Tag Archives: reading

Nightstand: November 2011

Posted on by

So it’s mere days before Thanksgiving, which is exciting in it’s own right, but it also means that it’s time for me to fill you in on my nightstand! Haven’t done this before? The fabulous ladies at 5 Minutes for Books ask us each month which books we are reading, read recently or plan to read soon – basically this amounts to “What’s on your nightstand right now?” Get it?

When we last nightstanded, I was reading The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent – the story of Martha Carrier, one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft. (description from goodreads.com)

I have to say I really kind of adored that book, although it was slow reading at times, it really kept me hooked and the story was just fascinating, though heart breaking. I definitely recommend it!

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen SimonsonAfter finishing The Heretic’s Daughter, I had planned to read our November book club pick, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson. This is the story of Major Ernest Pettigrew, retired, of Edgecombe St. Mary, England, [who] is more than a little dismayed by the sloppy manners, narcissism, and materialism of modern society. The decline of gentility is evident everywhere, from tea bags, to designer sweaters, to racism masquerading as tolerance…

But after about three chapters (or 40 pages or so) I honestly couldn’t read anymore. It is not often that I will put down a book after only a few chapters, but lately I have been thinking that my time is too precious to read books I’m not enjoying. And I wasn’t enjoying this one at all. The book was intended, I think, to be a fairly light-hearted satire, but I found the main character so annoyingly cynical that I couldn’t read it without rolling my eyes at him. I don’t know if the book would have gotten better or if I was being too hard on it. I’d guess there are people who loved it and would enjoy it. But I honestly don’t think I was going to be one of them.

My only reason for reading the book would have been because it was a book club pick and normally I’d give myself a harder time and make myself read it anyway, but I decided to go easy on myself this once because my nightstand is kind of overwhelming me at the moment with books to read and truthfully? There was one book in particular beckoning to me. It’s been sitting there patiently for months, picked up in between books just long enough to read a chapter or so, giggle to myself and then move on to my next mandatory read. Well this month it said, “Um, Jen, knock it off and read me already. You’re gonna love it!”

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen LancasterAnd I totally am! What book am I finally digging into and adoring something fierce? Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster. It’s basically the funniest book about dieting that you’ll ever read and I think I especially love it because (especially when it comes to food and dieting) Jen Lancaster and I are kind of kindred spirits. It’s like reading my own thoughts on paper except then sometimes SHE goes to the gym or starts a diet or loses weight and I’m all, “Oh, hey, wait for me!”

I’m kind of hoping that this will be a book that motivates me to finally kick my ass and start eating better and exercising (I’m already trying) and that she doesn’t end the book with, “And then I gave up, who are we kidding, really?” We’ll see…. Either way, as far as book choices go, I’m glad I made this one because I now go to bed at night eager to read!!!!! Instead of “Oh yeah… that book….. Maybe I’m tired?”

So what am I going to read NEXT? Man, guys, I have no idea… There are kind of a million positions I’m being pulled in, but here are some of my ideas:

  • Attempting Wicked by Gregory Maguire again and then possibly reading the rest of the Oz series by him.
  • Little Bee by Chris Cleave which I keep hearing is some kind of fantastic
  • Some more funny books like Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin or Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
  • Unbearable Lightness by Portia De Rossi has also been waiting patiently for me for awhile…
  • Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde looks really good – I love his Thursday Next series.
  • And then let’s not even talk about all the OTHER books I own but haven’t read yet and guys, what about the books I WANT to buy? What if I get books for Christmas? If you don’t hear from me for awhile, you’ll know that my TBR pile finally fell over and buried me.

What are you reading right now?

Text-to-TV Showdown: Dead Until Dark vs. True Blood

Posted on by

I know it’s a risky move to watch a tv show or movie based off a book before reading it, but these things happen to the best of us. Usually it means I will be unable to read the book, already knowing the plot. This was true for the first half of Dead Until Dark, the first in a series by Charlaine Harris that the hit show True Blood is based off of. I’d just rented the first season on Netflix, which like the book, tells the story of Sukie Stackhouse, a modern day southern belle who happens to fall for a vampire.

In the story, vampires have just “come out” to society and are attempting to mainstream their way into society. I’d already started watching the show and was several episodes in, when I found out about the book series. It took me awhile to track down a copy of the book and meanwhile there was the tv show, in all it’s deliciousness. I couldn’t resist – I love a good vampire story and this one intrigued me. I really liked the spin they took on vampires and the idea of them trying to live peacefully among the living without pretending to be something else.

