Christmas in the Mailbox - and GoodReads disappointment

I came home and had this waiting for me in my mailbox! I was going to read Wedding Season after I finished Under the Duvet, but I think this book may have changed my mind for me. The print is TEENY though. I should probably wait for me to get my glasses. 

However, I must complain about Lens Crafters for a moment. At least the Lens Crafters that I went to in the local mall. I went to pick out new frames and then have them make the glasses. I found the most amazing pair of frames - and I stood around waiting for over 20 minutes waiting for someone to help me. There were 2 people working out in the front, and there were way too many customers for those 2 people. Even though I know this, I would have appreciated even a small tidbit of acknowledgement that I was there, waiting for them to assist me. I was a customer - one that was going to be paying. At minute 21 I left. I wasn't going to spend any more time sitting there (well, standing there) waiting to at least be acknowledged that I was in their store. (And my frames were NOT cheap. ---well, not what I would consider cheap. There were $165.50, plus what I'd have to pay them to make the lenses and then put them in the frames.) It just agitated me that they could let their customers stand there looking foolish for such long periods of time. There were other customers in the store who were there prior to me stepping foot in the store, and they hadn't been acknowledged, either. 

Goodreads has disappointed me right now. I sent out a bunch of books on their bookswap - 3 different orders to one person. I got an email saying that she hadn't received the other 2 packages. There's also no tracking on them. So I don't know what I'm supposed to tell her. I did send them out, and they haven't been returned to me. I hope that in the next few days they get to her.

Awww

I had ordered 7 books in the last few days. I have gotten 2 of them so far, and I know that 1 more is on its way. I'm bummed, though, because there is 1 request that has already expired, and I know that others will probably end up expiring, as well.

I know that people have lives and all, and that especially in summer time people go on vacation. There is an option to defer your bookswap if you're unable to participate due to vacation or something. I wish more people would utilize this so that I didn't order things and then have them not come.

Though, maybe there was a good reason. It just bums me out because I was looking forward to that book. (Fourplay - the one with a shoe on its cover - for those wondering which book I'm talking about.)

On the plus side, I get that 1 credit back, and I have more books out in the mail, and I will be getting some more credits for those.

Now to look back on my wishlist and see which ones I want!

Shopaholic and Baby

What Goodreads Has To Say: Shopaholic Becky Bloomwood is pregnant, but the prospect of motherhood hasn't reined in her passion for fashion. In fact, this insatiable London shopper has a new excuse for raiding boutiques, catalogues, and baby shops for goodies. Amid all this happy expectation, though, lurks a major problem. Becky has become convinced that her hubby Luke has been fiddling with vampish obstetrician Venetia Carter. To allay her fears, our self-indulgent personal shopper hires a private detective to track down the truth. It won't surprise Shopaholic fans that this sets off a madcap romp that is more fun than an afternoon at Prada.

What I Have To Say: I'm having a really difficult time putting into words what I want to say about this book. 

I do love Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood), but I had hoped that she would mature as these books progressed. It seems, however, that Luke is allowing his wife to continue to have very poor spending habits. I realize that husbands and wives don't necessarily 'allow' one another to do something, but she's spending Luke's money. The Look, her place of employment, is doing terribly, and I can't imagine that a place that has such a poor clientele would be able to pay their employees the amount of money that is necessary to shop the way she does. 


The book does strike a cord for a lot of women, though. Those women who are pregnant and then become insecure that their husbands would have an affair. (And Venita did make it so very easy to believe her. On top of Becky's hormones running out of control.) Hiring a private detective, though? I know she wanted to find out the truth of Luke and Venita's relationship, but she didn't even ask him? I know that Luke is busy with all of his new offices opening up all over Europe (for what its worth, for someone as business savvy and smart as Luke, was that really the smartest thing in the world to do?) but she never even questioned him about their relationship - straight to the shoddy detective (I did laugh when the "special operative" was his son.)

The beginning of the book made me tear up in laughter - so much so that I had to tell a specific part to my husband. How can anyone not burst out laughing when she uses the ultrasound machine on her own and begins to talk to her "son," only to find out it's her bladder. It's probably so funny because, unfortunately, I could see myself doing something so stupid. 

