My Years Reflection 1982

It's my 30th birthday year. As part of my celebrations, I thought I would take my birthday month to reflect on my life. To help, I am using some of my scrapbooked pages to illustrate my life. For each year, I've chosen a few pages to highlight that year. I hope you enjoy my look back as much as I do.

1982: I was born. I don't remember that first year, obviously, but I've chosen a few pages that highlight my life.

Page 1: The cover for my scrapbooks. I had to go with purple as my background paper; it's my favorite color of all time. I found these cute die cuts to add to my name and birthdate.

Page 2: I continued with my purple theme throughout the early years scrapbook. I had to include my just after being born picture. Look at my all wrapped up in blankets, looking all cute. When I was born, I was the fifth generation alive on my mom's side. The newspaper came to the family's home to document the five generations. There's me, my mother Rebecca, her father Jerry, his mother Helen, and her mother. I never knew my great-great grandmother as she died when I was just a few months old. I knew my great-grandmother Helen. She eventually developed Alzheimer's and did when I was in middle school.

Page 3: Scenes from my first year of life. One of my favorite pictures from my entire life is the one with the Cheerios box. My grandma Joan was trying to enter me into a cutest baby contest sponsored by Cheerios. I obviously didn't win, but I do so love that picture. Unfortunately, I seem to have a really long head in the picture on the bottom left. Thankfully I grew into it.

Undead Much? by Stacey Jay

Title: Undead Much? (Megan Berry #2)

Author: Stacey Jay

Publisher: Razorbill 2010

Genre: Zombie

Pages: 304

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Zombie; Support Your Local Library; Read Your Name - U

How I Got It: Library Loan

Megan Berry - Zombie Settler extraordinaire - just wants Pom Squad to trounce Cheer Team in this freakishly funny follow-up to You Are So Undead to Me. But someone's turning coma victims into settler-resistant uber-zombies - and everyone thinks it's Megan's fault! Well, except for super-creepy male cheerleader Aaron. (Ew!)Meg's also being stalked by a hot - albeit undead - seer named Cliff. Can Cliff's premonitions help Megan stop a zombies-on-ice deathscapade and discover who's really behind the coma-killer crusade before an entire army of undead rise up? And when Megan's boyfriend Ethan grows jealous of Cliff, will it end their intra-settler romance?

Another surprise. I really didn't think I was going to like this one, and I was wrong. It was a fun zombie book with enough gore and creep out factor to keep me reading. I don't think I liked it quite as much as the first one. Really the first one could have been a stand alone. This one continues her story and adds lots of conspiracy layers. I still liked tha Megan actually acted like a 16-year-old. Even though I wanted to smack her a few times for her immaturity. It was fun. Not overly amazing. It's not going to appear on my Top 10 list for the year, but it was a great two day read.

Megan Berry, Zombie Settler (DNFed series)

#1 You are So Undead to Me
#2 Undead Much?
#2.5 Valentine's Day of the Undead

February 2012 Wrap-Up

Books Read and Reviewed (15 books)

1,000,000 Page Goal

Monthly Total: 4712pages
Pages Remaining: 933,037 pages

Current Read

Flirting with Forever by Gwyn Cready

The Long Weekend by Salita Kalhan

Books Won (0)

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Challenges Completed (0)

Comments

I thought I would hit a reading rut this month. So thankful that it didn't happen. I have some great plans to keep this reading streak going.

Next Month's TBR

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Henry V by Shakespeare
Immortals series by Alyson Noel
The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance
Palace Circle by Rebecca Dean
Allison Hewitt is Trapped by Madeleine Roux
Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield
First Days by Rhiannon Frater
Rise Again by Ben Tripp
Pure by Julianna Baggott
The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

Quote Wednesday - Anne of Avonlea

"Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one’s life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one’s side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music; perhaps . . . perhaps . . . love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath."L.M. Montgomery- Anne of Avonlea

I seem to have a thing for quotes about love the last couple of weeks. But I found this one, and absolutely love it. Anne of Avonlea is one of my childhood books. I wanted to be Anne. I wanted to live in her village and fall in love. This quote speaks to how I see love and romance. We should not expect all the fiery love-at-first-sight nonsense. Instead, look for the love that creeps up on you. The one that has been there growing, but you have been too busy to notice. There you just might find your one true love.

