Its been quiet …

Its been quiet in my life lately, but not in a bad way, just in a… life way.

Easter was a nice surprise, as it snuck up on me, and I panicked, but everything worked out well. Had a great morning with my parents and my sister’s family and then a great afternoon at a friend’s BBQ. Though, I did feel a bit out of place. Sometimes I get in these “moods” where I’m really talkative – and in my opinion quick and witty – and yet others don’t seem up to the task of holding a conversation with me. I’d hate to learn I’m not nearly as entertaining as I believe I am – so if you know any different I kindly request you keep it to yourself

I’ve been reading a lot, and also writing letters. My recently completed book club selection, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, sparked my want to write letters again. I’ve only acquired two pen pals at this point, but I’m sure I’ll get more. Bought a load of stationary, don’t want it to go to waste! Onionskin is a joy to use, as I can trace pretty drawings and flourishes into my letters, which I was never able to do before. A shame really that it’s so damned expensive. I’ve found exactly two vendors who sell it, one sells smooth the other sells textured, and it would be an investment to purchase from them as they sell it by the ream and not just a few sheets. But oh the beauty of writing on it!

I’m considering moving my blog. It’s not that I don’t like WordPress, I just feel there are some limitations that are frustrating. Such as the restrictions on embedding, and also the way the editor allows you to insert pictures. I’ve opened a blog up on Blogger and I’m trying that out. I used it for my blog about Scotland, but I didn’t like the interface so I didn’t go back – however they’ve updated the interface and it’s a lot sleeker. I just wish my address was not .blogspot.com – seems so 1990′s even though I know that it was created in the early 2000′s.

How do custom domains work? Do I just buy one, and that’s it? Or do I have to do everything through a 3rd party site after that? I tried to use GoDaddy once, but their interface was so damn confusing I gave up after my first FREE year. It was certainly made for people doing much more complex things than a single personal blog.

Haha… I still think of Friends first.

I can probably link nearly everything to a reference in Friends, is that a problem for you?! Well if not, then here you go.

see more Failbook

Gotta Keep ‘Em Updated

When I say that title, I hear it to the tune of The Offsprings, “Come Out and Play” from one of my favorite albums, Smash.

Anyhoo – I finally updated my Books widget, to accurately reflect what I’m reading now. I went through a bit of a dry spell and now it’s picked back up again. I don’t know if I’ll reach my goal of 50 books this year, but between the new found love of my library, my Kindle, and Audible on my smartphone I’m sure to hit at least 20, which will be the best yet since starting the challenge in 2008 before Evy was born.

It’ll be exciting once I get to a point in my life where I can read like I used to – before I fell out of love with books and then had a kid. I had only rediscovered it when I intentionally got knocked up… what was I thinking?! Oh yeah, I really wanted to be a mom

Let me know if you guys have read, are reading, or want to read any of the books featured in the widget.

Also, you can follow my progress via Goodreads.

I don’t care how, just give me books!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but last month I signed up for Audible. I had been listening to audiobooks recently, and found a lot of convenience and worth in them. Instead of trying to find time to read in my busy day I was taking advantage of my hour long commute, enriching my drive and my mind and advancing my goal of reading more during the year.

Purchasing an Audible account was a whim, after following a link to a sale taking place on Audible, but I haven’t yet regretted it. The day I signed up I purchased three books. Two weeks later I took advantage of another sale on credits and purchased six credits – then another book with my new credits. Last week I purchased another two books.

I even accomplished getting my husband hooked on audiobooks, since he also has a long commute – even longer than me! He usually would listen to podcasts, but when I pointed out that he might be able to finish The Passage, a book we started together in 2010, he suddenly wanted to try it out. Not surprisingly, he was hooked and finished The Passage (which he was only halfway through) in about a week.

The first book I started & finished from Audible was Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. This was narrated by Kate Reading and Wil Wheaton – which was a treat as it was my first audiobook to have more than one narrator. I was a bit disappointed in the story though, as I felt it fell a bit flat in comparison to how awesome it could have been. I mean, it’s a Steampunk era, post-apocalyptic, zombie thriller! How great does that sound?! However, it was anti-climatic but luckily with a surprisingly good ending. I really enjoyed listening to Kate Reading and thought Wheaton’s multiple voices were well done.

