Bad Blogger

I am a terrible blogger! I can't believe I didn't post one blog during 2012. It has been a very busy year with finally graduating from college and going full time with my photography business. My love of reading has definitely suffered. I have still been reading of course but I have probably read less this year than ever before. I have been making an effort to go to the library more and spend less on buying books. We moved into a new house this year and I gave away over half of my book collection. And by give away I mean it is in a giant box in the garage to give away:-)
This year I have been rereading the Nancy Drew books which I am really enjoying. They are simple reads but have so many memories. I have also been reading Jean Plaidy's books about the Tudor's (always a fascinating subject). I have been into Ernest Hemingway books too after reading The Paris Wife a fictionalization of his relationship with his first wife. I have been really into reading a lot of young adult fiction this year too. I reread The Hunger Games books in anticipation of the first movie. I loved them just as much on my third read as I did my first. I also read a lot of Maureen Johnson's YA novels. I enjoyed her tweets so much I got a bunch of her books and read them in two weeks. They are just fun reads. I also read the new Jodi Picoult (super cute fairy tale she wrote with her daughter and also her adult novel), Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner. I also love Jennifer's tweets and have been keeping up with her constant struggle to make people see that women writers are neglected. I found this cool app Viggle where you could watch tv and earn points and get rewards. That was very exciting as I used my points for Nook books. I received about $40 of free books! Sadly the app got less exciting and too much maintenance when points shrank so I don't use it anymore. But the Nook books I have read this year include The Book Thief which was a terrific book and one I have been meaning to read for years! I read a great book The Sisters about the Mitford Family. I have been wanting to read their story for years and it didn't disappoint. Absolutely fascinating family! I really enjoyed the new Shannon Hale book Palace of Stone. Great follow up to Princess Academy! I also finally read The Giver by Lois Lowry. I can't believe it took me that long to discover it. Number the Stars is one of my favorite childhood books. I also started reading the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. Love, love those books. They are so entertaining and fun. I devoured those and the Heist Society books (guy in there is named Hale so if course I had to read!). I read the new Sookie Stackhouse book. Afraid that series doesn't hold much pleasure for me anymore. I enjoyed Below Stairs which was a true story of a maid/cook that Upstairs/Downstairs and Downton Abbey took some material from. The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy was another great read. I love how she flashed back and forth from the modern time to Nazi Germany. I love all the delicious food they are always making. Makes my mouth water! I enjoyed the new White House Chef book Affairs of Steak. I really love those books. I also read Dirk Hayhurst's books The Bullpen Gospels and Out of My League. Both great books with glimpses into major and minor league baseball life. I hugely enjoyed both books. I know I have read other books this year but I will have to check out my Goodreads page to refresh my memory!
I am looking forward to the November release of Reached by Ally Condie and the new Stephanie Plum book (yes I still love those! Guilty pleasure). I think I will do Thankfully Reading over Thanksgiving weekend this year. The weather is turning cold which means one thing. Time for my annual (sometimes semi annual) of the Betsy-Tacy books. So back to Heaven to Betsy! I will try to blog more often.

2011 Audio Book Challenge July-December

I just finished my last audio book of 2011. I have really enjoyed this challenge! I have grown to really love audio books. My library needs to get more audio books as I have almost gone through all of them! Here are the books I listened to July-December.

15. Lady Blue Eyes by Barbara Sinatra.

This was an autobiography by Frank Sinatra's last wife. It was a very interesting book with lots of fun stories. She did write about her husband with a little bit of rose colored glasses but that is to be expected. Good book!

16. First Family by David Baldacci

This was a good book about King and Maxwell and how they get enmeshed into a kidnapping of a member of the extended First Family.

17. The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain

Great collection of short stories by Twain. I enjoyed them all. I often forget how funny he was. I wasn't crazy about the narrator of the book.

18. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

This was a great novel about the search for the real Dracula. I love these types of books that just sweep you away. Excellent, excellent book!