At the end, Minnie is opening up her own credit card (or you're meant to insinuate that from the storyline). A one month old baby, able to open up her own account? It just doesn't make sense to me. Is Becky going to hide that from Luke, too? There were tons of purchases that she hid from Luke, even after he told her that they were going to have to tighten up their belts. She bought the rose quartz necklace because she 'deserved an award for beating Luke in the investment bet.' Then she hides it under Minnie's blankets. This makes me giggle and disturbs me at the same time. The fact that she hides the necklace under the blanket (which, really ... could that be very comfortable for Minnie?) shows that Luke isn't taking a part in taking Minnie for walks. Granted, they did just move .. but still --- 

Was anyone else disturbed at the amount of alcohol and caffeine that Becky consumed during her pregnancy? This book was written in 2003 - set in 2003/2004. This didn't take place in the 30's, 40's or 50's when consuming those wasn't yet shown to be detrimental to a baby's health. WHY on EARTH is she drinking all that?? Either she's completely irresponsible, uneducated, or doesn't care. I don't know which one it is. I don't think its that she's uneducated - she's reading all those books left and right to figure out what's best for her child. And she has two OBGYN's - Dr. Brain who seemed amazing, before Becky decided that prestige was more important, and I would assume that he would've explained the harm that she could do. Irresponsible? Well, if her shopping habits show anything - that'd probably be the side I'd turn to. She certainly cares about her baby. 


While her excessive shopping and someone juvenile state of mind and thinking, I will be reading the rest of the series (I'm completely reading these out of order - not on purpose, though.) I did get the audiobook for this book, so perhaps it was 'better' to have it read to me - instead of having to read it on my own. I may have decided to put it down before the end had I been reading it to myself. 


Rating - 3.5

The Boyfriend List

What Goodreads Has To Say: Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it’s unusual, but give her a break—she’s had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she:
lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list),

lost her best friend (Kim),

lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket),

did something suspicious with a boy (#10),

did something advanced with a boy (#15),

had an argument with a boy (#14),

drank her first beer (someone handed it to her),

got caught by her mom (ag!),

had a panic attack (scary),

lost a lacrosse game (she’s the goalie),

failed a math test (she’ll make it up),

hurt Meghan’s feelings (even though they aren’t really friends),

became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch)

and had graffiti written about her in the girls’ bathroom (who knows what was in the boys’!?!).

But don’t worry—Ruby lives to tell the tale. And make more lists.

What I Have To Say: I liked this book - it brought me back to my pre-teen years when every boy I liked I thought I'd end up marrying or I was absolutely sure they liked me. And, like most pre-teens, I usually picked the guys that were the worst! (Something about "they'd never be that mean to me if we were together" or something...yes. Pre-teens really are that dumb.)


Roo reminds me of myself when I was that age. I made a lot of mistakes, and was able to reflect upon them as she does in the book. Dr. Z makes good recommendations that anyone would be able to use, teenager or not. Roo is character that most women/girls would be able to relate to. She's not high and mighty and has problems that others wouldn't be able to relate to. 


I love Roo as a heroine in this book. She has these quirky/naive/sensitive qualities about her that make me just adore her. She's one of those girls that I'd have loved to hang out with because I was just the same as her - we were both the 'lepers' in our school (as Roo plainly puts it). Not because there is anything wrong with us, but because that's how the school just divided itself out. It reminded me that being quirky and unique doesn't mean that there is something wrong with you.


Now, where was this book when I was 15??


Rating: 4 stars

Christmas in the Mailbox!

Last night when I got home, there were two books awaiting my arrival.

I need to finish The Boyfriend List before I start reading either of these, but I'm almost done with that book, and so I hope to pick up one of these soon. I also discovered that my library has audiobooks that you can check out and listen to on your computer. I can't tell you how excited that made me! My only dilemma with these books is I don't know which one I'll read first! (And I'm still waiting on the arrival of a few more books from goodreads ... I hope they come in soon!) My new logic is that I won't take any more books out of the library until I finish all the ones I own. ... But audiobooks do not count. I don't know how well I'll fare with that because when I go to the library they always have their "new books" up front - I have this "thing" that I have to grab them before someone else does - I don't want to wait for them later!

Secrets of a Shoe Addict

What Goodreads Has To Say: Abbey Walsh never wanted anyone to find out about her shady past. After all, she's the wife of a minister now, living an exemplary life. That is, until someone shows up from her past with blackmail in mind...

Tiffany Vanderslice Dreyer never dreamed that she'd find herself up to her new designer sunglasses in credit card debt from one mad moment of a shopping spree. She's an upstanding wife and mother with the perfect marriage...right?

Loreen Murphy hadn't meant to hire a male prostitute in Las Vegas. It was all just a big, stupid, and expensive misunderstanding...

Abbey, Tiffany, and Loren are each in need of thousands of dollars and fast. Tiffany's sister, Sandra, has the perfect idea. It's fast, it's easy, it's legal, and it's the secret that kept her shoe addiction alive. It's the perfect plan...

In this deliciously sassy novel, three very different women bond when they find themselves in more than one kind of trouble. It's the story of how sometimes you have a secret that can get you in- and out- of dire straits. It's about romance, friendship, kids, revenge, affairs, and most of all, a love of the well- heeled things in life.

What I Have To Say: I wish I had picked this book up much sooner than I did! (I have to thank goodreads for introducing it to me - I don't know if I would have found it on my own.) I must say that the book was nothing what I thought it was going to be. I had expected that it was going to be about buying and selling shoes on Ebay or something. Oh, how wrong I was.

I'm not sure I want to read the first one (this is the 2nd in the series) because if I don't like it as much as I liked this one, I don't want to be left feeling disappointed. This book has some very explicit language in it, but it's done, in what I thought, was a tactful way. And the author doesn't start to use this colorful language until well after you discover that, to pay off their debts, they're going to become sex phone operators. 

This book left me laughing out loud and page turning. I stayed up so late last night to finish it, only for Steve to come home and find me fallen asleep with the book still open and the light still on ... with 15 pages left!

The book cover is adorable, under the jacket. A book cover full of shoes, you can't go wrong! (Well, if you're me you can't go wrong seeing that I adore shoes so much.)

Rating: 4.5 stars

New books a-comin! (and DMV)

I just started using goodreads in June. I discovered the bookswap about a week and a half ago ... right before the 4th of July. I have so many books to post up on the bookswap, and I started doing so. I was amazed at how many books were requested from me!
I'm also part of paperbackswap, and I am much more in love with goodreads than I am with paperbackswap. I like (and appreciate much more) that the person requesting the book has to pay for the shipping. I adore that for every 10 books I send out, I get 1 free book. FREE! They'll pay (up to $6 for one book in shipping) for the sender to send it to me. Oh yah, I can definitely dig that!
I have 8 (yes, 8!) free books to play with. And with the other books that I have out with USPS and waiting to be delivered, I have 7 more free books coming.
So I look at my "To Be Read" list and I am picking up the following books (and subsequently have taken them off the TBR list on my blog because if I don't, I know that I'll somehow forget I have them and order them from the library or something.) This, however, also means that I cannot take any books out from the library until I read these books.
...until I find one I absolutely have to read, of course!
So ... what did I get with my 8 free books??

A Year Without "Made in China" by Sara Bongiorni
I'm really very excited about this book. I'm curious as to what is made in China that I don't even think about! It makes me wonder if I would be able to go even a week (let alone a year...) without buying 'made in China' items. I like that it's a memoir. I tend to be a sucker for that genre, and I love reading about other peoples lives.

Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities by Alexandra Robbins
When I was choosing a college my senior year of High School, it was of utmost importance to me that it did not have Greek life on campus. I wanted nothing to do with that type of life, and I didn't want to be around it. I had no desire to deal with pledging or hazing or anything else that came with it.
My best friend did pledge Greek in college, but she and I went to different colleges, in different states. It was important to her. It wasn't to me, and the difference in our personalities definitely can be seen in just that choice alone. I love her to death, and I don't think that it was a bad choice that she chose Greek life for herself. I just did not want it for myself. I know myself well enough, and I really felt that if Greek life was available for me that it may become my entire life at college, and I didn't want to potentially be pigeon-holed into a sorority and not be able to explore other options and opportunities that may be available due to the demands of sorority life.
I'm very curious to see what Alexandra has to say about it. I'm especially intrigued by the "secret life" part. I know that when my best friend was in her sorority, there were things that were done that perhaps may not want to get out into the open (and therefore I won't be sharing here!). I'm curious to know if Alexandra brings out some of these things or not.

Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster
It's Jen Lancaster. That should say enough in and of itself. It's also the only Jen Lancaster book on my wishlist that's available for swap at this moment. I know I have read a lot of her books, but I've read them completely and totally out of order. That's okay, though. I like being able to piece things of her life together in the right way on my own. Whether or not I'm correct to her life's journey in the correct order or not, I don't know. (However, as I type this, I realize that this can be solved simply by looking at the publication year.)

Wedding Season by Darcy Cosper
Let's face it (I guess I should say, "Tori, face it.") I'm still having a wedding is over let down! I spent months attempting to make my perfect wedding (and I also know that "my" perfect wedding is absolutely not the idea of someone else's perfect wedding. Not very many people would have a) a dum dum ball, b) a card box made of teetering mailboxes that they decoupaged (they, however, were not teetering when I put it together. Up until they all fell over, it was my favorite DIY project I did for the entire wedding), c) made 300+ chocolate covered pretzels with the help of their dear maid of honor, wonderful mother, and amazing sisters (I'm not sure they've recovered yet...),  d) made their own DIY wedding fans (for a wedding in February ... but I must say that the reception area DID get a little warm, however it could have just been me in my very large and tulle-y wedding dress)  that on one side had the names of the wedding party, violinist and officiants, and on the other had a word search that she made all on her own (and she still regrets that 'bride' was incorrectly spelled. Really. How does one forget an 'e' on the end of bride??) ,or e) decided at the 11th hour that the wedding would not be complete without 100+ chocolate covered spoons.
Regardless ... I think I'm still in denial that it's all over. I'm loving the newlywed life, but since I spent so much time planning the wedding I hope that this book helps me live vicariously through, what I'm thinking, is going to be a few women's weddings. I still look at wedding reception pictures and think "Oh man! I should've done that!"

Fourplay by Jane Moore
I will admit to this fully -- I only choose this book to request this time around because it has a picture of shoes on the cover. No book can be bad if it has shoes on the cover.

Slim Chance by Jackie Rose
Two reasons why I choose this book. 1) It's a Red Dress Ink publisher book. I haven't read any Red Dress Ink book that I haven't liked. and 2) there's a picture of a girl trying to fit into a wedding dress on the cover. Please see the reason I want to read Wedding Season as to why this is pertinent information. Being that I was on such a strict diet prior to my wedding (doctor imposed, not self imposed), I can understand the trials, tribulations, and hatred of 'wedding dieting.' I got through the diet phase of the wedding planning because I told myself that my wedding day was coming up and I'd look better. Yes, I understand this is a completely insane way to look at things. Yes, I understand that you all may think I am utterly insane now. That's okay. It's still how my brain functioned at the time!

Admissions by Nancy Lieberman
I'm curious to read this from a parental perspective of getting children into school. I watched a documentary that was quite disturbing about the process that parents in NYC went through to get their children into preschool. Preschool!! It was absolutely insane the things that these parents would go through. It was like watching them fill out college applications, and some of these kids weren't even 2 1/2 yet. I find it comical and so sad that when some women get pregnant and then give birth, one of the first questions they're asked is, "What school are you sending them to?" What kind of question is that when they're 6 hours old? (And, the poor mother is probably still doped up on an epidural...) I truly hope that when I become a mother that I am not quite as ... school-giddy ... as these parents were. (Or as hoitey-toiety. Some of them made me want to vomit at times.)

Under the Duvet: Shoes, Reviews, Having the Blues, Builders, Babies, Families and Other Calamities by Marion Keyes
Marion Keyes is a toss up author for me. Some books of hers I love, some I don't really care for. I tend to think, by the title, that this will be a memoir, and, as I said earlier, I love those. I'm hoping this is a winning book for me!

And those were my 8 free books! I don't know if I'm going to quickly use the next 7 that I have coming to me, or if I'm going to save them for when some of the others on my wishlist become available. Hmm... decisions.

Also, I have to give super big mad props to the Norwich, CT, DMV today. I went to get my license renewed and change my name and address on it (it's finally official! I'm no longer a Johnson according to the people it matters to the most ... took me long enough, huh??!). I was in and out of the DMV in 10 minutes! I dread going to the DMV, if you couldn't tell, judging by how long it took me to go and actually do the deed, right? I was so excited - they were so nice (another first for DMV workers! (that wasn't nice ... I'm sorry to you DMV workers reading this.)) and I was in and out, including filling out paperwork! Hot day-um!

