I am. You can just hit the link, go over to my post about my cookbooks (over 200 of them) and take a peek inside my strange life.
I collect cookbooks like I collect books.... and then I can't bear to part with them. I can read a cookbook just like a book.
In fact, my standard book bag, when we go on a trip includes this:
the book I'm reading
a book for when I finish the one I'm reading
a cookbook
2 magazines

and that's just for a day trip to Reno. You don't' want to travel on a long car-trip with me. I'm one of those lucky people who can read, write, journal, organize address books, in the car. And I do it too. (what else do you do when you're in a car for 8 hours?) (well, one time I took a picture every 15 miles or so of our 500 mile trip...so I could journal about it. Hmmmm, weird? yes.)

This is my first time to Weekly Geeks, but I know I'll be back.

Let me leave you with this.... go to my cooking blog and read my cookbook post. (It's one of my better posts. LOL )

Musing Mondays and a bookmark

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about blog comments
How do you respond to the comments on your blog? Do you try to email individually or comment on post yourself answering the comments above? What do you think is the best way to respond to comments and do you respond to all of them? Do you feel slighted if you don't receive a response back from the blog owner? (question courtesy of Jenn)


...oh the guilt...THE GUILT. I don't respond as often, or how I want to.
When I read the comments people leave to me, I think, "oh wow, I know how she feels," or "how kind of her, I need to let her know, " or "that reminds me of..."

But I don't always answer as I should.

When I do, I either comment on a blog post of theirs, or I e-mail.
At first I felt e-mails were intrusive to people, but I don't think they really are.... are they?
I mean, I don't mind getting e-mails at all from bloggers when I comment. In fact, I rather enjoy it.

I don't feel slighted if I don't get a reply when I leave a comment.... I figure that if everyone ALL THE TIME, commented on everything, it would take up their whole day.
I understand there is some unspoken courtesy in the blogging world about trying to reply to or acknowledge as many comments as we can.... and this is why I am feeling the guilt.
There has to be an easy way. What can it be?
A personal assistant?
LOL

Seriously....
blogging
twittering
facebook
myspace
and on and on......

If we are not careful, the quality of our lives will be solely limited to "techo" things. So, no, I don't feel slighted if someone doesn't answer me. I just like to be pleasantly surprised when they do.
We all have lives!!
I have two blogs....this "semi" book blog and a cooking/food blog. Both things take up a lot of time.
They are my hobbies. I love to read, I love to cook, I love to blog and read other blogs, I like to walk/hike, all these things take time. OH...and I have a full time job also, one that includes being present at "events" in the community, and husband, and children/grandchildren, I belong to book clubs, go to church.

WHAT THE HECK? I don't have time for a blog. I don't have time to comment.... I have to go clean my house, that never seems to get done.... LOL LOL

I will try to be better about replying to comments on my blogs. But I'm going to e-mail them from now on. And like I said, if I don't hear from people whom I've commented to.... it's all okay, there are worse things in the world.

I'll end with my bookmark for today....
with a quote from Tallulah Bankhead

Booking Thru Thursday

Today's booking thru Thursday question.

One of the very first questions ever at Booking Through Thursday.
Back from 2005 when Laura owned the blog but, because it was so new, it didn’t get as many responses as it does now … so, why not revisit?
Here’s the question:

Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…
Are you currently reading more than one book?
If so, how many books are you currently reading?
Is this normal for you?
Where do you keep your current reads?

*********

As of right now, I have two books going. Occasionally I will read more than one at time, but not that often.I always have my current read in my purse when I go out. (what if...what if, I were caught somewhere unexpected and had to wait? )
Sometimes I have a "car" book, which is a book I want to read but am having trouble getting thru. That way, if I forget my current read a home, I will have something available to me. I am one of those people (which I assume most of you are) who can read for 1 -2 -5 -10 minutes here and there all day long.

At home....well, I have books laying all around the place.
Book on one table for my "face to face" bookclubs, books on a bookshelf for my "TBR challenge"

And that is where I keep my current reads.
Have a great day!

