Sunday, February 28, 2010

February Tally

This is just gonna be a quick post to give my total of the books that I read in February before I sign off for the night. I read more manga this month than I did last month so amazingly enough, I was able to keep the monthly total high.

February is ending with a book read total of 39. Not bad if I may say so myself. Better than I was even hoping.

Now, goodnight everyone. I'll see you in March!

Friday, February 26, 2010

A Tale of Two Angels (thus named by Alicia)














After much thought about how I wanted to "review" (critique) Hush, Hush, and Fallen, I happened upon what I think is a brilliant idea. I'll attempt a comparison/contrast post because, both are, at the most basic level, love stories. I thought about posting short summaries of each book, but because I just know this is going to end up a long post already, I don't want to add unnecessary words. Instead you can follow the links on each title to a short description of the book from Goodreads.

Since every good comparison and contrast paper (or blog post as it were) must begin with a comparison, let's discuss what is similar about these books. Both books contain a male lead and a female lead as well as at least one best friend and of course one or more antagonists. In Hush, Hush we meet Nora and Patch. Fallen tells the story of Luce (Lucinda) and Daniel. Each couple starts off in the rockiest of relationships, or lack thereof. It was kind of HATE at first sight for at least one person in each couple. As the stories progress, Nora, and Luce, begin to learn more about and fall more in love with their respective men despite the fact that the boys are doing everything they can to make the girls feel that they are not liked. At all. See, unbeknownest to the girls, both boys are angels. In both books the antagonists enter the stories as "like" interests (I don't like the term love interest. call me weird) however, Nora and Luce are both suspicious of the attention they are receiving. This does NOT stop them from feeling flattered with the attention though. Through it all both girls depend on their best friends (Vee for Nora and Penn for Luce) to help them figure out what is going on. Things go wrong. Patch and Daniel start to warm up to Nora and Luce. More things go wrong. The girls get brushed off. More goes wrong, but this time Patch and Daniel are there to help their girls. Girl gets the boy in the end. (don't worry. I didn't spoil the book for you. everyone KNOWS that the girls always get the guys in the end, they're just that kind of books.)

I know the above information makes these books sound like twins separated at birth, but in all honesty, the differences are there. In Hush, Hush, Nora sees things happen only to find out that things aren't as they seem while in Fallen Luce sees things that definitely ARE there. The best friends are also very different. I loved Penn in Fallen. She is the quiet nerd when you first meet her, but as you get to know her you realize she isn't as timid as she seems to be. She's the one to go to for information. Vee, on the other hand, made me want to slap her as I read Hush, Hush. She was stupid. She didn't trust her BEST friend (insert sarcasm). The boys were also different. Patch wanted something and was determined to get it. Daniel was trying not to want Luce and was determined to avoid her. Patch honestly disliked Nora when he first met her. Daniel was and had been in love with Luce for forever when they met. Even the antagonists, though similar because they were all the "bad guys", had their differences. In Hush, Hush murder was on the mind, while Fallen showed that sometimes the bad guys want possession of power instead. The other major differences cannot be revealed without giving away the end of each book so you'll have to trust me that the differences are there.

Hush, Hush and Fallen both had me guessing the whole way through each, even though I walked away from Fallen in confusion while I absolutely thought that I was in love with Hush, Hush. Now, I'm more sure of Fallen while Hush, Hush has me confused. I enjoyed the background story in H,H and felt like I was learning the truth right along with Nora. Fallen left me hanging trying to figure out what was going on. I really did love Luce's friend Penn and I really did hate Nora's friend Vee. I really did like Patch better than I liked Daniel. I admired Nora's determination to sort out what was happening to her and to those around her. Luce had me wondering how a girl could be so obsessed with someone she didn't even know. (Of course, the back story explains it all, but how was I supposed to know that!?!) I'm beginning to warm up to Luce more and more as I think back over the book as I type now, but when I was reading her story I found myself wondering how she could miss things that were sooo obvious! The one part of Fallen that I didn't have figured out was Cam's part in the story. He was the character that kept me reading. I wanted to know who HE was. I think the reason I finished Fallen unsure of how I felt about it was because the ending wasn't really a resolution, nor was it a cliff hanger. It just...was. Hush, Hush on the other hand, I felt ended rather satisfactorily. I didn't feel like it had stopped in the middle of a thought, though it did set the story up for a sequel.

