Photo's on Friday: First of the Month

October 1, 2011

the cottonwoods are just barely starting to turn yellow

but by November 1st I think all the leaves will be gone

photo by

hosted by Jan at Murietta 365

Wednesday Wanderings: Time

(left click to enlarge)

photo by

this weeks theme "time"

 this weeks theme "leaf"

Tuesday Top Ten and a Teaser: Rereads

hosted by the broke and the bookish
and Miz B at should be reading

Today's Topic is . . . books I'd like to reread

I don't really like to reread.

There are so many books to read, all brand new to me!

So I can't see the sense of reading books again.

I've only reread a few of my favorite books.

1.  Jane Eyre

2. The Lord of the Rings

3. The Hobbit

4.  Quietly My Captain Waits

5.  Wuthering Heights

For some reason these books evoke in me a sense of "home"

and occassionally I will get homesick to hear their words,

feel the language once more.

Recently I've been hearing these books calling out to me from my past

6.  Green Darkness

7. Rebecca

8.  The Captive Queen of Scotts

And more recently I've made friends with some new titles that feel like

I will possibly revisit them sometime in the future

9.  The Book Thief

10.  The Secret Life of Bees

But the book I most often reread--in fact I begin it the day after I stop reading it--is

The Book of Mormon 

I think I've read this book at least 30 times

Today's Teaser comes from the Graveyard Book by Niel Gaimon

"It was a perfect spring day, and the air was alive with birdsong and bee hum.  The daffodils bustled in the breeze and here and there on the side of the hill a few early tulips nodded.  A blue powdering of forget-me-nots and fine, fat yellow primroses pnctuated the green of the slope as the two children walked up the hill toward the Frobishers' little mausoleum."

location 3697 on my kindle

Book Review: Life From Scratch

Life From Scratch

by

Melissa Ford

Kindle Edition, 208 pages
Published December 1st 2010 by Bell Bridge Books
ASIN: B004EEPK08.

About the book:
Divorced, heartbroken and living in a lonely New York apartment with a tiny kitchen, Rachel Goldman realizes she doesn't even know how to cook the simplest meal for herself. Can learning to fry an egg help her understand where her life went wrong? She dives into the culinary basics. Then she launches a blog to vent her misery about love, life and her goal of an unburnt casserole.To her amazement, the blog's a hit. She becomes a minor celebrity. Next, a sexy Spaniard enters her life. Will her souffles stop falling? Will she finally forget about the husband she still loves? And how can she explain to her readers that she still hasn't learned how to cook up a happy life from scratch?

(image and information courtesy goodreads)

read about the author on her blog
 
My thoughts:
An excerpt from the main character, Rachel Goldman's, beginning blog entry,
 

"Before the divorce, we ate out almost every night or brought in take-out.  If they offered a degree in carryout curry, I would have a PhD.  Unfortunately, even if I am now only ordering for one, I quickly learned after we separated that while Hunan Chow is affordable on a lawyer and graphic designer's joint salary, it's prohibitively expensive for a living-off-the-money-I-got-from-my-half-of-the-condo-while-I-find-myself budget.
 
So, I am going to learn how to fry an egg without breaking the yolk.  And do more than boil noodles.  I might even . . . gasp . . . make my own Pad Thai.  And this my friends, is how I'm finally going to find myself during my 'Year of Me'".

This is the premise for the book "Life From Scratch".  The story is Rachel's journey to discover more about herself and in the process she discovers what is really important to her.  The story was sweet, simple and delightful.

I read this book as part of Jenners Take A Chance Challenge 3

Challenge #3  Find a “Best Books Read” post from a favorite blogger. Read a book from their list.

I found "Life From Scratch" at Tales of Whimsy--JuJu's blog

Week 39/book 44--52 books in 52 weeks challenge
book 44--ebook challenge
show me the free challenge--downloaded Feb. 16, 2011

Wednesday Wanderings: Sunrise

How does a sunrise make you feel?

photo by

my sister CAD

editing by

via picnic

this weeks theme "sunrise/sunset"

Tuesday Top Ten and a Teaser: Peer Pressure Reading

hosted by the broke and the bookish
and Miz B at should be reading

Today's Topic is . . . Books You Feel Like Everyone Has Read But You

In this world of book blogging I've caved in to "peer pressure" more than once.

I've read that book that's being reviewed on every book blog that I see,

just because it is being reviewed on every book blog that I see.

Sometimes it has worked out and I've really enjoyed the book,

other times I can't see what they saw in the book.

At any rate--here are 10 books I feel like everybody is reading that I haven't read yet

1.  Shiver (series)

2.  The Weird Sisters

3.  The Iron King (series)

4.  Matched (series)

5.  Anna and the French Kiss

6.  Major Pettigrew's last stand

7.  Across the Universe

8.  Room: A Novel

9.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

10. Alice in Wonderland--I know it's weird, but I've never read that book.

And my teaser today comes from a book that my youngest daughter has been putting pressure on me for years to read,  The Graveyard Book by Niel Gaimon.

"He could smell the child: a milky smell, like chocolate chip cookies, and the sour tang of a wet, disposable nighttime diaper.  He could smell the baby shampoo in its hair, and something small and rubbery--a toy, he thought, and then, no, something to suck--that the child had been carrying."

location 78 on my kindle

Book Review: The Help

The Help

by

Kathryn Stockett
Kindle Edition, 443 pages
Published February 10th 2009 by Putnam Adult
ASIN: B002YKOXB6.

characters: Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, Constantine Bates, and Hilly Holbrook
setting: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962 (United States)

literary awards: Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction (2009), Indies Choice Book Award for Adult Debut (2010), Puddly Award for Fiction (2011), Southern Independent Booksellers Association's Book of the Year for Fiction (2010) .

About the book:
Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who's always taken orders quietly, but lately she's unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She's full of ambition, but without a husband, she's considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town.

About the author:
Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Alabama with a degree in English and creative writing, she moved to New York City, where she worked in magazine publishing for nine years. She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and daughter. She is working on her second novel.

information and image courtesy goodreads


My thoughts:
The author Kathryn Stockett wrote a short explanation of where the idea for the story-line of "The Help" came from which she included at the back of the book.  It would have been nice if it had been at the beginning of the book so that I, the reader, could have a better appreciation for the story as I read it. Here's a bit of what she says:

"The Help is fiction, by and large. Still, as I wrote it, I wondered an awful lot what my family would think of it, and what Demetrie (her maid while growing up) would have thought too, even though she was long dead. I was scared, a lot of the time, that I was crossing a terrible line, writing in the voice of a black person. I was afraid I would fail to describe a relationship that was so intensely influential in my life, so loving, so grossly stereotyped in American history and literature.

I was truly grateful to read Howell Raines's Pulitzer Prize-winning article, "Grady's Gift."

There is no trickier subject for a writer from the South than that of affection between a black person and a white one in the unequal world of segregation. For the dishonesty upon which a society is founded makes every emotion suspect, makes it impossible to know whether what flowed between two people was honest feeling or pity or pragmatism.

My feelings for The Help conflict greatly. Regarding the lines between black and white women, I am afraid I have told too much...I am afraid I have told too little. Not just that life was so much worse for many black women working in the homes in Mississippi, but also that there was so much more love between white families and black domestics than I had the ink or the time to portray.

What I am sure about is this: I don't presume to think that I know hat it really felt like to be a black woman in Mississippi, especially in the 1960s. I don't think it is something any white woman on the other of a black woman's paycheck could ever truly understand. But trying to understand is vital to our humanity."

The Help was a story about change and the courage of some wonderful women who chose to act in order to help bring about a much needed change for our society--equal rights for the black American. Even though the book is a work of fiction this story had me thinking about how it is always the quiet few, that can tap into that core of courage within who get to work making things better for those who lack that ability. I liked everything about this book. I liked how the author told the story from three different points of view without interrupting the flow of the story. I liked hearing the “voices” of these women as they worked together on their project. I liked the element of danger they courageously faced. And I also liked how good times and bad times wove in and out of their lives just like they do in real life. The story had a great realistic, homey—yes, homey feel to it. The women in this story are women you can love (and hate).

*******
The main characters:

Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan—a young woman who doesn’t want to conform to what is expected of her as a southern belle. She wants to write—and with some prodding from an editor at a publishing house in New York—she comes up with a powerful and dangerous topic for a fact based book. She determines to interview 12 black maids and publish their stories about how it is to work for white people.

Aibileen Clark—A maid, the first to help Skeeter with the book, is a woman who loves all of the white children she has raised. (I personally related to Aibileen’s approach to life—it is similar to my own)

Minny Jackson—A maid, the second to get on board with the book project, is a woman with a reputation of being the best cook in Jackson, but has a strong will, fiery temper, and a mouth to go with it. She is constantly being fired.