Teaser Tuesdays

TEASER TUESDAYS is a weekly event, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, where you ‘tease’ others with a little bit from the book you’re currently reading, making them want to read it, too! Feel free to play along! You just…

Here is my teaser, from "I'm With Stupid" by Elaine Szewczyk.

"the bathroom door opens and William comes out wearing the yellow tracksuit. He's a banana. Everyone turns. He hands me my cigarette pack, "you left your cigarettes in the bathroom,' he says, "here you go." I gingerly hold the box between two fingers and glance at my mother. I quickly explain that the cigarettes are not mine. "Are you sure?" asks William, "they look like the ones you were smoking last night. "

My Monday bookmark

I finished "The Big Love" in one day.
It was a 24 hour piece of Chick-Lit fun. I'm not normally a huge Chick-lit fan, but this book was such a fast and fun read, I thought I'd try my hand at another Chick-Lit that has been city on my bookshelf for months. "I'm with Stupid"

I figured, that maybe I am just in the mood for something lighter right now.
If you don't follow my food blog, you don't know that my daughter in law is expecting twins and she has been put on total bed rest. We need her to hang in there for at least 7 more weeks. 13 more weeks would be full-term.
We are hopeful.

But...I am enjoying these books that I don't have to concentrate very much on.
I've discovered that this is a great "escapism" book (The Big Love). It made me laugh out loud and took my mind off worrying for awhile.
It's about Alison, whose boyfriend goes out to pick up some butter, and never comes back. This during a dinner party. The story is a funny telling (in first person) how she is looking for the real thing, LOVE. And she thinks she had it with Tom (the man who left her). It's about that "back and forth" of breaking up and learning to know what love really is.
But it's funny. It'll give you a good chuckle.

Here is my bookmark for Monday!
In my book-club "Totally Literature", one of our members (my friend Jolina) used to make us bookmarks to use. She cut, pasted,created personal bookmarks. She always left room for us to write down page numbers of things we wanted to remember or bring up from the books when we met to discuss it.

I miss our bookmarks. I wonder if she'll bring them back.

This one was from January 2008, when we read "Chasing Fireflys" by Charles Martin.

(a great book!! )

Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather
by Jacqueline Winspear

Finished! I wish I could cross it off a list, but I just read it for fun. Not a book-club, not a challenge, not for school.
Actually, maybe I'm glad it's not on a list of any kind. There is a point of being too regimented. (I'll never see that point, but..... )

It was a great "classic" mystery novel, with a heroine I fell in love with.
The second in the Maisie Dobbs series, it is set somewhere between the 1st and 2nd world wars. The aftermath of WWI in England, is as central to the story/series as the mystery itself.

Ack!! I tried, but I cannot write a review. I feel too much pressure....like I'm in school.
Now I can write a "column" anytime.... a column where I can meander and talk about random things that mean nothing much, but then they all come together at the end. But, a book review, no.

I liked the book.
The ending left me wanting to know more about what's going to happen in Maisie's life.
If you've read it, leave me a comment and let me know how you liked it.

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

from "The Big Love" by Sarah Dunn.
page 55.

I was going to say that he and Kate Pearce deserved each other. I was going to warn him that she was going to leave him again, just like she had the first time, and he'd better not come crawling back to me, because I won't take him back, not in a million years, not for all the tea in China, not if he was the last man on earth.

*****

TBR Challenge

I'm late....it's the last day of March and I'm signing up for the 2009 TBR challenge.
The challenge is to read 12 books in 12 months...from your TBR pile (to be read pile).
I'll have to play catch up a little bit, because I only have 9 months left.

I belong to 2 book-clubs where we meet monthly and we all read the same book, and also a quarterly book-club where we do the same.
I've made my own decision not to include any books from the book-club lists on this challenge.

Here is my list:

Can you read the titles?

