It's That Time of Year Again - R.I.P X

R.I.P X!
I participated the very first time in this community event back in 2008 for R.I.P III. I enjoy it every year, even when I couldn't participate fully.
This year, for the 10th Anniversary, I am jumping all in. Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings has passed the hosting this year to The Estella Society. So head on over there to get signed up.
Here is what I will be reading:

1. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson "Murder, Magic, And Madness at the Fair that Changed America"
I chose this book for my October Book Group. Perfect timing, right?  Already reading and enjoying this one. Can't wait to discuss with our group.
2. Definitely Dead and 3. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris Books 6 and 7 of the Sookie Steakhouse Series
I borrowed these books from my sister years ago and by "years ago" I mean 4! I need to return them to her. I am loving this. Two from the TBR pile.
4. The Quick by Lauren Owen

I think I will participate in the group read this year, too. Sounds like a great book!
Happy Reading! _________________________________________

Sf Half Marathon Finisher

Totally forgot to update you all. I finished my half marathon! I managed to limp my way across the finish line 3 hrs and 4 minutes after I began. Woohoo. 

A friend really helped me get through the first 10 miles by having us do 4m run 2m walk intervals. The last three miles i walked due to the leg hurting. 

Turns out I have a stress fracture and am now on "rest and no impact" directions from the doctor for 6 weeks. :( 

I am missing my classes and runs. 

Hoping for a quick recovery. 

(Posted with the Blogger app)

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
eBook and Paperback, 352 pages Published July 2015, Atria Books/Washington Square Press
Source: from publisher for review
After a break up with a married man, Hannah Martin is ready for a change. She packs up her life and moves herself back to LA to start anew. A friend throws her a welcome back party where she meets up with her old boyfriend. At the end of the night she has to decide to go home with Gabby or stay and see where things lead with Ethan.
Did you ever see the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow called Sliding Doors? This book reminded me a bit of it. Maybe in Another Life follows Hannah through the two different directions her life could lead her depending on her decision that night. 
Both scenarios play out at the same time so be prepared to skip between them with every chapter. A little hard to follow at first, but I got used to it and totally engrossed in both story lines. In both possible life alternatives, Hannah has to figure out what she wants to do with her life, who she is and who she loves. 
What a great summer read. Go and get a copy and read it by the pool or the beach. You won't be able to put it down so make sure you put on your sunscreen.
About the Author

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author and essayist from Acton, Massachusetts. She is the author of Forever, Interrupted and After I do. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alex and her dog, Rabbit. You can follow her on Twitter @TJenkinsReid.
For more information about the book and author, visit her WEBSITE.

Happy Reading! _________________________________________

Half Marathon Training and Injury

I have not been training for this half marathon as I should be. It is less than a month away and the most miles I have run is 6. Not bad, for me, but not really where I should be. The problem is my susceptibility to injury. I tend to hurt myself walking, shaving my legs... I am a klutz.  Since I have started training, I have fallen and given myself the ugliest road rash and my knee doesn't seem quite right after that. I threw my back out. That shaving mention above...yeah. And now, after a nice 4.8 mile run on Saturday, I have shin splint pain.  Perhaps I am not made for this?
A friend of mine is flying in from Texas to run this half marathon with me so I will still be doing it. I have warned her that I will be slow, and will be walking a bit of it. 

For the rest of this week, I will be letting my leg recover. Stretching, icing, and rest are on the schedule. It's kind of funny, but I really want to go out for a jog or be at my workout lass that I am missing this morning. Before, I would have been happy to sit on my butt. 

Happy Recovery! _________________________________________

On Holiday

Oakland, Maine

Vacation read

Mattapoisett, Massachusetts 

Stronger, healthier, faster

I went to Banana Republic yesterday to buy some shorts. They had tons of really cute ones that weren't too short and some that were even on sale. I had the little girl with me so knew I wasn't going to have much time to really try on much. I picked up a pair, held them up to me and thought they looked the right size. Took them back to the changing room with me along with some other items. 
This is when I took a look at the size. 8s! Pulled them on and they fit! What? The shorts I came in wearing were 12s. Of course, they have been fitting a bit baggy and I did need to put on a belt to hold them up. I should have known. The thing is, I knew I was smaller, but not that much smaller! Woohoo.
More incentive to keep going to Body Back classes, running and doing those 12 Minute workouts. I should probably keep up with the eating healthier, too. Seems to be working. 
At this time last summer, before I started my first Body Back Session, I was unable to run a mile, I was 15 pounds heavier and definitely not as strong and healthy. I had high blood pressure, too. A year later, I can run a 5k and I am running a half marathon the end of July. I say running, probably more of a walk/run but my only goal is to finish within the 3 hour limit. I think I can do that considering that I can do 6 miles in a little over an hour.

