Happy Fourth of July!

This year's trip to Maine to visit the hubby's brother and family happens to fall over the Fourth of July weekend. How fun is that? 

I am really looking forward to it. Not sure what our plans are for the day, but I am sure it will involve some lobster and corn on the cob, a swim in the lake, and smores by the fire at night. 

I am even looking forward to the drive from Boston to Maine on Thursday. Why? Because it won't be done after midnight as it has the past two trips. Yay! Also plan on stopping in Freeport to hit the LL Bean flagship store. It's where the little girl gets her new school shoes. :)

I think I have shared this pic before, but since I am typing this ahead of our trip, I have nothing new to share...yet. Pics of a Maine Fourth to come. Doesn't that deck look great, though? I plan on sitting there and doing some reading while the hubby entertains the little girl with swimming and kayaking. 

Books going with me:

 

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline (audio) -1/3 done

The Yard by Alex Grecian (paperback)- 2/3 done

The Bone Church by Victoria Dougherty (ebook)

The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg (paperback)

Happy Fourth of July! _________________________________________
 FTC Disclosure: Clicking on book title and/or image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page.

There's No Place Like Home

We are finally done with our summer travels. Yay!
We have been to San Diego and Sea Ranch and then a week on the East Coast. All within three weeks.  Our East Coast trip was to visit our new nephew in Maine. We spent 4 nights with the family at their lake house in Oakland. We then went on a two day drive south along the coast. We went to Bar Harbor and Camden, ME, then on to Salem, Mass before heading out from Boston last night.
We had a lovely time everywhere, but it is nice to be home and have nowhere to be... for a little while anyway. One more trip at the end of August to Arizona for a big family wedding party after my SIL's wedding here in CA. We had planned to drive, but have decided flying is a much better option considering the little girl. I don't think she would be happy with the 12 hour drive.  
The little girl is especially happy that we are home. She has been playing in her room and out back all morning while we unpack and start laundry. While I drink my coffee and get online. Very nice. She deserves a treat for being so self sufficient for a couple hours.
Here are some pics from our travels.

Sea Ranch, CA

Oakland, ME

Bar Harbor, ME

Salem, Mass

Happy Travels!
Vacation reading: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (reviews to come soon) _________________________________________
 FTC Disclosure: Clicking on book title and/or image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page.

Happy New Year's!!! (Sunday Salon)

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I am enjoying my last day in California before flying back to Austin tomorrow morning. My days have been so filled with family and friends that I have not finished one book that I brought with me! Can you believe that? And, I am coming home with three more books.  I took Toni's advice and decided to get Knit Two before reading Knit the Season. Plus, I got a couple as gifts. 
I know I have been neglecting the Internets the past two weeks, but believe me, you are going to get the fill of me in the ones to come. :) I have a lot of posts to take care of...reviews, Challenge Wrap Ups, Books Read in 2009, etc. Also, I have a 100 Followers Giveaway that is late in coming. 
Happy New Year!!!
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Vacation Reads

I flew out of Austin yesterday and am now in California for the holidays once again. The all important decision making of which books to bring with me happened late Wednesday night. I am hoping that I made the right decisions. So, here is what I brought with me...
Sense & Sensibilty and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
This one was sent to me a couple months ago from the publisher and have been meaning to get to it. Read some on the plane yesterday. All I can say so far, is poor Colonel Brandon. Not only is he old at five and thirty, but now he has a face covered in tentacles. <---- Check out that cover.


The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
I picked this one up months ago at Half Price Books and have yet to read it ( along with a whole other huge stack of books). Thought it would make a good easy read while out of town. I have been wanting to start this one for quite awhile. 




The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
This was one of my Amazon purchases on Cyber Monday. I had read so many good reviews and it just sounds like a book I would enjoy. I had to bring it along with me. Last Christmas I read In The Woods by Tana French and enjoyed it. Figured this would also make for good vacation reading. I love a good mystery.