You are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay

Title: You are So Undead to Me (Megan Berry #1)

Author: Stacey Jay

Publisher: Razorbill 2009

Genre: Zombie

Pages: 272

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Zombie; What's in a Name - Creepy Crawly; Support Your Local Library; States Challenge - Arkansas

How I Got It: Library Loan

Fifteen-year-old Megan Berry is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she's part-time shrink to a bunch of dead people with a whole lot of issues.All Megan wants is to be normal - and go to homecoming, of course. Unfortunately, it's a little difficult when your dates keep getting interrupted by a bunch of slobbering Undead.
Things are about to get even more complicated for Megan. Someone in school is using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into flesh-eating Zombies, and it's looking like homecoming will turn out to be a very different kind of party - the bloody kind.
Megan must stop the Zombie apocalypse descending on Carol, Arkansas. Her life - and more importantly, homecoming - depends on it.

I have a confession: I thought this was going to be an uber-stupid teenage novel about the right hair or getting the cute boy. I thought was going to make fun of this novel and wonder how it even was published. But I was wrong (mostly). Megan is a teenager. She does care about making the dance team and getting a date for the Homecoming Dance. But she's also a settler with a lot more power than she thinks. She make act immature at times, but she is fifteen. It's refreshing to see a young adult novel where the young adult actually acts like a young adult, not an adult stuck in a teenage body. I think I would have been over the moon with this book if I was fifteen. Megan Berry would have been my hero. Even as an almost-30-year-old, I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed it so much that I picked up the sequel to read next.

Megan Berry, Zombie Settler

#1 You are So Undead to Me
#2 Undead Much?
#2.5 Valentine's Day of the Undead

Music Monday -- 2007

As part of my ongoing celebration for my 30th birthday, I am highlighting some popular songs from throughout my years. Songs were picked based off of a list of Grammy award winners and Billboard Top 100. Then, I chose my favorites to highlight.

Year: 2007

Book: Lost in Austen by Emma Campbell Webster

Music Selections:

The White Stripes "Icky Thump"
Amy Winehouse "Rehab"
Maroon 5 "Makes Me Wonder"
Paramore "Misery Business"

The Sunday Salon #3

Listening To: Just my giant iPod shuffle. Nothing specific, going where the shuffle takes me.

Book finished: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; Macbeth; Doctor Who: Through Time and Space; The Year of Living Biblically

Reading: You are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay

Making Lists: Getting my birthday month prizes ready for my first ever blog giveaway (check back on March 1st!)

Around the house: Does anyone else get this great feeling when all the towels and sheets have been washed and put back in their place? I do. I love that clean and orderly feeling.

From the kitchen: I was going to bake some muffins this weekend, but it seems we don't have any room in the freezer to store them. So baking will be next weekend. We are slowly working through our freezer meals and I have to say I love it. I don't have to think as much about dinner. We just eat whatever I pull from the freezer the night before. Speaking of... I need to pull something out as soon as I finish this post.

On the Web: I'm feeling the temptation of Pinterest... It's calling my name. But I know that if I join, it will turn into a new time-sucker. I must resist.

Weekly Quote: I absolutely adore my Quote Wednesday post from Persuasion by Jane Austen.

Crafting: Absolutely none. I was going finish my Disney scrapbook, but needed to get my blog in order for March. Hopefully next weekend.

Work Observations: How can people use this many supplies in a week? Are they eating them instead of their lunch? Sometimes I really wonder.

Watching: More Bond (we're on to Timothy Dalton) and Stargate. The server went down a few days ago and it's currently in the rebuilding process. So we had to make do. And by make do, I mean we had to rely on our ~1500 dvd discs physically sitting in the basement. How have we survived the week?

Wondering: How dedicating the month of Lent to reading, reviewing, and blogging counts? Isn't Lent supposed to be about giving something up, recognizing the sacrifice of the Hebrews under Egyptian rule? Apparently some book bloggers (I won't name who) have decided that reading and reviewing is a sacrifice... just another ridiculous "I fit religion to how I live my life" moment.

From Nature: We've been having very warm temperatures for being the end of February. I'm a little scared that this means we're going to have multiple late freezes or a drought this summer.

Shopping Scores: I've been planning our Spring Break road trip and so have been on the hunt for lap desks for the boys. I have a laptop desk, but it has ridges. J has a smooth one, but it's way too big for 9-year-old laps. I searched Amazon, but the bad pictures didn't give me an idea of relative size or ridge or no ridge. Amazingly enough, I found perfect flat with bean rests at Hobby Lobby. Search mission accomplished!

