Teaser Tuesday's - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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 36 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird:

 

"Make us up one, Jem," I said.

 

"I'm tired of makin' 'em up."

 

Our first days of freedom, and we were tired.  I wondered what the summer would bring.

A Quick Book Survey

There is a fun book survey over at The Broke and the Bookish.  So, here are the questions, followed by my answers:

1. The book I’m currently reading: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  This is one of my favorite books but it's been quite a while since I've read it.  My very good friend Julia and I read The Help several months ago and she wanted a different take on the American South.  I suggested To Kill a Mockingbird and now we are reading it together.

2. The last book I finished: A Summer Seduction by Candace Camp.  It's the second book in a historical romance trilogy.  I liked it and it was a mostly light, definitely happy-ending book.  Perfect, as I've been super busy and a bit scattered with the summer coming to an end.

3. The next book I want to read: Paris in Love: A Memoir by Eloisa James.  Eloisa James and her husband packed up their family and went to live in Paris for a year.  Paris.  Need I say more?

4. The last book I bought: When It Happens to You by Molly Ringwald.  I ordered this book from Barnes and Noble today.  I am quite excited to get my hands on it.  I am truly a child of the 80's and like many who came-of-age at that time - I adored Molly Ringwald's films.  Seriously, Pretty in Pink had a huge impact on me at 14.  So, when I saw this book being advertised on GoodReads I did some browsing and know it'll be read in the very near future.

5. The last book I was given: My friend Julia (mentioned in answer number one) gave me two books for my birthday; Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. 

If you wish to take the survey, click on the link above.  And if you do take it - let me know.  I'd love to read your answers to these fun questions.

Wordless Wednesday - A View From Home

Teaser Tuesday's - Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas

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 103 of Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas:

I haven't been alone for months, he wanted to tell his brother.  I'm being haunted.

Musing Monday's - Snacking

Musing Monday's is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. This week’s musing, courtesy of http://collettaskitchensink.blogspot.com — asks…
Do you snack while you read? If so, what is your favorite reading snack?

I generally do not snack while I read.  The main reason for that is because the majority of my reading takes place at night, and usually in bed.  The idea of snacking in bed grosses me out.  That being said, there are times when I read during the day - usually during a readathon.  Then I will snack; my favorites are, plain M&M's, veggies and dip and chips and salsa.

Teaser Tuesday's - Real Men WIll by Victoria Dahl

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 Victoria Dahl's Real Men Will:

He flew under the radar.  He didn't rock the boat.  He put his head down and did his job and that was it. 

Musing Monday's - Book Blogs

Musing Monday's is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. This week’s musing, courtesy of http://readbookswritepoetry.blogspot.in, asks:
What attracts you to a book blog? What puts you off in a book blog? Do you share personal stuff on your book blog?

I like book blogs that are informative without being preachy.  I also tend to like the ones that are not cluttered, while still being nice to look at.  As for my own blog - I share a bit of personal stuff, like my writing aspirations or struggles.  If I share something personal, it's often rather general.  THis is just me being very protective of my family.

Vacation Reading

I have vacation on my mind and thankfully, on my family horizon.  Naturally, as a bonafide bookworm, I MUST have books to read while on vacation.  As a very happy Nook owner, I no longer have to lug books around with me on vacation.  Believe me, this is a really good thing.

What I'm wondering is - do you have certain criteria for your vacation reading? I do.  My criteria is that my reading be really good (hopefully anyway) and engaging (again hopefully).  It has to be something I want to come back to read while still being something that I can be interrupted from and not forget the overall plot.  In other words, wonderful but not mentally taxing.  I find that a good romance or mystery usually fall into this category.

Book Review - Good Girls Don't by Victoria Dahl

I LOVE discovering wonderful authors that are new to me! I finished Victoria Dahl's Good Girls Don't earlier today and I am still smiling over how much I liked this book.  In fact, I;'ve already gotten the second and third books in this family trilogy.

Good Girls Don't is the love story between Tessa Donovan and Luke Asher.  Tessa and her two brothers, Jamie and Eric, run a family brewery together.  When the brewery is broken into, Tessa meets, and is immediately attracted to Luke.  He happens to be one of the detectives in charge of their break-in.  He's also an old college party buddy of her brother Jamie's.

Both Tessa and Luke have serious abandonment issues but for radically different reasons.  Due to said issues, both are quite afraid to leave and practically unable to trust.  This doesn't stop the immediate attraction they both feel for one another, though.  They begin what they both assume will be casual dating and quite a bit of lust.  And almost immediately, these two stubborn and scared people begin to fall for one another.

Tessa and Luke's story is sweet, sexy and at times sad.  I completely fell for these characters and Tessa's brothers, too.  If you want wonderful story telling with heart and spice - pick up this book by Victoria Dahl.   Oh, and I've already begun Jamie's story, Bad Boys Do. 

When in a book rut --

-- do some crafting! It worked wonders for me and I am thankfully out of my rut.  I am really enjoying Good Girls Don't by Victoria Dahl.

Teaser Tuesday's - Good Girls Don't by Victoria Dahl

 

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 Victoria Dahl's Good Girls Don't:

She couldn't help but stare.  The police lights were so at odds with the birdsong and pale sunlight of the early-morning hour.

Reading Challenges

As you can see based on my pages at the top of my blog, I am participating in three reading challenges during 2012.  At least, I'm supposed to be participating.  The truth is, I'm not doing very well with the challenges this year.  I am some degree of behind on each one.  I'm not one hundred percent certain as to why this is the case.  I have done reading challenges quite successfully in past years. 

I am hoping/planning to catch up and complete the challenges for 2012.  However, I am wondering if perhaps this is a sign that I should forego the challenges in 2013.  Perhaps it'll be a year of reading simply for the pleasure of reading and not for the partial need to fulfill a challenge.  I suppose I'll decide definitively as this year draws to an end.

How about you? Do you participate in reading challenges? If so, how ar eyou doing with yours?

NaBloPoMo - August 2012

I am going to participate in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) during August.  I have been in a blogging/writing/ reading rut and I am hoping thaqt by committing to this challenge - I will get out of my rut.  I have done this challenge a couple of times before and have happily been successful with it.

The theme for August is Sweet.  I can either use the prompts provided or blog about my own topics.  I'm certain that I will do a combination of the two.  If this sounds like something you'd enjoy - click the image above and join in the fun.

Teaser Tuesday's - Shadow of Night (again)

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 once again from Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness.  I like this book a lot but I just didn't have much time to read this past week.  I am so wanting to know what's going to happen in this book, though! This week, I will be squeezing time from somewhere in order to finish this extremely well written book.  And now, the teaser:

It turned out that the challenge lay not in knowing what to do but in actually doing it.  After working for years to become an expert, I was a student once again.

Musing Monday's - Magazines

Musing Monday's is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. This week’s musing asks:

Do you read magazines? If so, which ones? If not, why not?

I go through phases with magazines.  I can go a long time without reading or buying one and then I buy several.  I like artistic (crocheting, sewing, scrapbooking) magazines and health/weight loss magazine like Shape the best. 

My kids, especially my oldest, have discovered a love for magazines, too.  In fact, i just bought one for each child and one for myself yesterday at barnes and Noble.