When I managed to snag a review copy of the book, I was feeling all kinds of guilty. I’d cheated on the first rule of Book Lovers: Always read the book first!!! I vowed to finish this book no matter what – never mind the new baby I gave birth to in the middle (seriously, my timing could not have been worse). I couldn’t help but compare the two and for awhile, I preferred the tv show – it’s easier to look at pretty pictures, let’s be honest), but either the writing got better halfway through, or I just finally got into it – either way, I ended up really liking it.

The book and tv show have a lot of major differences, although some major things like “Whodunnit” are the same. It was kind of hard to enjoy some scenes where the “villain” of the story seems nice and normal and I’m thinking, “Run away you fool!” This is probably what made it really hard to enjoy initially – knowing who the killer was. Oh well.

I did end up liking the book and definitely plan to read book two, Club Dead. So which one did I like better? TV show or book? I honestly cannot say! I think they did a great job making the two into their own things, both with pros and cons over the other – so you can enjoy both versions of the same basic story. I also plan to watch season two of True Blood when it comes out on DVD.

Are you a fan of all things Sukie Stackhouse? What do you think – which is better, the book or the show?

Book Review: Sweet Potato Queens’ 1st Big-Ass Novel

Posted on by

Grade: A

I can still remember stumbling across The Sweet Potato Queens’ Book Of Love several years back and just falling in love with the whole idea of SPQ and more importantly, falling in love with Chocolate Stuff™, a recipe I’ve devoured several times over since first reading about it (it is seriously that good). The SPQ’s Queen Boss Lady, Jill Conner Browne, has written several nonfiction books that will help you fall in love, get married and / or divorced, have children, cook great food and more.

So when their first fictional book came out, The Sweet Potato Queens’ First Big-Ass Novel: Stuff We Didn’t Actually Do, but Could Have, and May Yet, I was pretty eager to get my hands on a copy, which I did, but somehow in the mix of life, love and babies I forgot I’d gotten it. I know, lame. But it was a lucky thing in some ways, because a couple weeks ago I was lamenting the complete and utter lack of anything good to read in my bookshelf that is literally overflowing with books I have yet to read except none of them were the RIGHT book that would fulfill my need for a light hearted, funny, feel good literary experience, when I saw my forgotten copy. It was like fate.

I really had no idea what kind of novel I was delving into – but with good faith and fond memories of Chocolate Stuff™, I jumped in and found the perfect light read – chick lit in all the glory that once gave the genre a good name. It tells a tale about overcoming and surviving life’s not so fabulous moments in the company of good people – a coming of age novel where things don’t always go right but they do eventually work out – with the help of good friends and good food.

The novel begins in the fictional childhood of SPQ Jill Conner Browne and eventually settles into her life as a young adult and beyond and her friendships with Mary Bennett, Patsy, Gerald and Tammy – it (fictionally) tells the story of how the Sweet Potato Queens came to be and the lives and friendships of each SPQ. The general theme of this story is that sometimes you have to step in and create your own success and embrace your inner Queen – because if you won’t embrace it, who will? I devoured this book quickly and I’d eagerly recommend this to any fan of “chick lit” – any woman who’s experienced the pros and cons of life – and anyone who likes good humor, good food and good writing.

You can visit the Sweet Potato Queens online at www.sweetpotatoqueens.com.

Teaser Tuesday: The Sweet Potato Queens’ 1st Big-Ass Novel

Posted on by

teasertuesdays31 Teaser Tuesday asks you to:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE 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!

My Teasers:

“The familiar words and music served as an on switch, launching me into action. I tossed my potato, blew my bubbles, pranced across the flatbed, wiggled my hips, waved, and cavorted.”

from page 168 of
The Sweet Potato Queens’ 1st Big-Ass Novel
by Jill Conner Browne

Kids’ Picks: Berenstain Bears By The Sea

Posted on by

MM is actually just starting to get into picking out his own bedtime stories. For awhile I’d pick the story and there’d be ones he enjoyed more than others but what we read was largely my call. Now he eagerly looks forward to picking out the story and sometimes surprises us by asking for an old favorite – a book we haven’t read in awhile – which is so cool to see that he’s really been paying attention and is starting to form favorites!

Lately it’s been all about The Berenstain Bears around here – we were given a huge pile of children’s books from Dan’s aunt, a lot of which were his as a child at some point, and of course I read a lot of the same books – we were both big Betenstain Bear fans for sure! But neither of us read any of the Step-Into-Reading editions which we’ve also acquired a couple of – and one of MM’s recent favorites is one of these books, called The Berenstain Bears By The Sea.

I love the catchy rhymes in this cute story of the Bear Family’s trip to the beach house. The bear cubs are of course anxious to get out the sea and start swimming, but mama and papa bear insist on getting the beach house ready for the stay, having a snack, and then of course waiting after they eat before swimming. It’s a short read with a good rhythm thanks to the rhyming text. Both Dan and I enjoy reading this one to him and sometimes MM likes to pretend to read it to himself, too. So cute.