Project: Preparing my blog for March birthday madness. I have posts scheduled for every day in March on top of my usual memes and book reviews. I have just a little more to finish before it's completely ready.

On Friday I made myself a little list of weekend-to-do.

Library crawl — I made it to the newly remodeled library. They have a much better adult fiction selection than the one I usually go to, but I didn't see a Young Adult section at all.
Prep my huge collection of March posts —They are 90% done. I just need to add a bit of writing here and there and it will be done.
Finish my Disney trip scrapbook — Nope, not done at all.
Catch up on Downton Abbey — Nope
Catch up on The Vampire Diaries — Nope
Laundry/dishwashing/bathroom cleaning -- I did get all of the laundry and dishes done. The bathroom was Swiffered, but that's it. I think that's enough. We don't make huge messes, so it was just a bit of tidying up.

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

Title: The Year of Living Biblically

Author: A.J. Jacobs

Publisher: Simon and Schuster 2008

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 416

Rating: 3 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Dewey Decimal -- 200s; Mixing It Up -- Journalism and Humor; A to Z -- Y

How I Got It: Library Loan

Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world, A.J. Jacobs decides to dive in headfirst and attempt to obey the Bible as literally as possible for one full year. He vows to follow the Ten Commandments. To be fruitful and multiply. To love his neighbor. But also to obey the hundreds of less publicized rules: to avoid wearing clothes made of mixed fibers; to play a ten-string harp; to stone adulterers.
The resulting spiritual journey is at once funny and profound, reverent and irreverent, personal and universal and will make you see history's most influential book with new eyes.

I read Jacob's first experiment The Know-It-All about him reading the Encyclopedia. I laughed out loud through most of the book. So I went into this book with high hopes. A secular Jewish man living in NYC decides to follow the Biblical rules. I thought I would laugh at his escapades; at least chuckle.

Unfortunately, I grew more and more angry as the book progressed. Jacobs begins noticing things about life in his episodes. I can appreciate these. For example, he realizes that his life is bombarded with media. Once he turns it all off, he enjoys more life. I can get it. But then he gets way too obsessive over these rules. I just can't get behind these at all. In discussing parenting, he comes to the conclusion that he must impart religion to his son otherwise he will end up an atheist criminal or a crazy fundamentalist. This seems like a strong either-or conceptas opposed to a rational parenting choice. Another point of contention is the whole creationism vs. evolution debate. In discussing he comes to the conclusion:

"I believe that's a key motivation to creationsim: the need to feel less inconsequential. I remember Mark Looy--the publicist for the Creation Museum--saying, 'Evolution says that we are the product of random processes. That we evolved via pond scum. When we say that, we're not applying much value to humanity. If we say we're a product of accidents and random processes, how much purpose and hope does that give to our youth'" (page 107)

I have multiple issues with this: 1. Evolution is not 'accidents and random processes,' it's adaptation to the purpose for better chances of survival. 2. Why does evolution lead to not valuing humanity? It doesn't. We can value life for the sake of life. 3. Purpose and hope is a human concept. One that we can consciously impart. It's these types of discussions that I just had trouble getting through.

In the end, Jacobs ends up as a "reverent agnostic" but one who still plans on observing the Sabbath and praying to God (which God, I'm not sure). At times, I agree with his observations about modern life. I applaud his taking the time to examine his life. I just have issues in some of his conclusions. For these reasons, I gave the book 3 stars. It's well-written... just not for me.

Weekend Plans

Many around the book blogging community are participating in a GoodReads Catch Up Readathon hosted by Once Upon a Chapter. I thought about it. I do so love my readathons. But then I started thinking about everything else I wanted to do this weekend and next week. And the readathon started to seem like a chore. So I won't be participating this time around. I have some other things that I want to get done today, tomorrow, and Sunday:

Library crawl -- Yep that's right, a library crawl. I've lived in Omaha for over 6 months and still haven't been to most of the branch libraries. So I decided this would be the perfect time. And the library closest to my house just reopened after a huge renovation project. I want to find the best magazine, children's, and graphic novel areas. Those always seem to be lacking at the branch I usually go to (it's right between home and work).
Prep my huge collection of March posts -- I'm gearing up for a month long event celebrating my 30th birthday. I have posts scheduled every day. Plus, I'm hosting a big giveaway (tune back in March 1st for details). I need to have all of that basically ready to go by March 1st so I don't get behind.
Finish my Disney trip scrapbook -- I have less than a third to go...
Catch up on Downton Abbey -- I just started season 2 the other night and have been itching to get back into it
Catch up on The Vampire Diaries -- I'm only one episode behind. Unfotunately, I have to watch it on cwtv.com because our server went down the other day. It's rebuilding, but will probably take a few days.
Laundry/dishwashing/bathroom cleaning -- Oh the joys of chores. I need to schedule these, otherwise they never get done.