19. Gods of Newport by John Jakes

This is a book about Newport in the Gilded Age. It is told from the perspective of both rich and poor. It started out a little slow and quickly became really good!

20. Hot Mahogany by Stuart Woods

I always say I won't read more of his books and I always do. I swear this is the last one. They are so dumb. I don't know why my library has so many of them!

21. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

Terrific book about a senator who has an affair and how it affects his wife and daughters. I love how it skips between every person's point of view. It really helps you to know each character better.

22. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

This book is about a group of women who meet in a childbirth class and follows their lives. It made me never want to have children.

23. Little Dorritt by Charles Dickens

I have never ready this Dickens book so I was glad to finally dive into it. Very sad but at least it had a happy ending.

23. Paul Newman: A Life by Shawn Levy

Fascinating biography about Paul Newman

24. Simple Genius by David Baldacci

This was a great light read and I enjoyed it.

25. The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (Goal met!!)

Glad I finally "read" this. Such a funny book. I love Nick and Nora!

26. The Christmas Train by David Baldacci

I actually read this a little early but I was itching to get in the Christmas spirit. Cute little book about thieves on a train, weddings, lost love and Christmas.

27. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

The second book in the Millennium Trilogy. This was a great book and a perfect sequel to A Girl with A Dragon Tattoo.

28. Crossing Stones by Helen Frost

Book told from the perspective of three friends on the cusp and during WWI.

29. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The best book I read this year and the perfect book to finish the year on. I LOVED this book.

This was a great year reading audio books and I met and exceeded my audio book goal. Happy New Year!

What's In A Name 4 Wrap Up

Well it is New Year's Eve so I need to do finish up my What's In A Name 4 post! I did finish this challenge and these are the rest of the books I read for this challenge.

Number in the Title--

13 Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.

This book was really good. It was about a girl whose Aunt died and left her 13 blue envelopes. Sh had to go to Europe and travel and follow the path her aunt left her through the letters. She had to finish the tasks in one letter before she moved on to the next. It is a book that captures your attention and doesn't let go.

Jewelry or Gem in the Title--

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.

I loved this book. I have wanted to read this for years and I finally sat down and read it in October. It is one of the first mystery books ever written. It is told by a variety of characters and is so witty and funny. I highly recommend this book! It is amazing.

Size in the Title--

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

I love the Thin Man movies so I finally decided to read the book. I listened to the audiobook. It is a very funny who dunnit set during prohibition! Nick and Nora Charles unwillingly solve a murder and get entangled with bootleggers, gangsters and wealthy people. However, the chapter on cannibalism was unnecessary and gross! But altogether a really good book.

This challenge probably would have been more interesting if I had deliberately read the books for the challenge but it just happened that I read books that fit into that category. I think for What's In a Name 5 I will pick the books at the beginning of the year that I will read. That might make it a little more challenging.

Thankfully Reading 2011: Wrap-Up

It has taken me awhile to write my wrap up post since I have been so busy with school. I happy with the reading I got done over the weekend. It wasn't as much as I had planned but I was able to read a couple of books I had been wanting to read for awhile.

I read the last half of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. This book was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. It was very suspenseful at the end and I caught myself holding my breath through some of it.

Next I read Pegasus by Robin McKinley. I bought this Nook book as soon as it came out but knew that was a book I would want to be able to read in just a few days. I am glad I waited. It was a terrific book! Once again she created this magical world that sucks you in. Love it!

Next I started on The Girl Who Played With Fire audio book. I basically just listened to this when I was driving or cooking. This is another great book. I haven't finished it yet but I am having a hard time turning it off when I have school work to do.

The next book I read was Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy. This was a good book. I always enjoy the mishaps and adventures of Ollie.

I started on The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurt but I haven't had the chance to finish it yet.

I am happy with all the reading I got done over Thanksgiving and I am hoping when school lets out next week I will have a very Merry Reading December!

