Artist of the Beautiful by J.D. Landis

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Roses by Leila Meacham

I really enjoyed Fall of Giants and Roses. The other books were just not my cup of tea.  As usual, if you have a recommendation for a good book, let me know!

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox

Last year I found J. Kaye’s Book Blog a little too late to join her reading challenge. I was determined this year to join the fun. I am challenging myself to read 100 books in the coming year.  I have decided to make the challenge a little more challenging by stating that they have to be books I have never read before. I have read some books 5 or 6 times a piece.  I am also not allowing romance novels to count.  I can read a 300 page romance novel in under two hours.  My husband seems to think I should up the challenge to 2oo books because he thinks 100 books for me is a breeze. I think I will take a look at my progress in July and consider upping the challenge but for the moment we will stick to 100 books in a year. My first book will be A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris. I love her Sookie books and her Harper series. I am just getting into the Aurora Teagarden series.  If you would like to join the challenge go to J. Kaye’s site and join the 400+ of us who have already accepted the challenge!

Pretty

Hypnotic

Lifting

Engrossing

Compelling

Pete bought me a book called, “Listography” for my birthday. Basically, you create an autobiography by making lists.  I have found it challenging to think back on different times in my life to create the lists. Today I filled in my list of favorite films. This is what I came up with in no particular order:

Forrest Gump

Lord of the Rings

The Shawshank Redemption

The Usual Suspects

Pulp Fiction

Silence of the Lambs

Matrix

Star Wars

Saving Private Ryan

Sound of Music

Pretty in Pink

Monsters, Inc.

The Princess Bride

Groundhog Day

Kill Bill

The Sixth Sense

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Love Actually

The English Patient

Secretary

Brevity is the soul of wit. I forget who said that but it captures how I feel about quotes. I like it short and to the point. I like the rush I get when I am inspired by the words of someone who like me takes the time to exam the world. Where we differ is that I lack the ability to reflect upon what I see in speech. I get bogged down in the details and trying to share everything. As my friends Brandi and Amp say,”Give us the abridged version.”  This is why I love quotes. In a few lines, people were able to capture a thought that would take me paragraphs to convey. I started a new journal to hold all my favorite quotes and to add when the inspiration hits me. The journal never fails to make me smile. Try it yourself. Most people have a notebook, journal, or pad of paper laying around. Keep a running list of quotes that inspire you. If you want leave a comment with your favorite quote. I am always looking for new additions!

FairTax: The Truth: Answering the Critics

Source: Fimoculous

I found this on Behind the Curtain’s blog. It is a chair by Nils Holger Moormann. The only thing that could make this a better chair would be if it had a motor and steering. I want this chair as much as I want a library with sliding ladders!

I love romance novels. My family and very close friends know this and take every opportunity to rib me about it.  My husband loves to look over my shoulder and proceed to do his own dramatic interpretation of the book. This never fails to irritate me to no end.  I think I found my own little Mecca today in the site Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books. The title of the site alone makes me want to weep in happiness. My perception has been that my secret love of these books is kinda like the Junior League member who wants to keep her family living in the trailer park a secret. SBWLTB put out a list of 10 things they learned from reading romances as a girl and challenged readers to come up with their own list. Well here is my list:

1. If you are suffering from amnesia, the local hunk will swoop in and make everything okay. A bonus if you are pregnant with someone else’s child.

2. Greek lovers always believe the scheming daughter of a family friend who says she saw you with another man.

3. British men will sell their daughters in order to seal a deal or save the family home and/or business.

4. Every pair of twin girls has one virgin and one whore.

5. Women never have sex with anyone else after they breakup with their true love.

6. Greek mothers only want their sons to marry Greek women.

7. Fathers of illegitimate children only find out when the child comes down with a sickness or genetic disorder and the mother needs their help.

8. The gardener’s son always becomes a successful businessman who wants revenge.

9. The cover art never quite matches the character descriptions in the book.

10. The boss may never mess around with his P.A. but the temp is fair game.

I was listening to Franz Ferdinand’s song “Do You Want To” and it reminded me how much I loved the anime Paradise Kiss. The writer, Ai Yazawa, originally published the manga in the magazine Zipper. It was then adapted into a 12 series anime. There is fashion, love, transgenderism, and suspense. It does not get any better! My husband loves anime and I was not really a fan, but this got my interest and I enjoyed the entire series. I highly recommend it!

Paradise Kiss, Vol. 1

Paradise Kiss, Vol. 2

Paradise Kiss, Vol. 3

• Eliminate “that’s not fair” from your own daily usage. Adults say this more than they realize.
• Stop trying to treat your kids equally. If one child needs new shoes, buy shoes only for him. Trying to be equal only fuels the child’s belief that life is supposed to be fair.
• Tolerate the protest. Getting agitated can show the child that she’s got reason to be upset. Instead, say, “I know. Life sure isn’t fair.”
• Allow your child to be disappointed. Learning to tolerate disappointment is one of the most important childhood lessons and crucial to independent adulthood.

I thought about how often I say,”That’s not fair.”. I say it quite a bit. I always catch myself and groan,”Life is not fair.”.  I want to know who sold us the ‘Life is Fair’ ocean front property in Arizona! Why are we so afraid to let children see that life is not always how you want it to be. Unfair moments are times to see the broader picture, to think strategically about issues, to problem solve, and to learn that life has its disappointments. I think we are raising a generation that is going to have to face a lot of disappointment. America’s future generations will not have it better than their parents. They are going to have to work hard and everything will not be to their satisfaction. Disappointment should be a call for action and not a time for self pity.  I think if we fail to teach children to expect everything to go their way, then we handicap them.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village

The Newberry Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newberry. It is awarded each year by the ALSC to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published during the previous year. The 2008 Newberry Medal was awarded to The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret