Sand Art, Very Cool

Hey it worked! Thanks Ti! :)

This sand art is really amazing. Be sure to check out her other clips.

Sand Art - This is cool

I have no clue how to add YouTube videos so you'll just have to follow the link. This sand art is really amazing. Thanks Mom for sharing this with me.

Hating the Word Hate and Loving the Word Love

Timesunion.com had an interesting little article on words we love and words we hate. It got a little into the why behind our strong reactions for some words but nothing epiphanous(now that's a pretty cool word!).

Personally, I really like the word pandemonium; and I hate the word booger.

Summer Reading List #1

Want some suggestions for summer reading that doesn't involve mindless treacle? New York Books has come out with the first summer reading list of the season. Take a peak.

The Sunday Salon, Monday Edition

Though I finished a couple of books this week the reviews have to wait. One is for a blog tour in June and the other was an ARC that won't be released until July so I thought I'd hold off till publication. I am reading two books now: Beach Trip, for another blog tour in June, and When the Darkness Will Not Lift, a very thin non-fiction about depression. I have the memoir The End of the World as We Know It from the library because I loved Robert Goolrick's novel A Reliable Wife. I read a spoiler so I know what I'm in for.

Today our homeschool is taking the same holiday that all our neighbors do. We have some friends with a pool so we will be spending the day in their company working on our tans before swimming season officially begins in a couple of weeks. Every day during the summer I wish we had a pool of our own. I love swimming more than any other sport. It is the perfect exercise. It's aerobic and it works all kinds of muscle groups. The first week is grueling as every limb aches but it is all forgotten once you get back in the water. And it only takes a week for others to notice your shoulders and legs getting firm and tone. After a couple of weeks I feel strong and my mood is light. I am not a redhead but my mom is and I inherited her fair skin so I burn that first few days, and then I freckle till I look like a leopard; but eventually it turns into a golden tan. By the end of summer I am fit and glowing. And several of our friends hang out with us daily at the pool for lessons, swim team and just for fun. Plus a long break from school. I love summertime.

Some of you have expressed an interest in my suggestion for an Off the Shelves reading challenge. It would involve reading the books you already own that are languishing on your shelves. I am not a great organizer but I think I could handle running a challenge. If there is enough interest I'll start making plans. So what do you say?

Rethinking ARCs

A couple days ago I read this post by Michele at A Reader's Respite about the prevalence of reviews about the same books. It got me thinking about my own reading habits in the last year since I first started receiving ARCs. I was a little stunned at how few books I've read that are not ARCs. Just this year alone, of the 20 books I've read 14 of them were either ARCs or offered by the authors. That leaves only 6 books I read just because I wanted to.

I will state up front that I have thoroughly enjoyed my reading this year. I am grateful to authors and publishers who are willing to pass along a free book in exchange for an honest critique. I didn't used to read a lot of modern literature. In fact I was a bit of a snob about them. I looked down my noise at modern literature as inferior compared to the old, wise classics. To me, the classics were intelligent and exercised the mind while modern literature was a lot of fluff and hot air, or just repeating poorly what had already been said with style and class. Since joining the book blogging community I have learned a powerful lesson about the value of modern literature. Out of those 20 books read this year only one is older than 4 years old (The Reluctant Dragon is closer to 100.) and only 1 of them did I seriously not like. Most of them I truly loved. I have felt especially lucky with my reading selections this year.

But...I miss my classics; I miss the freedom to browse my personal book shelves and read whatever jumps out at me. I have about 500 books(I'm not counting children's books or my husband's), most of which are TBR. I feel as if all those books that I paid money for are going to waste. They look great on the shelf but that's not why I bought them. I want to actually read them and I am not.

Today I got a notice in the mail that an ARC that I requested a couple of weeks ago will not be coming my way. I am relieved. It means that once I've read the two ARCs I have and the one that is supposed to be on its way then I'll be able to get into one of my own books. This makes me happy.

I'm not done with ARCs and author offerings but I will be a lot more choosy from today on. I think it's time to let my reading be led by my interests. Maybe I'll read everything written by a new-to-me author. Maybe I'll join a challenge again. Maybe I'll just close my eyes and read whichever book my finger touches first. The idea makes me feel free and excited.

I know I'm not the only one. Michele has had 40+ comments saying essentially the same thing. Maybe someone should start an Off the Shelves challenge. Anyone willing?

Non-fiction, modern fiction and childrens collections on the left; classics and poetry on the right.

Entrance Fees for Book Stores?

Loh Keng Fatt, a news editor for Singapore's The Straits Times, thinks book stores should charge an entrance fee to discourage people from using them as "their own playground or personal library." Go read this small article for yourself. Be sure to read the comments too.

What do you think? Should book stores charge a $2. entrance fee? Or does this sound like a combination of crankiness and greed?

The Sunday Salon

Hey! It's been a while since I visited the Sunday Salon. It seems like it's time to catch up. With today's triple digit heat it was the perfect pool day. I am so grateful for generous friends with big pools. I had a blast.

This week in reading I completed 2 books: Garden Spells, which I liked until I got to the end, and The Blue Notebook, which will take a little more time to write up a review. I'm still gagging and having nightmares. It is seriously graphic. Oh man, it will take some time to get those images out of my head.

I've already started reading Beach Trip in preparation for the blog tour stop that will be here in June. So far so good. I'm also working on When the Darkness Will Not Lift, a non-fiction about dealing with depression as a Christian. It's very small (79 pages) so expect that review this week.

