Where'd You Go, Bernadette Trailer

A few years ago I read the book and I was on YouTube 

 recently and an ad for the movie popped up. 

You can click here for the book synopsis and click here for the trailer.

It looks very promising. 

Three Books and a Show

Earlier this year I decided that I wanted to do theme books for my reading -- Jaws for summer and spooky for Halloween and a fun cheesy Christmas story for .. well .. Christmas.

During the spring I was at a Barnes and Nobel on the hunt for the elusive Jaws [my review] and I walked into the non-fiction murder mystery section. How? Well .. I am not too sure but I always seem to gravitate there no matter what I am looking for. While reading the synopsis of the selection I looked over and saw a few shelves of Heather Blake's Wishcraft series. Normally I would not be interested in such books but after I read the book descriptions I thought 'well at least these won't give me nightmares like some of the other horror books that have been recommended'. I put them on the reading list along with The Ruins, The Terror, Birdbox, The Shining and Pines [which by the way I saw the series Wayward Pines and man was it is addictive] and I will play it by ear and see what I would be in the mood for.

Well .. October came and while I was scrolling through the Libby ap I saw the Wishcraft series again. I was so pleased that the audiobooks were available and I thought 'perfect because with finishing a project [posting soon] I do not have time to sit and read'. I enjoyed listening to The Good, the Bad and the Witchy so much that I listened to The Good-Bye Witch and A Witch Before Dying all within a span of 2 weeks. The only reason I did not get to the other books is because they were checked out. Yes .. the series seems to be that popular and that is because it is a cute little book series. The main setting of the story is that there is a theme village in Salem, PA called The Enchanted Village where witches can live a semi-typical existence as store proprietors for unbeknown non-witch people. There are different types of witchcraft and skills among the community and Marci Merriweather is a wish-crafter - an ability to grant the wishes of other that she inherited from her mother. She and her Aunt run an event planning business named aptly As You Wish. Each book had a murder happen around or involving Marci which she felt compelled to solve. There was a bit of repetition throughout the book but besides that it was a nice read. I can say that I did like it better that the Aurora Teagarden book.

I am going to publicly admit today that I like Hallmark Mystery and some Christmas movies. There .. I said it. Yes, their movies are cheesy and overly acted but I do not care. I like to sit down to a murder mystery which is not bombarded with bad words or with gory realistic images. I like my sleep and sometimes those other shows just mess with my brain - especially when I binge watch.  Last year I was channel surfing and the Good Witch movie was to start so I decided to sit and watch since I wanted to kill a morning relaxing in bed. And well … that movie led to the another movie which led to another movie and eventually to the show which was premiering that night. The small town set up reminds me of Gilmore Girls but without the quick banter. The close knit mother/daughter dynamic, the romantic interest [with a son] who is no-nonsense but lovable and colorful townsfolk characters in a small and idyllic town that love their festivals. The series is a continuation of the movies but it is taking place 10 years after the last movie. Our female protagonist, Cassie, is now a widow raising her super smart and kind 16 year old daughter, Grace, in a Bed and Breakfast [yes .. really] she has two grown stepchildren, one is a freelance writer and the other has taken his father's profession of being a police officer. Cassie also owns a store with unique treasures named Bell, Book and Candle. The love interest who happens to live next door is Dr. Sam Radford, the new doctor who came to the small town to be more connected to his trouble-finding son, Nick, who is the same age as Grace. The town busy body is Martha, who was the Mayor's wife but is now the Mayor herself, who is VERY active in the community and it's goings on. Cassie's compassion and how she genuinely encourages others is what draws people to her. She uses her 'ability' to sense what others might need by giving them loving words and allowing them to find their own path. Even though the new season does not start until spring/summer Hallmark shows a 2 hour premier around Halloween. Also, you can stream the series on Netflix.

Jaws

I have been OBSESSED with reading Jaws this summer. I was getting so disappointed because I had such a hard time finding it.  I went to Barnes and Noble, visited some used book stores and at any store that seemed to have a book section .. with no luck. I know that I could have just ordered it off of Amazon but I like to buy locally as much as possible.

