What have I been doing (reading edition)... Endless Night

And no, this is not a romance novel (even though the title sure does sound like one!!).  I don't read romance novels!!

When I was in middle school, I LOVED reading Agatha Christie novels.  I think she is one of the best mystery writers ever, and I honestly thought I had read all her books.  A while ago, I saw someone review this book on a blog (I can't remember who, if you know or if it's you, let me know so I can post the source), and I thought I don't think I've read this book!

I borrowed it from the library and once again Agatha Christie managed to write a fabulous book!!  There is a major twist in this book, I even had to go back and re-read a chapter to make sure I read it right, but that's all I'm going to say!!!  Highly recommend this book!!

What have I been doing (reading edition)... Sea Escape

I just finished reading this book Sea Escape by Lynne Griffin (although my copy didn't have a seashell on the front, it had a needle and thread, but it's the same book)

Sea Escape is a pretty good book, I have to say.  Not necessarily a chick lit book, but it does deal with a mother/daughter relationship throughout the entire book.  I'm not sure if any males would like this book, but I think most females would enjoy it!!

What have I been doing (reading edition)... 3/11/12

In the past couple of days, I have had 2 people ask me when I plan to blog again!  I apologize that it's been a while, I truly didn't know that anyone besides my mom and sister read my blog!!  Well, I'm back... and this one's for you Angel!!!

I'm going to try and figure out all the books I've read since my last post about reading and list them in the order that I liked them... if you have any specific questions about any of them, just let me know!!

- The Litigators by John Grisham (I love all his books!!)

- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

- The Irresistible Henry House by Liga Grunwald

- A Cup of Tea by Amy Ephron

- The Buffalo Soldier by Chris Bohjalian

- Blessed Child by Ted Dekker

- Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

They were all good books, the last one was just a little slow and the second-to-last one took a little while to get into, but was really good once I got into it.  There are probably a couple other ones, but I can't remember which ones, so we will just go with this for now!!

Like I said previously, please let me know if you have any general or even specific questions about these books!!

What I've been doing lately...

Well I think in the last 2 days, I have had 4 different people ask me if I was ever going to blog again!  I was pleasantly surprised (and happy!).  I didn't realize that anyone really cared all that much about what kinds of crafty things I've been doing and what kinds of books I've been reading, but I guess there are a few who do, so I'll come back!!!

Ok, so what have I been doing??  Ok this little "story" has many steps that all inter-relate so I will try to keep it brief!!  We used to store all our luggage under our master bed, but it was really crowded under there, and our bed is really tall so when you walked in the room you could see some of the stuff under the bed and no matter how nicely and neatly organized the luggage was, it still just looked junky, so I started looking for a new place to put all the luggage.  I came up with the guestroom closet.  Perfect!!!  Right?!?!?!

Well the guestroom and it's closet were completely full of supplies for different projects that I am either in the middle of or planning to do (the husband calls it my staging area!).  So in order to get the luggage into the closet, I had to clean out the guestroom.  This whole process took about a week!  I took about 4 rubbermaids full of stuff to Goodwill (mostly old kids clothes, etc.).  Then I had to find a place for all my project supplies, so the only room currently not really being used in our house was the dining room, so I moved everything from the guestroom to the dining room.  This took about a week!!

So here are the pictures for this fun project...  The first is the current view under our bed... it's empty and clean!!!

 This is the picture of our guestroom closet... see all the luggage??

 And I really can't believe I am showing you this picture, but this is the current state of my dining room table, with all my projects in process and waiting to start on just hanging out on the table!!

Alright, let's move on to books!!  I just finished reading this book...

 It was fabulous as all of Adriana Trigiani's books are... I highly recommend them if you are looking for something medium to read (by medium I mean, not light and fluffy chick lit, and not dark deep thriller).

The 7 year old and I are reading this book together...

I absolutely LOVE Beverly Cleary.  I think she's a fabulous author, and the 7 year old seems to like this one too.  I read the pages on the left and he reads the pages on the right!!

So what else have I been up to... a little bit of this (although not as much as I should do)...

 quite a bit of this...

 and this...

 a bit of this, although the 7 year old says I don't know how to build with K'nex very well, so maybe I should just let him do it!!

 and yes, I have renewed my relationship with this guy...

While cleaning out the guestroom closet, I found this guy that I had made when I was still a consultant for Uppercase Living...

 so I hung him up here (this would be the boys' bathroom...

And lastly, I finally got my kitchen put back in order, and I've had a ton of people asking to see pictures of the completed project so here you go...

I love it!  I think it's beautiful!  So that's what I've been up to lately!  I will try not to make it so long before I post again!!  Thanks for reading!!

