Sunday Post On Monday: Leave my mug alone….

My thoughts were mostly written on Friday.

 

Outside my window….. It is overcast and chilly; has been all day (Friday).

 I am listening to:…..the mixer clicking as it mixes a concoction that should turn out to be whipping cream.  This is ED’s creation; she is baking.

I am watching….. anime.  I am an anime fan! I am. I have finished watching two animes (hopefully I will post about them soon) and I am now on to two more animes.  Yes, EJ is my anime influence and enabler.  We are now watching Black Butler. Ummm, this is one warped creation. We are balancing that show out with a romancy feel-good anime – Clannad.  Both animes are holding my interest. But, FMA still is my first anime love.

I am thinking….. “Leave my mug alone!” Seriously. I have a mug affliction. I love a good mug to drink my coffee. A good mug adds to the coffee drinking experience; the weight, the feel, the texture, the look.  I have four mugs that are my current favorites and two of them I am okay with others using. One of them I am just sort of okay with others using, but would really appreciate it if they did not. AND, I have ONE mug that others MUST get their hands off! Today, I noticed that someone used this one mug, but yet no one will fess up to this infraction. There was milk at the bottom. MILK and I so do not like milk.  This one mug is the newest to my favorites. My mom bought for me while we shared a spectacular time together. Yes, folks, this absolute current favorite is my Josh Groban Straight To You mug, and please people in my life….”leave my mug alone!”

I am grateful for…. love…it is a precious gift.

I am reading….. The Fellowship of the Ring for  group read hosted by The Little Red Reviewer and Geek Daddy. This book is September’s read for the trilogy’s group read. I already read the first half so I am jumping in now to read the second half. Wish me luck on keeping up with this group read. I AM determined to read the LOTR trilogy.  The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma – I was suppose to start this a month ago and well I did not. I am on chapter 3 now, and actually am finding it interesting in the sense of I am wondering where the story is going to take me.

I am photographing…..  I did not really take any photos beyond ED’s birthday,  but the photos that were taken this week I love.

I am listing…..things needing done for this coming week.

I am creating…..special memories.

I am hoping and praying…. stability, calm, and peace in the lives of people who surround me.

I have learned…. about an incredible new feed reader. It may not be actually new, but it is for me. I found out about feedly.com when I was reading a post by  thebumbles of Quirky Girls Read. I decided to check it out for myself, and I love it!  The thing that I love best about this feed reader is that the blog posts can be separated out by date. So,for me, that means I can read blog posts by the day they were posted.  Instead of looking and seeing that It’s All Books has 5 posts for me to read, I can now see that Suey posted once on Friday, twice on Thursday, etc. I can choose to read all posts that were published on Friday by Suey and others, and leave the other days alone. I like that feeling. I gain a feeling of success in reading blogs while not be brought down that I only got to one blog or that I did not read all the posts in a particular blog. Check out the features that feedly offers. You may like it too.

Around the house….. trying to make sense of it from an order and priority perspective.

From the kitchen…..zucchini is a fabulous vegetable. I love sauteing zucchini, tomatoes with Italian seasoning, garlic, pepper, some sort of zesty dressing (like Italian dressing, etc) and adding this combination to noodles or rice. yummy.

One of my favorite things…..special people in my life.

The children this week..... School started and the transition has gone well. GD is doing well with getting ready and out the door for kindergarten. I ask her, “what is your favorite part of school?” her answer, “coming home”. I say, “ no, what did you do today that you liked best?” she replies with earnest, “coming home” and then says, “the day is too long.”  Not only did GD start kindergarten, she learned to ride her bike without training wheels. IJ is having a bit of a rough period – obsessing greatly which is bringing out  more aggression. His obsession is the lawnmower. He wants to mow all the time…all the time. He is falling asleep in school too and not always because he did not have sleep over the night. Hopefully this “phase” will end soon. IJ has also started a soccer program for kids with special needs. So far, it looks very positive for him.  The girls and Ben are all doing well. No issues with them.

EJ and ED

EJ

EM

ED on her birthday


ED and her best friend

IJ on Saturday after soccer

I wish you all a fantastic week!

Song of the Week: If You Leave... and more...

Guilty music pleasures – do you have any? I do not think I really do because I like what I like, but if I were to be pressed on that question then I would have to say music from the 80’s generally is what derives the guilty pleasure. Why? Because,  at this point in time, I am not all that picky about which 80’s music I enjoy. I am certainly not picky like I was when I was actually living in the 80’s.  I like certain songs now that I could not stand then – not too picky.  Although please do not play  Dire Straits – Money for Nothing. I still cannot stand that song.

  Today, I am featuring two songs from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. I loved that movie and I will watch it any time it is on tv. The songs, I really liked it then and still do now. Actually, I like the entire soundtrack.

If You Leave Me by OMD

Do Wot You Do by INXS

I really liked INXS a lot in the 80’s

Bonus – one of my favorite INXS songs….

Need You Tonight

So, do you have any guilty music pleasures?

