In library paradise

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges

You know the library in Disney's Beauty and the Beast? Yeah, that's heaven to me. I've always dreamed of living in a house just big enough for a proper library room. A room filled floor to ceiling with bookcases, a comfy leather chair with ottoman, a small side table with reading lamp (just big enough for a cup of tea), and possibly a fireplace. That is heaven to me. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. I have an iPad. I am trying to read more digital books (save space and for travel purposes), and yet I keep going back to the old physical library. I still want that room. I fear that the old libraries of the past will slowly disappear in our newly digital world. I don't want to lose that comfort, that little piece of paradise in our chaotic lives.

An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Mansell

Title: An Offer You Can't Refuse

Author: Jill Mansell

Publisher: Sourcebooks 2008

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 416

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mixing it Up - Romance; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

Nothing could tear Lola and Dougie apart, except his mother…
Seventeen-year-old Lola has no intention of accepting when her boyfriend's snobbish mother offers her a huge bribe to break up with him. Then Lola discovers a secret that makes her think again, and the only way she can help one of the people she loves most in the world is to take the money and break Dougie's heart.
Ten years later, when Lola meets Dougie again, her feelings for him are as strong as ever. She'll do almost anything to get him back, but she can never tell him the truth. Can she overcome his bitterness and win his heart? She's attractive, persuasive, and endlessly optimistic, but even Lola's got her work cut out for her this time.

This is my fifth (fifth!) Mansell books I've read. And I've loved every single one of them. This one wasn't any different. Sure, they're predictable. But sometimes that's what I need: a good fluffy happily-ever-after romance. It's like curling up with your favorite movie or making an ages-old dish for dinner. It's all about comfort. Jill Mansell's books are my comfort. Every once in a while I need that comfort. This book was absolutely perfect for this week. I dove head first into a great fun romance. I called the pair ups within the first 50 pages. But that was okay. I wanted to see how they got to the endings I predicted. It was great fun. And if I see another Mansell book sitting in the used book store, it's mine!

Quote Wednesday - Tolkien

Still 'round the corner there may wait, a new road or a secret gate. -- J.R.R. Tolkien

Looking for that new something around the corner today... Maybe a bit of direction.

I'm a book discriminator...

"Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it." -- PJ O'Rourke

I have a confession to make... I discriminate based on books. I always check out what others are reading. And I make conclusions about who they are based off of those books. I'm not proud of this fact, and yet I continue to do it.

You want an example? The easiest one is Fifty Shades of Grey... My first thoughts when seeing a woman reading this (because I've never seen a man reading it): she doesn't actually read. It's a harsh statement. I don't think those people actually read the same way I don't think members of Oprah's book club read. For them it's a social activity It's a way for them to be part of the "cool" club. They don't read for the love the story or the author. My second thought: she doesn't have a healthy sexual relationship. The sex depicted in the book is gross (and this coming from someone who likes sex and reading erotica). The sex is bondage, but the worst form. It's one step away from rape and I just cannot find that sexy at all. My third thought: how can she read beyond the typos? Ugh! Typos annoy the crap out of me. I just paid X amount of dollars for a published author. I expect it to be edited at least for typos. I would really like if it was edited for content as well. But no...

My example got kind of ranty, but that's the train of thought that rolls through my brain when I see someone reading Fifty Shades of Grey. I have many other examples of my book snobbery. Readers of science fiction: lonely. Readers of literary fiction: snobs. Readers of young adult (but are adults): wannabe teenagers.

Why do I have all these thoughts? I read all these different genres (except Fifty Shades). I enjoy these different genres. I love reading a variety of types of books by a variety of authors. And yet, I judge others by their reading choices. I want to change. I want to a equal opportunity acceptor of reading habits. I want to not see the book, but see the person. End personal plea. Now let me go and read my fluffy romances with the rest of the housewives...

Music Monday -- Relient K "The One I'm Waiting For"

Any time I'm feeling a bit down, I just pop on Relient K and suddenly I feel tons better. Their lyrics are complicated and deep, but the music is infectious. Check them out today. I give you the audio from the album and a live version from Hard Rock.

