It appears I have finally gotten over my reading slump!

All it took was finding a good book I could get into and making the time to read it.

Book 1: Push by Sapphire.

I have never seen the movie Precious, but this is the book that the movie was based on.  My girl Rolana sent this to me at least 6 months ago and I put it away and it got lost on my bookshelf until last week.  The book is an easy read however it is graphic, somewhat shocking and upsetting.  It is a fictional story of a teenage girl who is sexually abused by both her mother and father, producing two children by the time she is 15 or 16 (fathered by her own father), but wants to rise above it all.

Book 2:  The Doctor’s Wife by Elizabeth Brundage

This one was another really quick read, a psychological thriller. The story takes place in a small conservative community outside Albany, NY and is about a twisted connection between a local Dr, his wife, a famous local painter and the painter’s wife.  Some of the storyline

includes abortion, affairs and a kidnapping.  Very suspenseful!

Next up is We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

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Just finished reading The Scandalous Summer of Sissy Leblanc.  Pretty good, fast read.  Now what should I read?  Summer has  begun and I am pretty much of out adult books that I haven't already read, although I did bring a couple of good young-adult Newbery Medal books home from school.  I know I can get through each of those in just a day or so, so I am looking for recommendations for good summer reads. 
This is the current NY Times List of Trade Fiction Bestsellers:

1	THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. (Dial, $14.) A journalist meets the island’s old Nazi-resisters.	4
2	THE SHACK, by William P. Young. (Windblown Media, $14.99.) A man whose daughter was abducted receives an invitation to an isolated shack, apparently from God. (†) First Chapter	54
3	VISION IN WHITE, by Nora Roberts. (Berkley, $16.) A wedding photographer finds romance with the brother of a bride-to-be; Book 1 in the Bride Quartet series.	5
4	PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. (Quirk, $12.95.) The classic story, retold with “ultraviolent zombie mayhem.”	9
5	MY SISTER’S KEEPER, by Jodi Picoult. (Washington Square, $16.) A girl sues her parents after learning they want her to donate a kidney to her sibling.	36
6	OLIVE KITTERIDGE, by Elizabeth Strout. (Random House, $14.) A seventh-grade math teacher is the link in 13 stories set on the Maine coast; the winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.	6
7	ANGELS AND DEMONS, by Dan Brown. (Washington Square, $16.) A scholar tries to save the Vatican from the machinations of an underground society.	8
8	TESTIMONY, by Anita Shreve. (Back Bay, $14.99.) Sex acts caught on videotape ignite a scandal at a prep school in Vermont.	4
9	UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, by Jhumpa Lahiri. (Vintage Contemporaries, $15.) Stories about the anxiety and transformation experienced by Bengali parents and their American children. First Chapter	8
10	SARAH’S KEY, by Tatiana de Rosnay. (St. Martin’s Griffin, $13.95.) A contemporary American journalist investigates what happened to a little girl and her family during the roundup of Jews in Paris in 1942.	16
11	FIREFLY LANE, by Kristin Hannah. (St. Martin’s Griffin, $14.95.) A friendship between two women in the Pacific Northwest endures for more than three decades as they make different choices in their lives.	21
12*	LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH, by Emily Giffin. (St. Martin’s Griffin, $13.95.) A woman’s happy marriage is shaken when she encounters an old boyfriend.	6
13	THE LIKENESS, by Tana French. (Penguin, $15.) Detective Cassie Maddox is drawn into a murder case in which the victim looks just like her. First Chapter	1
14	THE ALCHEMIST, by Paulo Coelho. (HarperOne, $13.95.) A Spanish shepherd boy travels to Egypt in search of treasure.	89
15	CITY OF THIEVES, by David Benioff. (Plume, $15.) Two men arrested in World War II Russia must complete a seemingly impossible task to save their lives.	9
16	THE BEACH HOUSE, by Jane Green. (Plume, $15.) When a widow on Nantucket learns she may lose her house, she turns it into a bed-and-breakfast.	1
17	7TH HEAVEN, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. (Grand Central, $14.99.) Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women’s Murder Club hunt for an arsonist.	8
18*	NETHERLAND, by Joseph O'Neill. (Vintage Contemporaries, $14.95.) A Dutchman deserted by his wife after 9/11 finds solace in New York''s immigrant cricket scene. First Chapter	,
19	THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG, by Muriel Barbery. (Europa, $15.) A young girl and a widowed concierge, both closet intellectuals, become friends.
20	CHASING HARRY WINSTON, by Lauren Weisberger. (Downtown, $16.) Three glamorous friends, New York women nearing 30, vow to change their lives.