I think he must be just as eager to hit the beach as we are, because MM has been asking for this book at naptime and bedtime non-stop lately! Luckily it’s one we both like, too!

What books are your kids reading right now?

Teaser Tuesday: The Omnivore’s Dilemma

Posted on by

teasertuesdays31 Teaser Tuesday asks you to:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE 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!

My Teasers:

“Though much has been done to obscure this simple fact, how and what we eat determines to a great extent the use we make of the world – and what is to become of it. To eat with a fuller consciousness of all that is at stake might sound like a burden, but in practice few things in life can afford quite as much satisfaction.”

from page 11 of The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Kids Picks: The Berenstain Bears’ Moving Day

Posted on by

We decided to pick this book up before our big move, in an effort to get my son ready for it and maybe try to explain to him what moving was. No easy task with a just barely three year old with the attention span of a gnat. Still, he is enjoying this book a lot and I think he might understand it better now than he did before we read the book. There are several books out there with this theme, designed to help kids cope with moving but I liked this one the best – especially because it was a Berenstain Bears book. My husband and I both grew up with this series and can still vividly remember reading them as children. So we always love a chance to share one of our favorites with MM and while we hadn’t read this particular title before, it was just as good and Berenstainy as all the other books.

The book describes how the Bear Family did not always live in their beloved tree house and tells about their first home in a cave on the mountain and how even though they liked their old home, there were some things they did not like and eventually they decided to move. It talks about the concerns Brother Bear had with moving, which I think most kids will share: Where will my toys and books go? Where are we moving? Why do we have to move? What about my friends? The answers are simple and reassuring and the story is charming and well told – basically, it’s a classic Berenstain Bears book. I highly recommend it and I think MM would, too.

Simple Woman’s Daybook: May 4th

Posted on by

Outside My Window: It’s been nice and cool and cloudy. The heat wave seems to be over and I’m content as I can still get by with my summer-ish wardrobe and maybe a light sweater. We’ve had a bit of rain but nothing remarkable.

I am hearing: Curious George on tv – we’re headed to my grandma’s for dinner soon but MM insists he finishes watching his show before his diaper change, after which we will leave.

I am thinking: Too many things at once – my brain is still pretty muddled with all the same things, trying to plan the upcoming weeks but pretty much completely unable to.

I am hoping: that Dream Company gets back to Dan soon! So far nothing, although we did hear from his old boss that they contacted him for a reference this past Friday, so we know they are still doing something and hopefully we hear soon. Not that I’m getting impatient or anything. :P

From The Kitchen
Monday: dinner at my grandmas
Tuesday: Spaghetti with mozzarella stuffed meatballs – yum!
Wednesday: Hot Dogs & Mac ‘n’ Cheese
Thursday: Hamburger Night
Friday: Chicken something or other

This menu is staring to look awfully repetitive but the price has been working well for us, so it will do for now. I look forward to being able to expand our menus even just a little bit…

I’m now reading: Lioness Rampant, the last book in the Alanna series by Tamora Pierce. I started reading Influence a couple of nights ago, only to realize it was absolutely nothing like what I thought it would be – you know, a memoir. It’s actually a coffee table book style collection of interviews with 20 famous-ish people who have “influenced” the Olsen twins. I really didn’t care for it at all and had no interest in the 20 people they interviewed so I abandoned it. I hope they do a real memoir someday, although I guess I’d expect that kind of book to come much later in their lives, which is fine.

I am creating: Nothing at the moment – I did take some pictures for my review of the Amazon Kindle 2 and shot the video for this week’s In My Opinion video meme (click the link for this week’s questions if you want to play along), so that’s sort of creative… I guess.

Around the house: We’ve been cleaning up clutter mostly, it’s been nice to see a lot of old junk go but we have a lot more left to do!

One of my favorite things: We’ve been teaching MM to spell a bit. Still very early on in the process but it’s been really cute. We got a book from Frecklebox (to review for Mommas Review) that has his name splashed all over it and we’ve been loving using that to help him learn to spell his name and dude it works and he loves it!

A few plans for the rest of the week: That totally depends on when Dream Company gets back to us and what they say. If it’s a yes, we’ll be calling moving companies and packing, etc. If it’s a no, hubby has a couple companies lined up to apply to via recommendations from some friends. Oh and tv of course, because you know I run my life by the tv schedule.

A Picture Thought: Here’s a cute picture of MM eating dinner with one of his new favorite bedtime / all the time stuffed animals – a little stuffed Westie that follows him everywhere, even to the breakfast table apparently. Picture captured by daddy.