Allergic Girl

I posted yesterday about Allergic Girl. I will not be finishing this book ... I just can't get myself into it. What it is is much different than what I thought it was going to be. Somehow I thought it was going to be some sort of auto-biography, which in some ways it is, but its mostly advice and tips on how to live with food allergies. I should read it, as I do have some food related issues. I just don't think I can get through it. I had this one thought of how it was going to be, and I don't want to read about tips and tricks right now ... I wanted to read an autobiography.
So today, it goes back to the library for someone else to be pulled in by it while it stares down at them!

I wasn't supposed to get another book ...

but.....

I found this at the library today.

It was just sitting there - staring at me. Literally. It was on one of those single book holders. It was fate, I swear it. I was tutoring up in Groton and I looked up and there it was. I could swear it had light rays flying off of it.
So, even though I know I wasn't going to read something out of the library before I finished the 5 or 6 books that are on my TBR pile that I have sitting at home ... I know this is a brand new book and I wanted to grab it up before someone else did!

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff - and Happy Independence Day!

What Goodreads Has to Say: Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.

As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.

A riveting and astonishing story.

What I Have to Say: Due to the fact that Daisy has an obvious eating disorder, I wanted to bring her in and support her in changing her eating habits. Especially when she said that her body was the only one that was used to not having enough protein. Someone has to be starving themselves for a very long time to not feel the effects of lack of protein.Though, all of that was put to the side when the bombs went off and her and Piper were left to wander around the countryside. All I could think about was that I wanted for them to be safe. In the back of my mind, I wanted so badly for Edmond to show up somewhere along their travels. 
When Edmond comes to Daisy in her dreams, I am so sure that he is dead. I remember when my family members passed away and how I would dream about them. Every so often, I would see them in my house, or in locations where I was in such a state of turmoil at that moment - and I was sure they were watching over me. When Daisy would speak to Edmond, I was absolutely positive he was dead. 
Yes, Daisy and Edmond slept together. And again, as in The Bachelorette Party, I squicked a lot again. (Why, 2 books in a row, squicky sex acts!) Yet, I don't know if I can fault either Daisy or Edmond for this. They were in the wake of a war. While Daisy seems to not really "get it" for a while, until she and Piper are taken away, but Edmond does "get it." They're both teenagers. Teenagers have raging hormones. It's what happens at that age. There is no doubt in my mind that Edmond thought about "what happens if I die?" and it never says if he's ever slept with someone before Daisy - at that age, even with the war around them, I'm sure he's thinking he wants to experience it at least once before he (may) die. Daisy is in such a turmoil of life herself, that she's so engrossed in the fact that this boy is paying attention to her. Her father has left her for her step-mother, who really wants nothing to do with her, at least in Daisy's mind.
Daisy's stepmother, while I do believe that she may have not been giving Daisy the type of attention that Daisy wanted, I'm not so sure that she was as awful as Daisy portrays her out to be. Daisy's eating disorder came about from her stepmother, but really, it began because she felt as though she has no control. Between her mother passing away (and her believing she is a murderer) and then her father goes and marries some woman that Daisy obviously doesn't think too highly of. My question then becomes - what type of father chooses his happiness over his daughters? Though -- perhaps Daisy's issues came from before the stepmother was introduced. 
I picked this book up at the library the other day, and then I read the reviews on goodreads. I think I was expecting something ... more? The writing drove me NUTS. It was like being in the mind of a 15 year old, which, I know, was the point. Having dealt with 15 year olds - I never want to be in the mind of a 15 year old. It's a very frightening place. Run-on sentences and horrible grammar and CAPITALIZATION WHERE THERES NO NEED EXCEPT TO SHOW YOU THE IMPORTANCE. Yet, I can appreciate the reasons behind doing so. 


Rating: 3.5 stars

Also  --

 
Happy 4th of July!


