Category Archives: Uncategorized

Happy Summer Solstice- and a few tears..sniff, sniff

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Happy Summer Solstice to everyone!  This past year has certainly seemed like a loooong one.  Ever since Hurricane Sandy, it seems like time has moved at a very different pace where I live.  And now here we are at the start of what is shaping up to be a very good summer (fingers crossed).  I am lucky enough to be in the middle of a wonderful book, but am getting a little ansty that life keeps getting in the way of me sitting down for extended periods so I can read that baby!!

As I write this happy post, I am also in the middle of helping my 14 year old pack for a summer course in Engineering up at Dickinson College in PA.  I am so proud that he is doing this wonderful thing, but also my heart is breaking a little.  He has never been away from home for so long, and I know he will come back different- more confident hopefully, but almost assuredly more grown up.  I realize this is what we strive for as parents, to see our children grow into adults (hopefully able to function in society without us there to hold their hands and wipe their noses), but I can still feel sad, can’t I?

OK, enough of my bellyaching, I am sure most of you have better things to do-like enjoy the longest day of the year reading in the sunlight?  I have sheets to fold and pack, sunscreen to scrounge up, etc.  And we turn the page to a new chapter…..

Kerri

Thursday Quotables

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Welcome to THURSDAY QUOTABLES- a weekly feature hosted by Lisa over at Bookshelf Fantasies where we highlight a great line, quote, or passage discovered during our reading each week.

http://bookshelffantasies.com

“But there was no forgetting.  Pari hovered, unbidden, at the edge of Abdullah’s vision everywhere he went.  She was like the dust that clung to his shirt.  She was in the silences that had become so frequent in the house, silences that welled up between their words, sometimes cold and hollow, sometimes pregnant with things that went unsaid, like a cloud filled with rain that never fell.  Some nights he dreamed he was in the dessert again, alone, surrounded by the mountains, and in the distance a single tiny glint of light flickering on, off, on, off, like a message.”

And The Mountains Echoed

by Khaled Hosseini

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #7

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Its Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly bookish meme held on Book Journey by Sheila. It’s a great place to discuss your week in reading and see what others are reading too.

Happy Monday everyone!!!  I have been having a slow week reading-wise.  I did manage a bit, but am hoping this week I can get back on track.

This week, I read-

Sight Reading by Daphne Kalotay

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This was a really good book, and I am hoping to post my review on Wednesday.

Reviews Posted-

The Book of Secrets by Elizabeth joy Arnold.

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This was a great book, very well written.  You can read my review here-

The Book of Secrets

I am currently reading-

This Beautiful Life by Helen Schulman

This looks interesting.  We chose this for our June book club- if we don’t need to reschedule, I will try my best to finish.

Up Next-

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

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I walked into the library this morning (after a 2 mile run- my second – my first was on Saturday-sonce high school-eek!) and this was on the no holds shelf!!!!!!

I was so excited I almost jumped up and down.  I really can’t wait to finish this post and crack this bad boy open.

What are you reading this week?  I would love to hear from you!!

🙂

Recommendations Needed- 13 yr old needs summer reads!!!!

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Hello to all fellow bloggers!  I hope all is well and everyone is enjoying a wonderful book.  The calendar-not the weather-is telling me we are very close to school being out for summer and I am in need of some book recommendations for my 13 year old daughter.  She has enjoyed the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games, and most recently The Selection and Divergent and their sequels.  What can you suggest that you think she will enjoy?

My eternal thanks!

Kerri

It’s Monday! What are you reading? #7

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Its Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly bookish meme held on Book Journey by Sheila. It’s a great place to discuss your week in reading and see what others are reading too.

 

Happy Monday everyone!  We just got back from an amazing weekend in NYC for my brother-in-law’s wedding.  We had a wonderful time- stayed at the Ritz- a beautiful wedding in Red Hook at Liberty Warehouse-and a fun Sunday with family.  Since we were so busy, I really haven’t been reading all that much.  Here is what went on this past week with me-

 

I finished reading-

The Crypt Thief by Mark Pryor

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The Books of Secrets by Elizabeth Joy Arnold

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Reviews I posted-

The Crypt Thief by Mark Pryor

The Crypt Thief

What I am currently reading-

I haven’t started anything yet, so…

What’s up next-

Beyond the Storm by Joseph Pittman

Sight Reading by Daphne Kalotay

What are you reading this week?

 

Thursday Quotables

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Welcome to THURSDAY QUOTABLES- a weekly feature hosted by Lisa over at Bookshelf Fantasies where we highlight a great line, quote, or passage discovered during our reading each week.

(http://bookshelffantasies.com)

“This was the story Grace had told me, but with texture, so I could smell the forest and hear the children’s voices.  Having found it felt like destiny.”  

–The Book of Secrets by Elizabeth Joy Arnold

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Final Armchair BEA

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NoneOn this final day, we encourage you to wrap-up the week with your favorites and highlights of the week.  Did you learn something new?  Did you connect with a new-to-you blogger?  What was your favorite discussion topic?  Do you have ideas for future years?  You can write your own blog post and link it up, but we also encourage you to take our end-of-event survey.