 Recently my daughter told me about an app called Libby - which is connected to the library system.  Well, I did not find the book but I did find the audio version. I am not a big audio book person due to my mind wondering and I find myself half way through a chapter thinking 'who is this guy' or 'wait who done it?'. But I thought what do I do lose .. if I do not like it I will go on Amazon or simply choose a different book to obsess about.

Man am I glad I listened. It was so captivating. The narrator did the different voices and the story line was a bit more in depth than the movie .. it was just a great summer read [or listen].

I won't even bother with giving you the premise since the movie follows closely to the book. However, I will say a few things about the book and the man. It was written in 1974 by American author Peter Benchley and who passed away recently in 2006. He is the son of Nathaniel Benchley who was also an American writer of children's books and Novels and incidentally had a couple of his works turned into movies.  Jaws went on to be on the New York best seller's list for about 43 weeks. The author also was a conservationist. He was a spokesman for the Environmental Defense Fund and worked with WildAid, traveling to teach about sharks and to try to warn against the practice of killing sharks for their fins, a delicacy especially popular in Asia. Peter's wife has said "Many of the letters he got were from people who read 'Jaws' as a kid and were captivated by it, and who then went on to become marine biologists or who were teachers who would focus some of their time on the ocean. Maybe when 'Jaws' first came out people were scared of the water. But the next generation found a great adventure story, and many of them wanted to learn about the ocean. That thrilled Peter." 

Love it or hate it .. for the past 44 years this book [and movie] has impacted the way we see the ocean. 

A Fool and His Honey

I will admit it. The only reason why I read this book is because I have been watching the Aurora Teagarden mystery movies on the Hallmark channel. 

Candance Cameron Bure plays the protagonist .. Aurora Teagarden who is a part-time librarian and is a member in a true crime/mystery club. They review mostly old murder/mystery cases, such a Lizzie Borden, and examine the evidence in the case. Her best friend is a reporter and her ex-boyfriend is a police officer and both are also in this club .. which feeds into their imagination but it also allows them to think through the evidence presented.

I did watch A Bundle of Trouble before reading the book. The story lines and characters are roughly similar but that is where the similarity ends. 

The story begins with an acquaintance that Aurora knows was hired to bring them wood for the winter season. Aurora was home alone when the guy started to act erratically and began to remove his clothes. She proceeded to phone the Police station to get someone over who could assist him and figure out why he was acting oddly. This story line had ABSOLUTLY NOTHING to do with the main plot of the book. I am not even sure why it was even written in. 

The main plot is that Aurora's husband's niece showed up at her front door with a baby no one knew she had. Aurora and Martin go to dinner with friend's and when they return they find a dead body on their outside staircase, his niece has disappeared and she left her newborn baby under the bed. The investigation leads back to his hometown to try to give the baby to any relative and try to figure out the missing piece of the niece's life.

I overlooked the weirdness of the niece's friend sleeping behind the couch. I mean really .. it is absurd to think that there was a guy so tired that he slept BEHIND THE COUCH during the murder of his friend and disappearance of the niece. I mean really who sleeps behind a couch. I have yet found someone who would do that. 

Then there was the description of Martin Bartell - it led me to believe that he looked like John Queensland - which I had a hard time imagining since in the shows John is dating Aurora's mother. And in the book Aurora was a bit more selfish or self-absorbed than in the show. I just did not care for the amount of self issues she was going through when the story line affected Martin and his family life more. The whole time all she wanted to do find someone to leave the baby with .. she did not once try to step up and say hey Martin I am so sorry for your niece and  I can imagine how scarred you are -- of course the baby can stay and we will care for her. But no .. not even a little. Instead it was why me .. why do I have to step up .. why don't we have kids .. why does his family not want to bond with me. Then you had the vapid friends they had dinner with the night that the niece disappeared.  

I do have to say that if I read the book before watching the show .. I would never watch the show. Which would be a shame. The shows are a bit cheesy but they are not that bad. 

The Queen's Accomplice

England, 1942. The Nazis' relentless Blitz may have paused, but London's nightly blackouts continue. Now, under the cover of darkness, a madman s brutally killing and mutilating young women in eerie and exact re-creations of Jack the Ripper's crimes.