What have I done the last month... Reading edition...

Here are a list of books I have read since my last post.  I really liked all of them and recommend them all (especially the first 3)...

**Jackdaws by Ken Follett
**Local Girls by Alice Hoffman
**Zero Day by David Baldacci
To the Power of Three by Laura Lippman
Fugitive by Phillip Margolin
Drama City by George Pelacanos
8th Confession by James Patterson
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
Angel Falls by Kristin Hannah
Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian
You Believers by Jane Bradley
The Nobodies by Carolyn Parkhurst

If you have any questions about any of these books or would like specific book suggestions based on your favorite genre of book, just reply to this post or send me an email and I would love to make recommendations for you!!

What have I been doing... Reading edition... Code to Zero

Another fabulous book by one of my most favorite authors, Ken Follett!  A man wakes up in the restroom at Union Station dressed as a bum with no memory of who he is, what he does or any memory at all.  This book takes place during the Cold War, and the background of this book discusses the space race between the US and Russia, so you know that this man has something to do with the creation/flight of rockets.  As in all of Follett's books, there are tons of twists and turns and keeps you guessing until the very end!

I definitely recommend this book!!!

What have I been doing... (Reading edition)... 7th Heaven

For my second book "review" for today, I read 7th Heaven by James Patterson.

Not to be confused with the old TV show Seventh Heaven.

I love James Patterson's books!  This is the 7th edition of the Women's Murder Club, and it was just as wonderful as the previous 6!  His books are all thrillers/mysteries, which is my favorite genre of book.  I highly recommend this one too!!

What have I been doing... (Reading edition)... On Mystic Lake

Since my house is in complete disarray, I haven't been able to do much crafting lately so I have been doing a lot of reading.  The first book I'm going to "review" is On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah.

 Definitely do not confuse this with the 1980's hit movie with Julia Roberts... that's called Mystic Pizza.  Mystic Pizza takes place in Mystic Connecticut (I think) and On Mystic Lake takes place in the Pacific Northwest, and the plot is nothing at all the same.

Kristin Hannah is a fabulous writer, she deals with real world issues... this one dealt with adultery, divorce, pregnancy, death, and depression, but she deals with them in a real-world manner, not a bunch of soap opera type storylines.  I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it!!

What have I been doing... (Reading edition)...

Finished another book... I seem to be on a crime/mystery book sweep here!  This book is The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly.  I love his books, this one was no different.  It was fabulous!  I highly recommend it!!

And don't worry, the book I'm reading now is not a crime or a mystery book!!  Stay tuned for that one soon!!

What have I been doing... (Reading edition)...

I did something today that I so very rarely do that I feel it necessary to mention... I returned a book to the library before I had finished reading it.  I honestly can't remember the last time I did that.  The title of this book is Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy by Carlos Eire.  It's not that the book wasn't good or anything, I just couldn't seem to get into it.  I am going to put it back on my list to check out again later and finish it.  I did read over half of it.  I'm not sure why I wasn't feeling this book because it is very well written and something I had never read before and very interesting... I just couldn't get into it!

I don't know about you, but alway in elementary, middle and high school when we had social studies/history, we always started with Indians/Explorers but never made it past WWII by the end of the year.  I hate to admit that I really know very little about the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War, Watergate, etc.  I had no idea that in the early 60's over 10,000 children were sent from Cuba to live with "foster parents" in the United States with no hopes of ever seeing their parents again.  This book is the true story of one of these Refugee boys.  Even in the half I read, I learned a lot!  And I do recommend this book and I do plan on finishing it at some point in the future!!

What have I done lately... (Reading edition)...

Through my crazy bad parenting lack of sleep week/weekend I finished another book.  This one is by one of my all-time favorite authors, George Pelacanos.  Almost all of his books take place in DC and range in date from the 60's all the way up through the 90's so there's a racial and socioeconomic undercurrent to almost all his books.  This one is Hard Revolution, and I honestly say, it was one of my favorites of his that I've read.

Pelacanos does a really great job of bringing in what truly happened in history into his stories.  For example, within this story it dealt with the aftermath of the racial rioting that occurred in DC immediately after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr..  Very interesting topics and storylines.  I highly recommend this book as well as all of George Pelacanos' other books!!

What have done lately... (Reading edition)...

I finished the book Proof Positive by Phillip Margolin a few days ago.  He is another one of my favorite authors.  This book was wonderful as all of his other books are!  The library categorizes his books as mystery... I don't know if I necessarily agree with that genre, but I don't know exactly what I would call it.

It's more of a political thriller but not really all that political.  The main characters are DA's, defense attorneys, etc. but you know pretty much the entire way through "who dunnint" so I wouldn't necessarily call it a mystery.