I would be willing to swap books with anyone who is interested, if you
have a book you want to send me.  Just take a peek at the books in my
sidebar so you can see what I have already read and what kind of books
I like and if there is anything you might be interesting in swapping
for :)

1	THE SHACK, by William P. Young. (Windblown Media, $14.99.) A man whose daughter was abducted is invited to an isolated shack, apparently by God. (†) First Chapter
2	THE READER, by Bernhard Schlink. (Vintage, $13.95.) A German high school student falls in love with a former Auschwitz employee.
3	SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY’S, by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet. (Grand Central, $13.99.) A woman finds an unexpected love.
4	FIREFLY LANE, by Kristin Hannah. (St. Martin’s Griffin, $14.95.) A friendship between two women in the Pacific Northwest endures for more than three decades as they make different choices in their lives.
5	REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, by Richard Yates. (Vintage, $14.95.) Frank and April Wheeler, a beautiful young couple living in 1950s America, see their supposedly perfect life come undone.
6*	AMERICAN WIFE, by Curtis Sittenfeld. (Random House, $15.) A pretty librarian marries the alcoholic scion of a wealthy political family who somehow becomes president. First Chapter
7	A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, by Khaled Hosseini. (Riverhead, $16.) A friendship between two Afghan women against the backdrop of 30 years of war.
8	SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, by Vikas Swarup. (Scribner, $15.) A poor orphan in India is arrested and must explain himself after winning big on a TV quiz show.
9	STILL ALICE, by Lisa Genova. (Pocket, $15.) A 50-year-old Harvard professor is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
10	PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, by Geraldine Brooks. (Penguin, $15.) An expert unlocks the secrets of a rare manuscript.
11	THE ALCHEMIST, by Paulo Coelho. (HarperOne, $13.95.) A Spanish shepherd boy travels to Egypt in search of treasure.
12	WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen. (Algonquin, $13.95.) A young man — and an elephant — save a Depression-era circus.
13	THE WHITE TIGER, by Aravind Adiga. (Free Press, $14.) A chauffeur in India relates the story of his transformation from manservant to entrepreneur to murderer; the winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize.
14*	THE APPEAL, by John Grisham. (Delta, $14.) Political and legal intrigue ensue when a Mississippi court rules against a company accused of dumping toxic waste.
15	THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO, by Junot Díaz. (Riverhead, $14.) A nerdy Dominican-American struggles to escape a family curse.
16	THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG, by Muriel Barbery. (Europa, $15.) A young girl and a widowed concierge, both closet intellectuals, become friends.
17	LOVING FRANK, by Nancy Horan. (Ballantine, $14.) A story of the romance between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick Cheney. First Chapter
18	THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, by Sue Monk Kidd. (Penguin, $15 and $14.) In South Carolina in 1964, a teenage girl tries to discover the secret to her mother’s past.
19	THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini. (Riverhead, $15.95 and $14.) An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how a childhood friend has fared.
20	OUT STEALING HORSES, by Per Petterson. (Picador, $14.) In a remote cabin, a Norwegian man circles around his memories. First Chapter

This is my stack of "next to be read" books!
One of these lucky books will have a date with me tonight ;)
Oh, and since reading is my #1 hobby, this photo will satisfy #21 (main hobby) of Photo Scavenger Hunt.