Well then .. with a description like that how could I not pick up this book and may I say that I am happy I did. Even though it was not a hard read [meaning I figured out the 'who done it' pretty early] there are several story lines that are introduced that keep your attention. You have the main story regarding Maggie's participation on catching the killer dubbed 'the Blackout Beast', her friend,Sarah , who is training to be a spy in France and her half-sister,Elise , who was in a camp in Germany.

Fair warning …  that if you enjoy a book with full closure on all the characters you will not get it here. The relationship with her half-sister seems to be from previous books and will continue into the next. Also, Sarah's story line will be continuing in a different book as well. There was mentioned about a previous relationship and story line in regards to a previous assignment. But I think that the continuing story lines in regards to the most important people in her life will allow for deeper character building and I, for one, look forward to seeing how they develop.

All The Missing Girls

I was so, so, so excited about wanting to read this book. I wanted to absolutely love it and even now I am still not too sure if I like it .. I think I need to re-read it. This is more mystery than thriller that truly started 10 years prior. After a night at the fair a group of close teen age friends disperse to go home and that evening one of the girls goes missing. Soon after our main character, Nicolette [Nic], flees and tries to leave her past far behind her.  Fast forward and Nic returns back to her small town with all its secrets to help her brother sell the family home to pay for their father's elder care. A few days after her return another girl goes missing. Nic believes that the two disappearances are connected to each other and somehow also to her. As she starts to dig into the vanishing of her friend she uncovers some dark secrets and how sometimes you can never truly run from your past.

I know it sounds like a great story, however, it is not the plot that dooms it but it is the creative writing style. This book starts on Day 1 and jumps to Day 15 and works it way backwards [Day 14, Day 13, ect]. You are a bit confused not just of the story plot but the relationships developing. The main character is suppose to be sleep deprived and at times irrational. Remember as a kid ... you would spin and spin so fast with your eyes opened that everything got blurry and when you stopped you felt so disoriented and you couldn't focus well THAT is how I felt reading this book. The jumping around made you feel Nic's desperation to find 'the truth'. I kept loosing the plot so much that I got frustrated - so a few chapters in I started to read the book chronologically .. yes it lost a bit of the suspense but I didn't care at least I could follow the story. The chain of events made so much more sense. It's not the worst book I have read but it is definitely not the amazing 'compulsive read' that it's made out to be.

*SPOILER* The only real question I have is 'what happened to the baby'?

Private .. LA

I know I was going to take a break from reading any Patterson books but technically this is a collaboration book. Lately I have ben finding his books a kinda dark and a bit disturbing which is why I was wanting to take a break. Maybe I have not truly paid too much attention or perhaps reading a book you have much more details to describe a moment .. where as in a movie it is just a moment and it is processed differently. It was there with Kiss the Girls but again with the movie there wasn't explicit actions being shown but your mind gets the idea that things are happening.

Alright .. enough of this. So back to this book. This book seems to have three story lines in it .. the characters in this private detective agency appropriately named Private, the missing celebrity family and terrorist attacking the city for ransom. Well maybe it isn't as much as three different stories as it is the stories of the cliental of this detective agency. This investigative agency is known to take care of issues in a quick and very quiet manner. The main story is about a celebrity family The Harlows [think Brad and Angelina] who disappear from their family home without a trace - the agency is called in to help find them before the media notices they are gone. The Bradgenlina plot did try to be interesting by take the team to different countries, the resistance from their publicist and the reasoning for their disappearance was not too far fetched [I mean we all think celebrities are a bit .. quirky and weird].

The second story [which isn't even on the cover] seems a bit more interesting. It is about a group of terrorist who are holding the city for ransom and how much the city has to pay for their delinquency. He should have stayed with this story a bit longer.

Even though it took me a really really long time to read - it had to do more with time than the book. But I truly think I am going to take a break from Patterson and see what else is out there.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

I heard about this book as a book recommendation at Posie Gets Cozy a looong time ago [back in 2013] it is so embarrassing that it has been on my must read for so long. But during this last library visit I said 'today is the day' and checked it out and I am glad that I did.

