Recently in Books Category

Finished last night at midnight-thirty. *amazing*

USA Today's "25 Books that leave a legacy" ... (only looking at books from the past 25 years) including:

Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone (for obvious reasons)

The Da Vinci Code (on the list basically for it's controversy)

And the Band Played On (excellent book ... excellent movie)

Bridget Jones's Diary (interesting choice ... though their reasoning makes sense)

Left Behind (surprised this made the list ... but I agree)

Fast Food Nation (a definite must read for everyone)

... and more. A few on the list that I haven't read are now on my library hold list.

Over the past few months, I've bought quite a few books via the Amazon Marketplace -- and noticed that many times the books were coming from the same seller - Abebooks. I decided to try ordering books directly through them. Now I'm obsessed.

They have almost everything I'm looking for, and almost all of them for $1.00. I'm not picky about getting hardbacks, or books with no creases, or the latest editions. $1.00, folks. Basically Abebooks is kinda like the amazon marketplace -- in that it sells books for thousands of book stores all over the place. So, if you really want to save money on shipping, you just search particular sellers inventory. Today I got 11 books for $20.19. Thats Basically $1 a book, $1 shipping. Pretty good deal. I'm getting really good at finding all the books I want from one seller too -- that really helps keep the shipping charges down.

Are you a book-lover? You should definitely try out abebooks (they're also great for hard to find books. I was able to buy several books that aren't in print anymore!)

I think this book will probably be hilarious. Never Threaten to Eat Your Co-Workers: Best of Blogs Here's the copy off the back of the book:

Here's some of the copy off the back of the book:

Thanks to online Web journals, or blogs as they're affectionately nicknamed by Net savvy voyeurs, anyone can jump into the shoes of a TV star, international journalist, criminal court lawyer, video sales clerk and a busy mom, among others. These online diaries serve as an entertaining and educating cross-section of the people dwelling online.

The Best of Blogs features the most provocative online writing by unknown writers and underground celebs. MTV's The Real World's cast member Neil Forrester gives new meaning to the phrase "Bite your tongue." Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Wil Wheaton gives his take on the Hollywood system and fleeting stardom. Web designer Heather Hamilton finds herself in the unemployment line after publishing work stories in her blog, Dooce.com (one of my fav blogs!!). Humorist Choire Sicha gives advice on broken hearts and timeshares. Illustrator Mark Frauenfelder throws out his cell phone and uproots his family from Los Angeles to the sandy beaches of Rarotonga. Plus tales of creepy video store customers, online love lies, Iraqi politics, office pranks gone wrong, jury duty, a childhood meeting with Darth Vader and so much more.

:book: I started re-reading the 20+ books in J.D. Robb's "In Death" series last week. I love series books -- it's fun to get to know the characters over lots of books. I just love those books - great murder mysteries. All of the "In Death" books are set in the year 2059 + ... and Roberts vision of what the future will be like is compelling reading. If you've never read J.D. Robb -- you should try them! You'll like them! The first book in the series is Naked In Death! (For those of you who don't know, J.D. Robb is Nora Roberts - but I think she writes better when she's writing under the Robb pseudonymn. )

Re-reading these books is a prime example of why I like to buy books that I loved reading. After a year or so, I can re-read them and enjoy them just as much. It's great to have books on hand to read whenever I get the yen to -- which is quite often. I love coming home after work and being able to sit down and read for an hour or so. It's so relaxing to me.

What do you like to do when you come home after work - or after a long stressful day with the kids?