I have had this wonderful stack of books sitting on my shelf since my birthday.  Coincidentally, two of them are on the lifetime reading list.
I am not sure which to read next, but I won't complain about that!
Having too many books to read has never been a problem for me, it just makes me that much more anxious to get my nose in the next book ;)


I also ordered a few other books at Paperbackswap.com last week (two of which are also on the lifetime reading list) and hope to add them to this stack within the next few days .  I have said it before, but I love, love, love that site.  I only list the books that I can bare to part with and I have been able to order so many great books!

I have had this Lifetime Reading List for some time now and I thought  I'd finally share it with you.
There are many on this list (29) that I have read (the ones that are starred), several that have been turned into movies I have seen, and several others that I would like to read eventually or already have on my bookshelf to read.  I think that being well-read teaches a person so much, plus you know these books are on this list for a reason :)  I also must add that there are many other great books that should be on this list but aren't.  

How many of these books have you read?

Author Title Adams, Richard Watership Down Adams, Douglas Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, A Adamson, Joy Born Free Albee, Edward Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Alcott, Louisa May *Little Women Aligheri, Dante Divine Comedy Allende, Isabel House of the Spirits, The Austen, Jane Northanger Abbey, others Beckett, Samuel Waiting for Godot Bellow, Saul Humbolt's Gift, Henderson the Rain King Blake, William Poems Boccaccio Decameron, The Bolt, Robert A Man for All Seasons Bradbury, Ray Fahrenheit 451 Bradley, Marion Zimmer Mists of Avalon Bronte, Emily *Wuthering Heights Bronte, Charlotte *Jane Eyre – Browning, Robert Poems Buck, Pearl Good Earth, The Burgess, Anthony Clockwork Orange, A Burnett, Frances H. *Secret Garden, The Burnford, Sheila *Incredible Journey, The Burns, Olive Ann Cold Sassy Tree Byatt, A.S. Possession Byron, George Gordon Lord Poems C.S. Lewis *Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, The Camus, Albert Plague, The Card, Orson Scott Ender's Game Cather, Willa *My Antonia, Song of the Lark Cervantes Don Quixote Chaucer, Geoffrey Canterbury Tales - Chekov, Anton Cherry Orchard, The Chinua, Achebe *Things Fall Apart Chopin, Kate *Awakening, The Cisneros, Sandra *House on Mango Street, The Coleridge Poems Collins, Wilkie Moonstone, The Conrad, Joseph Secret Sharer, *Heart of Darkness Crane, Stephen Red Badge of Courage, The Craven, Margaret I Heard the Owl Call My Name Crichton, Michael Andromeda Strain, The, others Defoe, Daniel Robinson Crusoe Descartes, Rene Discourse on Method, A Dickens, Charles Tale of Two Cities, A Dickinson, Emily Poems Dillard, Annie Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Dinesen, Isak Out of Africa Donleavy, J.P. Ginger Man, The Dostoevsky, Feodor Crime and Punishment Douglas, Lloyd C. Robe, The Doyle, Arthur Conan Hound of the Baskervilles, others Dreeiser, Theodore An American Tragedy Dumas, Alexandre Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo DuMaurier, Daphne Rebecca Eliot, George Adam Bede, Mill on the Floss Eliot, T.S. Murder in the Cathedral, Poems Ellison, Ralph Invisible Man Emerson, Ralph Waldo Poems Esquivel, Laura Like Water for Chocolate Euripides Tragedies Flaubert, Gustave Madame Bovary Forster, E. M. Passage to India, A Room With a View Fowles, John French Lieutenant's Woman, others Frank, Pat Alas, Babylon Franklin, Benjamin Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Frazer, James Golden Bough, The Frazier, Charles Cold Mountain Freud, Sigmund any work Fromm, Erich Escape from Freedom, others Frost, Robert Poetry Gaines, Ernest A Gathering of Old Men Gaines, Ernest Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman, The Galsworthy, John Forsythe Saga, The Goethe, Wolfgang Faust Golding, William *Lord of the Flies Goldsmith, Oliver She Stoops To Conquer Green, Hannah I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Greene, Graham Power and the Glory, The Hawthorne, Nathaniel Scarlet Letter, The -  Heinlein, Robert Stranger in a Strange Land Heller, Joseph Catch 22 Hemingway, Ernest Old Man and the Sea, The, others Herriot, James All Creatures Great and Small, others Hesse, Herman Siddartha, others Hilton, James Lost Horizon Homer Iliad, The – The Odyssey Hudson, W.H. Green Mansions Hugo, Victor Les Miserables Hume, David Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding Hurston, Zora Neale *Their Eyes Were Watching God Huxley, Aldous *Brave New World - Ibsen, Henrick Hedda Gabler, others Irving, Washington Stories Irving, John A Prayer for Owen Meany The World According to Garp James, Henry