Blackout by Connie Willis

“That’s one advantage of time travel, she thought, starting home from work.  If it takes a week to master it, I can do it and still be on time to work tomorrow.”  p.200

Blackout
by Connie Willis
copyright:  2010
publisher: Spectra
format: hardcover
pages: 491
source: library

Inside Flap:
Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place. Scores of time-traveling historians are being sent into the past, to destinations including the American Civil War and the attack on the World Trade Center. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser, Mr. Dunworthy, into letting her go to VE-Day. Polly Churchill’s next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London’s Blitz. And seventeen-year-old Colin Templer, who has a major crush on Polly, is determined to go to the Crusades so that he can “catch up” to her in age.
(and the description goes on, but I think it goes on far too much and gives too much of the story. Just know, this is a time-travel story into the depths of War World II set in England. It is a very interesting way to mix both sci-fi and historical fiction)

First Sentence:
Colin tried the door, but it was locked.

My Thoughts:  Oh wow! Blackout is an intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable book. It fit my reading tastes almost perfectly; time-travel and historical fiction. The mix of these two elements worked so very well, and I remained fascinated throughout the entire read.

The time-travel was a different experience for me even though it felt a bit like Dr. Who.  Now, this is not a Dr.Who like story, but the essence of his traveling was what I felt. Connie Wills  brilliantly utilized the time-travel element. It felt right and made sense throughout the entire read. It was plausible and believable. It was incredibly fascinating. True, there were a few details in the beginning of the book that were hard for me to follow, but fortunately for me,  I do not get hung up on details. I always figure that the story will take care of straightening out my confused mind by showing me the way to clear thinking and understanding. Willis did not fail me, she wove such a brilliant story full of details and as the story unfolded, the details all became clear and understandable; made sense.  The coolest aspect of this time-travel experience is the story of where the travelers came from and how their current society utilizes time-travel. Not only that, we the readers, are shown a bit as to how intricately the time-travel works. I really loved learning this background information. I loved learning about how these characters prepared for their travels. Yes, the whole time-travel aspect was incredibly intriguing; fascinating.

Not only did I love the time-travel aspect, I LOVED the historical aspects within this fantastic book.  World War II happens to be an era that always intrigued me while going through school, and still intrigues me throughout my adulthood. I have yet to read a perspective of WWII such as presented in this book.  I loved the way the reader is immersed into the war. I loved that it was set in England, and we are able to learn of how society functioned in a time of assault, worry, fear, and death. This made for an exceptional way to learn about this period of time as we witness history through the eyes of time-travelers – people who were a bit removed from the intensity of the moment and could offer up objective reflections. Although, they do become involved far more deeply than they were prepared for, and that is when the book really took off for me.

Blackout became increasingly captivating during the last quarter of the book. While it did become much more captivating at this point, I was extremely engaged throughout the entire read.  What I think sets this book apart from others is how brilliantly well Willis was able to pace the story fitting to the characters’ involvement in their time-travel assignments. Willis was able to fit the pace to the seriousness and tone of the story. She created a great pace while maintaining a riveting, exciting and intriguing story throughout the entire book.

The characters are what pulled the story together. They drove the book with their various view points.  Yes, Blackout contained several view points, and the story flowed back and forth between them. This worked out fabulous and was not hard to follow. This enabled the story to show the various aspects of life in England during this time, and enabled me to gain a more rounded view of the war and its effects. Sometimes, more than one POV in  a story can lead to a tangled web within the plot, this did not occur. It did the opposite, it helped to bring the plot together with the time-travel and the historical events: a fuller story was gained.  Fabulously done.

Bottom Line: Fascinating! A BRILLIANT book for a time-travel, historical fiction lovers such as myself. It is an incredibly intriguing and riveting book that really does immerse the reader into life of England during World War II.  This is a book to own - a keeper for sure.

You Should Know:  Blackout is part one of two parts. While I did not have any issue with the way Blackout ended, and have been able to wait a bit to read All Clear, you may not be able to wait as I am . So, make sure you have All Clear at your waiting.  Truly, Blackout and All Clear is one BIG book broken down into two parts. This is not a bad way to deliver a story such as this one; breaking it down into smaller manageable book chunks.

Book Cover:  I like the cover of this book. I think it conveys the story well; intriguing.

I Blame It on Bloggers

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish  and this week the topic is about the Top 10 Books Read Because of a Blogger.   Oh wow, I have read MANY books due to blogger influence. Matter of fact, my list of books to read is almost entirely created from bloggers posting about the books they read, or are going to read, or because of a group read.  A few books are placed on my list from recommendations by friends.

** My reviews, if any, are hyperlinked to the book title.**

  1. Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon

I have CarrieK of Books and Movies to thank for introducing me to my FAVORITE AUTHOR. I ran across Carrie’s post on Dragonfly in Amber back in 2009 (I believe) and her thoughts propelled me into starting this series. OMG – I am so ever thankful for her post because otherwise, I fear, I may have missed out on experiencing the exceptional and amazing writing talent of Diana. Thanks a ton Carrie because truly, you led me to my favorite author.

  2. The Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss

I read this book based on the recommendation from Logan of Rememorandom, and I will be forever thankful for his suggestion. This is probably the best read of 2011 for me, and if it is not the best then it will be in the top 5! Not only that, Patrick Rothfuss is an incredible writing talent and speaker – he has made it into my top 5 favorite authors! This recommendation rocked!