I enjoyed this week SO much!  I did learn something new- Use wikimedia commons for any book cover/art work I want to use.  It was also helpful to read what other bloggers thought were the “guidelines” to blogging ethics.  I also got a lot of helpful hints for tackling my fear of widgets!

I was lucky enough to connect with many new bloggers, specifically Lisa over at Bookshelf Fantasies and Emma at Words and Peace.  I also connected more with Jennifer at The Relentless Reader, whom I fist met up with at the Dewey read a  thon!  I love the suggestions and recommendations that came my was-thanks to EVERYONE who left me a comment, or replied to one of mine.

My favorite discussion topic?  I actually liked them all.  I was most comfortable with genre fiction, but liked the way I had to actually think and work a little for the other topics!

Future years?  Not sure- I thought this went great- and I loved having 2 topics each day.

Thanks again!!!

Armchair BEA- Keeping it Real

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NoneToday’s discussion is Keeping it Real-Today, we’re interested in knowing how you address that question, especially if you’ve been doing this for a while. If you have been around for years, how do you keep your material fresh? How do you continue to keep blogging fun? How do you not only grow an audience, but how do you keep them coming back for more? Think about it, post about it, link to it, and read about how other bloggers are keeping it real, fresh, and fun. Maybe we can inspire each other today!

I began this blog as a way to keep track of what books I read.  There was one too many times where I bought or borrowed a book, opened it up, only to realize a few pages in (or chapters) that I had read it before.  I tried writing a list in a pretty notebook, but found it boring.  When I first started looking into starting a blog, I was amazed at how much was involved-plus I am not the most tech-savy person.  That being said, I was very nervous when I finally took the plunge and posted my first review.  I looked into what I was supposed to do to get viewers, what sites to join, where to get ARCs, etc.  I was pretty overwhelmed at first-and even worse, I found very little time to read!!  I have just begun to find a nice routine, so I am really enjoying it now.  I definitely want to grow my audience and make the blog itself better, but I will do so slowly, at my own pace.  I am really liking meeting new people and surprised at how many I have things in common with some, besides reading.

Lat month I took part in the Dewey 24 hour readathon, which was a blast.  I am so glad I decided to take part in the Armchair BEA, and I al looking forward to  Bloggiesta!

 

Armchair BEA Day 5- Children’s Books

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NoneToday is Day 5 of the Armchair BEA and today’s topic is Children’s Literature.  I am going to separate this into two sub-categories:  Books for little ones and books for older kids- and then again specifically for boys and girls.

To read to little ones, some of my favorites are:

Goodnight Moon, Green Eggs & Ham, The Giving Tree, The Missing Piece, 23772 370493 250px-Goodnightmoon

One thing that I am so happy about, and know they get from me is my kid’s love of reading.  As we speak, my son is reading Killing Kennedy, and my daughter is well into The Elite.

For older kids in general-

The entire Harry Potter Series, A Wrinkle in Time, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Hunger Games

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For BOYS specifically-

My Father’s Dragon, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Artemis Fowl, Inkheart

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For GIRLS specifically

Anne of Green Gable, A Little Princess, Nancy Drew series, Little Women

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What books did you love as a child?  What will you make sure your kids read?

Armchair BEA Day 4- Ethics & Non Fiction

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At Armchair BEA today’s topic is Ethics.  We were given prompts to the discussions that asked us to give recommendations to new bloggers to ensure credit is give where it tis due.  This is a topic that interests me a great deal, as I have only been blogging 3 months, and wonder this myself.  So rather than write about a topic I do not have much knowledge on, I am instead going over to Armchair BEA at http://www.armchairbea.com and read what more seasoned bloggers had to say.

Our genre today is NON FICTION.

Uh oh, I thought, I’m not going to have much to say on this since I read mostly fiction.  Then I rethought it, and am going to give it a shot!

Is there any specific type your prefer or dislike?

Well, I thought, I don’t like memoirs, but then I remembered I read The Glass Castle  I really enjoyed it.  Then I thought-one of my favorite books was The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.  If you have ever lost anyone close to you-you have to read this.  Ms. Didion is an amazing writer and really describes what I thought was indescribable.   I also enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (though I did like the eat and love part more than the pray-just saying).

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Do I like true crime– goodness no!  But wait, I did read

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In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and really liked it.  Oh yeah- and recently I read

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In the Garden of Beast, by Erik Larson, about the American ambassador and his family living in Nazi Berlin right before WWII, which was AWESOME!!

I also read The Lost Dogs- Michael’s Vicks Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption by Jim Gorant.  It was a well written book of a horrible story.

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As for historical non fiction, well, I do enjoy it, but can’t for the life of me think of one book right now, which is a little embarrassing since I was a History major, and taught U.S. History in high school.

Finally, biographies?  NO, I do not read them.  Wait- that’s right- I loved 6900Tuesdays with Morrie– but wasn’t that more a memoir?

Well, I guess I do read non fiction, and enjoy it quite a bit!

What non fiction would you recommned for me?