The second book my husband and I began to listen to together is Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld and narrated by Allan Cummings. It centered around one of two characters, a teenage boy who is Austro-Hungarian and Allan Cummings does the accent wonderfully! It brings back the feeling of being a child and having a book read to you (I know, you’re thinking that’s exactly what is happening), he has such passion and drama in his voice and its utterly different from the other audiobooks I’ve listened to so far. There is something about accents that really enrich audiobooks for me – as long as they are done appropriately. I mean, I don’t want some British narrator for something that is clearly American and modern, to boot.

I want to pick up and finish the sixth Outlander novel, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, however when I reformatted my phone I lost my place (even though I thought I wrote it down…) and so I’ve got to take sometime to poke around between tracks and find my place again. In the meantime, I’m reading it on my Kindle and I’ve downloaded Carol Goodman’s Arcadia Falls to listen to during my commute. I got a sample of this book a few weeks ago and was really impressed by the narration and the flow of the story so I used my credit this month to buy it. Reading the reviews on this audiobook, it’s clear that everyone has a different taste in narrators. I’m really enjoying Jen Taylor as I feel she has the clear, multi-faceted female voice that sounds modern and well spoken without sounding pretentious. However other reviewers feel she’s mocking the female voice with her high pitched “reproductions”. Um, sorry to report – but women have high pitched voices. I happen to not really enjoy female narrators who have deep, gravely voices – such as Susan Ericksen in Firefly Lane. Just my opinion though

On a non-audiobook front of reading, I read a young adult book recently entitled Forgotten that I felt was very similar - core plot line wise – to Before I Go To Sleep. It was about a girl who would forget her past, at a specific time each night, but could see into the future. I thought the conflict of the story was age appropriate, and the romance we really sweet and also age appropriate, so I mark it a good read young adult read.

Now, if only I could finish up Ready Player One, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, and A Breath of Snow and Ashes, I think I might feel “accomplished” from LAST year’s reads! Hahaha…

OMG, look at that tag list – that’s what happens when I do a reading post!

Book 12, “The Girl Who Played With Fire” – Finished!

I finished this about two weeks ago, but was madly trying to read “The Sparrow” and so didn’t post about it.

I really enjoyed this book, but like the other book I found it easy to put down most times which is why it took me so long to finish. Its very dry, the voice of the writer, and that always makes it easy for me to put down. It wasn’t until about three quarters of the way through that I got to a point where all I wanted to do was read. The plot – with all the twists – was  riveting once began to get some answers!

Its a bit odd to me, the fact that the first book had SO little to do with the plot of this book and (I’m assuming) the next. Its as if the author really wanted his readers to know these two characters, and so he wrote a whole pointlessly unrelated book to showcase their skills and personalities.

Oh well, it all makes for some good reading

Book Twelve, “The Girl Who Played With Fire”

Book Count: 12
Title: The Girl Who Played With Fire
Author: Stieg Larsson
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 630
Synopsis: I’m going to stick with just linking to the synopsis – as I don’t want to give away anything about the other books. If you’re really interested to know what the second book is about, you can visit the Amazon page here and read multiple synopsis’ and reviews.

Thoughts: I’ve been reading this book for awhile, but I’ve just been reading it on the side, like A Time To Kill. Its been good so far, some great twists, however it’s still taking me longer to read than I would like. As I’ve commented to my friend at work a few times, I wonder if this series would have been as successful if the author hadn’t passed away before it’s publishing. Its not uncommon for the death of a creative figure to actually boost the items they created beyond their original appeal. I often times feel it lacks a good editor because the dry, unnecessary details (I don’t need to know the entire shopping list from the store) are abundant.

With that being said, I am enjoying it and I look forward to finishing it and the third book.

Busy is better than bored!