Knit the Season by Kate Jacobs
I had to bring along at least one holiday themed book. This one I got as a prize during the Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon. The perfect book for me. It has everything I love...knitting, Christmas and Ireland. :) Now, I have not read Knit Two. Is that going to be a problem? Anyone know if I should read that one first before reading this one?

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On holiday as of now

Today is the day! We are leaving for the airport pretty soon to catch our flight to Heathrow. Well, flight to DFW then Heathrow. I am very excited about this trip. We are going to Bath, Stonehenge, Scotland! Very fun and we are not going alone. We are meeting up with friends who are already there enjoying London. They will be traveling with us from Bath to Scotland. We have a wedding that we will be going to in Scotland which should be a great time as well. Our last four days will be spent in Edinburgh for sightseeing, hen and stag parties, wedding and hopefully watching the new Harry Potter movie.
So, to the important question. What books will I be taking? :)
I have two paperbacks ready to go. Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong and How to Deal, which has Someone Like You and That Summer by Sarah Dessen. I know these aren't going to last me very long but I don't have much room to pack any more. I have a few ebooks in my iPhone to read when I run out, but most likely I will be hitting a bookstore at some point in our trip. Usually I trade one of my finished ones with other traveler's books left in the B&B's. But only when there is a good one that I want to read. :)
I am not going to be online much while away, besides checking personal email and sending updates to family, so I will be absent here until the 27th. I promise to bring lots of pictures! I do have a couple of reviews scheduled to post while I am away so it won't be completely quiet here.
See you in a couple weeks!_________________________________________

Because I need more books on my floor

Since you all said that I didn't have all that many books in my TBR pile compared to your piles I stopped at Half Price Books on my way home from getting my hair cut on Friday. :)

Here's what I got:

Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty
Knocked Out by my Nunga-Nungas by Louise Rennison
Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong

Personal Demon will be going with me on the plane tomorrow when we leave for the UK. I will most likely have it finished by the time we reach Heathrow.

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia of The Printed Page


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Sunday Salon (7/12/09)

Thanks to Natalie of The Book Inn for bestowing upon me the Kreativ Blogger Award. In order to accept it I am supposed to list my seven favorite things and send it on to my seven favorite bloggers.

7 Favorite Things

The hubby

My kitty, Joey

My iPhone

The hubby's airline miles :)

My yarn!

My MacBook, despite how beat up it is already

-and of course-

All my shelves filled with books.

7 of My Favorite Bloggers

Liv's Book Reviews

Peeking Between the Page's

The Book Vault

Tracy's Book Bag

LiyanaLand!

What Was I Reading?

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Tuesday I am getting on a plane headed to the UK. I have books picked out to take with me but will probably have to purchase another for the flight home. I can't wait. We are meeting friends in Bath for a couple days then taking the train north to Scotland. We are going to rent a car to drive around for a few days then spend four days in Edinburgh. So Excited. I will take lots of pictures to share! Anybody have any must-sees?

In Bath I plan on going to the Jane Austen Center which will be one of the things I am doing for the Everything Austen Challenge. While there I plan on picking up a copy of Northanger Abbey. Perfect read for Bath, right?

Happy Sunday!

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Spring Break reading

I know I have been pretty scarce these past few days and unfortunately that is not going to change this week. I am heading our of town today. I am on Spring Break! Woohoo! Besides being busy with laundry and packing up the clothes I am trying to decide what books to take with me. I have a few books on the iPod Kindle, one close to being finished. I have been reading it every time I have a little time...at the doctor's office, in line at the post office, laying on the couch.

So, be expecting a review of Glass Houses by Rachel Caine soon. It is the first book in the Morganville Vampires series. I am also a few pages from finishing the third in the Artemis Fowl series. The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer. Another review! March is turning out to be a much better reading month.

So, books to take with me to California.

I have the second book in the Morganville Vampires series and Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson in the iPod Kindle.

I also have Cry of Justice by Jason Pratt ready to go in my bag.

Not sure if I should take any more. Perhaps one more book. 

The Graveyard Book? An Obsolete Honor?

Not sure if I will get back on here much this week so if I don't..have a great week!