Romance Junkies Read-a-THon

It's time for the Romance Junkies readathon.  This one will go through Saturday.  I am so excited about this one.  I will be reading as much as possible over the next few days; definitely while my kids are in school and at night after bedtime.

I am almost done with The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes.  This is a really good book! it's made me cry a couple of times but I really, really like it! Next up I have the new one from J.K. Rowling, The Casual Vacancy.  Then I'll pick up something from Lorelei James.  I'm in the mood for the next in her Rough Riders series.

That feels like a good start for me.  Now I'm off to Twitter to post the link for this and get in on the readathon fun.  Have a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday - Caramel Apples

Teaser Tuesday's - The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:


- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 59 of The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes:

And for that reason I have lain awake for the last two nights, hating myself for the one decent thing I have ever done.  Forgive me.

Musing Monday's - Hobbies and Collections

Musing Monday's is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. This week’s musing, courtesy of http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com– asks…
Do you have any hobbies outside of reading?
Or do you collect anything?

This is a fabulous musing! My hobbies outside of reading are mostly craft related.  I crochet, scrapbook, take a LOT of pictures, and have recently started teaching myself to sew.  My friend also sent me items to learn knitting - which I am very excited about.  Also, my children love puzzles and I really enjoy doing puzzles with them.

As for collections; Aside from my BOOK collection, my husband and I have quite a music collection.  We both came into our marriage with quite a lot of vinyl records (yes, I'm aging myself, I know), CD's and even some cassettes.  Most of the cassettes have gone now but we still have the CD's and vinyl.  And our children are beginning to love collecting music, too. 

I also have a Duran Duran (my MOST FAVORITE band EVER!) collection.  In addition to their music (yes, on vinyl and CD) I have all their merchandise that I collected during my teen years: posters, pins, books, a purse, a jacket and many, many t-shirts.  A lot of my Duran Duran t-shirts have been purchased during my adult years.  In fact, they have a store on their official website that has a lot of stuff I want - like coffee mugs! I WILL be getting the mugs very soon.  Oh, and some more t-shirts, of course - for myself and my children.  I'm happy to say my Duran Duran love has been inherited by my kids.  LOL

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon is quickly approaching.  This Autumn, it will be held on Saturday, October 13th.  I've been participating in this twice-yearly event for a few years now and I can honestly say that I love it! I look forward to it, actually.  It is exactly as it states, an event for the bookish who wish to spend a large chunk of time reading.  There are also fun mini-challenges based on books and authors.  And if you wish to make it a charitable event, you can.  Click on the link above if you're interested in participating in a really wonderful, bookish event.

The Last Day of Summer

I can not wrap my mind around where 2012 has gone.  Yes, I know there are still a little over three months in the year but I swear it has flown right on by so far.  With this being the official last day of Summer, my mind, heart and internal clock are yearning for Autumn.  It is still in the high 80's and low 90's here in Southern California.  And honestly, it usually stays this way until the end of October.  Whining about the weather isn't my point with this post, though.  My point is, I love, love, love Autumn! Although we don't have the glorious leaf-changing colors like New England does, I still adore the orange, red and gold hues that still begin to pop up all over the place.  Pumpkins, apples, squash in all the produce aections.  I'm not much of a cook but my husband is and it makes me happy to know he'll be using the previous ingredients.  Plus, we continue a tradition my Grandma started when I was little; apple and pumpkin picking! My husband and I take our kids apple picking and we all love it so much!

Another thing that I love about Autumn are the books! I adore that there are holiday themed books beginning to show in bookstore displays.  Yes, I still go to the bookstore; often, in fact.  I adore and use my Nook regularly but there is nothing like the real pages of a book to me.  Anyway, I've realized in the past few years that I read by season.  I like lighter, less mentally demanding themes during the summer, mysteries and something a little spookier from the end of September through to Halloween and Christmas themes during December.  I don't know if this is a result of really good marketing but it is absolutely true for me.  For example, I am waiting for Stephen King's The Shining to come in at the library.  I'vbe never read the book and have decided that this is the year I'm going to rectify that.

How about you? Do you love Autumn? Do your reading preferences flow with the calendar?

Teaser Tuesday's - Judgment in Death by J.D. Robb

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from Nook page 47 of J.D. Robb's Judgment in Death:

"Do you know what it takes to put that kind of image inside your own head, Lieutenant? Courage. An amazing level of courage."

Teaser Tuesday's - Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 26 of Melanie Gideon's Wife 22.

This is also my favorite time of day - when the empty house fills back up again and within an hour all of my decluttering is for naught.  For some reason this gives me pleasure.  The satisfying inevitability of it all.

Romance Junkies Read-a-Thon

I admit it, I am a sucker for a Read-a-Thon.  There are so very many to choose from that I just can't participate in all of them, though.  When I saw that Danielle from Romance Book Junkies is hosting her first one, I immediately signed up to be a part of it.  You can click on the link for her blog to sign up if you're interested.

Here are the details of the Read-a-Thon:

* The read-a-thon will be held from September 27th to the 29th. Within this time frame the challenge is to read for 24 hours. No matter how you do it for example you could read 8 hours per day, you could read 12 hours for 2 days or you could read 24 hours straight (for our hard core readers). Its up to you how you schedule your 24 hours.
* There will be 2 challenges throughout the read-a-thon with some great prizes. One challenge will be to read for the 24 hours of course throughout the 3 days and the other challenge will be a surprise. I will be sending out emails with more details closer to the read-a-thon.
* I will also be hosting a twitter party on the 28th from 8:00pm to 9:30pm were I will be giving away 3 huge swag packs. Again more details to come by email.
* We are all going to stay connected, update our status and have our twitter party at hashtag #RJreadathon.
* In order to qualify for the first challenge you need to make a post at the beginning and end of the read-a-thon with you schedule and your accomplishments then post the link to #RJreadathon.
* If you do not have a blog that's ok too you can post your schedule and accomplishments on twitter to enter the challenge. So all are welcome.
There are a few more details at Romance Book Junkies but this is the crux of it all.  I am so looking forward to this one.  And I already know what book I'll be kicking off this RAT with; J.K. Rowling's A Casual Vacancy.  It comes out on the 27th and I seriously can not wait to get my hands and eyes on the book and start reading it.

Discovering I Love a New Genre

I have discovered that I love western-themed books.  I realize this is in no way a new genre but it is new to me.  I'm reading a contemporary western by Lorelei James and I am loving it, especially the protective cowboys in the story.  Believe me, this has been quite a reading revelation.  Now I am super curious about this entire genre - the contemporaries and the historicals.  What about you? Have you ever discovered a love for an entirely new-to-you genre? And did you get a little obsessed with it? Oh, and if you like this genre, do you have any book recommendations for me?

In case you're curious, this new-found love is a result of my daughter's interest in country music.  We've found a lot of great country songs that we are enjoying together.  Then, of course, I got curious about the books and decided to dive in, imagination first.

Teaser Tuesday's - Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 11 of Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt:

Going into the woods by yourself is the best way to pretend you're in another time.  It's a thing you can only do alone.