I’ve been really busy lately, really. I wrote an entire post about WHY I’ve been busy, but re-reading it, I realize its all very boring to someone not living it. So here’s the condensed version:

• Work, work, work. Training the new employee, taking on progressively advanced tasks, trying to fill some big shoes. Got an electronic kudos today from my manager, so I know that all my multi-tasking and hard work is paying off
• Improving health. It takes time to live a healthy lifestyle, I don’t care WHAT other people say. Sure, it get’s easier – but time consuming all the same. Food prep. Work outs. Sleeping (yes, I believe that getting an adequate amount of sleep is part of a healthy lifestyle). All while working & commuting for 11 hours a day. I wish I could workout, sleep, or prepare food during my commute (I work 30 miles from home – an no public transportation fits my schedule. I’ve tried to carpool – but again my schedule is hard.)
• Being a part of a family. I love my family, and I love being busy with family stuff. I have no complaints there. I love making time for my sister, I love spending my Fridays off with the kids. I love planning vacations with the husband. I’m very fortunate, and I try to never forget that when the schedule gets a bit crowded.
• Hobbies. What are those? I don’t know, I don’t have time! I’m still in a book club, but I’ve been too busy to read much other than the one book a month. I could not get into “Wicked” and abandoned that. Right now we’re reading Christopher Moore’s “Island of the Sequined Love Nun”, which is highly enjoyable – when I find a few minutes to read. I would really like to peruse photography some more, but when you spend 11 hours of most of your days in ONE location, it’s hard. I’ve been thinking about taking up bike riding, as that’s both a good physical activity and really fun!
• Extra income. Trying to earn some extra income by testing software – I got a few gigs straight away and earned some coin this past month, but I find that some of them only pay if you find bugs. I think I should get paid for participating at all, considering I provide a “clean bill of health” when I don’t find bugs and also tack on constructive feedback. I’d like to be picky in regards to which jobs I take, but I’m not offered THAT many. Plus, like any job – the more I take the better my tester rating is so I’m offered more.

I’m not sure I want it to get easier though, I might get bored again

Book Six, “Imperial Woman”

Book Count: 6
Title: Imperial Woman
Author: Pearl S. Buck
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 384
Synopsis: The story of Tzu Hsi is the story of the last Empress in China. In the novel Nobel Prize winner Pearl S. Buck recreates the life of one of the most intriguing rulers during a time of intense turbulence.

Thoughts: This is our last book club selection – before another round. I’m making slow work of it so far, though it’s been enjoyable. Buck’s portrayal of Chinese culture is very interesting – and makes me want to learn more. On the inner-flap of this book it says that Tzu Hsi is often portrayed in a much different light than what Buck has provided, so I’m anxious to look around and see what others are saying. However, I don’t want to ruin the story for myself (as I’m not already familiar with Tzu Hsi), so I’m refraining from googling for more.

Book Five, “Summer at Willow Lake” – Finished

Book Count: 5
Title: Summer at Willow Lake
Author: Susan Wiggs
Genre: Romance
Pages: 534
Synopsis: Real estate expert Olivia Bellamy reluctantly trades a trendy Manhattan summer for her family’s old resort camp in the Catskills, where her primary task will be renovating the bungalow colony for her grandparents, who want one last summer together filled with fun, friends and family. A posh resort in its heyday, the camp is now in disarray and Olivia is forced to hire contractor Connor Davis—a still-smoldering flame from her own summers at camp. But as the days grow warm, not even the inviting blue waters of Willow Lake can cool the passions flaring or keep shocking secrets at bay. The nostalgic joy of summers past breathes new promise into a special place and people…a promise meant to last long after the season ends.

Thoughts: I got this book for free from Amazon, and it was pretty boring. Given the blatant sexual observations made within the first chapter I thought it was going to be a lot more fun – but it wasn’t. This is the first book in a series and I’d never pick up another. Just too boring for my tastes.

Book Four, “Brave New World”

Book Count: 4
Title: Brave New World
Author: Aldfous Huxley
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 268
Synopsis: “Community, Identity, Stability” is the motto of Aldous Huxley’s utopian World State. Here everyone consumes daily grams of soma, to fight depression, babies are born in laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is a “Feelie,” a movie that stimulates the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Though there is no violence and everyone is provided for, Bernard Marx feels something is missing and senses his relationship with a young women has the potential to be much more than the confines of their existence allow.

Thoughts: I’m reading this with my sister for another book club, but I’d also read it in high school. As I’ve begun to read it again, I’m wondering if the seasoned reader in me has become jaded to such a thought provoking novel. So far, I’m finding it rather boring. I remember being very moved and inspired by this novel the senior year of high school. Perhaps it’s just the beginning, when all the science behind the society is being explained.