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2011

11/26 10:00 am

I have decided to do all my Thankfully Reading updates in one blog post. Just makes it easier especially since I am blogging from my phone. I have finished one book: Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and am 138 pages into Pegasus by Robin McKinley. I really haven't had much time to read yet since I have been spending time with family and trying to finish up some school projects. Finals start week after next and I shouldn't be reading at all. I am really loving Pegasus. I love how Robin McKinley creates these worlds that are unlike anything else and you really have to concentrate to figure out how the world works. I like that the magic in her books just isn't the same old magic that is in every other book. It always works differently.

Jenn asked us what book we were most thankful for. Last year I talked about the Betsy-Tact books. This year I am most thankful for the Hunger Games. I was in a post Harry Potter sadness thinking there would never be any new, good Harry Potter like books when I discovered the Hunger Games. Now I am not saying they are as good as HP because they aren't. However, I loved diving into that world and am happy to have had those to read. I am looking forward to rereading the books again before the movie comes out in March. Well back to reading! I will check in later.

11/26 4:45 pm

I still haven't had a chance to get much reading done. I am on page 228 of Pegasus. I also started an audiobook, The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson while out and about today. I don't think I will get to my goal of having three books read during Thankfully Reading because tomorrow I have school work and errands to run. Well back to reading before my husband gets home!

11/26 10:26 pm

I have had a much better afternoon reading! I finished Pegasus. The ending was so abrupt and I was very, very disappointed until I read online that she split the book into two books. That was a relief because it really would have been a terrible ending. I listened to a little more of The Girl Who Played With Fire while I made dinner. Then I started on Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy. I love the White House Chef series. They are such a fun read. I have been saving that book to read and when I found out the new one comes out in January I decided to read it. I am 125 pages in and loving it. I enjoy the character of Ollie so much. I feel like she is an old school heroine who just gets into the worst scrapes without meaning too. I can't wait for the new book to come out!

11/27 9:00 pm

I finished Buffalo West Wing last night and started on The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst. It is hilarious and touching and sad. I love baseball and this is a great glimpse into the real world of minor league baseball. I am 84 pages into this book as I haven't had much time to read today due to my massive piles of homework and driving to and fro. I also managed to get some more audio book time with The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Thankfully Reading Post #1

I decided to get my Thankfully Reading off to a good start at midnight by deciding to finish up Girl With A Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I finished the last forty pages. What a great book! I have the next book in the series on an audiobook and I really wish I had brought it to my parents. But since I didn't I am going to get started on my next book which is Pegasus by Robin McKinley. I love her books. Beauty is one of my all time favorite books. I think it's funny that even though I have my Nook and I am only staying one night at my parents I still packed two regular books. Old habits never die! Hopefully I can get more reading in tomorrow in between a family photography shoot and the pile of school work I have to do before school ends in two weeks.

I also started a new Twitter handle to go with this blog! ReadingSusan. Follow me today!

What's In A Name 4: Evil in a Title

I read Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire for the evil in a title category. I will say this book was a struggle to get through. I have come to the conclusion that I just don't like his books. The first half of the book was really, really slow and depressing. The last half of the book was a little more interesting and went a little faster. It basically continues the story of Wicked after Elphaba dies and follows her son Liir. He is not really sure he is her son and he has a lot of struggles and bad times. The majority of the book is just depressing things that happens to him. But I finally did finish it after about six months.

What's In A Name 4: Life Stage

I am way behind on my What's In A Name posts! I read Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close for the Life Stage category. This book was so good. It has a dark undertone but is also really funny. This book is a collection of stories about college friends and their heartbreaks, disappointments and triumphs in life. It is very real to life how different people act when they get married and have kids. I loved the one story about the girl who had six bridal showers and made her bridesmaids come to all of them. This book was very witty and funny and I highly recommend it.

Thankfully Reading 2011

It is getting close to that time of year again.:

Thankfully Reading

over the Thanksgiving holiday. This was the first book challenge I ever did and it inspired me to do more. Hopefully I will be able to get in a lot of reading in between preparing for a law debate and cooking lots of yummy food. Can't wait!

Modern Library: 100 Best Novels

So I decided to take on a new personal challenge. Last year The Modern Library printed a list of the best 100 novels. I was looking through and realized how few I have read. So I have decided to start on this list and see how many of these books I can read. In the next ten years. Ha ha. No really I am going to start going through the list and reading all the books I have never read. If you are interested in the list check it out here.

2011 Audio Book Challenge March-July

Once again I am very behind in my posts. I have listened to quite a few audio books in the last few months.

7. Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte. After enjoying Jane Eyre so much I figured I would also give this book another chance. However I still didn't like Wuthering Heights. SO depressing. And why in the world is Mr. Heathcliff looked upon as a romantic figure? He is terrible!
8. The People of Sparks Jeanne DuPrau. I enjoyed the sequel to the City of the Ember very much. It was better than the first book. It had more action and interesting characters.
9. Divine Justice David Baldacchi. This was another Camel Club book. Oliver Stone is on the run after killing two important people. I like this book because he is put into this new setting with some really good new characters.
10. Inkspell Cornelia Funke. This was the sequel to Inkheart and I loved it!! The book was read by Brandan Fraser and he did a terrific job. He had an amazing voice for each character. The book was mesmerizing and I hated when it was over.

11. Hothouse Orchid Stuart Woods. I said I wouldn't read one of his books again because they are annoying. And I did. And I disliked it! This is my last Stuart Woods book I promise!

12. Avalon High Meg Cabot. Anyone who knows me knows I love young adult books. I love Meg Cabot Princess Diaries books so I decided to give Avalon High a listen. It was a pretty decent and enjoyable book. It was a modern day retelling of the King Arthur story.
13. The Spy Clive Cussler. This is from the Isaac Bell adventures. I enjoyed this as I do all Cussler's adventure/suspense stories. It got a little corny in some places but that is to be expected with his books!

14. The Collectors David Baldacchi. Another Camel Club book this one is before the last few I have read. It is the book that introduced Annabelle to the Camel Club. I already knew what happened so that made it a little less exciting than some of his other books but I still enjoyed it.
Since I passed my last challenge I will try for the last one of Obsessed which is 25 audiobooks. I am currently listening to two good audiobooks: one on my ipod and one in my car. I will do a new post when I finish those. Or in 2-3 months:-)

2011 Audio Book Challenge Jan-March

I have been doing well on this challenge for the year. I love a good audiobook on my long commute to school. It definitely makes the miles zip by! Since January I have listened to six audio books so I have already met my goal! I am going to try to get to Addicted now which is 12 audiobooks.

1. Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
I never really liked Jane Eyre when I was younger. It was a very depressing, sad book. But I really enjoyed it this time. The people who read it had good voices and made it interesting so that helped. I always thought that Mr. Rochester had deliberately burned down the house with his wife in it but that wasn't the case. I am glad I gave this book another chance!



2. Two Dollar Bill Stuart Woods
I decided to read this book because my dad told me the author was from the small town he grew up in. The book was a little hokey in places and typical of an adventure/suspense/mysery story.

3. Stone Cold David Baldacci
I love David Baldacci books and I enjoyed this Camel Club book. It was the first Camel Club I read even though it is in the middle of the series. I really liked this audiobook because it had some nice sound effects which I felt added to the drama. It was a great story and kept me in the car long after I would reach my destination!



4. The City of Ember Jeanne DuPrau.
I got this audio book to listen to on the way to Florida for spring break. My sister likes these types of books like I do so I figured it would be something we could both enjoy. We were a little disappointed and felt the book dragged too much. They seemed to stretch out parts too much and not make other parts longer that could have been more exciting. However I probably will still read or listen to the other three books in the series.