Lyrics (my favorite lines in bold):

The way that girl can break a heart It’s like a work of art And this is the worst part She knows it

And she’s so confident That she’s what everybody wants But nobody wants Her to know that

So fall back on all of your premonitions And just learn to listen To those that have more wisdom than you And just stop Putting so much stock In all of this stuff Live your life for those you love

And I’m still waiting for You to be the one I’m waiting for

The way that girl can turn a head Well she is such a threat But don’t ever forget She knows it

And she’s got it all All figured out And she won’t let you doubt She knows it

I’m still waiting for You to be the one I’m waiting for

Something tells me that this is going to make sense Something tells me it’s going to take patience Something tells me that this will all work out in the end

The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall

Title: The Jewel of St. Petersburg (Russian Concubine #3)

Author: Kate Furnivall

Publisher: Berkley Trade 2010

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Historical Fiction; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

Russia, 1910. Valentina Ivanova is the darling of St. Petersburg's elite aristocracy-until her romance with a Danish engineer creates a terrible scandal and her parents push her into a loveless engagement with a Russian count.
Meanwhile, Russia itself is bound for rebellion. With the Tsar and the Duma at each other's throats, and the Bolsheviks drawing their battle lines, the elegance and opulence of Tsarist rule are in their last days. And Valentina will be forced to make a choice that will change not only her own life, but the lives of those around her forever...

I finally completed the Russian Concubine trilogy. It had been on my radar for a very long time, the volumes sat gathering dust in a box, and yet I bypassed them for other reads. I forced myself to start the book and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed this novel much more than any of my recent reads. I even liked this one more than The Girl from Junchow. Somehow I grew to love Valentina much more than I loved Lydia. Valentina's struggles to survive and thrive in revolutionary Russia struck my heart more than Lydia's struggles in China. While the previous book was gray, gray, and more gray, this one has pops of color. The mood wasn't always desperate. I knew what was coming but still there was hope in the story. I loved seeing Alexei and Liev and Jens younger and full of life. Plus, the actual historical elements of the Russian Revolution wove seamlessly throughout the story. I definite recommendation for lovers of historical fiction and great stories.

Russian Concubine

#1 The Russian Concubine
#2 The Girl from Junchow
#3 The Jewel of St. Petersburg

The Sunday Salon #34

Listening To: I made it all the way through our music. I've narrowed the list down to ~350 songs, which need to be narrowed to 101 songs. This is the really hard part. But I did update my iTunes account with music to take with me (and updated the iPod). So I will have some great music to listen to next week while traveling.

Book finished: The Goose Girl, The Girl from Junchow, and Jane Eyre

Reading: The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall

On the Nightstand: Some Shakespeare, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Magician King

MakingLists: Final vacation packing lists. Getting ready to throw everything in my luggage.

Around the house: I finished organizing my craft stash and cleared a ton of room. Very proud of myself.

From the kitchen: I made some yummy chili using random canned goods from the pantry. It turned out lovely and just in time for slightly cooler temps. I even made enough to throw a container of it into the freezer for next week or after I get back from vacation. I also made a batch of salsa beef for tacos (extra spicy) for multiple meals.

Crafting: I finally finished the spring break scrapbook pages. I felt like that task would never end, but thankfully they're completed. Now I need to order prints of the journey west to start that section. I also finished the stationary sets that are traveling to Indiana to sell. I especially love the owls! I may just have to keep one of those for myself.

Saturday morning we had a great little class making four all occasion cards. I especially love the flowers with the little dots of red glitter. So cute!

Watching: This past week we finished The West Wing S3 and Stargate Universe S1. I started Weeds S8. Plus, we watched a ton of newer movies. My favorite was Safety Not Guaranteed.

Wondering: How do I stuff all of these things into my suitcase? This is going to get interesting...

From Nature: The cooler temps and partly cloudy days got me in the mood for chili and coffee. Yummy!

Shopping Scores: I finally found a corner rounder and smaller scoring board for cheap on Amazon! Much needed crafting tools.

Sit Down and Write 2

From Stories Inside:

This write-a-thon is for any writing you need to get done. If you're working on a novel and, perhaps, participating in NaNoWriMo next month (like me--buddy up with me--thetruebookaddict), it's for you. If you have a ton of reviews to write coming off of (or during) the many read-a-thons that are always going on, this is perfect for you. Any writing you need to get done...this is the thon to really buckle down. I'm not going to be hosting any mini-challenges, but I will have check-in linkies posted every few days, if you are so inclined to share your progress. You can link to your reviews or your progress posts. Our Twitter hashtag is #sitdownwrite If you're game for a couple Twitter chats, let me know in the comments.