This is the day, more than any other, that I miss my grandfather. My dad's father. He was in the NAVY and the 4th of July meant a lot to him. He passed away from lung cancer on my birthday - June 11, 1997. I can't believe it's been that long. I remember coming home from my 8th grade graduation dinner (the night before graduation at the church basement with my classmates. Most of whom I couldn't stand and who spent the last 3 years of my life making it a living hell (and admitting to the fact that they attempted to do so on purpose.)) The call came and I couldn't stop crying. I went to both the funeral and the burial, and it was such a traumatic experience that I never wanted to go through it again (of course, most people say that when they attend the funeral of someone they love.)
We lived with grandpa and grandma for a few years before my dad got his job at the boarding school. I don't remember a lot from when we lived there - I was only 2. But there are so many stories, and some of the traditions carried over past when we lived there. Grandpa would come home from work and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood would be on. Grandpa HATED that show. HATED it. He'd go into the kitchen, pop a beer, and ask my mother why the hell I was watching that garbage. He'd then come and grab me, and we'd go outside, and clean up the yard. Every day. I can't imagine the yard needed this much cleaning, now that I think of this. We'd go and clean it up, put the junk in the wheelbarrow and Grandpa would put me on top of the stuff in the wheelbarrow. Then, he'd drive the wheelbarrow to the edge of the woods and put all the stuff in the compost pile. He'd just dump it all over the side - me included. This was dubbed "Dumpy-dump." I don't know if I named it, or if he did - or who did. But I loved dumpy-dump and we did this until he and my grandma went down to Florida. 

The Bachelorette Party

What Goodreads Says: After being left at the altar by her soap star fiancé, L.A. high school teacher Zadie Roberts wants nothing to do with love and romance. Still, with the help of her best buddy, Grey, she may somehow overcome the wedding that wasn’t. That is, until Grey gets engaged to Zadie’s prim and proper cousin Helen, and Zadie is dragged back into wedding festivity hell. The coup de grâce is Helen’s bachelorette party, thrown by her clique of prissy friends and certain to be a day of torture. But when the Pinor Grigio goes down and the sweater sets come off, things get out of control. Helen turns into a girl gone wild and manages to get herself into a sticky situation that just might sink the happy couple for good. And meanwhile, Zadie’s own love life takes a most unexpected turn. Karen Lutz throws one bachelorette party you won’t soon forget.

What I Say: I have never smiled as guiltily as I have when I was reading this book. Zadie reminded me of myself after a few breakups, though thankfully I was never left at the altar. (Thanks for being there, sweetie!) I can remember times when I swore off men for a period of time, thinking I'd never want to deal with another man ever again in my life. When she walked into the party, I felt like I was right there, walking into a very awkward "meet the parents" situation. Where nobody really knows what to say, what to do, or how to act. I've been in my fair share of those situations. Being the one that isn't really a 'girl' in my circle of friends most of the time, when Zadie was put in this montage of girls, I really felt for her. There was no way I would have been able to deal with all these girls! Not when some were very uppity, hoitey-toiety, and her cousin who has that "I'm holier-than-thou but you can't prove that I think that about myself" personality. I really, really hate those girls. 
Being that some of my best friends growing up were guys, I could put myself right there in Zadie's shoes. I don't think I could do yoga with those women. I don't think I could be a part of anything that they had planned for that party. I could see myself, as she tried to, finding ways to get out of having to go. 
                  "coughcoughI'msickcoughcough"
No ... I would never do that ... never. Of course not. 
The one thing that TRULY bothered me about this book is that she SLEPT WITH HER STUDENT! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! I have been a teacher. Hell, I teach Sunday School, so I guess technically I still am a teacher. I could never.ever.ever imagine sleeping with one of my students. I don't care that he was 19 (though for more than half the book she thought he was 18 - legal, but barely). Squick. Just squick.

Rating - 4.5 stars. 

Stats for June, 2011

I figured, while July is here and will go fast, I'm quite sure, as I have a ton and a half to do between work and personal life, and June was an awesome month for reading for me. 
So here's the stats for June. 

• Number of Books: 9
• Number of Pages: 3,528

I'd say for a month, that's not too bad!

It's like Christmas in the Mailbox!

I've had a book sitting on my kitchen table for a little while, wrapped up from when it got sent to me. By a while, I mean ... probably about a month or so. Long enough to where I didn't remember what was in there! I remember thanking the person who sent it to me (it came from paperbackswap), but for the life of me, I couldn't remember what that package held for me. I sat on the couch this morning and shook it, like a Christmas package. I slowly opened it, wanting to savor the moment (did I mention I can be such a big nerd?). Lo and behold, this is what awaited me -

I can't wait to read this book because, secretly, I think I may be a shoe addict, too. I have a bag of shoes that I have reserved for donation, but it's sitting in my extra room and I can't bring myself to actually donate them! Really, I can't imagine that I've actually gotten the use that I should, or could have, out of them. My favorite, though, is those $1.50 flip flops from Old Navy. They're so comfortable. I would wear them all the time, every day, if I could.