5. Inkheart Cornelia Funke
We also listened to this on our spring break trip and I loved it. I loved the concept of it and I loved the story. I always love a good story with people who are passionate about books!

6. Don't Blink James Patterson
This book started out so gross at the beginning that I almost turned it off. But it got better and the story intrigued me and pulled me in.

What's In A Name 4--Travel or Movement

I decided to read Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne for this category. I have never read the unabridged version so I was looking forward to this. One of my favorite books of all time is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I remember sneaking in the closet in the middle of the night when I was little to read it after I was supposed to be in bed. I had read several abridged versions of Journey so I was excited to read the full edition on my Nook. This was a great book! It is very adventoruous and I love how crazy the uncle is and how the nephew & guide follow him to the center of the earth. One of my favorite parts is when they get caught up in the underground ocean and don't even know where they are. Verne wrote so vividly that at times I felt like I was really right there with them. This was a great read!

2011 E-Book Challenge

I finished my first e book of 2011. Well technically it was my 2nd but the other one I started in 2010 so it didn't count for the challenge. I am going to try to just do one post for all my ebooks so it might look funky as when I update the date doesn't change.

January 2, 2011

1.

I started reading The Hunger Games books after seeing so many tweets about how good they were. I was sucked in quickly. I started reading the first one on my new Nook Color Christmas Day. They were such a novel concept and I really enjoyed every moment reading them. They are definitely hard to put down. I started Mockingjay on New Year's Day and read it until I decided to be polite and watch a movie with my husband. I had to get up at 6 am to work this morning and I couldn't wait to get home and read. As soon as I got home I settled down with my Nook and plunged back into Katniss' world. This time I really couldn't put it down( although I did take a break when my sister came to visit me). I was happy with the ending although was very saddened on certain parts(no spoiler alerts:-) I was really sad when I realized it was the final book in the series because I hadn't known that. That is the drawback of a Nook book. There wasn't a big Final book notice on it like the real book. However I loved reading it on my Nook, which I love. For so long I fought the idea of an e reader because I love real books. But I have to admit the e reader is very handy and easy to read. I don't enjoy reading the left side of the page anyway! Anyway so my first e book of 2011 was a winner. Wonder what will be next?

March 30, 2011

Well I have been so busy with school and photography that I have been bad about writing in this blog. I have been reading though. A lot! I can't remember the exact dates of when I read these books but these are the ebooks I have read since Janaury until today. I will try to write my thoughts about these books some time! I just wanted to write them down before I forgot. Since I have already surpassed my goal of 12 books read I have decided to change my level to possessed and attempt to read 50 ebooks before the end of the year.

2. A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery

3. Kilmeny of the Orchard L.M. Montgomery

4. A Reliable Wife Robert Goolrick

5. Roses Leila Meacham

6. The Unlikely Disciple Kevin Roos

7. Wish Alexandra Bullen

8. The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain

9. Firefly Lane Kristin Hannah

10. State of the Onion Julie Hyzy

11. Hail to the Chef Julie Hyzy

12. This Lullaby Sarah Dessen

13. Eggsecutive Orders Julei Hyzy

14. The Sherlockian Graham Moore

15. Two-Way Street Lauren Barnholdt

16. The Truth About Forever Sarah Dessen

17. Gone With the Wind Margaret Mitchell

July 2, 2011

I really, really love my Nook!! Here are the books I have read since last I checked in
18. Keeping the Moon Sarah Dessen
19. Along for the Ride Sarah Dessen
20. Dreamland Sarah Dessen (Seeing a pattern here? I LOVE Sarah Dessen)
21. Switched Amanda Hocking
22.Torn Amanda Hocking
23. Kate the Making of a Princess Claudia Joseph (hey it was free:-)
24. Dead Reckoning Charlaine Harris
25. Ascend Amanda Hocking
26. Pandora Henry James
27. The Summer I Turned Pretty Jenny Han
28. It's Not Summer Without You Jenny Han
29. We'll Always Have Summer Jenny Han
30. 13 Blue Envelopes Maureen Johnson
31. When It Happens Susanne Colasanti
32. Wings Aprilynne Pike (Free Friday selection. Terrible!)

