Page After Page

Still here...

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:51:00 +0000

No time to blog this week--busy:
1. Celebrating Christmas early with some family
2. Working like crazy to get caught up before we close today for 1.5 weeks.
3. ~~spending~~ wasting 1 whole evening in bed with some weird stomach/chills thing
4. Packing, laundry, packing , laundry for our trip to Disney in 2 days
5. Reading (when I a have few minutes)

Hope you all are staying dry, safe, and warm this week!

double the joy

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:20:00 +0000

Not one...
...but TWO!
Yes. I received two Bookmarks magazines in the mail this week.
How, you may ask?
Well, I realized that I never received my Nov/Dec issue and called last week to ask them to send it to me. It arrived today.

Yesterday? The latest edition, Jan/Feb arrived!

Guess what I am doing tonight, right after I put some eye drops in my eye! :)

Hmm.... (edited )

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:10:00 +0000

6:30 pm: Great news! I only scratched the white of my eye and it is better already. I love eye drops! I can read again and am glad, as I am totally hooked on my current book: The Gift by Cecilia Ahern. She has written this novel with a lovely suspenseful/mysterious structure and I want to know more, RIGHT now! Thanks for all the well wishes in the comments!

...Eye infection or scratched cornea?
That is the question of the day and the reason I get to go to the doctor later.
Anything that interferes with my ability to read upsets me!

Wordless Wednesday

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:20:00 +0000

Adelaide: 1 month old

Short Review

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:45:00 +0000

Book: The Xmas Factor by Annie Sanders
Finished: December 2009
Pages: 305

Challenges:
** A-Z ** Read & Review ** The Fall Reading Challenge **

This was a warm, cozy, easy to read, and totally predictable Christmas story. I had a great time reading it. The author is really two women who co-author and I will definitely be looking for more of their stuff. I loved the two main characters--each dealing with their own Christmas stress--each trying to give those they love the best Christmas ever. The manner in which their stories and lives collide is great fun! In two words: Delightful and Festive....

Short Review

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:06:00 +0000

Book: The Nanny by Melissa Nathan
Finished : November 2009
Pages: 352 pages

Challenges:
** Read & Review ** A-Z ** Fall Reading Challenge** What's in a Name **

Fun!
After reading a couple of slower, deeper type of books, I was ready for something lighter and this British Chick-Lit book fit the bill. It did have a bit more depth than many other books I have read in the past in this genre. The main character, Jo, whose namesake is Jo from Little Women, is a young girl trying to figure out her life! I saw many parallels between her and my 24 year old son who is also in this same stage of life, just happening to be a male! Melissa Nathan has a very dry, and humorous wit about her writing, yet still managing to get her readers to connect with the characters, especially Jo. Life is sometimes messy, and confusing, and frustrating, but still we see a maturity and tenderness in her that makes the book a feel good story.

Publisher's Weekly:

"When 23-year-old Jo (named for a much saltier Jo in Little Women) lands a surprise nanny job with the cosmopolitan and dysfunctional (of course) Fitzgerald family, she trades in her quiet smalltown home and her unexceptional boyfriend, Shaun, for life amid the bright lights of London..."

Short Review

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:50:00 +0000

Book: The Lucky Ones by Rachel Cusk
Finished: November 2009
Pages: 240

Challenges:
**A-Z Challenge ** The Fall Reading Challenge** Read & Review **

This was not a feel good kind of book. Cusk has a beautiful way with words and I liked the subtle way the characters are all linked together, but I never really connected with the main characters on a deeper level--that of being a woman and mother. Their experiences were like nothing I have encountered in my 26 years as a mom.

From Publisher's Weekly:

"Cusk's vision of contemporary relationships is a lonely, wintry one, in which people's inner landscapes dominate. This makes for gorgeous, languorous writing in places, but it also restricts the view: the landscapes are so rich with pathos that there isn't always enough room for the range of human emotion so essential to prose that relies on thought instead of action. In "The Sacrifices," a married woman who never had the baby she desired visits her childhood home, now occupied by strangers, and fantasizes about returning to her old room: "I would sit on my bed as the afternoon turned outside the window to night. I would wait for them to call me down." This passivity runs throughout the book, as characters tend toward rumination rather than deed. But as readers come to the end, the lives of Cusk's characters begin to tie together hauntingly. This is not life in all its messy complexity, but a mannered, poignant portrait of the treacheries of domestic life."