Secondary characters:

Constantine Bates—Skeeter’s family maid that left without explanation while Skeeter was away to college. Skeeter’s part in the book project is to write about her family maid and how she felt about her. Part of this process is finding out what happened to her and why she left.

Hilly Hillbrook—the social queen of Jackson, She is a bully and wields her power unkindly destroying lives and reputations.

Elizabeth Leefolt—Aibileen’s employer and best friend to Hilly

Celia Foote—Minny’s Employer, she was formerly considered white trash before marrying wealthy Johnny Foote who loves her very much. He was Hilly’s former boyfriend so Celia is not accepted into the social circles of Jackson

******

I read this book as part of Jenners Take Another Chance Reading Challenge #3 Challenge #1: Staff Member’s Choice: Go to a bookstore or library that has a “Staff Picks” section. Read one of the picks from that section. Well nowadays my bookstore is Amazon.com where I buy ebooks for my kindle. So I checked the Editor’s top 100 picks back in June and saw “The Help”. I had also seen a lot of great reviews about the book and with the trailers for the movie flashing on the television over and over I decided to read it. I’m glad I did. Now if our small theater will ever get it I’ll take my girls and go see the movie

Ebook challenge
52 weeks 52 books

Summer Stock: Last day of Summer

my last look at summer

(Cleveland Reservoir, Huntington Canyon)

Did you know there is still snow on top

the reservoir's are full

and the leaves are starting to change?

it was a crazy summer!

photo by

summer stock

hosted by Robin at Aorund the Island

BBAW: It's All About the Books

Today’s Topic

Book bloggers blog because we love reading. We would have no blogs without the books! Has book blogging changed the way you read? Have you discovered books you never would have apart from book blogging? How has book blogging affected your book acquisition habits? Have you made new connections with other readers because of book blogging?

Participating in reading challenges each year has really changed the way I read. (And I had never heard of a reading challenge prior to book blogging.) It had never crossed my mind to plan what to read—but I find that is now what I am doing. Occasionally I’ll give it a break and read something just because I want to—but those challenges are always nagging away at me and so I find myself getting back on track. I find it stimulating and fun.

I’ve also been OCD throughout my life and kept “lists” of the books I’ve read. That’s one of the real plusses of book blogging—a comprehensive list of everything you read is available at the click of a button. That’s a much better looking record than a ratty old notebook. I also love coming across someone who has read one of my favorite books and reading what they thought of it—it gives me such a feeling of camaraderie.

My favorite thing to participate in is the read-a-longs. My first read-a-long was The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. But since then I’ve read two books by Virginia Woolf, Villette by Charlotte Bronte, The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, and I’m currently participating in a yearlong read-a-long of War and Peace. I love reading books simultaneously with others and then discussing them. It is also one of my favorite things to do in real life. I belong to a book club and also read and discuss many of the same books with my family. Read and discuss—does it get any better than that?

The very best part of book blogging is knowing that there are people in the world as nerdy about books as me. I can talk about books to my hearts content and even if nobody reads my post at least I’ve had my say. And I just love talking about books.

I’d also like to mention my kindle—it has changed my reading habits more than book blogging. The kindle is easy to use and has hundreds and hundreds of free titles available for download. I follow three blogs that keep me up on free and new releases for the kindle. By keeping track of free books it is like having a library available at my fingertips. I can’t believe how fun it is, and I’m amazed at the variety of genre’s available—it’s a brand new world for me. I can also buy books now because I watch for them to come out at lower prices and so when I do buy a book it is a much better price than what I would have gotten it for prior to my book blogging days.

All in all I’ll have to give book blogging a big thumbs UP!!!!!! The only drawback I could think of is now I know about so many books I’ll never get them all read! (Prior to book blogging I had no idea what a TBR was.)

Thursdays with Tolstoy: Week 37 and 38

Book 12 Chapters 1-7

Some interesting happenings in these chapters:

• Helene dies of an undisclosed illness (An apparent suicide by drug overdose, it was too shameful to write about in that era?)

• The Tsar Alexander who is upset about the evacuation and occupation and subsequent burning of Moscow and tearfully vows to lead the remainder of his subjects—the nobility and the peasants—if that is all that is left to fight the war on to battle. He says “It is Napoleon or me.” (Why doesn’t he just keep it between Napoleon and him and challenge him to a duel instead of killing off his subjects??)