I painted our half bathroom this weekend. That was my goal for the weekend. It's a small bathroom -- it consists of a toliet and a pedestal sink. We've slowly replaced all the mirrors in all the bathrooms at the house -- because when we bought the house, they had these really small ugly mirrors that we just despised -- and the half bath was the last bathroom to do a mirror replacement in. A few weeks ago I was in Home Depot, and they had this gorgeous etched glass arch mirror in their clearance section. I got it for less than $20 and it was originally priced at $75! Great deal and it looks really elegant. We painted the lower 3/4 of the wall a dark hunter green, and top 1/4 a khaki/tan color. Between the two colors is a cool border with different palm trees (the theme of the room is palm trees ... obviously). I LOVE painting, in case I've never mentioned that before. :bounce: It's just one of my passions -- I love being able to totally change the way a room looks and only spending a few dollars on a can of paint. Love it. Anyway -- so we got the room painted, hung a neat palm tree print that my mom had gotten us above the toliet and finally hung the gorgeous mirror, which perfectly finished off the room. It looks like a totally different space now, elegant and classic ... (it was pale pink before ... ugh).

Now that you're bored to tears hearing about my bathroom ... I'll rant a bit about the fact that Amazon.com did NOT deliver my Harry Potter book on Saturday. :mad: I received it today. Now two days isn't a big annoyance .... but they guaranteed delivery on Saturday. I'm supposed to get it free since I didn't get it on Saturday -- but I'll not pre-order anything again. What's the point? :arg: I could have just as easily walked into Borders and picked up the book on Saturday (because none of the bookstores were going to sell out -- I think they all over-ordered because they knew there would be huge sales .... so I know I could have gotten one at a bookstore.) Oh well. I'll start reading it tonight .:biggrin:... and I'll probably have it done by tomorrow night! Then I guess it will be another 3 years of waiting around for the next book (I read that its not going to be released til around 2006 !! That's pretty ridiculous ... however JK Rowling created the empire that is Harry Potter and therefore she can do pretty much whatever she wants).

THIS OR THAT:
1. Window shades or blinds? Usually blinds
2. Wall or desk calendar? Wall
3. Paint or wallpaper? Paint ... but I like wallpaper BORDERS
4. Electric or gas stove? Electric
5. Carpeting or bare floors? Carpeting
6. One TV, or more than one? More than one!!!
7. Leather or fabric sofa? Fabric
8. Eat meals in kitchen or dining room? Dining Room
9. Fabric or vinyl shower curtain? Fabric
10. Your kitchen: well-equipped or bare bones? Well equipped, though somewhat small since we're in an apartment still

Life is a funny thing sometimes. The first house that Steve and I originally put a bid in on way back in August (at that time - we lost the house in a bidding war with FOUR other buyers) is back on the market. It was very very weird because over the weekend Steve and I had discussed just buying a house and living there for 2 or 3 years to build up more equity, and THEN we'd have more money to spend on a nice sized piece of land AND be able to build the house we want. And Tuesday at lunch, I had mentioned how it would be cool if we could have just bought that first house. And several times over the past few months, we had mentioned how we would love to see what the winning buyers were able to do with it. Soooooo - then I am online and just randomly check in that general area, and the house pops up. For sale again. Wild!! I quickly call Steve -- and I'm thinking it's just got to be almost a "meant to be" situation. To make a long long story short .... we went to see it again today, to see if anything had changed -- and learned that the winning bidders financing fell completely apart, and thats why its back on the market nearly 6 months later. Wow. So Steve and I are bidding on that house again. We put the offer in this afternoon - and it's just the incredible sense of de-ja-vu coupled with a feeling that maybe sometimes things just work out --- even if it takes way longer than what you think it would.

That was a really jumbled paragraph ... but I think it mostly makes sense. So everybody cross your fingers that THIS time, the bid works out. We LOVE the house, love the land that comes with it and would actually like to live there for a while ..... and hey if several years down the road we still want to build, we can still do that.

I've become a complete Jane Austen freak this week. I went out and got 'Persuasion', 'Sense & Sensibility' and 'Emma' at Barnes & Noble .... and also added those films to my netflix queue. I think 'Pride and Prejudice' is still going to be my favorite ..... who can be better than Mr. Darcy and Eliabeth Bennet???