December 31, 2011

I am such a terrible blogger not updating in six months. Here is the last e-books I have read of the year. Did I make my goal?

33. The Unsuspecting Mage Brian S. Pratt

34. Fires of Prophecy Brian S. Pratt

35. Canary Island Song Robin Jones Gunn

36. Peach Keepers Sarah Addison Allen

37. The Book Thief Markus Zusak

38. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch Allison Arngrim

39. Something Like Fate Susanne Colasanti

In between here I went over a month reading no Nook books thanks to school.

40. Drinking With Strangers Butch Walker

41. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Steig Larsson

42. Pegasus Robin McKinley

43. Buffalo West Wing Julie Hyzy

44. The Bullpen Gospels Dirk Hayhurst

45. On Mystic Lake Kristin Hannah

46.Christmas Wedding James Patterson

47. Hunger Games Suzanne Collins (Second reading was even better!!!)

48. Catching Fire Suzanne Collins

49. Mockingjay Suzanne Collins (the book I started out the year with! How fitting!)

50. Explosive Eighteen Janet Evanovich

51. Then Came You Jennifer Weiner

I made my goal!!! So happy and looking forward to 2012 challenges!

2011 Challenges

I had so much fun participating in the Thankfully Reading challenge that I decided to attempt some year long challenges in 2011. I found a lot I wanted to participate in but had to narrow it down to three since I will be very busy with school and photography this year. These are the challenges I decided on. Special thanks to Jenn of Jenn's Bookshelves for her post that inspired me!



I am really excited for this challenge hosted by Beth Fish Reads. It sounds like so much fun. I have to read books in the following categories:

1. A book with a number in the title
2. A book with jewelry or a gem in the title
3. A book with a size in the title
4. A book with travel or movement in the title
5. A book with evil in the title
6. A book with a life stage in the title

I already have a few books in mind such as Evil Under The Sun by Agatha Christie and Journey To the Center of the Earth(which *gasp* I have never read).

I am going to do this one because I have been listening to a lot of audio books with my long commute to school and once the summer come around again to my work commute. I have signed up for the Fascinated level which means I have to listen to 6 books. Should be easy enough!




Of course I have to do this challenge since I received my beautiful Nook for Christmas. I am going for the Addicted level which means I will have to read 12 e books. I would go for 20 but I am afraid that would negatively affect my pocketbook and studying time!
So I have decided to do these three challenges. I may add another if I find something else that strikes my fancy. Looking forward to a great 2011!

Thankfully Reading Saturday & Sunday Plus Wrap Up

First I want say thanks to

Jenn's Bookshelves,

Beth Fish Reads

and

Devourer of Books

for hosting this weekend. It was a wonderful idea and definitely inspired me to read more! Let me share my readings for the rest of the weekend and then do a quick wrap up.

Saturday, November 28th

I finished

Sisterchicks Go Brit

right after breakfast. I ended up really enjoying the book. They visited a lot of sites in London that I remember visiting on my trip 10 years ago(Oh my God was that TEN years ago!!??). It brought back a lot of wonderful memories. After I finished that book I decided I had to start re reading the

Betsy-Tacy

high school books again. I went on a hunt for

Betsy Was a Junior

so I would have that before I started reading

Heaven to Betsy

. Shockingly I found it in the second stack of books I looked through. Miracle! So my fourth book was

Heaven to Betsy

by Maud Hart Lovelace.