So, here's my recommendation based on my own book acquiring techniques. Don't purchase either book. Get them from your library. I bought both and I'm really torn trying to figure out if I liked either one enough to keep and to continue the series. I keep thinking and hoping that Fallen's sequel will tie up all of those loose ends for me. As for Hush, Hush, I don't know if I WANT a sequel. I mean, I DO, but I can live with the ending the way it is. I don't NEED a sequel for Hush, Hush.

Now, because I am not gung-ho about either book, please take my whole opinion above with a grain of salt. I'd hate to be the person that kept you from reading a book that you might end up adoring.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Three Things I Need to Hear

For Rachel:

1. There are only 24 hours in a day, (even in the bad days) so stop complaining and get to work.

2. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7

3. Smile. Even if you don't feel like smiling, once you start it's hard to stop.

Hope you feel better soon. I'll be praying for you.

Now that you've met Titus...

I was thinking of introducing you to the rest of my family from my perspective. Would you like to meet them? (As in...hey ya'll! Can I talk about you on my blog?? Mom, you can answer me on Facebook. I'll even keep your name offline if you want.)

What book did you hide while you read it?

WARNING! This post contains the confession of books that I have read that I'm kinda embarrassed to admit that I HAVE read.

Today on Home Girl's Book Blog, Home Girl (Rachel) challenged us to "Write a blog post wherein you 'fess up to reading a book that didn't make you proud OR tell us about a book you've pretended to have read. "


The first book that I shudder to think of, but that I still read the whole way through is Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday by Alan Dean Foster. Now, it's not a bad book in any way (that I can recall), but it's TRANSFORMERS. In a book. I read it because my husband purchased it and raved about it. Remind me to take his raves with a grain of salt when they involve books about Transformers. *Side note* I LOVE Transformers. The movies and the old cartoons. But I don't really go around Telling people that. At all. *sheepish grin*

The second book that I've not ever mentioned to ANYONE is Redbook's Love Your Sex Life by Lisa Sussman. *cringe!* *opening one eye and looking around* Oh. I'm not dead yet? I bought this book three years after getting married because I wanted to do something for my husband. And I read the book the whole way through. I learned alot. That I sometimes wish I hadn't. BUT, at the same time, I'm glad I did read it because it did help me to look at my husband in a different light.

I know these books probably aren't that big of confessions for most people, but for me to admit to having read a book about sex is HUGE and even though I will readily admit to reading manga and watching Naruto all the time, admitting to reading a book about Transformers is a tad scary. I mean, I am NOT a comic book nerd! But that's the reaction books about Tranformers elicit from people.

So, what books do you hide behind other books while you read them? Any? Perhaps, children's books. Or maybe just a different genre. For example, growing up, anything that had alot of fantasy in it I had to not necessarily hide, so much as not flaunt that I was reading it. Maybe that's why I like it so much now?

Come now. Confess. I won't tell on you.

Monday, February 22, 2010

My Boy is Growing Up

Meet Titus, my oldest younger brother. Today is his 21st birthday. He has been living with Joseph and I since February of 2008. I'd like to tell you a little bit about him so you know who I'm talking about when I mention "Titus".

Nicknames: Teetus Mater; Mater Potater; Mater; Potater; Tite
- Origination: My siblings and I were home schooled. One day Nathanael, my older brother, decided that we all needed family nicknames. Titus' ended up being Teetus Mater. Naturally, the Mater stuck and the other nicknames were born. Tite is just short for Titus.

Birth Order: Second son, Fifth child

Character Traits: great listener; obsessed with honor (his tattoo is Death before Dishonor in Latin); loud; truthful to the point of brashness; blunt; hard worker (you'll not find another like him); stubborn; friendly; mischievous

Like all boys, Titus likes to look good physically and when he tries he dresses pretty well too.

This boy is admittedly my favorite brother. I can talk to him about anything. Of course, if I DO talk to him about anything, I have to be willing to take as good as I gave. In other words, if I'm complaining about someone else to him, I know to expect the truth of how I'm acting from him. If I'm being a baby about a situation, he's the first to let me know. If I lose track of what I'm doing I can go to him and he'll always set me back straight. If any of my siblings would have been my twin, Titus would be it. We're extremely similar. Now, this doesn't mean that we are identical or that I agree with everything he believes or vice versa, but I think we just know each other so well because we ARE so similar. This can be good and bad. When we fight with each other it gets really ugly, but we we're in the mood for fun together, he's the best partner for driving Joseph crazy. (I know I shouldn't admit that. No good wife should. But it is true. :-P)

Since Titus moved in with Joseph and I, it sometimes feels like we're the parents instead of the siblings, but even then I feel like I'm learning how to deal with life. Having Titus here helps me to be more aware of how I treat my husband. And, though it hasn't been as often as I'd like, having Titus here helps me to pay more attention to Joseph than I would have if it were just Joseph and I alone in this house.

Titus is my confidant, my helper, my partner in crime, my brother. He's there when I need a shoulder to cry on after I've already soaked through Joseph's shirt with my tears. He's there when I need to hear that I need to grow up and get over it. He's there when I don't want to go to the grocery store alone when Joseph's busy.

I find it hard to grasp the fact that Titus WILL one day move away from my house, but today it kinda seems more real. I mean, he is now 21 years old and he's not getting any younger. But, for now, I'm not going to think about him getting older and moving away. Instead, I'm going to take him to dinner at Red Robin where I assure you, Titus and I will drive Joseph absolutely crazy over something.

So, dear brother, Happy Birthday and here's to another 21 years of fun as siblings. What kind of trouble can we get into during these next two decades?

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (7)




What are you reading on Mondays? is a meme hosted by Sheila. This is our opportunity as bloggers to share what we've read in the past week and what we plan on reading this week. If you'd like to join in (it's really fun), go to One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books and add your name to the list.

What I Read This Week:


Maximum Ride Vol. 1 ~ James Patterson & NaRae Lee 2/15
Maximum Ride Vol. 2 ~ James Patterson & NaRae Lee 2/15
Soulless ~ Gail Carriger 2/15
Fallen ~ Lauren Kate 2/16
Naruto Vol. 42 ~ Masashi Kishimoto 2/17
Naruto Vol. 43 ~ Masashi Kishimoto 2/17
Beautiful Creatures ~ Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl 2/20
Hush, Hush ~ Becca Fitzpatrick 2/21
Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion ~ Julie Campbell 2/21


What I am Reading Now:


The Red Trailer Mystery ~ Julie Campbell

Still working on Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott. This book keeps getting set aside for more exciting, contemporary books.


What I Plan to Read This Week:

The Gatehouse Mystery ~ Julie Campbell


I know I was supposed to have read my Trixie Beldens this past week, but between working longer hours at my job and reading all the new books I bought this week, they definitely got pushed to the side. I don't have anymore new books to read so I really need to buckle down and get through my Trixie Beldens this week. We'll see what happens.

So, what did YOU read this week?

Monday, February 15, 2010

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (6)

What are you reading on Mondays? is a meme hosted by Sheila. This is our opportunity as bloggers to share what we've read in the past week and what we plan on reading this week. If you'd like to join in (it's really fun), go to One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books and add your name to the list.

What I Read This Week:

Twenty-Four Hours A Day ~ Faith Baldwin 2/9
Icy Heat ~ Leigh Wyndfield 2/9
The Ministry of Marriage ~ Jim Binney 2/12
Murkmere ~ Patricia Elliott 2/13
Shiver ~ Maggie Stiefvater 2/13

What I am Reading Now:

Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion ~ Julie Campbell

What I Plan to Read This Week:

Fallen ~ Lauren Kate
The Red Trailer Mystery ~ Julie Campbell
The Gatehouse Mystery ~ Julie Campbell

My plan to read another huge list of books this past week went straight out the window with all the snow that hit Northern Virginia. Then there was the weekend trip to Seattle for Valentine's Day (yes, I have lots of pictures even though none of them are of Joseph and only two or three are of me.)

This week might be another "slow" week because I'd like to write a few posts about my time in Seattle as well as get some housework done since I was gone for a few days. We'll see.

So, what did you read this week?

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

e-Books for Free

Thanks to a post on Money Saving Mom, I now have Kindle for PC a free application from Amazon as well as new e-books, also free. The books:

The Apothecary's Daughter - Julie Klassen

Talk of the Town - Lisa Wingate

Daisy Chain: A Novel - Mary E. DeMuth

John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace - Jonathan Aitken

Peculiar Treasures - Robin Jones Gunn

Hide in Plain Sight - Marta Perry

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Benjamin Franklin

Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

And sooooo many more! All FREE. Don't keep hanging around here. I don't know how long they'll be free. Go now and get yourself some new books!! Then come back and tell me what you picked up for free.

Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine - Series Review






















Since this is a series review I'm not going to give a summary of each book, but instead an overview of the series.

The Morganville Vampires series starts in Glass Houses with Claire Danvers starting college in Morganville at the age of 16. After trouble on the college campus with bullies, Claire found another place to stay. The Glass House already had three occupants - Michael Glass, the owner of the house, Eve Rosser, a Goth girl, and Shane Collins, the resident hottie. It isn't until after Claire moves into the Glass House that she realizes/learns that Morganville is a town run by vampires. As the series progresses, Claire finds herself more and more involved in the workings of Morganville and the vampires that rule the town. She even pledges herself to the most powerful vampire that lives there, Amelie. Books 2 - 7 record her adventures/trials throughout her time in Morganville.


Adventure, Romance, Suspense, Friendship - all of these describe the Morganville series. I thoroughly enjoyed each book. While Glass Houses wasn't the attention grabber that I expected it to be, I stuck it out and about halfway through I was hooked and couldn't read the rest quickly enough. As the series progressed I found myself sucked into the world of Morganville, wishing that I could be there for real. The twists in each book gave me whiplash over and over, but at the same time it was the twists that kept me coming back for more. The characters felt like my best friends as I read. I became emotionally invested in their lives in Morganville. (so much so that I actually found myself dreaming about Morganville each night that I read the series. that's never happened with a series that I can recall.) Rachel Caine did an incredible job with her characters. Even the evil characters often demanded your sympathy as a reader which amazed me, but it worked. Ms. Caine made sure to explain the background of her characters enough that I was able to understand why they were "evil". Granted, not all of the evil characters elicited sympathy. Many of them raised a level of hate and spite that I didn't think possible. With characters that were ever so realistic and places that seemed like a dream, the Morganville Vampires series kept my complete, devoted attention from halfway through the first book until the end of the seventh book. The only thing that I found myself questioning was the fact that Claire and her friends went through so much in such a short period of time. The happy parts of the books were great relievers of the tension that built up throughout the books, but the problems that the teens dealt with were sometimes overwhelming.


Overall, these books are definitely my favorite reads in such a long time. They definitely overshadow everything I read last year and so far this year. I am so excited about the 8th book being released in April 2010. I cannot WAIT!


Oh, and just a little background on how I managed to read the entire series so far in just three days. Sometime near the end of last year I visited my local used bookstore where I found books 4-7. My brother's fiancee, Shayla, was with me at the time and told me that she loved the books and that I would enjoy reading them. So I picked them up. Then, at the beginning of January, Shayla and I visited the bookstore again at which point I found books 1 and 2. Of course I bought them. That left me only book 3 to find. I told myself over and over that I was NOT going to start reading this series until I found book 2 at the used bookstore. A few weeks ago I promised my husband and myself that I would not purchase any new books from regular bookstores until April. (See, I have store credit at my used bookstore so I technically wouldn't be spending any money to shop there.) Last week I just couldn't make myself read my old books that I really needed to get to. The MV books were taunting me from their place on my shelf. So, I picked up book 1. I've normally don't have a problem starting a series and putting it aside, but as soon as I reached the middle of book 1 I knew this series was not normal. I headed straight to my used bookstore. But they didn't have book 3. I HAD to have it! So I went to Barnes & Noble. They didn't have it either. NOOOO! One last stop and I was going to pull my hair out if I couldn't find it there! But lucky for my hair, Borders had one last copy on their shelves. It was finally mine.
Because I work from 7:30am until 3:30pm each weekday I only had a few hours before work to read then the hours after work when I didn't have housework to do. Thankfully, snow was on the horizon. Friday saw me getting off work at noon so once I got home I immersed myself in the world of Morganville and didn't surface until I had finished the last book on Sunday at which point I headed outside to shovel snow .


All that to say. You HAVE to go out and get these books as soon as you possibly can if you enjoy reading books about vampires. You will love them!

Monday, February 8, 2010

It's Monday, What are You Reading? (5)

What are you reading on Mondays? is a meme hosted by Sheila. This is our opportunity as bloggers to share what we've read in the past week and what we plan on reading this week. If you'd like to join in (it's really fun), go to One Persons Journey Through a World Of Books and add your name to the list.

What I Read This Week:

The Poor Little Rich Girl ~ Eleanor Gates
An Old-Fashioned Girl ~ Louisa May Alcott
Glass Houses ~ Rachel Caine
The Dead Girls' Dance ~ Rachel Caine
Midnight Alley ~ Rachel Caine
Feast of Fools ~ Rachel Caine
Lord of Misrule ~ Rachel Caine
Carpe Corpus ~ Rachel Caine
Fade Out ~ Rachel Caine
Helen in the Editor's Chair ~ Ruthe S. Wheeler
Book of a Thousand Days ~ Shannon Hale

Currently Reading:

Twenty Four Hours a Day ~ Faith Baldwin
The Noisy Seven: A Story of Seven Boys ~ Alice Pickford Brockway

What I'd Like to Read This Week:

Under the Lilacs ~ Louisa May Alcott
The Ministry of Marriage ~ Tim Binney
The Shack ~ Wm. Paul Young

There are so many other books that I still have on my TBR shelf, but I really need to read The Ministry of Marriage since I borrowed it from a friend around two months ago. Yikes! As for The Shack, I'm not sure what to expect. My mother-in-law loved it. Raves about it. I tend to discover that books that are raved about by lots of people end up making absolutely no impression on me. And, honestly, even a bad impression is better than none at all in my opinion.

Friday, February 5, 2010

When the World Turns White

Have I ever told ya'll how much I love snow? When I heard that Northern Virginia was supposed to receive somewhere between 4" and 40", I was ecstatic. I even love shoveling! The other plus? I got off work 3 hours early. The snow started falling around 10 o' clock this morning. Just before I left the office for the day around noon, I took a few pictures.

The front parking lot and street at my workplace. I took the pic from my office window on the fourth floor.

Another shot

Different angle. This one shows the front patio of my office building and the Hilton next to it.

This is a close up of one of the trees directly outside my window at work.

Getting home was interesting. People were still panicking about the snow so the traffic was something else. My typical commute home from work takes me 30 minutes for a 10 mile distance. Today, it took me 40-50 minutes. Of course, the slush on the roads didn't help any.
Around 6:30pm I decided it was a good time to go outside for a few pictures of my neighborhood. I just want to say that I did not use flash for any of the following pictures, nor did I make any adjustments aside from cropping. This is the reflection of the house and street lights in the neighborhood.
Angle from my front door

Crop of the houses across from the playground

My front bay window in the green light of my porch light. (Joseph still hasn't changed the light bulbs from the Christmas colors he put up in December. Lazy boy. :-)

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

more snow pics since it's lighter outside :-)

Both of these pictures were taken from my office. I have the distinct pleasure of sitting right smack dab next to a HUGE wall length, four foot high window. It's terrible when the sun's out since it faces East pretty directly, but it's beautiful on days like today. Enjoy the pictures. They're best when you click on them for the full, close-up view.


It Snowed Again Last Night

Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy snow? Well, I'm mentioning it now. I love snow. Everything about snow. The cold. the wet. the shoveling. the Sledding! the white. the clean feel. the sense of wonder that seeing snow always leaves me with.

Normally, when it snows, the snow will land on the trees around home and look pretty for a little while, but as soon as the snow stops coming down all of the snow on the trees just disappears. So, imagine my delight when I walked the front door of my house this morning to discover that the trees were still laden with snow. It looks like the trees all grew leaves of white. *sigh* Perfection!

When I arrived at work around 5:10 this morning I finally found a tree that had enough light to take a picture of so that I could share it with everyone.


Isn't it gorgeous!?! ALL of the trees surrounding my work building look the same if not even more beautiful. I wish I had my real camera with me not just my phone camera. Then I could share with you the Winter Wonderland that is known as Northern Virginia.

Whoo Hoo! My Very first Award EVER!


dArLyN might just be my new favorite person. She just sent me my very first blog award ever! (THANKS, dArLyN!!!)

So here I am passing on the "Your Blog is sooooooo Kewl!" Award.

First up is Rachel. Rachel is my younger sister who is REALLY bad at posting consistently, but when she does post she drags you into her story or anecdote or whatever else she writing. I love when she updates cause it's like sitting down with her for a quick chat even though we're two states away from each other. Maybe now that she's got an award to post, she'll actually update again. ;-) Love you, Rach!

