a book list

I am going to use this blog as a "list", to keep track of things I've read in 2010.

It began as a book blog, but I had a cooking blog, a book blog, a garden blog, etc.

So, for now, I'm trying to incorporate  the cooking and the reading/book blog into one and using  this  blog address  (you can also just click on the  button over there...on the side...the one with the eggs and whisk.  It'll take you right there.

Books I've read in 2010

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!!
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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.
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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.)

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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.