The main premise of the story is about a 15 year old girl - Bee - and her quest to find her agoraphobic mother - Bernadette. Bernadette goes missing shortly before the family trip to Antarctica to bittersweetly celebrate Bee's acceptance to the boarding school her Mother attended as a teen. Bee and her Mom have this Gilmore Girlish relationship where they are super close friends. This mainly came when Bernadette made the decision to leave her career and be a stay at home Mom and made Bee her whole life. Their odd language or description of things was also a plus - Bernadette describes the other Moms at Bee's fancy private school as 'gnats' [''Because they’re annoying, but not so annoying that you actually want to spend valuable energy on them”] -- the feeling is mutual since these Moms do not like her in the least - her language, rude behavior, absentee PTSA parent, her appearance - all are fuel for the on-going feuds with the other Moms .. especially with one instigator Audrey Griffin which is also her neighbor. Before Bernadette is missing .. her husband - a Microsoft guru - is told of some incidents regarding her neighbor by his new intern who happens to be a very good friend of Audrey [so it is hear say and very one sided and she has an agenda of her own ]. He is starting to doubt his wife's state of mind and during an intervention the FBI come over and the family finds out that the virtual personal assistant she hired to put together this trip is a con-artist which with everything else that is happening overwhelms Bernadette and she escapes out of a bathroom window. And 'POOF' vanishes. Bee is desperately trying to piece her mother's life through a series of emails and speaking with people who truly knew her in an attempt to find out where she might have gone.

Wonder

Ever since picking up the Mysterious Benedict Society book a year or so back .. I have made it a habit to peak into the kids section of the Library just to see what they had. To be honest I have been thinking about picking up Harry Potter this year but then I past this little treasure.

Wonder by RJ Palacio is a sweet story about a 10 year old boy - Auggie - who was born with a facial abnormality and his (and his parents) decision to pursue going to a traditional school. Up until now he has been homeschool due to his various and extensive surgeries. All his experiences are captured .. who he meets, how he meets them, how he feels and the ups and downs of being around so many people when all he wants to be is invisible. Each chapter is at the view point of a different character - Auggie, his sister, some friends - each with their own view point of events and how they see and feel about Auggie.

Like I said it is a sweet story but one with a deep and emotional theme.

Back to Back Cross

I am sorry for being gone. I hope everyone's holiday was wonderful. I ended and started the year with my main book man Alex Cross. I did have such a hard time with the ending of Cross Justice than with Merry Christmas .. to the point that I might need a small break from his books.

I ended the year with the appropriately named Merry Christmas Alex Cross - still staying with his signature dual stories [ which could have turned into 2 books within themselves ] Alex and his family eagerly anticipate a wonderful Christmas holiday together when he gets a call about a situation where an bankrupt addict lawyer who lost everything ..his dignity, prestigious career and enviable life .. takes his ex-wife, their young children and her new husband [a family friend] hostage at their home on this blizzardy Christmas Eve. Through out the day he keeps battling this man to release his family while his own family is pressing him hard to come home for Christmas. I did get really annoyed that his family was making him feel like what he is doing is wrong .. as if he is hanging out at the bar with his friends and not with them at home on Christmas ... THE MAN IS WORKING ON SAVING LIVES!! GEEEEZZ! Just when he thinks he can spend a well deserve Christmas Day with his family .. he gets a second call when face recognition spotted a female terrorist on the Metro. He gets to the Metro and she disappears .. exits are blocked and everyone is trapped. But who is the hunter and who is the hunted .. only one gets out to enjoy a few moments of what is left of Christmas Day. If you like action .. then his is definitely the book for you since it has it all .. kidnapping, hostages, shooting, bombs, running and more running .. always fighting against time.

Then I started the year with Cross Justice and read this book in 11 days .. which to me is some kind of record. I just couldn't put it down .. I needed to know the 'who done it' but I will tell you that when I found out who the killer was I was disturbed [ still am to some degree I guess ]. This book is more emotional and psychological than the jam packed action from above. Alex has a meeting with his past and so does Nana. He returns to his home town after being away for over 30 years. The type of small town that swallows you up and keeps you from becoming anything great. The kind of small town that the sins of the father are passed to the child and it is unshakeable. The only way to break it is to get out --- leave and never go back. Alex's cousin is accused of a horrible crime and Alex comes to help in a way that only Alex can. You don't know who to trust -- in a town where everyone could have a motive ... including the cousin. The second link to his past leads him to sunny Florida .. where a serial killer is proving to be very cunning. Lots of plot twists and turns that are lead by anger, jealousy, ugliness and fear. After this one though I think I am going to have to read something a little .. less thriller-ish.