Quite a list of things for this weekend. And on top of all that, I am toying with a self-imposed readathon on Sunday... But I guess I have to get through most of the list first.

Btw: A double check on my GoodReads Challenge shows that I am 8 books ahead of my goal (total 200). I think that will hold me for awhile.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Author: J.K. Rowling

Publisher: Scholastic 1999

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Pages: 352

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: HP; My Years

How I Got It: Own it!

This one is a reread for me. It's been awhile since I read the series. I remember reading the first couple of books out loud to the boys when they were infants. SO that's what eight years ago? I read the last few books as they came out, but overall it's been awhile.

Instead of doing a traditional review, I thought I would just give you some of my reread thoughts. Things I noticed, things I loved, quotes I like, etc. And then I will have a mini review of movie vs. book.

Book fun:

Favorite scene: From this book I have a few favorite scenes. First, the introduction of Gilderoy Lockheart in Flourish and Blotts is too cringe-worthy. I want to get away from him just like Harry. But the way Rowling writes it, I see everything play out in my mind. Second, I love Harry and Ron's arrival to Hogwarts (car and whomping willow), but especially the scolding they get from Snape. He's so scary. I love it. Finally, I love the Deathday Party for Nearly Headless Nick. I can almost smell the rotten food.
Favorite character: I'm going to have to god with Tom Riddle for this book. Even though we don't meet him until Chapter 13, it's just an amazing reveal. We're as much in the dark as Harry until the final showdown in the Chamber. He is such a memorable character!
Favorite expressions: "Definitely dodgy" (Ron) {I really think we Americans need to start using the word dodgy, Love it!], "load of dung" (Fred), "great sizzling dragon bogies" (Filch)
I forgot how slow this book seems to be. The basilisk doesn't petrify it's first victim until page 146. And then everything just seems to happen at once.
Rowling spends a lot of time in the beginning of the book discussing the wizarding world and points from the first book. I guess given the that this is book two and it was targeted at elementary students, it would make sense. But for me, I skimmed through parts of a few chapters to get to the new information. If I'm remembering correctly, this decreases as the books go on.
Tom Riddle was a prefect and won a trophy for "closing" the Chamber. I completely forgot how accomplished he was while at Hogwarts. It puts a whole new spin on the sociopath angle.

Favorite quotes:

"Because that's what Hermione does," said Ron shrugging. "When in doubt, go to the library" (255)
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." (Dumbledore) (333)

Movie fun:

Overall I really like this movie adaptation. It follows the book fairly completely. The story retains the suspense and disbelief without all of the repetition of the backstory. The Hogwart's world is beautiful and moody. And of course, Alan Rickman's Snape is one of my favorite characters to see on the big screen. It's great to see the kids starting to grow up and come into their own.

My favorite scenes: The dueling club. I absolutely love the grandeur. Plus, Lockheart versus Snape is just the height of movie drama. And don't you just love Lockheart's dueling outfit. Hee hee

Things I wished to see, but didn't: The Deathday Party. I love the house ghosts and wish they could have worked in more scenes with them, especially Nearly Headless Nick. I know it would have added too many minutes to the movie, but still it would have been nice.

Harry Potter:

Macbeth by Shakespeare

Title: Macbeth

Author: William Shakespeare

Genre: Classic Play

Pages: 204 (Cliffsnotes complete edition)

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Shakespeare; Support Your Local Library

This is only my second time reading Macbeth; the first time was way back at the beginning of college. In review the play, I think it has grown on me. The political intrigue and psychological elements have become favorites. I really enkoyed tracing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's gradual downfalls. Lady started out cold and merciless and eventual commits suicide over her guilt. Macbeth starts with guilt and gradually grows more cold and calculating. I love seeing the resversal of roles. I find it fascinating how many people suspect Macbeth of Duncan's murder and yet fail to do anything until the very end of the play. I really emjoyed this one. Can't wait until next month's selection: Henry V (new read for me)

Doctor Who: Through Time and Space

Title: Doctor Who: Through Time and Space

Publisher: IDW Publishing 2009

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 152

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel, Support Your Local Library; A to Z - D

How I Got It: Library Loan

Collecting six original stories of the popular sci-fi show, Doctor Who, all featuring the Tenth Doctor, as portrayed by David Tennant. Includes the one-shots The Whispering Gallery, The Time Machination, Autopia, Cold-Blooded Cold War, Just a Theory, and Black Death by a bevy of talented creators, including Ben Templesmith and John Ostrander (Star Wars: Legacy).