1. Dead Irish by John Lescroart
2. What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
3. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
4. The Big Love by Sarah Dunn
5. Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos
6. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
7. The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan
8. The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
9. We're Just Like You, Only Prettier by Celia Rivenbark
10. Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
11. Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
12. Brother Odd by Dean Koontz

If you want to play fast and furious "catch up" reading like me, go here and join the fun.

My husband, just noticed me choosing, stacking and taking a pic of these 12 books. He asked when I had to have the challenge done. I said, by the end of December. He laughed and said "no problem".
I hope so.....

Musing Monday: Lists

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about recording your reading…Do you keep track of what and/or how many books you read? How long have you been doing this? What's your favorite tracking method, and why?If you don't keep track, why not?

Great Question! If you want to play along go here and join in.

*******
I have been a reader for most of my life. I have been a collector of books for most of my life. I have been a library user for most of my life. But it wasn't until just a few years ago, when I started reading series mysteries and/or suspense novels with returning characters, did I begin to keep track of them.

Interestingly, the mystery novels are the only ones I "list". I started doing it, so that I if I was ever at a yard sale, or used book store, I could pick up the "very next one in line" of the many, many mysteries I want to read. (I only read a mystery novel every 3rd or 4th book mind you, and I have to read them in order, so this could take me forever, as the list is quite long.)

On the Library Thing, I have cataloged over 426 books. I have these in my home along with probably 50 more that I have purchased over the last year.
And this does not include my "children's library closet". (now that the idea of listing all my books, or all my books read has taken seed inside my brain...who knows what I'll be doing with my free time this year. Making lists? )

Because I wanted this list of mystery books with me....it is in a little notebook that I have carried around with me for the past 3-4 years. Needless to say it has gotten pretty beat up. And because I grew up knowing nothing of the techo-revolution, I still keep my notebook/list by hand. Kind of.
I did print off lists of books by author and then stick them in the notebook.

And I have a color-coded system.... yellow highlite means I own them, blue means I've read them.

Let me show you.......

First, the front of my notebook, with sticky note attached. The sticky note has the name of a book I want to look for.

Inside cover

scraps of paper with new authors and books that "might" make it into the notebook, if they are worthy. (the trouble with that, is there are always new books, new authors I hear about. I end up with many scraps of paper)

First page

Notice these are in ALPHABETICAL order.....

Middle

Some of my favorite authors!!! The Bloodhound mysteries....great!

At the end is a list of books that one of my book-clubs has read since the beginning of our group. It began typed and then I just started writing them in.

And that is how I list some of my books. Old-school. LOL

and here we are at the end of my notebook with more scraps of paper slipped in!

Good Books/Good Eats

Supper and Book-Club

We met and discussed "The Lace Reader" by Brunonia Barry, last Thursday. It was my choice.
I hadn't read it before I made the choice for my book-club.
I know that a lot of people choose a book they have previously read...they want to make sure it's a good book.
But "good" is pretty subjective if you ask me. (see this post)

I used you...the book blogging community to make my choice, and you did me good.
I chose a book that seemed "hot" on all the book blogs a few months ago, and the fact that Barry self-published at first, and used the Internet to promote her book to book groups around the country, intrigued me.

I'll cut to the chase, because while I'm an avid reader, I'm a horrible reviewer. I liked the book. As did everyone at the book-club who read it. There were 8 of us at the book-club and 5 of us had read it. All 5 of us really enjoyed the book...and after the night was over, I think we convinced the other 3 to give it a try.

If I had a footnote that said "if you liked this, you might like this"
I would say, that if you like "The Lace Reader," you might like "The Double Bind" by Chris Bohjalian. There was a common theme, that is not apparent until the very end.
Both of these books are good. I think you will enjoy them.

And my bookmark for Monday....
It was in my Christmas Card, from my friend Ruth.

Eleanor Roosevelt. What an amazing woman. The photo of her on the bookmark is a stamp in "mint" condition. a 20 cent stamp.... they must have issued this quite some time ago.

Book club photos and a link to what the supper was for book-club evening. (my other blog--click on the link--it's food.)

There really were books there! As well as my book-club friends. It was Renee's birthday so we bought her a book...what else?