The Mysterious Benedict Society





Whenever I move house the first things I do is establish the locations of the essentials:: banks, grocery stores, coffee houses, movie theaters, nearest route to IKEA (I do love IKEA .. LOL) and also the nearest libraries. Yes I still go .. I can not fathom a life without the library .. I have heard people say that they haven't gone in X amount of time and I can not imagine a life that would include me not going to the library. I just can't .. it seems weird to me. I just like how in a world of electronic devices where Google reigns supreme there is still a place where slowing down and reading in quiet is embraced. This newest one is pretty cool .. it might not be as large as my old one but it is next to a HUGE kids' park and inside the kids' zone is a small play area for the tots. One afternoon we took our Grand Angel and she had a blast .. she has such a great imagination .. it is so awesome to watch her play. When I was walking around looking for books for her this little treasure caught my eye. I know what you are thinking .. a kid's book! But the sheer size of is what I first noticed .. it is 484 pages .. my first thought is any book that can keep a kid's interest for that long has to be pretty cool. I opened it up and read ''Miss Perumal sat across the table from him, but Reynie, who had no trouble reading upside down, quickly scanned the advertisement's bold-printed words? "ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES?'' ADVERTISEMENTS! OPPORTUNITES!! 484 PAGES WITH SMALL LETTERS!!!  This doesn't seem like a kiddies book ... it might be worth trying. Well I will let you know in a month if my first instinct was right. 

A Biography For A Change of Pace ..

The biography chosen was 'Six Tires No Plan' by Michael Rosenbaum . It is about the life and philosophy of Bruce Halle the sole owner of Discount Tire/Americas Tire. If you haven't read it .. you must.

This book is so refreshing .. in a world that tells you that to be successful you have to be 'hard nosed' or 'micromanage ' or 'cut-throat' - here is a person that shows you that having a servants heart is not a weakness but a large part of a strong base to everything in your life .. ESPECIALLY in business. Now if you are looking more for a "how to" manual .. it's not here. What is here is a story about one man's journey that led him to build a company and how his ideas of taking care of people .. not just customers but everyone around him .. affect every aspect of his company. I was going to share some wonderful little stories but you won't grasp its full context unless you read the book. So .. go read the book and ask 'am I a lost boy (or girl)'?

Bloody Mary .. No Not The Drink

I am talking about the book 'Bloody Mary' by J.A. Konrath. I already know that the pattern of books I tend to enjoy reading are mystery but I am noticing a pattern of a secondary type of mystery books I tend to lean to (or may I say I have been reading lately) are those that the 'villain' and the 'hero' are revealed very early in the book and the whole basis is how the two will collide; rather than a story that has some plot twists and the 'villain' is revealed at the very end. I know it took me forever to finish reading this book but it mainly because I am reading another book at the same time. But overall I really liked this book. 

Top 5 Books For Kiddos I Recommend

Since one of my past posts were on kids' books .. I thought I would hop in my time machine and share with you some of my favorite ones from when my kids were tots. Which are now being read to the Gran-Angels .. that is when they sit still long enough to hear a story.

Top on my list is I Know A Place by Karen Ackerman. This child's view of her favorite place is explained by simple limericks and wonderful illustrations. She walks you thru her day from being woken up by the call 'rise and shine lazybones' to dinner time 'where the plates might be chipped or cracked but there's never been an empty one' and she 'know it by heart .. by the number and by the street .. home'. This beautiful story will remind you and your wee ones what is important in life and it isn't the latest clothes or I-phone *gasp* or anything that is considered materialistic. It is the simple pleasure of being raised by people who love you and expresses that love in little moments through-out the day. This book always stood out to me because the forward is dedicated to little Lisa Steinberg .. a victim of domestic abuse; which is why all the creaks in the house are friendly and there is nothing to ever fear.

Old Bear by Jane Hissey sparked the 'never boxing up any doll' phase with my kids which lasted until .. well actually now thinking about it I believe all their stuffies are out and not boxed. This quaint story is about Old Bear who is boxed in the attic until his fellow stuff animal friends, who never forgot about him, came to rescue him and bring him back into the play room with them. It is a sweet and soulful story that will touch your child's soft heart.