Turn of the Screw, The Jean-Paul Sarte No Exit Jones, James From Here To Eternity Joyce, James Dubliners, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Kafka, Franz Metamorphosis Kant, Immanuel Kant Metaphysics Keats, John Poems Keller, Helen Story of My Life, The Kerouac, Jack *On the Road Kesey, Ken One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Kesselring, Joseph Arsenic and Old Lace Kinsella, W.P. Shoeless Joe Kinston, Maxine Hong Woman Warrior, The Kipling, Rudyard Kim, others Knowles, John A Separate Peace Koestler, Arthur Darkness at Noon Lamb, Charles Essays Lawrence, D.H. Sons and Lovers, others Lee, Harper *To Kill A Mockingbird LeGuin, Ursula A Wizard of Earthsea Llewellyn, Richard How Green Was My Valley London, Jack *Call of the Wild, The Machiavelli, Nicolo Prince, The MacLeish, Archibald J.B. Malamud, Bernard Assistant, The Malory, Thomas Le Morte d' Arthur Mann, Thomas Magic Mountain, The Marlowe, Christopher Dr. Faustus -  Marquez, Gabriel Garcia One Hundred Years of Solitude Marshall, Catherine Christy Maugham, Somerset Of Human Bondage McCourt, Frank Angela's Ashes McCullers, Carson Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Melville, Herman Moby Dick, Billy Budd Michener, James Hawaii Mill, John Stuart On Liberty Miller, Walter M. Canticle for Leibowitz, A Miller, Arthur *Death of a Salesman Milton, John Paradise Lost Mitchell, Margaret *Gone With the Wind Moliere Misanthrope, The Momaday, M. Scott Ancient Child, The Montaigne Essays Montgomery, Lucy Maud *Anne of Green Gables series Morrison, Toni Beloved Nordhof, Charles B. Bounty triology, The O'Connor, Flannery Wise Blood Orwell, George 1984, Animal Farm Paine, Thomas Rights of Man Pasternak, Boris Dr. Zhivago Paton, Alan *Cry the Beloved Country Percy, Walker Moviegoer, The Pirsig, Robert Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Plato Dialogues Plutarch Lives Poe, Edgar Allen Short Stories and Poems Pope, Alexander Rape of the Lock, The Porter, Katherine Anne Ship of Fools Potok, Chaim Chosen, The – The Promise, others Proulx, Annie Shipping News, The Proust, Marcel Remembrance of Things Past Pynchon, Thomas Gravity's Rainbow Rand, Ayn Anthem, The Fountainhead Rawlings, Marjorie Cross Creek, The Yearling Rawls, Wilson *Where the Red Fern Grows Remarque, Erich Maria All Quiet on the Western Front Rhys, Jean Wide Sargasso Sea Richard D. Blakemore Lorna Doone Rostand, Edmond Cyranno de Bergerac Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Confessions Rusdie, Salman Midnight's Children Saint-Exupery, Antoine de Little Prince, The Salinger, J.D. *Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey Scott, Sir Walter Ivanhoe Shakespeare, William All! Shaw, G. B. Pygmalion, others Shelley, Percy Bysshe Poems Shelley, Mary Frankenstein – Shute, Nevil On the Beach Silone, Ignazio Bread and Wine Sinclair, Upton Jungle, The Singer, Isaac Bashevis Short Stories Smith, Betty Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Solzhenitsyn, Alexander First Circle, The – others Sophocles Oedipus Rex, Antigone Soto, Gary Pacific Crossing Steinbeck, John Grapes of Wrath, *Of Mice and Men Stendhal Red and the Black, The Sterne, Laurence Tristram Shandy Stevenson, Robert Louis Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, others Stoker, Bram *Dracula Stone, Irving Agony and the Ecstasy, The Stoppard, Tom Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Swift, Jonathan Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal Tan, Amy Joy Luck Club, The Ten Boom, Corrie Hiding Place, The Tennyson, Alfred Lord Poems Thackery, William Vanity Fair Theroux, Paul Mosquito Coast, The Thurber, James Stories Tolkein, J.R.R. *Hobbit, The Tolkien, J.R.R. *Lord of the Rings Tolstoy, Leo Anna Karenina, The Death of Ivan Illich, others Turgenev, Ivan Fathers and Sons Twain, Mark A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Tyler, Anne Accidental Tourist, The Undset, Sigrid Kristin Lavansdatter Updike, John Rabbit, Run, others Uris, Leon Trinity Verne, Jules Around the World in Eighty Days, others Virgil Aeneid, The Virginia Woolf To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway Voltaire Candide Vonnegut, Kurt Slaughterhouse 5, others Walker, Alice Color Purple, The Walker, Alice Temple of my Familiar, The Waltari, Mika The Egyptian, The Roman, The Etruscan Warren, Robert Penn All The Kings Men Washington, Booker T. *Up From Slavery Waugh, Evelyn Brideshead Revisited Welty, Eudora Optimist's Daughter, The Wharton, Edith *Ethan Frome White, T.H. Once and Future King, The Whitman, Walt Leaves of Grass Wilde, Oscar Picture of Dorian Gray, The Wilder, Thornton Our Town Williams, Tennessee Glass Menagerie, The Wister, Owen Virginian, The Wolfe, Thomas Look Homeward, Angel Wordsworth Poems Wouk, Herman Caine Mutiny, The Wright, Richard *Black Boy Wyss, Johann Swiss Family Robinson Author

