Thursday, January 3, 2013

Story Time with the Little Girl

One of my goals for this year is to read more than just the usual books E chooses every night. So, in the morning we will have story-time and read a new book from her library of my choosing. Fun, huh?

I thought so. And I thought I would share the books we read with all of you and maybe help you find some new books for your kid's libraries. I will most likely do this post weekly instead of daily to save you from a bombardment of posts, but to get it started, here is today's choice:

I Like Fruit and I Like Vegetables by Lorena Siminovich

These were a birthday gift from a good friend who happens to be a dietician. E loves fruit and veggies and so loved these colorful, touchy-feely books.

Any ideas for a cute title for these posts? I am so not creative when it comes to titles. ;)



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Goals for 2013

I like making goals for myself at the beginning of the year. Here is my list from last year:

2011 Goals:
1. Turn the TV off while LO is awake. I fear it has been on a bit too much. We do go outside a lot for walks in Golden Gate Park and trips to the playground. Most recently-bike rides! Less TV is always a good thing.
2. More Mommy time. I am a stay at home mom, so I am with the little girl all day, every day. I have tried getting some time for myself- I started a book group with friends, but it is not much. Once a month, and when the hubby is out of town for work I either miss or have to take E with me. Am thinking pedicures, yoga class, etc.
3. Lose some weight! This has an ongoing struggle. I am more active these days than I have been in awhile, which is good. But my eating habits haven't changed much, which is not so good. I have a Weight Watchers online account that I haven't been using the past couple months. I need to start that up again. As far as being active- daily walks, sometimes walk/run Couch to 5k training- I have a 5K next Sunday, bike rides. 
4. Cooking. One thing that would help with #3 would be to eat at home more. We eat out a lot and I know cooking some low cal, healthier meals at home would do some wonders. I have never been a fan of cooking, so this one will be hard.
5. Reading. I need to put down the iPad games, turn off the TV and read more. I have missed my nightly reading and have in the past couple weeks started to go to bed an hour earlier so I can read before turning off the lights. Need to continue this.
6. Blogging. I want to find more time to get online regularly to post and to read the blogs I have missed reading the past 1+ year. I am also excited to have some books lined up for reviews. It's been awhile since I felt that I had time to accept some.

I was more successful with some more than others.  1)TV is still an issue sometimes. Despite play and outside time everyday, the TV does still get turned on a bit too much. 2) More Mommy time was successful. Book group has continued, I take a ceramics class one night a week, and I even managed to leave Emma overnight a few times this year with her grandparents so we could get some much needed mom (and dad) time. 3) Have been working on this more since we moved. I take some Stroller Strides classes at least three times a week and have started to see some results. 4) This was put on hold when we moved. We just got a stove top that works. So, now the cooking begins! 5) Definitely got some more reading done in 2012 than 2011, but not to my previous numbers. 6) This one was a fail. Miss visiting blogs.

So, looking at this list, I see some that I need to continue working on and some I can take off my goals for 2013. 

Goals for 2013

1. Turn the electronics off. Limit daily TV time, iPad and iPhone play for the LO and for me. 

2. Reading. Turning those listed above off will increase the books I read each day. Within this goal, I have a few little ones: Make a dent in my TBR Pile, and read 1 new book to the little girl each day.

3. Stay Active. 20 min a day is doable. I already go to Stroller Strides at least 3 times a week. I am also training (kind of) for a 5K in February. My goal for the 5K is to beat last years time of 45min. Hoping to cut off 15 min, but not so sure I can do that.

4. Blogging. Once again, I was not as present here as I would like. Time to visit more blogs and post more!
Do you have any goals for the New Year?

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

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Wordless Wednesday



Happy New Year!

For more Wordless Wednesday visit:

Happy New Year!

2012 went out with friends and a bottle of Dom Perignon in a warm SF apartment and Lady Gaga playing in the background. It was a nice, intimate party of 15 and the perfect way to ring in the New Year. 

Before getting started on my challenges, reviews and readings of 2013, I thought I would take a look back at 2012. My GoodReads Reading Challenge goal was for 25 books read. I ended the year with 33! My goal for 2013 is 50. Slowly working my way back up to normal reading.

Here is the list of all the books I read this past year and links to reviews for some.