As I have said many times in this blog I love the Betsy-Tacy books. I love how these books are based in the early 1900's but they feel so fresh and I can relate to them easily. Betsy is a freshmen in high school in this book and I love reading about the changes she goes through with moving to a new house, making new friends while still retaining her old friends, falling in & out of love and making decisions about pulling away from her parents religion. Sound familiar? Probably so because I am sure most people go through these feelings. I love this book and even though I have read it over ten times I still thrill at every word(yes I am a dork!). I read almost the whole book but left two chapter to finish on Sunday.

Sunday, November 28th

I knew Sunday would be my lowest read day because I had to work that morning. After freezing to death for 6 hours I finally got home around one, fixed myself a Thanksgiving left over plate and settled down to finish

Heaven to Betsy

. It ended like it always does and I moved on to the next book. I decided to wait to pick up on the next Betsy-Tacy books until Christmas break. I went to my TBR pile and chose

Heaven's Wager

by

Ted Dekker

.

Heaven's Wager

is in the

Martyr's Song series

. I read the first book Martyr's Song and it was really good. This book is good but a little sad. It is about a man who has invented a new banking system and is about to become a multi-millionaire. He is on the top of the world and his life is going to change forever. Of course I knew this was too good to be true. You know in books when everyone is too happy that something bad is going to happen. It is interesting because his wife, son and mother-in-law keep getting glimpses into heaven. It will be interesting to see what happens in the book. I made it through about one hundred pages before I decided I needed to actually spend some time with my husband:-)

Wrap Up

So I only read four books and a little part of a fifth. That is not as many as I thought I would read. I deliberately didn't set a goal for myself. I felt like I wanted to relax and just read for enjoyment not to make some goal. All the books I read, except one, were books in my TBR pile. I have a bad habit of re-reading books instead of going to my TBR pile so that was good. I spent quite a few hours on my books. Probably too many in my husband's opinion! This was a great weekend and participating the Thankfully Reading Weekend was so fun!

Thankfully Reading Mini-Challenge #3

The Thankfully Reading mini challenge today is hosted by Devourer of Books and it is
"what reading community are you thankful for, and why? Are you thankful for book bloggers? The book community on Twitter? Your spouse or family that lets you ramble on and on about what you’re reading and doesn’t complain (at least not too much) about the myriad of books flowing into the house?"
I am very thankful for the new book blogs I have discovered and the people tweeting about books I love. For a long time I thought I was one of the few people who still enjoyed reading certain books.
However, what I am most thankful for is my sister. Me and my sisters grew up reading vicariously. My sister who is four years younger than me is my book buddy. We still love the same books and we can sit and talk for hours about books. These are the best and happiest memories to me.

Thankfully Reading Mini-Challenge #2

Beth Fish Reads

set the 2nd mini challenge for Thankfully Reading Weekend. It is to "share a photograph of your TBR pile or at least one bookshelf." Now this is very difficult for me. I do have a TBR pile but my husband grew frustrated with how large it had become and so he scattered some of the books in my bookcases. So I decided to share all the bookcases I have. When I was growing up I was completely obsessed with trying to fit all my books into the two bookcases I had in my closet. I would constantly arrange and rearrange them. I knew when I had a home of my own I would have a place for all my books. However, that hasn't really worked out as planned as I still have books that don't have a home except on the floor(much to the dismay of my husband). Each bookcase has a different "purpose." Anyway here are all my books.

This is my "official" TBR pile. It does include books I have already read but want to read again. Like my Agatha Christie books on the right. I love those books so much and I haven't read one since I was 17. I can't wait to read them again!

This is my Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys bookcase. Growing up I adored these books. I actually liked The Hardy Boys much better than Nancy Drew. Joe and Frank were much more interesting to me. The Nancy Drew books were some of the first books I remember reading. My mom had those old, blue copies. It still makes me sick every time I think about how she threw them in the trash.