The End!

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:55:00 +0000

I have officially finished all of my challenges for 2009!

Click on each button to see my challenge page for each one, if you are so inclined! Whew, but it has been a good year of reading. Click here to see all of my 2009 challenges completed throughout the year.

One challenge not completed still is the Casual Classics. I just could not squeeze Agnes Grey in to complete it!

Finally...

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:55:00 +0000

... finished a book this month!!! Now on to Christmas book #2.

Finished: The X-Mas Factor. By finishing this one, I have now finished all my 2009 challenges still left tot finish!! I will be posting some wrap up posts and reviews (behind on those) later today.

Reading: The Gift by Cecila Ahern. Ten pages into it and am hooked already.

More later--off for my Birthday lunch with my daughter and granddaughter!

A Mail Treat!

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:43:00 +0000

What should come in my mail today??
A treat.
From the person who got my name for the Holiday Swap!
That blogger happens to be Julie from Booking Mama!

There is a copy of a book called Earthly Pleasures which has been on my wish list for a while, White Citrus Shower Gel from Bath & Body Works, a bookmark made by Julie and the most adorable scrabble tile necklace that says "Read" from The Well-Dressed Reader!

It is a wonderful collection of goodies and I couldn't be happier!! Thank you so much Julie--this truly was a treat to come home and open after a long week at work.

Baby

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:10:00 +0000

Big Baby Blues

Sleeping like an angel

squeal!

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:40:00 +0000

I know, you are all probably shaking your head over this, but I must mention this new challenge I am entering. It is the You've Got Mail Challenge! The fact alone that this is my all time favorite movie has forced me to join!! I have seen several other challenges centered around books mentioned in a tv show or other movies and even one centered around a Billy Joel song. While those others tempted me, I was able to resist.

Oh, but not so with this one!

The host, book psmith says:

I hope you will join me in reading the authors and books highlighted, mentioned or pictured throughout the film as well as participate in the bi-weekly movie-themed memes, mini-challenges, quizzes and giveaways. The challenge runs from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010 and you may join at any time. You may overlap with other challenges.

There is no set number of authors/books to read.

You can choose to read anywhere from one to all from the list below.

Any book by or about the following authors:
Jane Austen
L.M. Montgomery
Maud Hart Lovelace
NoelStreatfeild
Roald Dahl
Kay Thompson
Shel Silverstein
E.B. White
Beatrix Potter
Dr. Suess
Ludwig Bemelmans
Mario Puzo
George Bernard Shaw
Thomas Jefferson

At the beginning of each month, I will publish a review post and if you have reviewed a book you may leave a comment and I will include the link in the post. There will be no set dates for the bi-weekly events, so following this challenge blog will ensure that you are notified when an event is posted.

I am so in on this one!

baby it's cold outside!

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:59:00 +0000

I decided to copy Tina from Book Chatter and post a picture of the view from my front porch. It may not look like much, but let me tell you, it is cold!! At noon it is only 32 degrees, and you can also add a windchill factor to that because there is a lovely north wind blowing too! December has arrived. How sad that you can still see the cornstalks I put up at Halloween!

In book news--nothing much to say. I thought I would be just reading away this monthe since our Christmas festivities are being scaled down due to our trip to Disney which begins on Christmas morning. I am doing no baking and very limited present buying, which leads to limited package wrapping. I think once I get things decorated, (yes, I am not a complete scrooge this year and am still doing that!) I will feel like I have a little more leisure time.

Still reading The X-mas Factor but really want to start the new Cecilia Ahern book I purchased last week.

So wish me luck as I ~~bribe~~ beg my boys to bring the crates of Christmas stuff down from the attic!

Hope you all are getting more reading done than me. ;)

Friday Facts

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:32:00 +0000

1. There was snow in the rain that was falling as I left work this afternoon. It was stinkin' cold all day--only getting in the upper 30's for temps. I live in the Seattle area, and snow is just wrong!