January
1. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (review)
2. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson =
3. Blood Orchids by Toby Neal + (review) 

February
4. The Last Letter From Your Lover by JoJo Moyes (review)
5. A Will to Murder by Hilary Thomson + (review)

March

April
6. The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose* (review)
7. Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman by Nuala O'Faolain (review)
8. The Day the World Ends: Poems by Ethan Coen + (review)

May
9. Merciful Law by Darby Rae + (review)
10. The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley * (review)
11. Guest of Honor by Deborah Davis + (review)
12. A Million Nightingales by Susan Straight (review)

June
13. The Car Thief by Theodore Weesner+ (review)
14. Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James =
15. Fifty Shades Darker by EL James =
16. Fifty Shades Freed by EL James =

July
17. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (review)
18. Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes* (review)
19. Friday Mornings at Nine by Marilyn Brant^ (review)

August
20. Light From A Distant Star by Mary McGarry Morris + (review)
21. Dead End Deal by Allen Wyler + (review)

September
22. The Island House by Posie Graeme-Evans + (review)
23. Lip Service by M.J. Rose + (review)
24. The Stand by Stephen King (review)
25. Ninepins by Rosy Thornton + (review)

October
26. Heat Wave by Richard Castle (review)
27. Dead Ringer by Allen Wyler + (review)
28. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson = 

November
26. Heat Wave by Richard Castle (review)

27. Dead Ringer by Allen Wyler + (review)
28. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson = 
29. Abdication by Juliet Nicolson + (review)

December
30. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
31. The Listeners by Harrison Demchick *(review)
32. The Girl on the Cliff by Lucinda Riley+
33. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

* ARC
^ LT Early Reviewers Program
# GoodReads First Reads Program
~ Giveaway Win
+ publisher/author sent for review (not ARC)
= Mooched/Borrowed
   Purchased



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

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

2013 TBR Pile Challenge


I found the best Challenge for the new year. I have not had a chance to read any of my own books for such a long time and the pile has grown so big. So, I will be taking a break from review books and return to reading my own books. So, here are the books that I have chosen to read for this challenge:

1. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (2003)
2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2006)
3.Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (2006)
4. A Thousand Pleasant Suns by Khaled Hosseini (2007)- read in August
5. Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry (2009)- Read in May
6. 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs (2009) - read in January
7.The Van Allen Legacy by Melissa De La Cruz (2009)
8. The Likeness by Tana French (2009) -read in January
9. Faithful Place by Tana French (2010)
10. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (2011)
11. The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown (2011)
12. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (2011) - read in April

I forgot my alternates! Here they are:

American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition by Neil Gaiman (2011)
Bumped by Megan McCafferty (2011) - read in May

Do you have a large TBR pile, too? Join the challenge! Head on over to RoofBeamReader and sign up. Let's see if we can make a dent in our piles.

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

Review: The Listeners by Harrison Demchick


The Listeners by Harrison Demchick

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was such a beautifully, almost poetically, written zombie apocalypse novel. Its definitely not a typical zombie story. The infected are not dead. They are sick people, who's mental state slowly degenerates. They are covered in boils and highly contagious. They are a frightening addition to the horror genre.

Daniel Raymond is 14 year old, left alone in his apartment in the middle of the quarantined borough. He thinks of his mother, his friend Katie and their lives before the outbreak. Within the walls of the quarantine, the police have become corrupt, the people dependent on them for food and protection. There are also The Listeners, a band of boys and men with an ear chopped off that seem almost a myth, but who have an agenda of their own. Then there are the infected roaming the streets. 

The story goes back and forth in time, and is sometimes interspersed with Daniel's dreams and what seem like hallucinations. It is very affective at portraying the madness and desperation within him to find answers to what is happening around him.

I realize that this review sounds a bit vague but I feel sharing even some of the plot gives away too much. You will enjoy it better if you read it without knowing what is coming next.

Source: from author for review, NetGalley

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

Friday, December 7, 2012

Advent Calendar

Untitled
Does anyone else have a hard time keeping up with your Advent Calendar?

 I always forget to put a new ornament on our Advent tree, and these little knits only get emptied when the little girl remembers. She is so much better than I am. It's the treats.  I filled it with leftover halloween candy, clementines, some fruit snacks and am trying to get some ornaments knit and in there on time.

An almost finished candy cane ornament. 
I am cutting it close with this one. Have to get it in there by tomorrow! She is, unfortunately, not as excited to get them as I hoped. She can't eat them, so…

One knit ornament ball. Hopefully my next attempt looks a little better.