Simple Woman’s Daybook: April 20

Posted on by

I almost never do this meme but my thoughts and life are so all over the place I thought this might help me to get all the miscellaneousness out into blog form. Plus Jean does it, so clearly it’s cool.

Outside My Window: Spring has finally sprung. Warmer weather has prevailed for the most part, although the wind has kept today pretty cool despite supposedly high temperatures. And it’s only supposed to get warmer from here on out. The trees are also starting to bud which is good to see, after this winter’s ice storms I was a bit worried as to how many trees would actually survive but the cycle of life seems to be carrying on okay.

I am hearing: Sweet silence. The boy is napping and Dan is working on a presentation because…

I am thinking: HURRAY! Dream Company is flying out Dan and I for an in person interview. We’ll be getting there the day before the interview to “sight-see” around the area. We’re planning to go apartment hunting and look at the five places I’ve narrowed my list down to thanks to internet searching. Assuming that they can give him a yes or no answer by the time he leaves the interview, we may be able to put down a deposit before we fly home. ::fingers crossed::

I am hoping: That Dream Company gets back to us tonight with flight plans. I’d love to be able to start planning for that ASAP. I already have my doctor’s written seal of approval to fly and as soon as I have dates I can arrange child care for MM and set up some appointments to look at apartments while we’re there. I’m not jumping the gun on this, I don’t think. I want to have anything planned that I can in the event that they are smart and hire him.

From The Kitchen – This whole menu is subject to change if we find ourselves traveling really soon.
Monday: We’re having dinner at my grandma’s tonight – yay for not cooking!
Tuesday: Spaghetti Bolognese – my husband is very excited, he loved this dish the last time I made it. I’m excited to have him home to sauté the onions for me.
Wednesday: Cheesy Chicken & Vegetables thing – I’m trying to make mac & cheese look healthy basically
Thursday: Burger night – I’ll be putting BBQ sauce and sweet pickle relish on mine – oh and cheese obviously
Friday: I’ll have the hubs make pepperoni pizza

I am reading: The Host by Stephenie Meyer – finally, I know. I’m about 200 pages in and mostly loving it. It’s long dude, but the story is very riveting and I’m definitely in it for the long haul. I’m occasionally loathing half the main “character,” Melenie. Sure I feel sorry for her, but sometimes her dumbness just annoys me. And I’m pretty curious to see how their little love triangle could possibly work out, although right now them surviving seems to be top priority over any love connections that might work out. I’m liking it, it’d be easier if I weren’t always exhausted by the time I sat down to read at night.

I am creating: A cookbook – I’m reviewing the bookmaking website blurb.com for Momma’s Review and making a book of all of our favorite family recipes. It’s been quite a task gathering all those recipes, since they are currently all over the place in various forms of “organization” but I love their software so far and all the control they give you creatively. I look forward to seeing / using the final product.

Around the house: I’m trying to get laundry done but more people seem to be home during the week than normal and the laundry room “schedule” seems to be  a bit crazy. I got one load in and I’ll try again tomorrow, unfortunately I wasn’t able to battle for my territory since I had other things to do today, too. Oh well. In the meantime, I’m now looking around the apartment, picturing everything in boxes, which it might be soon if we get this job. I wonder how quickly we’ll be able to move…

One of my favorite things: Having that sweet husband of mine home to help with cooking and playing with the boy. Also getting to visit family a lot more often than usual, trying to squeeze it all in now while we can in case this Really Does Happen.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Look for a new pair of maternity pants – preferably something non-denim and inexpensive; Get Dan’s hair cut for the interview, likely start packing for the flight soon & all that jazz that I mentioned above.

A Picture Thought: How cute are my boys in this adorable shot? I don’t think I’ve posted this one yet, but my appologies if I have. Pregnant brain and all.

Aloha Friday: Fun With Flash Cards

Posted on by

It’s time for another Aloha Friday, the day that you take it easy and look forward to the weekend, in Hawaii and blog land anyway. As you should know by now, over at An Island Life, Kailani decided that on Fridays she would take it easy on posting and ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life’s blog. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

So I’m pretty sure my kid might be a genius. My MIL got him these awesome giant flash cards yesterday and we’ve been going over them a little bit, showing him how the word is spelled on the back of each card and the kid is totally picking it right up. Here’s a video with proof that MM is so so super smart:

So my Aloha Friday questions for this week are:

  • What has someone done recently that just impressed the heck out of you?
  • Do you think I should start saving up for Super Genius Preschools?
  • How old do you think the average kid starts learning to honestly spell and recognize words?