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Books

So I haven't been keeping up with my book reviews lately.  Here's what I've finished recently:

This first novel by Sarah Dunn, The Big Love, was interesting.  I've never read a first person style book where the main character was so neurotic before.  The writer tends to lead the reader on long diatribes on unimportant details to fill the pages.  That's not to say that I wasn't cheering for a good ending... it just took awhile to get there.  Still, I enjoyed it.

 Sweet Love, by Sarah Stohmeyer was a bit more sad that I had anticipated.  With a name like Sweet Love, I was expecting a little bit more romance.  The book tended to talk about the bond between the main character and her mother, and how she finally begins to understand the type of love her mother has for her.  It's an interesting take on mother/daughter comedy, because everyone can see a little bit of their own mom in there.

 Another fantastic book by Kristin Harmel, Italian for Beginners.  There's a lot of Roman Holiday references, and since I've never seen the movie, I was a bit lost.  But I am a huge fan of Harmel's books, and can't wait until the next one comes out.  The pages turn themselves, and I can't ever seem to be able to put her books down - the characters seem so real, I feel like I am right there with them!

Last but not least is Sleeping Arrangements by Madeleine Wickham.  I am slowly but surely becoming a big fan of Wickham, although I think I prefer the books that she's written under her pen name, Sophie Kinsella, more.  The plot was a little hard to get into at first, but by the middle of the book, I was definitely anxious to find out what was going to happen.  I admit, I was a little disappointed in the end of this book, but not every story turns out like you expect it too!

You learn something new everyday...

I was checking out Cathy Zielske's blog this morning, and stumbled upon this little tutorial.  Such simple, basic stuff... but stuff that I didn't know how to do with my Photoshop CS2!  She showed how to make outlines on your photos using a grid, and the stroke effect, etc.  It was so easy, I made one myself.  I can see that next time I will use a larger stroke for my outline so that it can balance out that heavy font that I chose.

Pic is from when Ben and I went hiking in Hawk Mountain on July 13th. 

Goin' old school!

Old photo, old scrapbook paper... love it!  I've seriously been holding on to those papers for years!  Felt so good to create something again, can't stop staring at my page! 

My family takes bean bags seriously....

Very seriously! :-)  We had fun throwin' the ol' beans around on our family picnic over July 4th.  Everyone has fun stealing points  from the other team, especially my uncle Tod.  He's always the champ.  That's my dad, Tod and my brother Cody, my aunt Vicki and cousin Hannah, my mom and aunt Sue, and my cousin Bryce.

 

The Lost Recipe for Happiness

 

Just finished reading book # 2 from my summer reading list!  This was a little darker than I had thought it would be from the description, but overall, I enjoyed it.  It's an interesting look at what it takes for a woman to become an executive chef at a restaurant, what it takes for a woman to heal physically and emotionally from a terrible accident that was 20 years ago, and how to just let yourself go, don't fight the things that truly make you happy inside.  P.S.  if this book were a movie, it would definitely be rated R.  There were a few brief moments in the middle that I wasn't expecting to be quite so graphic, since it's not listed as a romance novel! :-)

The Love of Her Life by Harriet Evans

 

I just finished reading this book tonight.  It turned out differently than how I'd pictured it would, but that's the great thing about Harriet Evans' books.  Sometimes the smaller character plots seem to become too involved, and even a little confusing, but they are just of course, background for the main character.  I love how Evans describes the feeling of just simple knowing when someone is the one for you.  It's a love that is just simply effortless.  That's not to say that the road to happiness is completely easy, but when you know, you just know.  I couldn't help but picture Gerard Butler as Mac in this novel.  Seriously, he'd be absolutely perfect, which his accent, dashing good looks, and charisma, if this would ever turn into a movie!  Definitely recommend this one.

Christmas in July

Anyone who knows me really well knows that I LOVE Christmas!  Right now, all of the scrapbooking companies are showing sneek peaks for their new, upcoming lines.  I am loving seeing all of the Fall, Halloween, and Christmas stuff! So far, my faves are SEI's Christmas Mint, Jenni Bowlin's Town Square paper and Halloween bingo cards, all of Little Yellow Bicycle's stuff, American Crafts Halloween and Christmas lines, and Danelle Johnson's additions to her Harvest Moon, Mistletoe, and Hollyberry lines from last year. 

Can't WAIT to see the new Basic Grey, Teresa Collins, Heidi Swapp, Ki Memories, October Afternoon, and Hambly Screenprints lines.  So far, no sneeks for those at all! :-(

Also, realized that I never saw this movie from last year, so it should be coming out this fall. Haven't seen a release date yet.

 

I'm also super-excited to see the new Jim Carrey movie, A Christmas Carol.  It's animated, but I think they could have made this even better as a live action film.  This one comes out on November 6th.

Looking forward too...

 

Season 4, coming out on DVD on October 6, 2009. 

Summer Reading List

I have quite a decent list of books that are waiting to be read this summer.  I've been lucky enough to find a used book store in the area where I can get next-to new-books for dirt cheap, and for the past 2 years, I have been going to a community book drive to raise money for scholarships.  I'm hoping that if I can get the list down, I can start making some progress, since I love to cross things off of my t-do lists!  In no particular order:

Marian Keys - Angels
Alison Weir - The Lady Elizabeth
Lauren Weisberger - Everyone Worth Knowing
Cecelia Ahern - No Place Like Home
Sarah Dunn - The Big Love
Elin Hilderbrand - Nantucket Nights
Girls Night In - A Collection of Essays (totally fun chick-lit!)
Harriet Evans - The Love of Her Life
Helen Fielding  - Bridget Jones' Diary (need to finish) and,
Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason
Megan Crane - Names My Sisters Call Me
Anne Dayton - Emily Ever After
Barbara Delinsky - Family Tree
Claire Cook - Life's A Beach
V.C. Andrews - Delia's Crossing
Phillipa Gregory - The Other Queen
Madeline Wickham - The Gatecrasher
Madeline Wichham - Sleeping Arrangements
Holly McQueen - The Glamorous Double Life of Isabel Bookbinder
Josh Grogan - Marley and Me (loved the movie!)
Lauren Horowitz - The Family Fortune
Liza Palmer - Coversations with the Fat Girl
Deanna Krizis - Finishing Touches
Barbara O'Neal - The Lost Recipe for Happiness
Holly Shumas - The 5 Things I Can't Do Without
Kathy Reichs - Bones to Ashes (created the show Bones!)
Kathy Reichs - Monday Mourning
Carolyn Turgeon - Godmother (need to finish)
Sarah Strohmeyer - The Sleeping Beaty Proposal
Sarah Stohmeyer - Sweet Love

I also can't wait to re-read Harry Potter 6, The DaVinci Code, and Confessions of a Shopaholic. 

 

Woo-hoo!

I found some release announcements for my favorite shows on DVD this fall:

September 15th

September 15th

September 22nd

August 25th

No word yet on when Bones will be coming out, but that's usually around November...