Now lets move out of Bummer-ville and land solely in Happy-land with an all time favorite If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. This super cute story is about what would happen if .. well .. you give a mouse a cookie. And let the chaos begin ..  First, he will ask for a glass of milk and then he might ask for a straw .. this just goes on and on leaving the little boy's house in utter disarray. This little life lesson book, along with If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Give a Pig a Pancake, shows how the simplest acts can snowball out of hand and quite quickly. This little book is still referenced in our home to this day .. it explains those days when you started to do your dishes but first you unloaded your dishwasher .. and when you opened your cabinet you noticed how dusty it was so you took out your dishes and started to wipe down the shelves .. next thing you know all your dishes are all over your kitchen and the job that should have taken 5 minutes took 5 hours .. yea I am not fond of those days.

Fourth is Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall. The first time I saw this book was on Reading Rainbow .. gosh I love that show (yes love as in present tense just because it's not televised doesn't change my feelings). This story is about a man that packs up a cart full of items that the family made through out the year and takes it to town to sell including his cart and beloved ox. In turn he purchases a few items for his family and returns home where the cycle and rhythm of the seasons governs this simple and self-sufficient life. It is such a beautiful reminder that everyone in the family can contribute and have purpose within the family. I will even admit .. that even when the kids were 'too old' for this book I checked it out anyhow simply because I adore the story.

Last but not least is Owen by Kevin Henkes .. this adorable story is about Owen and his yellow Fuzzy (blankie) and Owen takes his Fuzzy everywhere but Owen's next door neighbor thinks he is too old to be carrying a blanket and gives unwarranted advise to help break him from such a 'horrible' habit. After much thought Owen's mother came up with a genius idea as to how Owen can keep his Fuzzy and not break her child's heart as she gets him prepared for his first day of school.  *spoiler*  Owen's mother cuts his Fuzzy into handkerchief size squares .. this way Owen will always have his Fuzzy.

Books For Baby

I am a strong believer in reading to your kids. Not solely for the purpose of learning to read but for the quiet time spent together before they close their tiny eyes and drift off to Slumberland. But all the cute story books we had all went to live with our eldest daughter and now I am solely left with boys books .. The Other Side of the Mountain and tons of Hardy Boys Mysteries. Which are fine but I was needing something for the younger child .. with shorter stories and tons of pictures. A few weeks ago Husband and myself found ourselves at a new thrift store that opened by us. And boy I am glad I did .. the whole store was 50% off!! The first place I go when I walk into any thrift store is the book section. I wasn't able to find anything I liked for myself but I did find a few finds for our 'Lil Bug-a-Boo'. All were in great shape and for all 6 books came out to $5 .. what a bargain!!

I remember reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin to my little ones. It is a hard book and with a simple and repetitive pattern but it is the visual from illustrator Eric Carle that captures the imagination. Grandbaby and I read this book in front of the goldfish tank and when we stopped on the goldfish page .. she slammed her hand down and stared at the fish and looked at the picture. No joke! 7 months old and she was putting together that somehow the item in the book looked like the animals in the tank .. she is so brilliant. I know .. I know everyone thinks their offspring or grand-offspring is brilliant but I think my grandbabies are.

 

 

 

Now the next book Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride by Kate DiCamillo was more for me than her .. I mean just look at Chris Van Dusen's illustrations. It is so adorable. I just couldn't resist getting it and at $.50 it was coming home with me. It is a story about a pig named Mercy Watson who is loved by Mr. and Mrs. Watson and every Saturday they have a ritual that after a large special lunch Mr. Watson takes Mercy on a car ride in his pink Cadillac and what happens is just some good old fashion follies.

One of my favorite kids show is Little Bear .. I still like to watch it. So when I spotted Little Bear's Friend by Else Holmelund Minarik in perfect condition .. well it was a no brainer. The illustrations by Maurice Sendak are simple and timeless. This particular book has 4 short stories which are perfect for long days when everyone is tired but you are trying to keep the bedtime ritual of reading a story a night. It is a sweet and lovely book to have.