Second, is Jacki. I've actually met Jacki before and she's just as funny and wonderful in real life as she is in writing.

Third is Kristen. She was blogger who, whether she knows it or not (well, she does now), got me into reading all of the other book blogs that have helped to satisfy my hunger for reading.

And last, I've got to send it back to dArLyN. I love reading her blogs and her thoughts on books.
Again, thank you, dArLyN for the award. I'm absolutely thrilled that you chose me to pass this award on to.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Trying something new

I've never used a blog background before aside from the few options that Blogger provides, but as I was reading through the many different blogs that participate in It's Monday What Are You Reading? I saw a super cute background on Darlyn's blog . It was the first time I saw anything from Jelly Pages so I stopped by the website to look for a background that fit me. This is what I found and I absolutely adore it! It's girly, and green, and PINK, and it fits my header picture. That was the one thing I didn't want to have to change just yet. Although, thinking about it today...I might just change it anyway.

What do you think? Is my background likable?

Vanity Tuesday


Last week's plate for you was ASA FDLE. In not so many words, "As A Fiddle". As in, Fit as a fiddle.
New this week we have the following plates:
DBL BA55: Double Bass. Definitely a musician.
WCH UR 6: Watch Your 6. Apparently this guy likes to remind people behind him that there are people driving behind Them.
NO 1 LKSU: No One Likes You. I personally really like this one. Don't know that I could be so "mean", but I have to admit that it made me laugh for quite some time when I first saw it.
SCR PLYA: Soccer Player/Playa. The fact that this plate ends in an "A" is kinda disturbing because if I remember correctly, the driver wasn't so hot looking. Yet he considered himself a "playa". Hmmm. I just hope that "SCR PLYR" was taken when he decided to put an "A" at the end.
BG DOODY: LOL. Yes, this plate really IS Big Doody.
Now for this week's guess for ya'll. You'll get it easily, I promise.
REFCMON
Hint: Break it into two "words" of three letters and four letters. Good luck!

Monday, February 1, 2010

It's Monday, What are You Reading?


What are you reading on Mondays? is a meme hosted by J. Kaye. This is our opportunity as bloggers to share what we've read in the past week and what we plan on reading this week. If you'd like to join in (it's really fun), go to J. Kaye's Book Blog and add your name to the list.

What I Read This Week:

Saint Ben ~ John Fischer
The Saints' and Angels' Song ~ John Fischer
Maggie: Life at The Elms ~ Eric Wiggin
Maggie's Homecoming ~ Eric Wiggin
Maggie's Secret Longing ~ Eric Wiggin
Liberated Through Submission ~ P. B. Wilson
The Hidden Valley Mystery ~ Helen Wells
The Innocent Libertine ~ T. Davis Bunn & Isabella Bunn

I didn't set aside any books that I started but couldn't finish this week.

What I am Currently Reading:

Helen In The Editor's Chair ~ Ruthe S. Wheeler
The Poor Little Rich Girl ~ Eleanor Gates

What I Want to Read This Week:

Well, I didn't get to my Trixie Belden's this past week and I don't think I'm even going to try to read them this week, so I've picked a few others instead.

The Noisy Seven: A Story of Seven Boys ~ Alice Pickford Brockway
Twenty-Four Hours A Day ~ Faith Baldwin
Under the Lilacs ~ Louisa May Alcott
An Old-Fashioned Girl ~ Louisa May Alcott
and maybe, just maybe
Kazan ~ James Oliver Curwood

Wish me luck, ya'll. All of the books on my list this week are OLD. And by old, I mean that the newest copy of any of the books listed above was printed in the 1950s. No offense to those of you who were born in that wonderful decade, but when it comes to books of that age, they aren't always in the greatest of shape. In fact, Helen in the Editor's Chair is actually a disaster. The published date in the book is 1932. I can guarantee you that particular book will never see the inside of my purse. :-) Anyway, my point in mentioning how old the books are is this. It is ever so much harder to read quickly and efficiently when you have to be careful and pay close attention to how you handle the pages. Don't get me wrong. I don't mishandle my books in anyway. In fact, I get teased by some people because even after reading a book twice, the spine isn't broken, and you really can't tell that I've read it.

Sheesh! Now that you've been given an entire history of how I read. LOL. What are you reading this Monday?