Started this gem tonight :)

I had a nice long two-week break from work over the Holidays last
month (seems like ages ago already!).  With all that time on my hands,
I found plenty of time for reading and got started on this stack of books on my bookshelf.  Its been ages since I blogged about books, so I thought I’d give a little run down of the books I read over my break.

Michelle Richmond: The Year of Fog (Bantam Discovery)

This
book was about a little girl who disappears on the beach one day while
taking a stroll with her soon-to-be stepmom.  Her dad and his fiance
spend months looking for their little girl and the estranged mother of
the little girl come back into the picture.  When a shoe of the little
girl is discovered months later on the beach, it is determined that she
drowned and is declared dead.  The fiance refuses to
I thought this
book moved really slow and it didn’t have enough excitement for me.  It
was an okay story but not one I would necessarily recommend unless you
like really boring stories. ********************************************************************

Tess Gerritsen: The Bone Garden: A Novel

This is a book I won in a giveaway on Lisa’s Chaos blog.  This one was
definitely more exciting than the first book.  It was one of those
books that switch back and forth through time, revealing different sets
of characters.  One setting was present-day Massachussets where a young
woman named Julia discovers the skull and remains of a woman on her
property.  It is determined by the ME that the body is very old and
that the woman had died of murder.  Julia starts researching through
old artifacts and letters to solve the murder mystery.  The second
setting goes back to Boston in the year 1830 and revolves around a
group of young surgeons and a set of serial killings that remain
unsolved.