Due to input from participants last time, the write-a-thon will now run for two weeks! Starting and end times are the usual: Monday (11/12) 12:01am CST until Sunday (11/25) 11:59pm CST.

I just got to this in my GoogleReader and I am ready to join! Last year, I tried NaNoWriMo and it didn't go so well. Instead of the pressure of 50,000 words in a month for one piece, I am going to focus on short creative writing exercises. I will be posting some of my pieces here on the blog. These also count towards my Day Zero Project: Finish 100 Creative Writing Prompts. I'm definitely not expecting to finish all 100, but I want to get a chunk done and get the creative juices flowing.

Ready to Throw It All Out (Part 2)

Check out Part 1 here. Part 2: The Office aka the most dreaded room in the house.

Does anyone else have this problem? The Office becomes the catch all room. Things go in and never again see the light of day. Things start out as very organized and then just magically become a crazy mess. We have this problem. At one point after moving in, this room was beautifully organized. And then it seems that life created chaos.

My main goals:

Restack/organize boxes in the closet
Reorganize the crafting supplies
Reduce the crafting supplies (make stuff/give away stuff)
Reduce my curriculum boxes/crap
Pick up/put away the random crap lying around
Encourage J to take care of his random crap (left side of the room)

I tackled the curriculum boxes first. In reality, I was trying to find my flash drive that held all my school files. I thought it was in the curriculum/teaching supply boxes. But after digging through all five boxes, it didn't appear. I'm a little concerned that it has completely disappeared. But I am happy that I made a mess. It gave me an opportunity to reduce the crap and reorganize the leftover. I managed to get rid of an entire box! I also repacked the leftover curriculum so that it makes sense (US History together, government together, etc). In the process I pulled resources for my tutoring student. Overall I feel a lot better about the leftovers. I tried to condense things into the must haves.

I restacked the boxes (books and curriculum) in the closet. They need to be reduced, but that requires reading and then getting rid of the books. I am determined to reduce the boxes by half by June 2013 (without adding to the boxes, of course). I need to focus on reading from my own books instead of going to the library or book store. I have a plan. Now I need to follow through. Until then, the boxes were restacked, but as you can see they are leaning a bit. I also would love to get J to go through his four book boxes and reduce. That is a task for when he's not busy, which will probably be 50 years from now...

On to the crafting supplies. I had a couple of interesting projects this week. After finishing those, I took the opportunity to reorganize my supplies into an easier to grab order. I got everyone separated into easier to grab sections. I also organized my 8.5 x 11" paper into color spectrum. Hopefully this makes it easier to find. Finally I crafted a ton this week so I was able to reduce my overall supply piles.

J is so busy that he doesn't have time to do any housekeeping. Since he won't really be dealing with the crap any time soon, I think I will just shove his crap to the area around the desk.

Total reduction: One box. Two trash bags. Stack of completed craft projects for Christmas/birthday/holiday gifts. Easily found supplies/books/curriculum.

Coming soon: Part 3 (kitchen/living room/closets)

YA Across the USA Reading Challenge

I found this wonderful article the other day and thought it would be great to turn this into a reading challenge. So I'm adding it as a perpetual reading challenge. At the beginning of this challenge, I've read five of the books lists, Everneath, Blood and Chocolate, The Wizard of Oz, Ashfall, and Wake. 10% done. Now on to the other 45 books...

Thankful Thursday

I found this wonderful meme idea on Ruby Bastille. I thought it would be a great way to share my life with my readers. So here we go with my first Thankful Thursday.

1) Chili -- I was missing the Midwest fall. I was missing the apple cider, bonfires, and chili. I wanted to feel a bit of home (California doesn't quite feel like home yet). So I made chili and it was glorious. Sunnyvale even graced me with cooler temps (low 60s) to enjoy my spicy chili and cornbread.

2) My grandma -- Every time I send her a card, she sends a thank you note back. Even with her bad arthritis, she takes the time to write me a note back. Don't tell her, but for Christmas I made her a huge stack of homemade cards to use.

3) J for accepting my crazy random thoughts -- Lately every time we watch a show, I must nitpick about something. Usually that something has something to do with the law. Last week we were watching the episode of The West Wing (S3) where Donna finds out she isn't American anymore. This led to me asking a ton of questions about citizenship jus soli (by soil). I had to go on to Wikipedia to find some detailed answers. The entire time J encouraged my crazy behavior until I had answers. The result: we both think the writers failed to fully explain the circumstances and that even if her town isn't in America anymore, those residents before the transfer would retain citizenship. Yeah I know, crazy.

