Thursday, July 30, 2009

Driftwood Summer

LOVED this book!! I don't usually give a book 5 stars, but this one gets it! I think I could be a little biased because I loved the talk of the family owned bookstore/cottage and its environment. It's been my dream to someday open a bookstore/coffee shop and own a lake home and the book is my dream! I will only post the B&N synopsis of the book so I don't ruin anything for anybody! I could ramble on and on about the book. The one thing I will say is that I loved how the author dedicated the chapters to one of the two sisters. It allowed the reader to get more information and points of view about the same situations. I have to say I think this is the best book I've read so far this summer and I am excited to read more by Patti Callahan Henry.
Three sisters— responsible Riley, vivacious Maisy, and fun-loving Adalee—reunite to save the family's beach-community bookstore. But summer also marks the return of Mack Logan, whose choice of Maisy over Riley years ago destroyed the special closeness between the sisters...Now Riley, a single mom, is hiding a shattering secret about their mother. Maisy, a California designer, still blames Riley for ruining her one true love. And Adalee resents the family's intrusion into her summer plans. All three will be forced to confront the conflicts that tore them apart and the bounds of love and loyalty that still draw them together...

Monday, July 27, 2009

Dead Until Dark

I just finished reading Dead Until Dark. I read it for the category "read a book you first heard about on the Nest Book Club" for my summer book challenge. It's the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series and is quite addicting. It's about a woman, Sookie, who falls in love with a vampire and learns more about the vampire lifestyle. There was a murder mystery tied in as well. My problem now is that I have started too many series without completing the whole series! I'm still need to finish the Harry Potter books and the Stephanie Plum series! Maybe after this book challenge I can focus on getting caught up with my series! I gave the book 4 of 5 stars.


My Attempt at Cards

I've slowly been making some cards to sell at a craft fair in October. My main focus is selling my Creative Memories, but I thought it might appeal to a wider range if I had some cards made to purchase.
B-Day cards
more b-day cards

winter cards
friendship cards
random cards

Monday, July 20, 2009

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I just finished the second Harry Potter book this afternoon. Finishing the book also means I finished another SuBC category. I will earn 15 points next week for completing the "read the 1st and 2nd or 3rd and 4th book in a series" category. I'm going to read a couple other books before I pick up the third book.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

No! I Don't Want to Join a Book Club

I just finished this book this morning and enjoyed it. It's written as diary entries by a 60 year-old woman. She loves her cat, wine, and talks about sex a lot. She doesn't want to take advice from friends when they suggest things she could do to fill her time. Parts of the book were laugh out loud funny! I'd give 3.5 out of 5 stars. Below is the B&N synopsis.
Marie Sharp is heading toward sixty and is just fine with it. She's already had plenty of excitement in her life: sex and drugs in the freewheeling sixties, career and children, marriage and divorce. Now she's ready to settle into a quiet, blissfully boring routine. No Italian classes or gym memberships or bicycle trips across Europe, thank you very much! Marie just wants to put her feet up and "start doing old things." She's even sworn off men! But as it turns out, life still has some surprises in store, the biggest of which is a new grandson on the way. What's more, Archie, her old childhood crush, suddenly reenters her life, and her closest friend falls seriously ill. Armed with a biting sense of humor, Marie wrestles with a life that refuses to follow her plans—and may still offer more possibilities than she realizes.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone


I finished reading HP and the Sorcerer's Stone on Saturday. I read the first three books in the series over 5 years ago. I decided I wanted to read the whole series before the baby comes in Nov. I forgot how addicting the books are! I'm using the first book as part of the category for "read 1/2 or 3/4 books in a series" for the SuBC. I started HP and the Chamber of Secrets last night. I should finish in a couple days so I can add my point to the SuBC total.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Buon Natale (Merry Christmas) 2008

I completed this layout a couple weeks ago and haven't gotten around to posting it. Unfortunatley, I ended up with far less pictures than I planned! I went to put the pics into my album, but they weren't in my PowerSort box. I could have sworn I printed them. I logged onto my Walgreens account to print them only to find that I never uploaded them! What would you know, I also deleted them from my camera. I had to make due with the pics that my sister had taken. At least I still had something!



Summer Book Challenge (SuBC)

I'm participating in a summer book challenge. There are several different categories worth different point values. You must choose a book to fit the category, read it, and earn the points. I'm excited to do my first challenge without having any grad school to get in my way. I did the winter book challenge, but didn't get far at all because of grad school.

Summer Sisters

I finished this book today and was happily surprised by it! I never really got to much into Judy Blume as a kid, so I didn't have high expectations for the book. At best I thought it would be OK. I was COMPLETELY wrong! The book was about two young girls, Caitlin and Vix. Caitlin invites Vix to spend the summer with her at her father's house. The summer months turn into a tradition for the girls. The book follows the girls through high school, college, and then into the real world. A special bond develops between Vix and Caitlin's father and his new wife. I read the whole book in 4 days and couldn't put it down. (Would have been faster if the home remodeling wasn't happening.) I don't usually give five stars to books, but this one gets five!