• Nicholas is still pursuing Princess Mary and visits with her and her aunt at a party in Petersburg. (He is attracted to her but at the same time a little fearful of her fierce devotion to God.) He continues to feel guilty about this courtship because in his heart he loves Sonya. (While at the party the Governors wife agrees to arrange the marriage between Nicholas and Mary, She asks him, “What good will it do if you marry for love and you and all your family are financially ruined?”)

• Sonya is grateful to the Rostov’s for taking her in and she loves them, so she is conflicted about the current situation. Countess Rostov realizes that Nicholas’s love for Sonya is standing in the way of him making an opportune marriage. She asks Sonya to give up on her intentions to marry Nicholas—Sonya is bitter, (I can’t say that I blame her) but acquiesces and writes to Nicholas declining his proposal of marriage (sad).

Book 12 Chapters 8-16

I’ve mentioned before in recent War and Peace posts that my life right now has been stressful and hectic with the failing health of my mother and my 5 year old grandchildren starting kindergarten and leaving me with an empty house for the first time in 33 years—and on top of this I’m sharing my kitchen with a nest of hornets--real hornets, the kind that sting (but that’s a blog for another day!!!!!!) I’ve gotten behind in my War and Peace reading and posting and I’m finding holes in what I remember because if I don’t get right to the weeks posting it gets all muddled. This week I begin all muddled (obviously—because I’ve had to post two weeks worth of reading today and I'm actually post-dating it so it will fall in on my Thursday posts--today is Monday).

When I previously posted about Pierre he was working his way into the French ranks so that he could assassinate Napoleon which he did passing himself off as a Frenchman. He was disappointed in his efforts because Napoleon had left the city. I’ve scanned through the book trying to discover at what point he was arrested and imprisoned by the French (somehow I missed this key point) and discovered that Pierre had come across a woman crying because her child was in a burning building. Pierre rescued the child but in the process of restoring him to his mother assaulted a French soldier. (Apparently this and being near a burning building is why he was arrested.)

In this week’s reading Pierre is in prison, the French are treating him with hostility. His fellow prisoners are Russian peasants and since they recognize him as a person of nobility and because he speaks French they also treat him poorly. On his third day in prison Pierre along with the other prisoners are tried for incendiarism, or burning Moscow. It was obvious from the outset of the trial that the verdict would be guilty. Pierre refuses to give his name or answer their questions during the first trial; a few days later Pierre is tried once again and accused of being a Russian spy. Pierre fearing for his life finally tells the French Marshall his name and rank of nobility but before issuing the verdict the Marshall is called away. On the morning of September 8th Pierre and his fellow prisoners are taken to Virgin’s field.

“Moscow as far as Pierre could see was one vast charred ruin. On all sides there were waste spaces with only stoves and chimney stacks still standing, and here and there the blackened walls of some brick houses. Here and there he could see churches that had not been burned. The Kremlin, which was not destroyed gleamed white in the distance with its towers and the belfry of Ivan the Great . . . It was plain that the Russian nest was ruined and destroyed.”

“Pierre could not remember how he went, whether it was far, or in which direction. His faculties were quite numbed; he was stupefied and moved until his legs stopped. He wondered who was executing him, killing him, depriving him of life—him, Pierre, with all his memories, aspirations, hopes, and thoughts? Who was doing this? It was a system—a concurrence of circumstances. A system of some sort was killing him—Pierre—depriving him of life, of everything, annihilating him.”

The Prisoners were led to a place where a large pit had been dug in the field; six of them were lined up in front of it. Spectators had gathered to watch the execution. Drums began to play; the guards stepped forward and placed sacks over the heads of the prisoners.

“Twelve sharpshooters with muskets stepped out of the ranks and halted eight paces from the post. Suddenly a crackling, rolling noise was heard, there was some smoke.”

For some reason beyond Pierre’s comprehension he was not executed but left standing at the post. He was saved. Pierre was taken to a church to wait where later a soldier arrived to tell him that he had been pardoned. He is released at night and in the dark is soon surrounded by some Russian soldiers who are hiding in a shed. They take him in, keep him as one of their own and feed him.