Be sure to check out Addie's new layout, if you haven't already! It's not BRADcentric ... which is a huge shock!!! JEFF is supposedly going to have a new layout and be using his blog software soon .... but he's been saying this for months now. We'll believe it when we see it, mister. ;) Hillary hasn't blogged since last year, so go leave her a tag begging her to blog at least once a week .... or even once every two weeks??

It's been a busy week .... and Steve and I have both been sick (I'm mostly better, and Steve is hopefully at the end of the worst of it) - so blogging hasn't exactly been top of my priority list lately. Right now I'm taking a break from watching the playoff game between the TN Titans and the Pittsburg Steelers .... we're winning 14-10 right now - woohoo! I was downtown this morning and traffic was already bad with everybody going to the game this afternoon. Scalpers and tailgate parties everywhere! Hopefully our enthusiasm will not be for naught and we'll kick the Steelers butts all the way back to Pittsburg!

Thanks to everybody who left notes and emails about the birth of my niece last week! She is STILL beautiful as ever and continues to wrap around her finger everyone who meets her :) Especially sweet is how my brother has changed, seemingly overnight, into the doting father.
My brother has always been the wild, carefree, never serious, and GOOD guy -- and while I knew he would be a good father, I still couldn't quite grasp the concept of my brother (who used to mercilessly tease and torture me when we were children) being a daddy. However, the minute he came down the hall from the delivery room, carrying Sarah, it was just so sweet and precious. He was SO proud and she already had him wrapped around her tiny little finger. It was very sweet to see ... and this week, I called several times to just check in on Sarah and Mom Glenda (who is
recovering well from her c-section) - and he was just full of all sorts of information and stories about Sarah and what all had been going on with her. I think its great!! My parents are immensely enjoying their first grandchild - my mom said she practically had to pry my dad away the other night, he had been holding Sarah for about an hour and she said they were both very content to just stay that way!! (Although she can't talk much ... she's also the doting grandmother!!)

Last week while I was sick, I picked up my old copy of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" and read it. Each time I read it I love it even more! After finishing the book, I quickly added the "Pride and Prejudice" DVD's to my netflix queue, and immediately upon receiving them in the mail this week, I watched them. It was the first time I watched the movie ... and I LOVED it! I knew that Mark Darcy in "Bridget Jones's Diary" was based on Colin Firth's portrayal of Mr. Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice" -- but I'm so glad I finally saw this movie. The movie was so faithfully adapted from the book and the casting of Jennifer Ehle (who portrays Elizabeth) and Colin Firth (Mr. Darcy of course) was brilliant! If you've never read the book or seen the movie ... I suggest you do both! It's a great tale of love, miscommunication, lies, social class issues, and of course, pride & prejudice!

We might be heading off to England again in April - if we can find affordable tickets. One of Steve's best friends, Dave (who was a groomsmen at our wedding) told us a few weeks back that he's getting married April 11. They aren't sending out invites til February/March - but they wanted to give us notice so that if we wanted to come over, we'd have time to book flights and arrange for time off. Sooooo ... right now flights are running around $700 each for that week -- which is way too much for us. Hopefully flight prices will come down a bit or maybe we can find a cool deal. It would be so nice to see family and friends again - especially when we were thinking it would be at least another year before we could go over. The wedding would give us a perfect excuse to take off! It's not a vacation ... it's a wedding, right? Faulty logic, I know.

Speaking of weddings. This must be the year for them! I'm a bridesmaid in one of my best college friends wedding in June - in Knoxville. Another friend from high-school is getting married in Boston in October. Two of my other college friends got engaged in the past few weeks and haven't yet set dates. And then of course Steve's friend Dave getting married in England! Something must be in the air.

