August Tally 2010

August is almost over and September begins the busiest month of the year for me. (Work and all that) It's funny, though, cause one would think that I would be trying to cram as much reading as possible into August since time will be tight in September, but I didn't really read alot this month. Here's the list:

Half Moon Investigations ~ Eoin Colfer 8/2

Gwyneth and the Thief ~ Margaret Moore 8/2

Puppy Love ~ Nancy Krulik 8/3

Material Evidence ~ Bill Kirton 8/5

Boys that Bite ~ Mari Mancusi 8/6

Stake That! ~ Mari Mancusi 8/9

The Grimm Legacy ~ Polly Shulman 8/29

The Hunger Games ~ Suzanne Collins 8/30

Catching Fire ~ Suzanne Collins 8/30

Mockingjay ~ Suzanne Collins 8/31

Wow! Did you see that gap of twenty days where I didn't finish one. single. book? I blame it on the bookshelves. and the visitor. and work. and piano lessons. and TV DVR. There's just too much entertainment and not enough hours in a day! Obviously, my blog hasn't exactly been one of my priorities again, but hopefully the bouts of silence won't last too much longer. We'll see.

In the meantime, Read as much as you can and let me know what you favorite book in August was.

July Tally 2010

Yes, I realize we are almost through August and I am just now getting around to posting my tally for July. I have plenty of excuses for this, but I'm not going to give any. I don't want to say them and I'm sure you don't want to read them. Moving on.

July was a rather good month due to a few short books and a new manga series. And I mustn't forget my Barbara Cartlands.

Deathnote Vol. 1 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/1

Deathnote Vol. 2 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/1

Deathnote Vol. 3 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/2

Deathnote Vol. 4 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/3

Nightlight: A Twilight Parody ~ The Harvard Lampoon 7/4

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner ~ Stephenie Meyer 7/5

Deathnote Vol. 5 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/7

Deathnote Vol. 6 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/8

Deathnote Vol. 7 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/8

Deathnote Vol. 8 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/9

Deathnote Vol. 9 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/9

Deathnote Vol. 10 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/9

The Red Pyramid ~ Rick Riordan 7/11

Deathnote Vol. 11 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/11

Deathnote Vol. 12 ~ Tsugumi Ohba 7/11

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~ J.K. Rowling 7/12

Never Laugh at Love ~ Barbara Cartland 7/19

The Unwanted Wedding ~ Barbara Cartland 7/20

The Incredible Honeymoon ~ Barbara Cartland 7/21

Moments of Love ~ Barbara Cartland 7/21

Wild Irish Roses ~ Una McManus 7/22

Can You Keep a Secret ~ Sophie Kinsella 7/23

Who Needs Boys ~ Stephie Davis 7/24

When It Happens ~ Susanne Colasante 7/25

Good Girls ~ Laura Ruby 7/26

Story of a Girl ~ Sara Zarr 7/26

How I Live Now ~ Meg Rosoff 7/27

Companions of the Night ~ Vivian Vande Velde 7/28

Model Spy ~ Shannon Greenland 7/29

Down to the Wire ~ Shannon Greenland 7/30

The Winning Element ~ Shannon Greenland 7/30

With a total of 32 books read, I definitely feel like July was a good month for reading. I can only hope that August goes a little bit better this last week cause right now...it's pitiful!

A Story of Anniversary and Unpacking

Imagine my surprise as I considered the title of this blog post when I followed a hunch and googled "5th anniversary". This is what I landed on. Notice the traditional gift for a 5th wedding anniversary is wood. I'm pretty sure Joseph didn't know that when he stopped by Costco with his dad early this week and discovered the most beautiful bookshelves. Nor when he decided to buy said bookshelves.

Side note: it has been a wonderful five years of marriage already. Where HAS the time gone? I cannot imagine life without Joseph anymore. And I'm sure I don't want to be able to do so either. I certainly do love that man!

A very good friend from college, Josh, visited us this week so he and Joseph spent two evenings putting these shelves together for me once they brought them home. A HUGE thank you to him for his help!

The former residences of my book collection.

Schoolbooks. Computer and Programming (aka Joseph's). Non-fiction and Kids' books.

Fiction A-C

Fiction D - Y.

Series.

Aren't the BEAUTIFUL! It has been over 10 long years since most of my books have felt the stability of shelves for display. The vast majority of those years were spent in boxes. Granted they had be re-boxed many times over as I sorted through them multiple times looking for a particular book to reread, but for the most part, they stayed in the boxes.

The basement (where the shelves are) has a very homey feel to it now that I am loathe to leave. It was quite a hard decision to come upstairs to my room to get online instead of staying downstairs to continuously admire my new bookshelves.

The only downside to having all of my books visible - I can now see my many unfinished series that I am now itching to complete. This could very well mean the end of my pocketbook. Joseph will have to lock it away to keep me from spending all my hard-earned money on nothing but books.

Super Junior(슈퍼주니어)_너 같은 사람 또 없어_뮤직비디오(MusicVideo)

Yet Another New Favorite

At the beginning of May I was wondering around You Tube looking for music videos of Naruto music. Which I found. But, then, on the side I noticed a video for a song called Ring Ding Dong by SHINee. First, I was like, "SHINee. Really.?. What a name!!" But I decided to click on it anyway. And the world of Korean music opened up. I learned about DBSK. Big Bang. 2NE1. 2PM. 2AM. and many, many others. It didn't take long for me to create a new playlist on You Tube that was just Korean music. I completely understand that I CAN'T understand the music, but you know, that doesn't bother me. I understand the Feeling behind the music. And that enough for me.

My favorite Korean group is Super Junior. They are comprised of 13 young men. Yes. 13! Their music ranges from happy, bouncy to slow, and heartfelt. There's a few that have some pretty strong driving beats that can be kinda dangerous to drive to, but they're fun! Don't worry. I'll share my favorite video with you in just a minute. And you can then proceed to tell me that I'm crazy for listening to these guys. and I'll agree with you, then continue listening anyway. :-)