So much drama this week, reading War and Peace is like watching a soap opera . . . it continues:


Natasha and the Rostov’s are staying at the Monastery. Natasha is spending all of the time she possibly can taking care of Andrew. These are such tender days for them and I loved reading about their time together. Princess Mary along with little Nicholas arrive at the Monastery. Princess Mary recognizes that Prince Andrew is near death—which somehow Natasha has refused to see. She is still looking forward to a future with him now that they are reunited. Prince Andrew makes peace with his God as he goes in and out of consciousness and sadly Prince Andrew dies. I was very sad about this development in the story.

BBAW: Community

Today’s topic!

The world of book blogging has grown enormously and sometimes it can be hard to find a place. Share your tips for finding and keeping community in book blogging despite the hectic demands made on your time and the overwhelming number of blogs out there. If you’re struggling with finding a community, share your concerns and explain what you’re looking for–this is the week to connect!

My advice for finding and remaining a part of a virtual community is to

1. visit and comment
2. visit and comment
3. visit and comment
4. visit and comment
5.  visit and comment

I could continue to repeat myself but I won't.  The only way people know you are there is if you say something.

 I've found it is important to be yourself, be kind, sincere and persistent.  The reverse is true as well.  If you find that someone is consistently commenting on your blog--be courteous and drop them a line. 

It does get overwhelming and time consuming keeping up with so many blogs so I break my reading into groups to make them more manageable.  Monday is for movie blogs and catching up with a few weekend posts, Tuesdays is for book blogging, Wednesdays and Friday's are for photo blogs.  Thursday is for catching up and browsing and I don't blog on weekends.  On Monday I mark all posts as read and don't worry about what I miss.

When I sign up on a "Mr. Linky" I click on every 5th link to visit--it is too time consuming to visit all of the links.  I only visit 10 from teaser Tuesday, but I do return all visits to my blog on book blogging day.  Tuesday continues to be my biggest traffic day so I do love interacting with the book blogging community.

I do have about 40 blogs that I read everyday--they are the people that I interact with the most.

oh--one more thing.  Remember it is all just for fun. 

Wednesday Wanderings: Reflections on Happiness

photo of Mr. J's grandmother (a very beautiful woman)

by

Robert Dyer Photography

this weeks theme "reflection"

Tuesday Top Ten and a Teaser: Book Blogger Recommendations

hosted by the broke and bookish
and Miz B at should be reading

This weeks top ten . . . Book Blogger Recommendations

I browsed through the list of books I've read since I started blogging three years ago

and this is what I came up with.

Books recommended by Staci at Life in the Thumb

A Cottage by the Sea

The Apothecary's Daughter

The Winter Sea

The Forever Queen

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte

Books recommended by Molly at the Bumbles

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

To Kill a Mockingbird

War and Peace

(War and Peace also recommended by Jillian at A Room of Ones Own)

Books recommended by Margot at Joyfully Retired

Heideggers Glasses

A Country Christmas

(Margot has been reviewing children's award winners this year and I want to read some of those next year)

Books recommended by Wallace at the Unputdownables

Villette

to read my reviews for these books click here

today's topic--shining the light on fellow book bloggers

My teaser this week comes from a book I've seen reviewed on many blogs and of course the movie trailer and hype also led me to read this book.  I'm enjoying it very much.

"The summer rolls behind us like a hot tar spreader. Ever colored person in Jackson gets in front a whatever tee-vee set they can find, watches Martin Luther King stand in our nation's capital and tell us he's got a dream."

location 5639 on my kindle

The Help

by

Kathryn Stockett

Book Review: The Far Horizon

A Far Horizon

by

Anita Stansfield

Kindle Edition
Published April 26th 2011 by Deseret Book Company
ASIN:B004XXIHJG.

About the book:
The journey had been long and difficult and full of mishaps—even deadly ones. But the words in Ian’s mind seemed . . . as if they encompassed all they’d endured and experienced; all their losses and sorrows. . . . You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, Ian. It was true. He knew it was true. He was exactly where God wanted him to be, and so were those who constituted his family. . . . They were where God wanted them to be; they were on the right path, in the right place at the right time, and they would soon achieve their goal and be united with God’s people.

About the Author:
Anita Stansfield, the LDS market's #1 best-selling romance novelist, is an imaginative and prolific writer whose romantic stories have captivated her readers.

information and image courtesy goodreads

My thoughts:
Many years ago I read an Anita Stansfield book.  She is an author not to my liking.  Too much death, illness, crying and sorrow--without any joy to relieve it all.  I gagged my way through it and have never read another of her books (which are many) until this one.