Such a find! I was browsing the stacks and found this just sitting there... My faith in the Omaha Public Library is slowing increasing. I loved the stories in this volume. Each one was a stand alone story, but had tidbits of information and allusions to other Doctor stories. We get little bits here and there. My favorite had to be "The Whispering Gallery" featuring Martha Jones, an emotion free world, and an emotion feeding demon. It had the right amount of wonder, suspense, danger, and bravery that I have come to expect from Doctor stories. I recently discovered that there's a whole line of these graphic novels along with novels associated with Doctor Who. How did I not know this? Unfortunately, the OPL doesn't have many of them...

Quote Wednesday - Persuasion

"I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant." -- Jane Austen Persuasion

When I first read Jane Austen's novels, Pride and Prejudice was my favorite. I loved the characters, the romance, the wit. But as the years have progressed, I have come to absolutely love Persuasion. Austen's last book has a maturity of characters and story. Our heroine is older, wiser, but still stuck with the conventions of the day and her family's status. I adore Anne Elliott, but even more I love Captain Wentworth. Such a man!

Top Ten Tuesday - Disaster Saving Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

This week's topic "Books I Would Save During a Disaster" brings up an interesting idea. I am going to make the assumption that we have to list physical books. Just grabbing an e-reader is too easy. Just as a point of reference, all of these books are on my permanent bookshelf right by my reading chair. Therefore they would be easy to grab, one stop shop. Without further ado, the books from my collection that I absolutely cannot live without:

1. The Awakening by Kate Chopin -- My all time favorite book. I have a little mass market paperback with a beautiful blue picture of a woman in front of the ocean. I would definitely have to grab this one.

2. Entire Jane Austen library -- They are all right next to each other, so I'm going to count them as one.

3. Complete Edgar Allen Poe -- I have a hardback edition with most of his poems and stories.

4. The Monster at the End of This Book -- Yes it's a Sesame Street Golden Book, but it was one of my favorite books as child. I lost my original, but once the boys were born, I scoured bookstores until I found a new one. This edition is the original style Golden Book; not the new plastic covered ones.

5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald -- One of other favorite books. I love my copy with a forward, an explanation of terms and references, and an essay about the book and Fitzgerald.

6. Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams -- An all-in-one giant copy of the trilogy of five books. My favorite comedy!

7. Compelte Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis -- Another giant copy. A little too big to stuff in a purse, but I would definitely save it from disaster.

Music Monday -- New Music

As part of my Day Zero Project, I am finding some new music. Specifally I want to find a great new-to-me band for each letter of the alphabet. Today, I have few songs to share.

Music Selections: This week's new-to-me selections all come from listening to Alt Nation on satellite radio. J has it in his car, so we always get to listen to great music. Unfortunately I have to make due with the local channels. It's funny that all of these songs are ones I've been listening to for months on Alt Nation and they are finally getting some air play on the Omaha channels. At any rate they are completely stuck in my head...

Gotye "Somebody That I Used to Know"

Neon Trees "Everybody Talks"

Young the Giant "Cough Syrup"

AWOLNATION "Not Your Fault"

Ellie Goulding "Lights"

Complete A to Z list (so far):

A - Awolnation "Not Your Fault"
B -
C -
D -
E - Ellie Goulding "Lights"
F -
G - Gotye "Somebody That I Used to Know"
H -
I -
J -
K -
L -
M -
N - Neon Trees "Everybody Talks"
O -
P -
Q -
R -
S -
T -
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y - Young the Giant "Cough Syrup"
Z -

The Sunday Salon #2

Listening To: Florence + the Machine's new album Ceremonials. I'm especially loving the haunting "What the Water Gave Me." She makes such mood music. I love it!

Book finished:Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Reading: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Making Lists: Adding to my never ending TBR list. I might just have an addiction to reading...