Next is one that I purchased solely on the basis that it is a hard book with simple words. The Tall Book of Colors published by Playmore/Walman is a story of a boy and girl who go around trying on different colored glasses and whatever the color of the lens is becomes the color of the world around them .. except somehow their clothes and dog stay the same color. Not my favorite but again it is in mint condition and $.50 and it is age appropriate .. what else can I ask for.

The next two books I did spend a little bit more on .. $1.50 per book. GASP!! But they are two wonderful additions to any child's library. The first one is Classic Rhyme and Verse an Eric Kincaid Treasury .. which is simply a book of children nursery rhymes. Everything from the simple Little Miss Muffet to longer This is the House That Jack Built. The back of the book has poems/stories such as My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson to Past, Present, Future by Emily Bronte. The illustrations are timeless and captures the imagination perfectly.

Last but not least is Clement E. Moore's The Night Before Christmas illustrated by the wonderful Mary Engelbreit. We already have this story illustrated by someone else but I love Mary's imagination. And for $1.50 there was no way this little treasure wasn't coming home with me. The colors are bright and cheerful and captures the Christmas spirit thru a child's eye beautifully.

 

Linked To:

 

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Someday Crafts

Finally Found A Book ..

Last month has been soooo crazy that I didn't even get a chance to pick out book much less read something. I did finish 'Gone' .. not on time .. and it is all that I hoped it would be. Another Patterson smash!

This month ~ not knowing when the next time I will get to the library will be ~ I started looking around the house. Frankly I am quite sad about the little amount of books I own and kind of disturbed about how many Patterson's. I did find a  Louis L'Amour that I haven't read in 15 plus years that I thought I would revisit but instead I found something hiding under a stack of Patterson's ..  JA Konrath's 'Bloody Mary' - which is second in a series of the Jacqueline 'Jack' Daniels mystery and all the titles in the series are named after drinks: Whiskey Sour, Rusty Nail, Dirty Martini, Fuzzy Navel, Cherry Bomb and then there is Shaken and the last book is Stirred. I'm not much of a drinker but I thought it was unique. I got it for free about 3 years ago at a book exchange when I read the description page 'Start with a tough but vulnerable Chicago cop. Add a hyperactive cat, an ailing mother, a jealous boyfriend, a high-maintenance ex-husband and a partner is the throes of a mid-life crisis.' and it is such a bonus that the cop is female .. know that when she kicks the stuffings out of someone I will be giggling =D

 

May Reading

 

 

I haven't read a book since December!! Really?! That can't be right!

Where did the time go?

Oh yeah .. sick with bronchitis end of Dec/early Jan,

new grandbaby in Jan, Princess sick in the hospital most of Feb,

new job in March and Mr knee surgery, Passover/Easter in April

(plus 2 birthdays - I haven't even sent out my birthday

 thank-you notes *.*) I know I am forgetting more events

but right now I just can't remember.

 

Now that spring is ending

*when the temp. starts to get into triple digits ..

spring is ending. I don't care what the calendar says*

and life seems to be settling down *kinda*

I am just itching to get back into my routine.

I have a project list a mile long and it is

seeming a tad bit overwhelming and I am not

sure where to begin. So starting with reading

 seems like a great place to begin and which author

did I pick? Well, Patterson of course silly.

'Gone' is the 6th book in the Michael Bennett

series and so far ... I am really enjoying it.

 

Catching Up ..

Tea Party by Tasha Tudor

Hi! Believe it or not but I have missed you. Grab your coffee or tea - this is going to be a long post - don't worry I will wait for you :D 

First is that I am sorry for seeming to have dropped off the face of the planet. I have been crazy sick .. right before Thanksgiving I caught an ugly bug that lasted about a week and the day before Christmas here it came in full force. I mean that sucker took me out for 3 1/2 weeks - ended up that I had bronchitis *_*  I usually don't go to the doctors but going into the 3rd week I knew I needed to go and this is how much I don't use 'western' medicine .. I ended up getting a Z-pack (antibiotics) and when I went to pick it up I had to have the pharmacist go thru it again with me  *.*  My ever so sweet husband jokes that I am a light weight and I guess he is right since ibuprofen is the strongest thing I take.  All I did was veg out .. and cough .. that it is feels so great to get out of the house and move around. Especially clean .. my craft room was the dumping ground during the holidays that I could barely walk in there. All I want to do is organize and declutter .. throw everything out and start off the new year on a 'lighter' foot. This leads me into my next 'project'.