This is my young adult bookcase. This bookcase holds some of my favorite books: Trixie Belden, Ginger Pye, Strawberry Girl, Betsy-Tacy books, Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates and the Little House on the Prairie books. Love all these books! They make me happy taking me back to my wonderful childhood! I like this bookcase because I can doublestack my paperbacks in the back without the shelves bowing.

This is my baseball bookcase. All of these books are baseball related: biographies, autobiographies, season reviews, novels etc. I adore baseball and have always loved learning about the history of the game. My favorite baseball book is Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella. It is an amazing book! I even named my cat Shoeless Joe.

This is my Mystery/Adventure bookcase. It includes my guilty pleasure favorites such as Clive Cussler(which horrifies my archeologist major sister!), James Patterson and J.D. Robb.

This is my romance bookcase: Victoria Holt, Lori Wick and Georgette Heyer.

This bookcase is my newest one and has no theme because my husband randomly put books in there. But some of my favorite books stick out to me and that is The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker. So good! I love those books.

This is my classics bookcase with some of my favorite classic books: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, Seventeen, and David Copperfield. It was recently desecrated by my husband's Star Wars books which shall quietly be removed in the next few weeks.

This is my Classic #2, Harry Potter and Biography bookcase. My husband has all the English versions of Harry Potter and a nice Lord of the Rings set.

And here are my poor books that don't have a home. I am asking for bookcases for Christmas:-)

Thanks for allowing me to share my bookcases. Now back to Thankfully Reading!

Thankfully Reading Mini-Challenge #1

Jenn's Bookshelves

has set a Thankfully Reading Mini-Challenge to tell what book you are most thankful for. This is a hard question because there are so many books I am thankful for.

I really can't narrow down a single book so I have gone with an entire series. The Betsy-Tacy Series are the books I am most thankful for. They have been my favorite books for years but they have become very special to me. I was laid off two years ago and it was a very difficult time for me as I had to transition from working 60 plus hours per week in my dream job to being unemployed. I began to experience anxiety and one of the few things that could help me curb this was reading the Betsy-Tacy books. They are so warm, familiar and comforting. I will always be thankful for these books for helping me get through that difficult time!

Thankfully Reading Weekend

I decided to participate in the

Thankfully Reading Weekend

. It is a chance for me to get some good book reading in while I am off of school until the 29th.

Thursday, November 26th

I read nothing Thursday. I was so busy cooking and celebrating with my family so I decided my reading would have to begin on Wednesday. However my sister and I did have an hour conversation about

L.M. Montgomery

books(we both have read

The Blue Castle

to0 many times to count).

Friday, November 27th

Friday started out well as I began reading

The Mysterious Benedict Society

and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart.

I love The Mysterious Benedict Society books. There are three books so far. I love these books because they remind me of the books I grew up reading: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Moffett Books and Mary Poppins. I finished it around lunch. I was planning on re-reading the Betsy-Tacy high school books during the holidays but I was unable to locate Betsy Was a Junior so I decided to wait. I decided to start on Early Candlelight by Maud Hart Lovelace.

This was a book she wrote before the Betsy-Tacy books. It is set in the mid to late 1800's in Minnesota at Fort Snelling and the future St. Paul. It is the last unread Maud book I have to read and I have been saving it. This book was wonderful. It was a great slice of pioneer life and talked a lot about customs, harsh conditions, clothing etc. It also had a sweet little love story but that wasn't the primary focus of the book. I highly recommend it! I will admit I was a little sad when I finished it. The end of all the new Maud books. I then started reading Sisterchicks Go Brit by

Robin Jones Gunn

.

Robin Jones Gunn has been one of my favorite authors since I was a teen. She wrote the Christy Miller, Sierra Jensen and Glennbrooke series'. I absolutely love all three series'. I have read them many times over. The Sisterchicks are a little different than most of her books as they are geared more towards my mom's generation(she loves them) but I was interested to read it as they would be traveling around London. I made it through about 30 pages before I was so tired I had to go to bed. More tomorrow!