Around the house: I finally got around to putting away the box of Christmas decorations. Unfortunately,the Christmas tree is still up. To be fair it just really doesn't look like a Christmas tree. It will probably be left up for another few months yet.

From the kitchen: We've started using the freezer meals. Unfortunately we had a bit of a mishap with the honey pork chops. The recipe said to defrost and then bake for 1:15 hours at 350 degrees. This turned them into burnt hockey pucks. So next time, not so long...

On the Web: Not much news... There was a great announcement about Mountain Lion. Finally, Apple is getting around to integrating all the messaging services into one iMessage. Looking forward to this.

Crafting: My Stampin' Up order included a paper trimmer. I absolutely love using it. So much better than scissors. Yesterday, I continued working in the Disney vacation scrapbook. I'm over two-thirds through mine... making progress. I also managed to reorganize a bit of my crafting stash. Now it's less of an explosion of supplies than a couple of untidy stacks of supplies.

Work Observations: My boss returned from maternity leave and things are slowly getting back to normal. However, that also means that I don't have a huge amount of projects to complete at the moment. Kinda bored until we decide the next big project.

Watching: More Stargate SG-1. We got through season 2 and on to season 3. My one big comment: What the hell happened to Daniel's hair? Argh! I finally started watching Downton Abbey and am officially hooked. Love it! And I caught back up with The Vampire Diaries. Unfortunately it doesn't come back until March.

Wondering: How we managed to eat a hubcap (yes a hubcap) of sushi the other night and not die of overeating? So good... but good gracious that was a lot of food.

From Nature: All week we've had fairly moderate temperatures for February. It's been an odd winter with wild temperature fluctuations.

Shopping Scores: Randomly Half Price Books had a Booklover's Weekend with a 40% off coupon. Of course, I had to use it. Here's my scores for this week. Notice half of the House of Night series that I snapped up for $1 a piece. What a bargain!

Project: More Spring Break road trip planning. I sent inquiries to the bed and breakfast association for a reservation. They won't get back to me until Monday.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Title: Sunshine

Author: Robin McKinley

Publisher: Speak 2010

Genre: Vampire

Pages: 416

Rating: 5/ 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Vampire; Mount TBR

How I Got It: I own it!

There hadn't been any trouble out at the lake in years. Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts for a minute. But then the vampires found her . . . Now, chained and imprisoned in a once-beautiful decaying mansion, alone but for the vampire, Constantine, shackled next to her, Sunshine realizes that she must call on her own hidden strength if she is to survive. But Constantine is not what she expected of a vampire, and soon Sunshine discovers that it is he who needs her, more than either of them know. Originally published as an adult novel, but now in YA for the first time, Sunshine is an alluring and captivating vampire story - one that will ensnare fans of paranormals everywhere.

This novel.... um wow! The one word that kept popping into my head throughout: Atmosphere. I haven't read any book lately that evoked such atmosphere. I loved it! McKinley puts us right inside of Sunshine's head. We connect with her right away. We remember past events, but always at the right time. We feel every emotion she's feeling. I especially loved the times when she was confused. We were confused right there with her. The writing was confused, but yet still readable. We see the world through Sunshine's eyes. Overall the effect is quite brilliant.

It took me awhile to get through this book; not because I was struggling to stay interested, but quite the opposite. I was so connected with the story and characters that I didn't want it to end. I was scared at what we might find out. Don't worry everything worked out in the end... well in a way. This book has made me add McKinley to my authors to explore. I have a feeling this might end up on my Top 10 Books of 2012 list.

Quote Wednesday - Shakespeare

"The course of true love never did run smooth."William Shakespeare A Midsummer's Night Dream

In honor of Valentine's Day week, I thought I would share one of my favorite quotes about love. While I want to believe in the fairy tale versions of love, I must remind myself that we humans make mistakes. No white knight on a horse is going to come save you and marry you and live happily ever after. We must remind ourselves that we must work at love. We must face those obstacles and fight. Conquering those obstacles will yield great love. But it is not a given; it must be earned.

Top Ten Tuesday - Books that Broke My Heart

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

This week's topic "Books that Broke My Heart" is a fairly easy one... I cry easily when it comes to books. My top tear shedders...

1. The Awakening by Kate Chopin -- I understand why Edna made the final decision, but I still wish something else could have been done. This book makes me cry every time I read it. And not a little sniffles cry, it's an all out bawling cry.