Ok, I rambled on enough... good book!!  Check it out or any of Phillip Margolin's other books!!

What have I done today... (Reading edition)...

I finished another book!  This one is The 6th Target by James Patterson.  I have read some of his books sporadically, but I recently decided to go back and read all the Women's Murder Club books in order.  They are pretty quick reads... like 100 chapters but each chapter is around 2-3 pages.  This book was fine... it had intrigue and a mystery which are 2 things I really like in a book.  I would recommend it!!

What have I done this week... (Reading edition)

Wow!  I guess I haven't blogged since Monday, sorry about that... I know everyone has been waiting with baited breath to see what I've been up to this week!!  ;-)

This is one of those weeks where I'm in the middle of about 15 projects and have been slowly getting them finished so hopefully I can get caught up on the blogging.

So I finished another book.  This one is called The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate.  And let me tell you, it was a very good book.  The first one I've read from this author, although it looks like she has several others that I may have to check out.

This book has a little bit of everything... love, hate, adultry, racial issues, alcoholism, family issues, even ocean life.  A little bit of everything, but it's a really true to life book, not a smutty soap opera type book.  You could really see everything that happens to the main character happening in "real" life.  I did enjoy this book and it was a pretty quick read... I recommend it!!!

What have I done today (11/14/11)... Reading edition...

Well I finished another book, it is also by one of my favorite authors (Alice Hoffman), but I have to admit I was disappointed in this book.  Practical Magic (which I guess was made into a movie a couple years ago starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock... I had no idea!) was extremely slow in my opinion.  It just seemed that what could have been said in a decent sized paragraph was dragged out into 3-4 pages.

It really makes me sad because this is honestly the first Alice Hoffman book that I have read, that I didn't like.  I will still read the other ones that she wrote, so stay tuned for more "reviews".

What have I done today (11/10/11)... Reading edition...

I promise that I don't only read, cook & eat!!  I did finish a diy decorating project that I hope to blog about later today, but first I finished another book!

This is one by another of my FAVORITE authors Chris Bohjalian! Now this book, Idyll Banter, is not like a typical Chris Bohjalian fiction book.  This book is a collection of his newspaper columns from the Burlington Free Press newspaper.  To put it right out there... I love it!!

Now I was born in State College, Pennsylvania (no I am not switching the topic of this post over to the Penn State/Joe Paterno issue, even though I definitely have my opinions about the whole thing).  We moved from PA when I was still a baby, and besides from a trip last year to New York for 4 days, I have spent NO time in the Northwest.

This book describes a lot of small town life in Vermont and after reading it, I am ready to move there!!  It sounds perfect for a shy, homebody like me!!!

Now the first grouping of columns was a little slow as it talked a lot about farming and cows, which isn't really isn't my biggest interest, but starting with the next grouping of columns it was wonderful and a very quick read!  I highly recommend this book to everyone!!!

What have I done today... Reading edition

So I finished another book, I have to admit though it was just kind of... meh (which is an official book reviewing term, in case you were wondering ::wink wink::

The book I finished is The One that I Want by Allison Winn Scotch.  Now don't get me wrong, I love myself a good chick lit book every once in a while to lighten things if I've been reading a lot of heavy, dark, or "deep" books.  This book just seemed to be like it was trying to be chick lit, but also trying to be a little deeper than a chick lit book, and it just didn't work so much for me.

The book was very well-written, and did keep my attention, but the main character starts having "visions" of the future so it went from a fun, believable, chick lit book to a somewhat silly unbelievable book.  But if you like that kind of thing, then I highly recommend this book!!

Thanks for reading and now back to reading... I have a lot to finish... here's a picture just of the books that I requested from the library this week!!!!

What have I done today: reading edition...

If you don't know me very well, then you probably don't know that I read a lot! And by a lot, I mean A LOT!!  like in finish a book every day or every other day.

 Today I finished one by one of my all time favorite authors... Ken Follett.  You probably know of him from his Oprah's bookclub pick Pillars of the Earth, but before he wrote Pillars, Ken Follett wrote a bunch of other books.  And they are fabulous!!

The one I finished reading today is The Hammer of Eden.  It is about a domestic terrorist who steals a seismic vibrator (get your mind out of the gutter!!!) - it's a piece of heavy equipment used my oil companies to jackhammer down into the Earth's crush.  The terrorist steals this machine in order to cause earthquakes.  (Funny thing... on Saturday night while laying on my bed reading this book, there was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake in Oklahoma which I felt while reading about earthquakes... very ironic!!)

I highly recommend this book as well as all of the other Ken Follett books!!!