Well - back to watch the playoffs. I hear Steve in there clapping and yelling and jumping up and down - so I assume the Titans are still winning! Excellent :)

I watched my "Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone" DVD this afternoon again. I'm prepping myself for the release of the next movie in a few weeks. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the Harry Potter series? I love these books. I felt like a kid again reading them - Rowling is an exceptionally talented writer and just pulls you into this magical world. She makes you BELIEVE these things could actually happen. She makes you care about Harry and his friends. Again, I LOVE these books. I would have liked to have had these books growing up ... what a great way to get kids interested in reading! I grew up on Nancy Drew, the Hardy boys, The Sweet Valley Twins, the Babysitters Club, etc. I also remember when I READ about kissing for the first time in "Forever" by Judy Blume ....haha.

Reading is an escape for me. Reading allows me to travel to places I might not ever get to go to in real life -- it allows me to learn about other countries and cultures in a way that no regular school textbook could ever teach. Reading allows me to put away the stresses and annoying stuff that goes on in every day life .... sink my teeth into a nice novel ... and get swept away into the story. I think it will always be my favorite "hobby" .... and to end my rambling about my love of reading -- here are some neat quotes about it:

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. ~ Joseph Addison ~

I often feel sorry for people who don't read good books; they are missing a chance to lead an extra life. ~ Scott Corbett ~

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island. ~ Walt Disney ~

Never judge a book by its movie. ~ J. W. Eagan ~

If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

To read a book is for me not merely to get an idea of what the author says, but to go off with him and travel in his company. ~ André Gide ~

The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. ~ Elizabeth Hardwick ~

The libraries have become my candy store. ~ Juliana Kimball ~

Books are so much more than books -- they are dreams and knowledge, they are a future, and a past. ~ Esther Meynell ~

Thursday Thearch - a somewhat new meme that PromoGuy has started. Basically -- you just list a few of the search words that people used to get to your site. Sometimes it's pretty funny to see how people find your site -- sometimes its just weird!!! Here are a few of mine from this past week:

Google: faith buffy 4th season kissing photos (BUFFY! woohoo)
Yahoo: firefly TV october 4 sexy redhead (sexy redhead ... hehe)
Google: willy wonka blueberry girl pictures (blueberry muffins, jeff?)
Google: chiacgo married sex (interesting ..... )
Yahoo: tamyra gray websites (lots of searches on that one ... really weird)
Yahoo: mary poppins greeting cards digital (love mary poppins)

Busy week! I've ordered the new Richard Preston novel, 'The Demon in the Freezer' from B&N. Ahhhh I can't wait to get it! I have practically every single book every written about biological warfare/weapons, infectious diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and USAMRIID. You could say I am obsessed with this stuff. I used to want to work at the C.D.C. Part of me still has that little dream in the back of my mind .... I think the biologist in me will always have a love for things like that. Anyway -- can't wait to get this book.

Several years ago, Steve gave me this beautiful leather Mulberry dayplanner (when he was still living in England - and we hadn't met in person yet ... lol). I loved it - but at the end of that year - I couldn't find a replacement calendar to put inside of it. I looked everywhere here in the states - but nothing was available in the right size or with the right holes. Steve even went into London to try and find me a replacement calendar - but evidently the Mulberry store that he bought it from had closed. I had looked online because I thought maybe I could just order one. They didn't even HAVE a website at that time. This month, out of interest, I looked online again - and not only do they now have a website, you can order products online! Awesome. So last week, I ordered a 2003 calendar, one of the little hole punch things, and several other "accessory" items for the planner. Mulberry rocks. I got everything in the mail today. From England. They just totally rock. I only had to pay like $8 shipping too -- not bad! Soooooo ... if anybody else out there has a Mulberry dayplanner from England -- you can now order stuff for it online at their website! Woohoo.

Several people I know have blogged recently about the addictive nature of bookstores. I have to wholeheartedly concur with that belief. It's like when you go in, you cannot help yourself. Your money just starts flying out of your pockets. It's an amazing phenomenon. I wonder if anyone has done a study? :)

OK - I'm off to watch Letterman and maybe catch Sarah Michelle Gellar on Conan! Nighty night!!!