2. I am still in love with my new granddaughter, Lyddie!

3. I am reading The X-mas Factor, but it is slow going. The book is fine, it is just my lack of time that is holding me up.

4. One of my all time favorite authors has a Christmas book out. It is called The Gift and is by Cecilia Ahern. I love, love, love her. So, I purchased her book today on my lunch break. Total impulse buy.

5. I have totally been having fun checking out all the challenges being posted.

6. Jumping up and down for joy that the weekend is here!

Can't Wait!

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:35:00 +0000

I just saw that one of my favorite authors has a sequel being released in February, just like she promised!

Release date: February 2, 2010
(click picture for a summary)

Wordless Wednesday

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:18:00 +0000

7 pounds of pure sweetness!

The Letter Q

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:01:00 +0000

Hosted by Vicki from Reading At The Beach

Welcome to A-Z Wednesday!!

To join, here's all you have to do:
Go to your stack of books and find one whose title starts with the letter of the week.
Post:
1~ a photo of the book
2~ title and synopsis
3~ link(amazon, barnes and noble etc.)
4~ Come back here and leave your link in the comments.
If you've already reviewed this book you can add it also.

Who knows? You may find your next "favorite" book.

THIS WEEKS LETTER IS: Q

My "Q" book is The Queen of the Tambourine by Jane Gardam

This book is one that I am planning on ready for the A-Z 2010 reading challenge for the letter Q. It is an epistolary book, which I happen to really enjoy.

From Booklist

Eliza Peabody, a slender woman of 50 with dark, flashing eyes, is married to a terribly aloof dignitary and lives in a very posh section of London where everyone knows everyone else and their dogs, or at least pretends to. Eliza, a bit outre because of her lack of children and abundance of imagination, becomes obsessed with Joan, her enigmatic neighbor. We know this because we're privy to some very patronizing letters Eliza writes to Joan just before Joan ditches husband, children, and, yes, dog, and sets out on an arduous journey to such unvacationy places as Bangladesh. Joan's abrupt departure coincides with the disintegration of Eliza's marriage. Eliza slips into a rather mad frame of mind, which we learn about solely through the hilarious and poignant letters she continues to write and not necessarily send to the ever-elusive Joan. Gardam, recipient of two Whitbread Awards, strikes an unusual balance between wit and sweetness, creating a smart but gentle novel that seems to be from a far less explicit era than our own.

Monday, Monday

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:18:00 +0000

What's In Your Mailbox Monday is hosted each week by Marcia over at The Printed Page.
I have not participated in my Monday memes since the middle of October! Guess it is time to play along again.

Three books appeared in my box this week. They all three look fun. Click the book for a amazon review.

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What are you reading on Mondays? is hosted each week by J. Kaye's Book Blog

I recently finished The Nanny and am currently reading The X-mas Factor. I am planning on reading several Christmas/Holiday books over the next month!

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Musing Mondays is hosted each week by Rebecca at Just One More Page.

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about reading/blogging during the holidays…

How does your reading (or your blogging) fare in the holiday months? Do you read more or less? Do you have to actively make time to read?

Normally my reading and blogging time is severely hampered by all my Christmas duties I seem to have as wife and mom. But this year, we are taking the boys to Disney--leaving on Christmas Day---as their gift. That really cuts down on the number of gifts I need to buy and wrap! Plus, my oldest son is in china and can't receive mail--especially packages--so he is getting money dropped in his bank account! Super easy!

And because I am almost done with most of my challenges, I have free time this month to read whatever I want with no end-of the-year rush to finish.

reading the alphabet

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:50:00 +0000

The A-Z Challenge is being hosted by Becky again and I am thrilled! Completing this challenge in 2009 was like completing a puzzle--one that I am one book away from completing for the year! Am I signing up again? You bet! The challenge page can be found here. I will only be doing A-Z of book titles only. Care to join?

Accountability

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:33:00 +0000

Read & Review is being hosted again by Jenn again. In 2009 this challenge really encouraged me to be consistent in writing reviews. I will admit that many time the reviews I wrote were weak, but at least I wrote something! I will be signing up again and so can you by following the link, here.

Reading the Year

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:21:00 +0000

This challenge looks like a true challenge but a hoot also. It is being hosted by Bart's Bookshelf and runs the whole year of 2010.