*************************************************************************

Lisa See: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel

This
book was a good introduction into traditional Chinese culture.  The
story is of two young girls who are “old sames”, matched by the old
matchmaker because all of their “characters” match, including birth
dates and date they had their feet bound.  (Yes, I learned all about
Chinese foot binding from this story- thank goodness that
practice has stopped).  Most of the story tells of the relationship
between the two girls throughout their lives and the hardships they
face as Chinese women.  I thought the book was very insightful and a
fast read.
*********************************************************************************

Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist

This is a book I had seen around for ages, but never had any idea what it was about and thought it was probably boring (good example of mis-judging a book by its cover). Thank goodness I finally discovered it for what it really is: a magical little book!  I picked it up before bed one night and read at least half the book in a very short time.  It is the story of a young man who dreams of going to Egypt where a treasure awaits him.  He never loses sight of his dream and this story tells of all his travels and the mysterious people he encounters on his way.  I loved it and wish I had discovered it a long time ago.

*******************************************************************

What have you been reading lately?

I was looking for some new reading material and now I've got this nice stack of books sitting on my bookshelf, courtesy of my dear friend Jenny (all except The Bone Garden which was sent to me by Lisa).  Jenny and I spent some quality time together on Saturday night, having dinner at The Bulldog in NE Mpls, and hanging out at her house playing Scrabble and watching the movie Baby Mama.  Good times!

I did not get any photos of Jenny and I together, but I did take a picture of the most delicious chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting that the owner of Bulldog treated us to.  I MUST get a recipe for this frosting, it was heavenly!

What other fun books should I be looking to add to my pile????  (You can see the last 100 books I have read in my left sidebar)

After two months, I finally finished the Twilight  series last week.

YES, I am a self-proclaimed bookworm and it took me over two months to read them!!!  Not sure why, but I just couldn't get into these books the way so many other people have.  Or maybe the fact that I took my time reading them had something to do with why I couldn't get into it??  I enjoyed the story for the most part, but I did not think it was the best series I have ever read.  I enjoyed Harry Potter much, much more.

The first book, Twilight, was good.  It introduced the two main characters, Bella and Edward.  I was not hooked after the first book but went ahead and read the 2nd one anyway because I had already purchased it.  The 2nd book, New Moon, took awhile to get going.  I really enjoyed the introduction of a new character, Jacob, and the twist it brought to the story.  The 3rd book, Eclipse, was my favorite and was the one I read the quickest.  I really, really wanted Bella to choose the one she didn't choose.  The 4th book, Breaking Dawn, was kind of far-out there.  I was not happy with the choices Bella made, but it was definitely interesting.  I kind of thought they humanized the whole concept of vampires too much in this book.  When I finally finished the series, I had a sense of relief that they were finally over, rather than sad that there wasn't another book coming out.

I am glad I read the books so now I know what they're all about, but I just can't give them the same glowing recommendation that so many others have.  They were good, but not great.  Did anyone else feel the same way as me??  Or did you think this series was the best ever?

I have seen this book series mentioned on many blogs lately (Greta, Adrienne and others).  The book keeps popping up everywhere and it was staring me down at the grocery store the other night, so I decided to buy it along with the second book in the series.  I guess I will soon see what the BFD is! lol.  Who else is into this book/series so I know who to discuss with when I am finished?

It has been wonderful having the freedom to read
for pleasure again!  I just finished another good book by Jodi Picoult, sent to me a few months ago by my blogging-pal Rolana.  Thanks Rolana, I enjoyed it!  The story in this one was pretty interesting…..Jodi Picoult sure knows how to think up controversial topics and story lines. I wonder what she will think of next??!!

A few weeks ago I decided to sell my bookcase, which meant I had to pack up 90% of my books.  I posted many of the "thrillers" on paperbackswap.com.  I LOVE this site and I have been successful swapping several books.  Take a look at this list of books on my bookshelf and let me know if you are interested in any of these books…I need to
find new homes for them (Sitting in storage under the stairs is not a
happy home for good books)Download kristi.sauer@gmail.com-My_Bookshelf.csv.