4) Thanksgiving -- I'm almost a week away from flying back to Indiana and spending time with family and friends. Thanksgiving gives me the opportunity to spend some time there, but more importantly to be with my boys. I miss them terribly.

5) The recent elections -- Whether or not I voted for the current people in office, I am thankful to be able to vote and voice my opinion.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Title: Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bronte

Genre: Classics

Pages: 533

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mixing It Up -- Classics; Mount TBR; Books2Movies; Fall into Reading

This is one of those classics that I just never got around to reading, and it's all because of Wuthering Heights. I read Wuthering Heights back in high school and absolutely hated it. It was dull. the characters were stupid, the story wasn't anything exciting. That experience turned me off to all the Bronte sisters' work. And so I never actually read Jane Eyre. Of course I knew the story and saw the movies, but I never read the book. That all changed today.

I read it and actually liked it. It doesn't beat Jane Austen, but I did grow to love Jane Eyre. She's an odd character, meek yet strong, naive yet worldly. Mrs. Fairfax is a bright spot in the gloom of Thornfield Hall. Adele is a bit annoying, but thankfully she's only occasionally mentioned. And Mr. Rochester is very dreamy. I didn't care for the autobiographical style of the novel. It seemed very silly to me throughout. I would have rather had third person storytelling. At times Bronte rambles, but overall I enjoyed the novel.

Movie version (2006 mini-series):

This was the first one that I saw. I loved this adaptation so much. Jane is just plain enough, but has that spirit. I loved the moody atmosphere of the mini series. Toby Stephens has a great ability to switch from moody to light-hearted in an instant. Plus, that painting in the corridor... creepy creepy creepy. Out of the two adaptationsI like this one more.

Movie version (2011 film):

I was excited to see this one as it starred Michael Fassbender, but I wasn't completely sold on the movie. I did not really like the changes in timeline in telling the story. Starting with Jane's running away seemed like an odd choice. Mia Waskowska just didn't sit right with me as Jane. She as too withdrawn. I wanted someone a bit more feisty. Just not the best. But I must say that Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax is just awesome.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Title: The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern #1)

Author: Shannon Hale

Publisher: Bloomsbury 2005

Genre: Fairy tales

Pages: 400

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Telling tales; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

She can whisper to horses and communicate with birds, but the crown princess Ani has a difficult time finding her place in the royal family and measuring up to her imperial mother. When she is shipped off to a neighboring kingdom as a bride, her scheming entourage mounts a bloody mutiny to replace her with a jealous lady-in-waiting, Selia, and to allow an inner circle of guards more power in the new land. Barely escaping with her life, Ani disguises herself as a goose girl and wanders on the royal estate. Does she have the pluck to reclaim her rightful place? Get ready for a fine adventure tale full of danger, suspense, surprising twists, and a satisfying conclusion. The engaging plot can certainly carry the tale, but Hale's likable, introspective heroine makes this also a book about courage and justice in the face of overwhelming odds. The richly rendered, medieval folkloric setting adds to the charm. Anne O'Malley

I was wary at the beginning of this book. I haven't had much luck with retellings of fairy tales. They've been way too shallow with uninteresting characters and predictable storylines. I just wasn't loving them at all. And then Shannon Hale comes along and renews my faith in fairy tales. She crafts a beautiful growing up story of a shelter princess betrayed and left to fight on her own. I loved Ani (or Isi) and her fight to survive. I grew to love the other workers. I especially loved Finn and Enna. Great characters! Even though I figured I knew the ending, the story still kept me on my toes until the very end. I'll be sure to grab the other books in the series for next year's reading.

Books of Bayern

#1 The Goose Girl
#2 Enna Burning
#3 River Secrets
#4 Forest Born

Quote Wednesday - Disraeli

Every production of genius must be the production of enthusiasm. -- Benjamin Disraeli

How much effort do you put into your work? If it isn't much, nothing incredibly will come. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. While I need a job, I am confused by what I want. What will make me want to work hard? What will I ultimately enjoy, even if the day to day can be rough. I want a passion that could create something genius.