I am going to do another 'Organizing The Home .. Challenge'. I have 10 rooms and there is 10 weeks until the Passover/Easter holiday. This year though not only will I clean the house (walls, windows, blinds) but I will go through my stuff to see what I can donate .. I am already looking around and thinking 'I don't need that' or 'I will never read that so why have it cluttering my space?'  I am excited and a bit nervous .. I am a 'collector' of just about everything .. I am going to need all 10 weeks.

I have yet ANOTHER big announcement but that one deserves it's own post. So expect the craft section of this blog to blow up with projects.

We have been eating (some what) clean since last summer .. which I think is why it took so long for the cooties to really get me .. but I have some recipes I want to share that are simple and super nutritious.  Positive changes whether it is mental clarity or adding a healthy green smoothy into your morning routine is what healthy living is all about.

There is not only going to be a book challenge but also a movie challenge. There are sooo many classic movies .. Casa Blanca, Gone With The Wind, Citizen Kane, On The Waterfront .. I have never watched. Now what kind of movie buff would I be if I have never watched these classic films? A horrible one that's what kind *_* I got done with 'Run For Your Life' so expect a quick review on that.

OK I am going to let you go now .. I have so much going thru my mind and projects to start that I am going to let you go so I can get started.

Run For Your Life!

No ... I didn't mean that literally :D  It is the title of my current book. It is yet another James Patterson/Michael Ledwidge collaboration. Last month I was done reading my last book and I wasn't sure what to start on; so back into my pile of un-reads ... or better yet not-reads it sounds better ... I searched high and low and found this treasure down towards the bottom. I don't ever remember seeing it before - funny how that goes. I read the ad on the top left - 'Detective Michael Bennett hunts a killer with an ego as big as all New York' and I had to giggle. Remember .. my last book was I, Michael Bennett (review below) and I took it as a sign. I am sort-of behind in my book reading schedule, so I have been pounding the pages pretty hard. So far I am enjoying this book and with any luck I will be done in time to read one more (maybe something in a different genre) before the end of the year ... leaving my year end book reading to 11.

As I said above, few weeks ago I got done with this book and what did I think? Well ... it wasn't bad ... not bad at all. I say it's a 3 or maybe 4 stars **** I don't want to ruin it too much for those of you who haven't read it yet so all I will say is it was a solid read. Enough twist and turns to make it interesting but not too many where you think this guy is a bumbling Barney Fife-type cop. You do have the basic premise of all good cop/bad guy books ... bad guy gets away, good cop chases said bad guy, bad guy targets good guy's family and friends and somewhere in there is a love interest. WOW ... I think I covered the book in one sentence ;p Well I am off to get another cup of cocoa - we will talk really soon. I have some holiday recipes I have been meaning to share.



N.E.X.T!

Quickly .. I just wanted to post that my next book on the list is I, Michael Bennett. This is yet another collaboration by James Patterson this time with Michael Ledwidge. I was wandering around the library (like I always do) and it was down to this one and Zoo ... this one won :)  The cover reads 'move over Alex Cross' ... well we will just see about that.
Another quick note - I just saw the movie Alex Cross ... NO! NO! NO!  I wanted sooooo bad to like this movie but even though I like Tyler Perry as an actor, I couldn't get my head around that he was to be Alex Cross. This movie was just missing something .. I can't quite put my finger on it. It seems to me that there were ALOT of inconsistencies. I didn't think Maria died like that *.* And I didn't think Cross got Maria's real killer like that either ~_~ It was also based in Detroit and believe that in the book it is set in Washington DC. I also didn't like Matthew Fox as 'The Butcher' maybe because last month we got done watching Lost and to me he is this nice guy and the crazy eyes don't work for him. But on the upside I did like Cicely Tyson as Nana. I enjoyed A LOT  'Kiss The Girls' and 'Along Came A Spider' and even though they have inconsistencies at least THEY offered some sort of realism to the viewer ... Casanova, Sonji and Jezzie were believable - even though Casanova was Westley from the 'Princess Bride' - you believed he could have a dungeon full of women.