And in other book news, here is the current NYT Bestseller List.

Happy Reading!

Oh, I cannot wait to read just for fun again!!!!

I do not mind reading the classics, but it is boring sometimes.  It isn’t the same when you  have to read in small spurts and then stop to analyze and take quotes for a paper you have to write.  I have been reading My Antonia forever now and I am only half way through.  I enjoyed this book a lot more before I was assigned to read it!

I am on lesson 9 of 15 for this American Literature class.  Not having a strict time line (and the massive amount of writing I am required to do) has made this class drag on forever.  The good news is I got my mid-term grade in the mail and it was MUCH better than I had expected.

I can’t wait to get one of my newer Jodi Picoult books in my hands :)
Besides putting myself on a spending freeze, I have not wanted to tempt myself with books I haven’t had time to read (for fun).

Any great books I should tempt myself with???? You can see whta type of books I enjoy by checking out my left sidebar :) Your suggestions might give me some incentive to finish these assignments!

Several weeks ago I had a really great philosophical and spiritual conversation with one of my new co-workers following a study group meeting.  The next time I saw her she handed me this book Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and told me she thought it was wonderful and thought I would love it based on the conversation we had had previously.  The character in the book somewhat reminded her of me and she thought I could get a lot out of reading it.


She was right! It is a wonderful book and I am enjoying it quite a bit.  I do not typically read non-fiction, but I love reading memoirs.  Apparently many other people have taken to this book as well, as it is now #1 paperback non-fiction on the NY Times Bestseller List.  Has anyone beside Jennifer read this yet?

In other books news, one of the courses I am taking this spring is an American Literature course and I am looking forward to reading some great classics, including:

• The Great Gatsby
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Death of a Salesman
• Ethan Frome
• My Antonia

I am always searching for new books and new authors. Thanks to all of you who post about good books or make recommendations, it is usually a big help!

I did it! I just finished up my last class of the semester, all projects, papers and other assignments have been turned in, graded and a distant memory…..Feels GREAT!!! I have to say i am very proud of myself for my scholarly achievements this semester.  It was grueling, but like ya’ll’ve (LOL, that one was for my Southern girls) told me, it was worth it.  I do have two more classes this spring starting in February, so until then, I am going to read the good books that have been waiting for me.  Starting with this one:

I love books by Jodi Picoult, she is my most favorite author.

Off to start it now!
Goodnight

I have been reading some good ones lately!

I am currently reading How to Be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward.  This is an extremely fast-moving book about a young woman named Caroline who fifteen years ago decided to run away from home with her two younger sisters, until her littlest sister disappeared on the day they were set to leave home.  Never having given up hope that her little sister was still alive, she heads to Montana after seeing a picture of a young woman who she thinks might be the long-lost sister.

*********************************************************************************************************

I also just finished The #1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.  This is the firstbook in a series about Mma Ramotswe, the one and only lady private detective in Botswana, Africa.  Not only is she proud and fat, but she is also very clever and I love her adventures!  I had heard about the book years ago but had no idea what it was about and kind of dismissed it. (I had no idea it took place in Africa).  So glad I bought it! I actually just ordered the 2nd-3rd books in the series from http://www.paperbackswap.com  and another of his from a different series after I finished reading this one.

***************************************************************************************************************

I read this one last week, There’s a (slight) Chance I Might be Going to Hell by Laurie Notaro. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one after reading the title, but it came recommended by a blogging buddy and I was not disappointed!  It is a very funny story about a 30-something woman whose husband accepts a job at a University and moves them  across the country (away from all their friends) to a small-town.  While there, she has an extremely difficult time making friends (but the things that happen to her while trying are pretty hilarious) and decides to enter the town’s Sewer Pipe Queen pageant.  Loved this one also, and have ordered a few other of her books!