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Night at the Symphony

The hubby and I went to the Symphony last night, the last performance of this season's subscription. It was pretty amazing. It wasn't just the normal performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, it was a full on production incorporating movement around the stage and hall, lighting and video. The soloists did not just stand while the sang and sit when they didn't. They walked and kneeled and watched the choir or concertmaster as they performed, they interacted with the boy's choir. We absolutely loved it. A great ending to our season. Can't wait to see what we will get next season.
I have included this short clip of Michael Tilson Thomas's description of his reimagining of this daunting piece. Enjoy

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

Going on Hiatus...kind of

Hi all,
My last (requested) book review will be posted next month and then I am going on hiatus for a bit. Not sure how long it will be for, but I am ready to read books from my TBR pile and our Book Group picks without having to try to fit them in between review books. 
I will still be around, however, blogging about other things- my current TBR books, book group, knitting projects, life. I have a lot of things coming up that I would like to spend time on... a half marathon, the little girl starting TK, turning 40!
Hope you stick around.





Happy Reading! _________________________________________

SF Half Marathon

Back in January, I told a friend I would do a half marathon with her. Back then it sounded doable. Six months to train and get myself able to at least run part of it and finish in the allotted time. Well, I should have known that, being a bit of a klutz, it wouldn't be that easy.
Since beginning my "training", I have made my feet and ankle ache to the point of being barely able to walk, I have fallen and given my leg the worst road rash, and now I have thrown out my back. The back was not done running, though. It was done in the shower while shaving my legs.  Seriously.
I think running (and shaving) are a bit too dangerous for my clumsy self. What do you all think?
Unfortunately, there is no backing out now unless I am totally broken at the end of July. I have a friend flying in from Texas to join me on the course! We may be walking instead of running, though. Can you imagine the damage I could do to myself on the hills of San Francisco?
Ack! Happy Jogging! (Ha) _________________________________________
 FTC Disclosure: Clicking on book title and/or image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page.

The Appetites of Girls by Pamela Moses

The Appetites of Girls by Pamela Moses 416 pages, Paperback Published June, 2015 by Berkeley
Source: From publisher for review
About the Book

A wisely-observed and beautifully-wrought debut novel, Pamela Moses’s THE APPETITES OF GIRLS (Berkley Trade Paperback; June 2, 2015; $16.00) traces the lives of four young women—college roommates—as they find strength to overcome struggles that have defined them since adolescence and eventually grow into the women they are meant to be. Told from each woman’s distinct vantage point, their interlocking stories revolve, subtly and compulsively, around food and the dangerous preoccupation with body image that so often shapes women’s perceptions and actions from an early age. This “terrific novel…exposes and illuminates the ways in which women use food as a proxy weapon in battles with others and themselves,” says Martha Moody, bestselling author of Best Friends. “And, most hauntingly, it shows how even young women with clear advantages…must struggle to recognize and accept their own intrinsic powers.”

An intimate baby shower for Ruth reunites the former roommates and provides the narrative springboard for each woman’s girlhood story and the memories that have shaped her since. Plump and self-doubting as a child, Ruth is raised by a mother who uses food as affection as well as control. Opal longs for attention from her nomadic single mother and determines to achieve it by imitating her mother’s use of feminine wiles with men. Francesca grows up in a Park Avenue penthouse with a mother obsessed with appearances; and Setsu, adopted as a toddler from an orphanage in Japan, shows a rare talent as a violinist but is too ready to sacrifice her gifts to please a jealous older brother.

When the four women are assigned as suitemates at Brown, they seem to come from different worlds. But from their friendship—which grows discordantly at times and tentatively at first—Ruth, Opal, Francesca, and Setsu find strength to triumph individually as well as together.

“An important book for our times—and for our friends, daughters, and ourselves” says Sarah Pekkanen, author of The Best of Us. As it delves into the complex relationship between woman and food, this impressive debut novel explores deeper issues about the challenges all women face as they navigate through life.

My Review
I have to say, I always enjoy a good coming of age story and one about girls who meet in college, and their lives after, has always interested me. So I was very interested and excited to read The Appetite of Girls.
I enjoyed the way Moses introduces the girls- through their childhood experiences and hardships (usually with their mothers) that will influence them later in life. They are so different and yet they become the best of friends as roommates in college.
The writing and the story pulled me in. It was so easy to get sucked into these girl's lives and root for them. A great summer book. 
About the Author

Pamela Moses grew up in New Jersey.  She attended Brown University and received a master’s in English from Georgetown.  After graduating, she moved to Manhattan to teach English at a girls’ school.  She now lives outside New York City with her husband and two children.  The Appetites of Girls is her first novel. 

For more information about the book and author visit her WEBSITE.

Happy Reading! _________________________________________