A girl after my own heart

A Girl after my own heart.

Last night we went to a potluck/birthday party. A nice excuse to get together with friends, as it's been a while... we all have such busy schedules.

It was a really nice/fun evening, but my favorite part was this... our friend's daughter...in the midst of a family birthday party was reading a book.
She didn't want to miss out on the fun, but her heart belongs to a book!

A Girl after my own heart! I just love her.

Booking Thru Thursday

This week's Booking Through Thursday question is:

“What’s the best ‘worst’ book you’ve ever read — the one you like despite some negative reviews or features?”

okay...this is the hardest question I've ever had.
Books are totally subjective. What I might consider bad, you might not and visa-versa.

10 minutes have passed since I began to write this, and as much as I try, I can't think of a best worst book that I've read.

Some mysteries are hard to get thru. And I love a good mystery, but for the most part, they do follow a formula. I mean, 95% of the time, the good guy wins. That is why you have to have great character development in series mysteries.
But they're not "bad" books... I love them.
I think formula books in general, are not great pieces of literature.... I am thinking specifically about children's books.... The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Babysitters Club, The Goosebumps. All not great, but what a fan base!!

um......
one time, in a hurry at a book store, I accidentally picked up a "gay" book which I ended up really liking. It was a good book. I'm sure some people would think of it as a "bad' book, but that's probably based on a belief system and not on how well it was written or not. It was a really good story. (I cant' even remember the name of it now).

Twilight keeps popping up in a lot of people I survey (my daughter in law my friend, my co-worker).

Hard question this week!
It's subjective.

Totally Lit

Book club and the reason I'm not a book reviewer or an author.

Because this is how I would describe last night:
It was so much fun!! (and then I wouldn't know what else to say)

I have a hard time with description.

We, the Totally Literature book-club, read "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and met last night to discuss it.


(to see what we had to eat, go here. It's my food blog.... And you'll see a REAL Potato Peel Pie made by our friend Kathy)


It was a consensus...we all loved the book.
And we all took on a British accent and a jaunty air... okay, so we didn't really, but we all loved Juliet and wanted to be just like her. She was a protagonist that we all admired so much. We just loved her and the rest of the characters on Guernsey.

What else is there to say? I'm not a book reviewer.
But, have you ever read a book, that just made you feel good? That's what the Guernsey book is like. Bad things happen...it takes place shortly after the end of WWII in both London and the Guernsey Islands. England is starving, families have been separated, homes destroyed, but it is the strength of the human spirit that comes out in this book. The comfort of friends, the power of the written word.
That's another thing. It is an epistle...written in a series of letters...book. Sometimes that is really difficult to "get into", but a few pages into the Potato Peel Pie Society, I was hooked.
Before we had e-mail, text messaging and IMing, I was a letter writer. (see pile of letters in photo below). It's a lost art. We talked a bit about that last night...the lost art of letter writing.

I live in Winnemucca, NV. I moved away for 5 years and then we moved back. In that 5 years, my friend (also named Debbie) and I wrote to each other every week. I saved every single one of her letters. And the letters of anyone else who has ever written to me. But because we are taking about book-club and Debbie was there at book-club last night, we will not be mentioning, Theda or Sally or Tomi, whose letters I also have, saved in ribbons in a box...in chronological order. (I'm a bit of a dork. )
I have every letter that Debbie ever sent to me. And you know what? I think we are great writers. Letter writers!! It takes practice is all.
People will say, that they don't write good letters.... but I say, it's time to practice again. That's all it takes.
I got those letters out last night after my friends left and read a few.... it made me cry. Happy tears. We wrote about our struggles raising jr. high kids .....who now have kids of their own.... and aging parents.... and silly neighbors.
We never thought that 15 years later, we would be sitting together in a book-club, talking about a book, that we both loved that had all these great topics:
friends, food, books, and letter writing.

You should read the book! That's my recommendation.

One of the most fun things? Our real "Potato Peel Pie"

Bookclub friends below....