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

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Wordless Wednesday

Bardessano Inn and Spa
Yountville, CA

For more Wordless Wednesday visit: http://wordlesswednesday.blogspot.com

Dead Ringer Holiday Special!


Here is a really great Holiday deal! 

Dead Ringer is available on Amazon for only $1.99 from now until Christmas as part of their Special Holiday Seasonal Promo. Click here to find it and some other great deals or click on book cover to got straight to the book's page.

Below you will find more info on the book and a link to my review.
Happy Holidays!
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You can find my review here.
Heart Stopping Medical Thriller Takes On
True-to-Life Body Snatcher Syndicates
Recent Newspaper Headlines Confirm Horrifying Premise


"In the tradition of Robin Cook, Wyler takes us behind the scenes to show us things the medical establishment doesn’t want us to see. DEAD RINGER builds a high-speed plot on a startling but all-too-plausible premise. This is the stuff nightmares are made of."

-- Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Paranoia and Buried Secrets

“…Wyler does for hospitals what Benchley did for the ocean.”

--Joe Moore, Co-author of the International Bestseller, The Grail Conspiracy

“Neurosurgeon Allen Wyler knows of what he speaks, and writes, and the result is a thriller that equals and updates the best of Robin Cook and Michael Crichton.”

--Jon Land, bestselling author of Strong at the Break


While speaking at a Hong Kong medical conference, neurosurgeon Dr. Lucas McCrae slips the cloth off a cadaver’s head during a routine medical demonstration, and is overwhelmed by what’s staring back at him: The face of his best friend, Andy Baer.

Stunned, McCrae races back to Seattle to discover that Andy is in fact missing and may have been murdered by a gang of body snatchers who operate a legit funeral business and make a fortune by selling recovered body parts to medical researchers. 

McCrae teams up with an unlikely pair—a beautiful but hardnosed female cop and a gang member whose family was victimized by the cadaver ring—to try and expose a macabre web of corruption that involves law enforcement, politicians, funeral home curators and murdered prostitutes.

Internationally renowned neurosurgeon Allen Wyler takes us deep into a nightmarish scenario, shockingly ripped from recent headlines, to deliver a horrifically plausible, page-turning thriller.
###

EDITOR’S NOTE

Medical research has always been a cornerstone of medical innovation, and thus of our society. But throughout history, many suspect that the gathering of human bodies for research has never been purely ethical or legal. Many believe that today, sophisticated international syndicates exist that traffic in body parts for medical research; the most recent incident appearing in the New York Times just weeks ago. ( HYPERLINK "http://nyti.ms/NfU5kU" http://nyti.ms/NfU5kU) 

We feel this crime has been elusively clandestine, easily dismissed, and in many cases overlooked for cynical reasons. We would like to go on record as agreeing with ethics scholars that everyone involved in the medical community, be they students practitioners, media or affiliates should remain vigilant and forthright; and embrace the high standard of responsibility inherent in the ethical conduct of medical research, especially when it involves human remains.
Happy Reading!
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FTC Disclosure: Clicking on book title and/or image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page.

2012 Challenges Wrap Up post

I completed my Challenges!!! Yay. I wasn't sure I would but I managed it. I am very proud of myself. :) It hasn't been a good year for reading, but I am happy that I met these and already have more than 25 books read. How did you all do with your challenges this year?




Literary Escapism's New Author Challenge
My goal: try for 15 books by new-to-me authors. 



1. Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
2. JoJo Moyes, The Last Letter From Your Lover
3. Hilary Thomson, A Will to Murder
4. MJ Rose, The Book of Lost Fragrances
5. Ethan Coen, The Day the World Ends: Poems
6. Darby Rae, Merciful Law
7. Lucinda Riley, The Orchid House
8. Susan Straight, A Million Nightingales
9. Deborah Davis, Guest of Honor
10. Susan Straight, A Million Nightengales
11. Theodore Weesner, The Car Thief
12. Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
13. Elizabeth Haynes, Into the Darkest Corner
14. Allen Wyler, Dead End Deal
15. Posie Graeme-Evans, The Island House





Rose City Reader'sEuropean Reading Challenge
My goal: attempting the Five Star (Deluxe Entourage)- Five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.


1. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larssen (Sweden)
2. The Last Letter from Your Lover by JoJo Moyes (England)
3. Are You Somebody? by Nuala O'Faolain (Ireland)
4. The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley (England/France)
5. The Island House by Posie Graeme-Evans (Scotland)

Thanks to Rose City Reader and Literary Escapism for some great challenges this year!

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