Just a tidbit of information to entice you:

The aim is to read a total 20 books, over ten categories, in 2010. (Was this challenge based solely around the name? I’ll let you decide!)

Rules:

Read 2 books from each category, making a requirement of 20 books total.
The categories are intended to be loose guidelines only, if you decide it fits, then it fits. (Apart from those marked **)
Categories marked with ** have tighter rules, and these must be followed.
Each book can only qualify for one category.
Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
Books read from 01/01/2010 to 31/12/2010 are eligible

Follow the link above to read the rest of the information and then sign up for it. Go on. You so know you want to!

Oops! Category #10, titled "Up to You" states I must include my choice in my sign up post. I choose Graphic Novels. I don't normally read this genre at all and will post my actual 2 book titles later--after I do a bit of research.

cleaning the shelves

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:14:00 +0000

This will by my 3rd year to participate in this challenge--it is one of my favorites. I will be posting my list of to-be-read choices, along with my 12 alternates in the next few days.
This is being hosted by MizB and if you are interested in joining in the fun, check out the page all about the challenge, found here!

(note to self: check out mr. linky on challenge page after Jan. 1)

Possible Choices:

1.Dewey Defeats Truman
2. The Invisible Wall
3. Fanny and Sue
4. Ladies Lending Library
5. The Condition
6. Queen of the Tambourine
7. Testimony
8. After the Wall
9. Sunday at Tiffanys
10. Never Change
11. Mermaids on the Moon
12. Yesterday Morning

Alternates:

1. The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc
2. The Ladies Man
3. The Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters
4. The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets
5. Maura's Boy
6. Bride Island
7. The Liars Club
8. Cordelia Underwood or the Marvelous Beginnings of the Moosepath League
9. The Red Leather Diary
10. Orx & Crake
11. Skeletons at the Feast
12. Matchmaker of Perigord

lending library

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:06:00 +0000

This is a repeat challenge for me from last year. I love my library so committing to the Mini Level should be do-able even though I am also focusing on reading books off my own shelves also this year.

To get all the details and to sign up, follow this link to J. Kaye's Book blog. She is the host!

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.
--Non-Bloggers: Post your list of books in the comment section of the wrap-up post. To learn how to sign up without having a blog, click here.

2. There are four levels:

--The Mini – Check out and read 25 library books.

--Just My Size – Check out and read 50 library books.

--Stepping It Up – Check out and read 75 library books.

--Super Size Me – Check out and read 100 library books.

seasonal reading

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:55:00 +0000

A simple challenge and one that I was excited about researching books for before even signing up! It is being hosted by Gina at Book Dragons Lair is hosting. Follow the link to sign up here.

Rules:

1. Four books, one for each season.

2. Title must have a season, not holiday, winter, fall, autumn, spring, summer

3. Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2010

My book choices, all found at my library make this a cost effective challenge to boot!

1.Cherries in Winter: my family's recipe for hope in hard times by Suzan Colon

2. Snow Falling in Spring: coming of age in china by Moying Li

3. When Autumn Leaves: a novel by Amy Foster
(alternate: Hold Autumn in Your Hand by George Sessions Perry)

4. Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

Lightening the Load

kimmery4@yahoo.com (Kim) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 07:46:00 +0000

I love the idea of this challenge. Not only to get books on my shelves read, but out the door also!
I will be either giving my books to my local thrift store, or I will be offering them as give-aways on my blog. Want to join in too?

grab the button
decide how many books you want to read from your shelves (minimum of 20 - no maximum)
find a new home for the books once you read them
post the titles and the authors of books you've read and passed on
project runs from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010
crossover challenge books are allowed

Follow this link to Bibliophile By the Sea to sign up with Mr. Linky.

Page After Page

Still here...

double the joy

Hmm.... (edited )

Wordless Wednesday

Short Review

Short Review

Short Review

The End!

Finally...

A Mail Treat!

Baby

*squeal!*

baby it's cold outside!

Friday Facts

Can't Wait!

Wordless Wednesday

The Letter Q

From Booklist

Monday, Monday

reading the alphabet

Accountability

Reading the Year

cleaning the shelves

lending library

seasonal reading

Lightening the Load

squeal!