Ole-Talk

My summer reading list

Now that is has finally started to feel like we will have a nice summer after all it is time to commit to some summer reading.  I am doing the reading challenge on Goodreads, trying to get back to those days where without the distraction of Facebook, Pinterest and other internet related things I read constantly.  This year I challenged myself to read 26 books.  I can hear my mother and sister's voices in my ear saying " That's all!"  Pathetic! Yeah I know, but I did not want to set the bar to high and I figured I can always go over. 

 

I am currently four books behind target but I know that I can catch up.  So here's my summer reading list in no particular order.

Gone Girl  by Gillian Flynn - currently reading

The Perks of Becoming a Wall Flower by Stephen Chbosky

Equal of the Sun by Anita Amirrezvani

Room by Emma Donoghue

The Tudors: The Complete Story of Englands Most Notorious Dynasty by G.J. Meyer

Anne of Green Gables Series by Lucy Maud Montgomery

What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Well I am off to read!

 

Growing the Bookshelves

So I did make it back to one of the Borders stores before they closed. 

Actually it was sort of a funny story…I called the store at about 4 pm and asked the guy when the last day would be and his response was we are closing between 6 and 6:30 today and everything is either a $1 or 95% off…so are you coming in.  What else could I respond but yes…and boy was I happy I did.  I scored this awesome pile for $9.  Hey if they are not good then I spent less than a $1 on each one and I can always donate them to a library…or to my sister in France who is always looking for books in English lol!!

Snagged some new reads

As much as it saddens me that Borders is going out of business, I must say that I am enjoying the reduced prices on the books.  We made a trip over to the mall during our lunch hour yesterday and in the limited time that I had to search through their remaining inventory I was able to snag these books.

The most expensive cost me $5 and change, can't beat that deal.  I really want to go back before they close the doors for good next week to see if any of the books on my wish list are still up for grabs, especially the ones that are not available for Kindle.  I'll have to let you know if I made some good choices with this set.

10 Things on the Tenth

10 books I WILL read this summer:

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

The Age of Innocence by Edith Whaton

The Pillars of the Earth by  Ken Follett

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen

To see more Ten on the Tenth go to Shimelle's Blog!

The Best Laid Plans

I had so many things that I had hoped to do today but woke up with a pinched nerve or pulled muscle in my upper back which resulted in me sitting in pretty much the same spot all day waiting for the pain to go away.  I knew that I still wanted to get something up on my blog for today so here is a quick look at just a few of the books on my ever growing wish list.

The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

Room by Emma Donoghue

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

An Inconvenient Elephant by Judy Renee Singer

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The Cambridge Curry Club by Saumya Balsari

The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King by James Patterson and Martin Dugard

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

and the list goes on and on.  So what about you?  What's your wish list or your to read list?  I am always on the look out for good books to add to my list.

July's Reading List and a Review

July is the perfect month for reading especially since I start my summer flex schedule which means Fridays off.  Here is my reading list for July:

"Girl in Translation" by Jean Kwok

"My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson

"The Apothecary's Daughter" by Julie Klassen

"Voyager" by Diana Gabaldon (audiobook)

As I mentioned last month I was doing a review of "How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly" by Connie May Fowler for Library Thing and here it is:

"I have to admit that it took me a little while to really get into this book.  The first part of the book moves a bit slower than I would have liked.  I was also a bit disappointed in Clarissa that she just sat back and let her deadbeat husband walk all over her.  I kept waiting for her to just tell him off or even punch him (smile).  At first I was also a bit confused by the ghost element but as the story progressed and the characters developed I became more and more drawn to Clarissa and could not wait to find out what would ultimately happen in the end and began to understand her a bit more.   Although a slow start this book redeemed itself in the end.  I would definitely read more of Connie May Fowler's novels."  I gave the book 4 stars.

What's on your summer reading list!

My Reading List for June

Summer is here and I have great plans to get a lot of reading in especially now that I have the sun room and outdoors are set up (see post below).  I have to admit that last month did not go as planned what with graduation at work and all the events and late evenings that went along with that but I promise myself that the summer months will be better.  So here are my reading plans for this month. Check in on July to see how I do.

On my Kindle: Starting "The Apothecary's Daughter" by Julie Klassen this week.  Not sure what I will read after this will have to see what captures my interest.

By my bedside: It took me a while to really get into "How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly" by Connie May Fowler but I am really enjoying it now and should be finished it by the end of this week so look out for the review that I will do for Library Thing.  Next on the list is, "Girl in Translation" by Jean Kwok and "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult.

In my scrap room: Still mostly looking at magazines in here as I have been doing more creating during the time I spend in here. 

On my iPod: Still making my way through the  second book in the Outlander series "Dragonfly in Amber" by Diana Gabaldon.

Go here to see my list for May.

My Reading List for May

Here are my reading plans for this month. Check in on June 1 to see how I do.

On my Kindle: Almost finished “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett  and  plan to start "The Apothecary's Daughter" by Julie Klassen next.  My Kindle reading seems to be a lot slower than others I guess because I mostly do it during my lunch hour at work if I happen to be in the office for the whole hour.

By my bedside: I never got to start “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson as I decided to start with my reviewer copy of "How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly" by Connie May Fowler that I was lucky to sang from Library Thing.  I did get a late start this month with my bedside reading so I am still making my way through Clarissa Burden and then I will start another snag from Library Thing, "Girl in Translation" by Jean Kwok.  I will post the reviews for both these books on my blog when I write them.  I also want to see if I can squeeze in "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult.  My friend Laura lent this to me and she says it has a big twist.  Can't wait to see what it is.

In my scrap room: Still mostly looking at magazines in here as I have been doing more creating during the time I spend in here. 

On my iPod: I finished Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon, and I have started listening to the second book in the series "Dragonfly in Amber".

Go here to see my list for April.

My Reading List for April

Here are my reading plans for this month. Check in on May 1 to see how I do.

On my Kindle: Still making my way through “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett  and  “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle.

By my bedside: I totally flaked on my March reading so I am still working on the second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series “Living Dead in Dallas” by Charlaine Harris and still plan to take a break from the series and read “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson and also my early reviewer copy of "How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly" by Connie May Fowler that I was lucky to sang from Library Thing.

In my scrap room: In addition to my "Real Simple" magazine this month I think I may indulde in a couple girly magazines I am also still trying to get my act together and do some writing so I atill have "The Playful Way to Serious Writing" by Robert Allen and "A Pocket Muse" by Monica Wood out and about.

On my iPod: I am about half way through Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon, the first in a series of seven boos that I may just continue to get for my ipod as this one is very entertaining and is keeping me from wanting to  run my car into the idiots on the road that don't know how to drive (smile).

Go here to see my list for March.

It's My Turn

This week it is my turn to post my first challenge over on the Scrap Weekly in 2010 blog.  I have been having so much fun scrapping 6 x12 for the album that I am doing for Shimelle's "Something from Almost Nothing" class that I decided to make the challenge to scrap a size that you would not normally scrap.  I also decided to throw in a little extra twist and challenged you to use only cardstock (no patterned paper) on your layout.  Check out the Challenge Blog for some of the design details for this layout an while you are there check out some of the past challenges from this talented group of ladies.

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March Book Update:

If you read my post on my reading list for March , I mentioned that I wold most likely need to get another audio book for my commute and indeed I finished listening to "Hot Rocks" by Nora Roberts during the first week of March.  So my new audio book is "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon.  It is the first in a seven book series and I am seriously thinking of continuing to listen to the series on my ipod.