Upcoming Blog Hop Giveaway

I signed up for an upcoming blog hop giveaway... Look interesting? Join me. If not, keep it on the calendar and lookout for some great books up for grabs.

Top Ten Tuesday -- Bookish Wants

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 was a freebie. With the holidays coming up, I thought I would take the opportunity to highlight some of my bookish wants. Now this won't be a list of books I want, but rather bookish gifts I want. Enjoy the pretties...

And to any relatives or friends looking for gifts for me for Christmas, these are great ones. Plus I have a wishlist posted on Amazon including specific books I want.

1. Jane Austen Penguin Classics -- I know I said no books, but these are more like art than books. I really really really want the entire set for my house. Check out those gorgeous spines... I especially love the feathers on Persuasion. Link is to only Persuasion, but will lead to the others.

2. Out of Print's Pride and Prejudice Shirt or the Matching Tote

3. Storiarts Persuasion Scarf on Etsy

4. Library storage bins from RoadsidePhotographs on Etsy

5. Hand Painted Necklaces from Heather Kent on Etsy -- variety of designs

6. Vintage Dictionary Prints from TheRekindledPage on Etsy -- Love the Alice ones!

7. Pride and Prejudice necklace from JezebelCharms on Etsy

8. Doctor Who and Alice mashup print from Parodies Lost on Etsy -- two of my favorite characters in one print!

9. Red Riding Hood tee from binarywinter on Etsy

10. Beautiful handmade journals and sketchbooks from Bookgirls Studio on Etsy

The Girl from Jungchow by Kate Furnivall

Title: The Girl from Jungchow (Russian Concubine #2)

Author: Kate Furnivall

Publisher: Berkley Trade 2009

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 500

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Historical Fiction; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

China, 1929. For years Lydia Ivanova believed her father was killed by the Bolsheviks. But when she learns he is imprisoned in Stalin-controlled Russia, the fiery girl is willing to leave everything behind- even her Chinese lover, Chang An Lo.
Lydia begins a dangerous search, journeying to Moscow with her half-brother Alexei. But when Alexei abruptly disappears, Lydia is left alone, penniless in Soviet Russia.
All seems lost, but Chang An Lo has not forgotten Lydia. He knows things about her father that she does not. And while he races to protect her, she is prepared to risk treacherous consequences to discover the truth.

A slow start, but ultimately a good historical fiction read. I admit that Lydia isn't my favorite literary character. It's the other characters that roped me into the book. Liev's stubbornness, Alexei's mystery, Elena's hardness, Antonina's fragile nature, Edik's need for a place, even Chang's honor. Those characters kept me reading each chapter, wanting to see where life took them. The contrast is setting also grabbed my attention. While The Russian Concubine was set in China, the second book is set squarely in Stalin's Russia. Like Lydia, I yearned for the colorful warm China. Russia is gray, gray, and more gray. I did appreciate the descriptions of settings and building. Overall I didn't like is more than The Russian Concubine, but it definitely kept my attention for the third book.

Russian Concubine

#1 The Russian Concubine
#2 The Girl from Junchow
#3 The Jewel of St. Petersburg

Music Monday -- Regina Spektor "Fidelity"

I can't believe that I've never highlighted this song on the blog. I absolutely adore her voice and her whole sound. It's so quirky but easily to connect to. She writes very personal songs of life. Plus, check out the gorgeous visuals in the video.

Lyrics (my favorite lines in bold):

I never loved nobody fully Always one foot on the ground And by protecting my heart truly I got lost in the sounds I hear in my mind All these voices I hear in my mind all these words I hear in my mind all this music

And it breaks my heart And it breaks my heart And it breaks my heart It breaks my heart

And suppose I never ever met you Suppose we never fell in love Suppose I never ever let you kiss me so sweet and so soft Suppose I never ever saw you Suppose we never ever called Suppose I kept on singing love songs just to break my own fall Just to break my fall Just to break my fall Break my fall Break my fall

All my friends say that of course its gonna get better Gonna get better Better better better better Better better better

I never love nobody fully Always one foot on the ground And by protecting by heart truly I got lost In the sounds I hear in my mind All these voices I hear in my mind all these words I hear in my mind All this music And it breaks my heart It breaks my heart

I hear in my mind all of these voices I hear in my mind all of these words I hear in my mind all of this music

Breaks my Heart Breaks my heart

The Sunday Salon #33

Listening To: I'm finally into the L's. Still rediscovering some great music. My current new (again) favorite is KT Tunstall. I especially love her acoustic album. Great soundtrack for crafting and reading.