And just why would I force myself to gag down another Anita Stansfield book?  Well my mother is in the nursing home and has been too feeble to hold and read a book.  She started this book before she fell and so I have been reading it out loud to her.  So I read it because I love my mother.  I hope she is strong enough to hold a book before she asks me to read the third in the series.  I just don't know if I can do it.  *sigh*

But just because I didn't like it doesn't mean you won't.

52 weeks

3-book

BBAW 2011:Community

 Today's Topic:

Today you are encouraged to highlight a couple of bloggers that have made book blogging a unique experience for you. They can be your mentors, a blogger that encouraged you to try a different kind of book, opened your eyes to a new issue, made you laugh when you needed it, or left the first comment you ever got on your blog.

*     *     *     *      *

I browsed my reader today and I have 65 book blogs in my subscriptions.  I read 10 of those everyday--the rest I mostly read on Tuesday when I "book blog".  I also play bookish meme's on Tuesday and try to visit new to me book bloggers every week.  I love seeing what people are reading and reading what they have to say about it. The book blogging community has opened up my eyes to a whole world of reading, I can honestly say in the last three years since I started book-blogging I have read from more genre's and more new authors than at any other time in my life.  So today I'd just like to say thanks to all of you that have introduced me to a new book, or a new author--or just helped me  to think about things in a whole new way.

I thought I'd just go through the paragraph and mention bloggers who fit the descriptions.

"a couple of bloggers that have made book blogging a unique experience for you."

A couple of bloggers that have had the biggest impact on why I blog is Molly from "The Bumbles" and DS from "Third Storey Window".  Molly is a blogger that invests herself in the blogging community trying very hard to help bloggers interact with each other and establish relationships.  At one time she evaluated my blog and invited DS to evaluate it as well.  I would highly recommend that all bloggers have someone evaluate their blog from time to time.  They both had wonderful suggestions to make my blog user friendly and a little more focused.  I was already faithfully following Molly but since this experience I have read DS's blog as well.  She is very creative in her analysis of mostly poetry and the poetry she writes is simply breathtaking.  Reading her blog is like taking a long cool drink on a hot summer day.  Molly reads mostly classical literature.  She invites others to read with her and always enjoys hearing your thoughts.  Both women have made a big difference in my why I blog.  So I'd probably consider them both mentor's as well.

"A blogger that encouraged you to try a different kind of book"

That would be Jillian at "A Room With of One's Own".  That girl's reading list and ambition inspires me.  You should just drop by and have a look to see what I mean.  I love how she rambles on in her posts, she is so passionate about her reading.  She is provocative and extracts dialogue from her readers.  Her blog is informative as well as entertaining.  She has me reading War and Peace . . . I'm sure I would never have picked it up otherwise.

"made you laugh when you needed it"

Jenners at "Life With Books" . . . makes me laugh all the time.  She is so witty and always knows just how to say things.  She's always changing up the way she does reviews which makes them more interesting.  But more than her reviews I find Jenners is just a nice person to know.  I never miss a day of reading her blog.

"left the first comment on my blog"

When I first started book blogging I had two blogs--one for meme's and one for book reviews.  Needless to say I didn't have much traffic on my book blog.  I abandoned it in January of this year and combined it with this blog where I review on Tuesday's.  The first person to leave a comment on one of my book reviews was Lindsey at "Talent in Borders".  Her blog is about movies and music not books, we have participated in a movie meme together on Monday's since I started blogging. That is one thing I like about blogging.  There is a lot more to it than books.

Early in my book blogging I joined a monthly book review club hosted by author Barrie Summy.  The members of this group were also among the bloggers who fist visited and continue to visit my blog.

My most faithful blogging friends that comment on nearly every review are Stacy at "Life in the Thumb" and Jenners.

I was also very touched and surprised when reviewing early comments to find that Molly, Margot, Ju Ju,  kaye, Janice, EG, and Sarah have also been with me from the beginning.

Thanks so much to all of you for creating this wonderful virtual world of life with books . . . life is always better when it is shared.

9/11 /Remembered

I watched this amazing remembrance on TV today

 

If you have BYU TV it will be broadcast at 9:30 AM, 12:30, 3:30, 8:30 and 11:00 PM