2. The Hunger Games Trilogy -- So unfair! I kept wanting to yell at the Capitol people. I wanted to save Peeta and Katniss and Rue and Prim and everyone else that's hurt in these books. I loved them, but darn it they made my heart ache.

3. Twilight Series -- I'll admit it, I cried throughout most of New Moon, a bit of Eclipse, and the first half of Breaking Dawn.

4. The Host by Stephenie Meyer -- Another Stephenie Meyer cry fest. I enjoyed this book so much more than the Twilight series. It still made me cry, but somehow I felt better about the crying. On my reread list for this year.

5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott -- Two words: Beth's Death...

6. At the Scent of Water by Linda Nichols -- The main couple faces so many heartbreaks and missteps. I was rooting for them the whole time, but crying over everything they cried about.

7. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon -- Claire and Jamie, Claire worrying over Jamie, Jamie worrying over Claire, Claire and Jamie getting hurt, Claire and Jamie being separated. This book was full of heartache and yet it was wonderful. This one's going on my reread list for this year.

8. The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall -- Such a beautifully depressing book.

9. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson -- This book is full of melancholy. I found myself weeping silent tears throughout most of it.

10. Surrender Bay by Denise Hunter -- I loved this book even though I cried through most of the second half.

Harry Potter Books 1 and 2 Discussion Questions

The Reading Fever is hosting a year-long readalong of the Harry Potter series. After a rocky start, she finally posted the link-ups and discussion questions. I have the second book up next in my TBR pile. So here we go...

What was your first very first impression of Harry Potter himself? Did your impression change at the end of the first book? These are rereads for me which probably colors my answers... Anyway, I loved Harry from the first meeting. The only thing that strikes me is how young he is. I forget that the books starts when he's a little boy. I tend to think of Harry as this older, more-hardened version of himself. Even with the bit of surprise, I still love that Harry's smart, but not any smarter than someone his age realistically would be.
At what point in either book did you decide that you did, or didn't, like the story? I really fell in love with the series with the scene in Diagon Alley. The way Rowling describes it, I can see, feel, smell, and taste the scene. It's also one of my favorites scenes in all the movies. The wonder and excitement Harry feels is amazing. Love it!
Is there anything you dislike so far? Something you would change if you could? I remember hating Snape at first. All I saw was the mean Potions teachers. Even when Dumbledore makes references that Snape may not be all he seems, I still hated him. I think it took me until the third book to soften up.
What is it about J.K. Rowling's writing that makes her books so appealing to so many people? Is it the characters? The plot? Something else? What do you love most about her writing? I love her characters. Even all the little side characters are real. They are fleshed out people in the world. She doesn't write stereotypes. Each character has its own history.
In the first book, we are introduced to a very different world than the one we live in. What were some things that blew your mind when you first read about them? I love the idea of using owls as communication. It seems so old-fashioned yet very magical at the same time. I want a pet owl that will deliver my letters. I do find it out though that we never see anything resembling a computer. I guess I get that wizards can make their own.... but it just seems like a void to me.
Despite being so different, what do you think makes the wizard world so believable? What makes it a place that people want to escape to? I'm going with the characters again. I think Rowling has made them so real that being a wizard is almost an afterthought. I want to go and learn magic, but I also want to meet some of the really interesting characters.
In The Sorcerer's Stone, Professor Quirrel tells Harry, "There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it." What does this statement tell us about Professor Quirrel? Do you agree or disagree with him? I completely disagree with him. This statement shows us that Professor Quirrel has lost his moral compass, or I guess his moral compass now points to evil. Power came be used for good or evil. It's probably a lot easier to use it for good, but it always comes back to the intentions. Quirrel wants to take the easy road and it ends up biting him in the ass.
In The Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore tells Harry, "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." The sorting hat also suggested Harry could fine great fame and glory in Slytherin House. What choices does Harry make that lead him away from darkness? Could he have been the good wizard that he was if some of those choices were different? One of the defining moments early in the series is when Harry turns away from the Mirror of Erised. He could have taken the easy way out. Instead Harry choose the harder but much more rewarding path. He only becomes a great wizard through his trials.
If you're re-reading the series, what are some differences you've noticed this time? Are there things you didn't pick up on before? Or did you find you liked/disliked something differently this time? My review collects some of my thoughts while rereading the series. Book 2 will be up next week sometime.
Just for fun: If you could make your own polyjuice potion, who would you disguise yourself as, and why? Michelle Obama. I would love to see a day in her life. Just seems like an interesting person to pretend to be.