Book finished:Snow Crash. Only one this week, I'm really slacking.

Reading: The Girl from Junchow by Kate Furnivall (I read the first book in the trilogy months ago. Been meaning to get to the other two...)

On the Nightstand: The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall (If I get through and like Girl from Junchow); The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

MakingLists: Blog ideas and updates. I got a list of to be completed blog posts through Thanksgiving. I also am compiling a list of maintenance tasks and future post ideas.

From the kitchen: I actually cooked this week! It's been awhile. I made chicken broccoli pesto penne. It fed J and I for two meals. Plus I went to the grocery store. My plan is to make and freeze a few meals before I leave for Thanksgiving. That way I have food now and once I get back. Now I just need to go and cook this stuff...

On the Web: Checking out a few new blogs. Trying to catch up on my Google Reader. I did a huge clean out during Bloggiesta, but since then I've added a ton of new blogs. I routinely have ~600 unread posts on any given day. That's crazy, but I love reading/skimming them.

Crafting: Saturday was a crazy day for crafting. I went to a Holiday class in the morning. We made two cute cards (especially love the pumpkin!) and two gift ideas. I'm thinking of making coaster sets for Christmas or to sell in the shop.

Saturday night was meet and craft. We each brought our own projects to work on and socialize. I love these events. I get a ton done and don't feel like a shut in. I finished a few more stationary sets for the shop/gifts. The hard part is paring down my supplies to a small pile to take to the event. I choose my papers/color combos and cut the paper before going, so that freed up space. Plus, I stuck with one type of project. If I finished, then I finished. I don't need five project options for these nights. I got four out of seven sets completed.

Watching: We finished watching Reaper. I'm a bit disappointed at the ending. There really should have been a third season, but oh well... I also sped through Downton Abbey S3 (that have aired so far). OMG! I won't give away the spoilers, but I can't believe they did that! I don't like! J and I also got back into watching The West Wing S3 and Stargate Universe S1.

Wondering: How I am going to fit all this crap into my suitcase for Thanksgiving? I may have to rethink my packing.

From Nature: It's weird to be walking around in crops, sandals, and short sleeves in November. My body is loving it, but my head is all confused. I keep expecting the temperature to drop 50 degrees...

Shopping Scores: After much searching, I finally found a pair of brown high heels that are cute, cheap, and I can walk in. I happened to be in Target the other day and what did I spy? A pair of two-tone brown mary janes on clearance! And they had my size still! Sold! While, there I also grabbed a skirt and a sweater (both on clearance). I can wear the two together for a fun dressy holiday outfit. I might even take them to Thanksgiving...

Project: I wrapped up redoing my US History notes. My student is doing better in class and decided to stop the tutoring sessions. So, I don't really need to have any of this stuff out anymore. I finished the notes through Chapter 8 (Settling the West) and put everything into one curriculum box. I love that I reduced my pile! One less box to worry about.

October 2012 Wrap-Up

Books Read and Reviewed (12 books)

1,000,000 Page Goal

Monthly Total: 5178 pages
Pages Remaining: 897,180 pages

Current Read

Girl from Junchow by Kate Furnivall

Books Won (2)

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
A Change of Fortune by Jen Turano

Books I Gave Up On (0)

Challenges Completed

Zombie Reading Challenge -- 24 awesome horror filled books for me to enjoy. I already have my eyes on some zombie books for next year's challenge.

Comments

Pretty good month for reading. I started out with the FrightFall Readathon and the goal of finishing my zombie challenge. I got through five books during the readathon. Decent showing for not a huge amount of reading. And within the next week I had finished my zombie challenge. I also joined a book club and we had our first meeting (Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks). Because of the holidays and traveling, we won't be having our next meeting until December. I'm really looking forward to it. For next month I want to knock out my Shakespeare challenge and Fantasy challenge. I plan on loading my iPad with reads for the Thanksgiving traveling. Hopefully I can have tons to read and only have to lug one physical book (for take-off and landings). Plans plans plans...

Next Month's TBR -- iPad reads month

Cymbeline by Shakespeare
Pericles by Shakespeare
As You Like It by Shakespeare
Othello by Shakespeare
Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep? by Philip K. Dick