  3. Dance Dance Dance
by Haurki Murakami

I read this book for the Japanese Literature Book Group during 2010. This group is hosted by Tanabata of In Spring It Is The Dawn. I have Tanabata to thank for introducing me to Haurki Murakami. He quickly became one of my favorite authors, and he is now one of my 16 year old’s favorite authors. Dance Dance Dance was my third Murakami book and an an excellent read it was. I loved this book.

  4. Tigana
by Guy Gavriel Kay

Memory of Stella Matutina influences me greatly and she is my biggest influence for reading the works of Guy Gavriel Kay. I think I discovered Memory’s blog shortly after reading GGK’s Ysabel – a book that I loved. I read several posts that Memory wrote in regards to GGK’s books which influenced me to try other books of his. Then, this past winter, she held a group read for Tigana. I am so ever glad that she did because Tigana is ranking as one of my favorite reads for 2011. It is an excellent book, and will probably be one of my all time favorites.

  5. Silence
by Shusaku Endo

I read this book because it was on the list of suggestions for the Social Justice Challenge. I do believe that Amy at My Friend Amy influenced my decision to tackle this book. I do recall reading her thoughts somewhere on this book.  Regardless, I am so very glad that I took the time to read Silence - a POWERFUL book this is, AND it is on my Must Read List. A POWERFUL book that is incredibly thought provoking.

  6. Battle Royale
by Koushun Takami

Another Tanabata influence, and another read for the Japanese Literature Book Group during 2010. This is one INTENSE read – thought provoking. It ranks as one of my favorites, and made it to my top 10 favorites of 2010. An excellent book.

  7.  North and South
by Elizabeth Gaskell

Angie of Angieville totally influenced me to read this book. Well, she influenced me by talking about the BBC movie which totally piqued my interest AND then a Irish of Ticket To Anywhere hosted a read along for which I earned a great big FAIL mark for participation BUT I did read the book, and LOVED it. Wait, now that I think about it, I actually think Suey of It’s All About Books deserves credit for my reading this book too. I am pretty darn certain I trailed to Angieville via a post of Suey’s that featured North and South.  Yep, I think that is how it went down: Suey to Angie to Irish. North and South is one of my top 10 favorite reads for 2010.  And, I did watch the BBC movie and LOVED it too. And my gosh, I did not write about this movie on my blog either – what is wrong with me? I know I wrote out my thoughts on paper…hmmm…

  8. Rules
by Cynthia Lord

L of Omphaloskepsis totally influenced the reading of this book. I did hear about the book from IJ’s special needs team, but L’s thoughts on this book pushed me to pick it up and read it to the family as our read aloud. This book, while not a perfect fit for my family’s needs, was a very good story that brings to light the struggles a typical child has when trying to find acceptance while having a special needs sibling. It is a heartwarming story.

  9. Daggerspell
by Katharine Kerr

Alaine of Queen of Happy Endings is one of my long-time blogging buddies. She and I along with Annie decided to read this book together. I am glad that we did. I greatly enjoyed this book and meant to read the rest of the books in this series. I am now reminded. I must obtain book two and get reading.

  10. The Maze Runner
by James Dashner

This book was read entirely due to Suey’s influence. If not for her, I would not have read this book. I am glad that I did. While it will not be amongst my all time favorites, it is amongst my favorites for 2011 thus far. This is a great story. Thanks Suey and yes, I still must read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  I promise, I WILL read it before the end of this year.
Interestingly, I guess I did not post about this book. Hmmm…I have my notes still; I shall post my thoughts before the end of the year.

What books have you read due to the influence of a blogger?  Have I influenced you to read any books? If I have, which one? 

 

Sunday Post: Sweet and Bitter

photo credit

10 years ago, I witnessed, via tv, the events of September 11, 2001. I remember being horrified as I witnessed the first Trade Center Tower, and then as I witnessed the second Trade Center Tower be struck. Horrifying it was. A memory that will always stay with me.  And, if I was horrified, I could only imagine the unimaginable horror felt by the family members of those who lost their loved ones. A horror that I am sure is indescribable. As I watch TV this morning, my heart goes out to all those who lost a loved one on September 11, 2001.  This is the bitter of September 11th.  This is a bitter that I balance with sweet.

14 years ago was the day that a most amazing individual took her first breath of life in this world. This is the day that my now 14 year old daughter was born.  For the last ten years, we have balanced the bitter events of this day along with the incredible sweet event. I choose to dwell on the sweet.  This is the day that this world has been blessed with a person who touches the lives of those around her with kindness, compassion, zest for living, creative thinking, creative planning, thoughtful insights, outgoing spirit, love and passion. She is a blessing to all those who have the privilege of calling her their daughter, sister, niece, grand-daughter, cousin and friend. She is an amazing individual.

Three things about the birthday girl:

Harry Potter fan she is!

Vegetarian she is!

Editor of videos she is!

This is Elizabeth’s 14th birthday and I wish her a fun day with her friends, and family.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth – you are loved!