Then, yesterday, another book came in the mail from PBS. I had requested two books, so I wasn't sure which one would await me. I knew that both of them I wanted to read, so it didn't matter which one came in first.

I am so interested in reading this one. Supposedly it's about a woman who doesn't want to date her boyfriend anymore, and he promises her she'll change her mind and takes her on a date a weekend, per letter of the alphabet. I'm hoping not only to like the book, but that I'll get some new ideas for things to do and places to go for Steve and I!

Julie and Juila by Julie Powell

 

What Goodreads Has To Say: Some people go on pilgrimages; Julie Powell attempted to master one cookbook. Thirty years old, bored with her job, hating her Queens apartment, Powell decided to transcend her life by concocting all 524 recipes in Julia Child's 1961 classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking -- in a single year. Replicating Child's kitchen artistry at such short notice tested Julie's skill and stamina, not to mention her husband's patience; but it did produce a high-spirited, sometimes hilarious memoir.

What I Have To Say: I listened to this book in about (3) days back and forth to work and traveling through town for work. I think it's better that I was listening to it because had I been reading it I don't know if I would have gotten through it. I liked listening to it better than I think I would have liked reading it. She read her own writing, and I appreciated the inflections that she gave when reading. I love the concept - cooking your way through a cookbook, Julia Child's no less, in a year. I don't think I could do it. I think it's one of those "that sounds really cool" but I'm glad someone else did it, because I believe I would have given up halfway through. I have also seen the movie, and I think I will watch it again tonight. I don't know which I like better. I found (as often happens...) that the movie did not follow exactly as the book did. The movie, I found built up much more suspense, and if I remember the movie correctly, things were presented out of order in the movie than how it actually happened. When I put in disc (2) I remember having to take it back out and looking at it to make sure I was listening to the correct disc because I thought what I was listening to had happened much later in the movie. 

Julie's interactions with Eric remind me a lot of what happens in my house with my hubby. Though, in fairness, he does most of the cooking. I like the idea of cooking ... I don't so much like the chore and having to do it. I get the Food Network cooking magazine every month, and everything in it looks amazing. But my  husband works 3rd shift and I have such issues thinking that I'm going to cook something and he won't even enjoy it when it was first hot, and he'll have to heat it up again. It's like it takes some of the magic out of it. Plus, I get home around 5:30 ... and cooking is the last thing I generally want to do. (Working out is probably below cooking, so if someone asked which I'd rather, I may choose cooking...) Part of my problem is that I never "feel" like going to the store and so if I got up the energy to cook, I'd also have to find the energy to also go shopping. If there is any chore that I hate more than any other, it's grocery shopping. My husband is amazing and he does most of the grocery shopping for us.

And if I were cooking and I didn't get done until 11 pm or later, there was absolutely no way that I would have kept this up as long as she did. Her "bleeders," as she calls them, helped push her through. I guess it would be cool to have people that responded that well to a blog. I don't think that will ever happen to me. I don't know how she managed to get so many followers back in 2002, when blogging was such a new concept, but more power to her. 

She also made me want to go and visit the Smithsonian just to visit the Julia Child exhibit. (Also, to see if the butter that she left as a tribute is still there....)

Rating: 3.5 stars

What Do I Want to Read?

I'm someone that loves a good chick lit. One of those that's a 'guilty pleasure' to most. I love Jen Lancaster, Sophie Kinsella, those types of authors.
I'm on www.goodreads.com and my "to-read" list is overwhelmingly full of those types of books. There are some auto-biography or non-fiction sprinkled in there, as well, though, so perhaps I shouldn't feel so 'guilty.' Though, to be honest, I don't feel guilty about reading these little lovely books. Nor do I feel guilty about listening to them in my car as a cruise through the state. They make my drives seem much shorter. My job requires me to do a lot of traveling for work, and, while I love music as much (probably more) than the next person, I really love listening to someone 'read' to me. I think it's because it makes me feel young again. When I was little, my parents read to me all the time and I think it brings me back to when my dad used to read to me and tell me stories or when he used to make up stories for me - usually about my favorite doll, Ballet Baby.