Has anyone heard of Fly Lady? Fly Lady teaches you to form the kinds of habits that keep your home and body tidy and trim. She has a website that outlines her program and gets you started with baby steps but the real magic is in the Yahoo group. She sends out emails each day(and I mean a lot of emails) to remind you to keep up with the habits that you are forming to keep your home orderly and your body healthy. I've done it in the past but I set it aside. Now I am ready to start again. For Baby Steps Day 1 I had to clean my kitchen sink. That's it! Does anyone else do the Fly Lady program? Is anyone interested in joining me in this challenge? Consistency is not my strong suit but maybe 20 reminder emails a day will get me moving.

Review: Garden Spells

Garden Spells

by Sarah Addison Allen

In the small town of Bascom, North Carolina, the Waverley's are known as an odd family. Claire has spent her whole life trying to fit in and has finally created a successful catering business that specializes in edible flowers. Her fear of being deserted has been overcome by not letting anyone into her heart. But now Sydney has returned home. Sydney is the younger sister that couldn't wait to follow in her mother's footsteps and get out of Bascom and the legacy of her weird family with its mysterious abilities. But Sydney brings a threat with her that may tear the family apart.

There are certain types of chick lit. that I detest and there are some that I enjoy. Garden Spells fits into the latter category. I liked the story of the two sisters and the renewing of their relationship. I was charmed by the magical realism. Just imagine, apple trees that tell the future, flower petals that give insight, a house that reacts to the emotions of its inhabitants. The characters were fun even if they were two dimensional. Evanelle was my favorite with her irresistible need to give people quirky things that will become useful to them in the near future. This is just the kind of chick lit. that I like to escape into after a series of heavy reading.

SPOILER ALERT

Okay, so it's not very realistic. It wasn't meant to be. And it was predictable. I didn't mind that at all. What I did mind was the ending. I was so disappointed at the stupidity of the ending. As if a man wielding a gun, who had just shot someone and was planning to do more carnage, would think his child had just tossed him an apple and would actually eat it. !!! In fact this man seemed so out of place in the whole book. He was made to encompass all evils to an extent that he became little more than a cartoon. Lameness. Just lameness. This was a case of the ending ruining the whole book for me.

If the storyline sounds enchanting and you don't mind a cheesy ending then you might enjoy Garden Spells.

Buy this book at Amazon.

We Have a Winner!

I want to thank everyone who participated in The Lost Hours contest. I loved reading the small pieces of your grandparents' lives. I put all your names into a bag and had my youngest pull out two of them.

Congratulations Heather and Ally M! Send me your addresses and I will get those books to you ASAP.

Review: A Reliable Wife

A Reliable Wife
by Robert Goolrick

"It was just a story of people, of Ralph and Emilia and Antonio and Catherine and the mothers and the fathers who died, too soon or late, of people who had hurt one another as much as people can do, who had been selfish and not wise, and had become trapped inside the bitter walls of memories they wished they had never had.

It was just a story of how the bitter cold gets into your bones and never leaves you, of how the memories get into your heart and never leave you alone, of the pain and the bitterness of what happens to you when you're small and have no defenses but still know evil when it happens, of secrets about evil you have no one to tell, of the life you live in secret, knowing your own pain and the pain of others but helpless to do anything other than the things you do, and the end it all comes to."-excerpt from A Reliable Wife

This was one of the most beautifully written and achingly sorrowful novels I have ever read. But it is not without hope. There is a lot of sex and depravity in A Reliable Wife but for me it was worth it. I read all 300 pages in two days and for me that is a feat. This book was mesmerising.

Buy this book at Amazon.

Giveaway: The Lost Hours

Everyone loves a giveaway!

I have two copies of the newly release Karen White novel, The Lost Hours, to give away. To enter all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me an interesting fact about one of your grandparents. For example, my grandparents met when my grandma whistled from her apartment balcony at a handsome young Army officer who had served under Patton in WWII. They were happily married for 51 years.

This giveaway will be open until Sunday, May 10th. Two lucky winners will be picked then but only if they leave a valid email or blog address.

Review: The Lost Hours

The Lost Hours

by Karen White

"Be patient and strong; someday this pain will be useful to you."

Piper Mills was once an Olympic hopeful with her equestrian abilities until a devastating accident dashes her dreams and leaves her broken in both body and spirit. When the grandmother who raised her dies leaving Piper with a box containing a key, a knitted baby sweater, a scrapbook and a necklace, she sets out to solve the mystery of her grandmother's past. But to get to the truth she must rely on her grandmother's closest friend who would rather leave some secrets in the past.

This book is about pain in its various forms. There is the physical pain that Piper suffers since her terrible accident that left her back broken and her leg shattered. There is the emotional pain from trauma that has left her terrified of horses. And there is a deeper pain that tells her that she is worthless and life is no longer worth living. Every character in this book suffers from pain in one or more of these forms. But, as they say, the truth will set you free. As mysteries are unearthed and as deceptions are laid bare healing will begin.

The story is a compelling one. I was curious about the past that had left so many in such lasting pain. And I liked the characters for the most part. The insightful though blind Helen was my favorite with a strong-willed Lillian coming in at a close second. There were passages of great insight and beauty, like the inscription at the top. And yet I don't think I connected with the book. It lacks subtlety and depth. It tends to be melodramatic. But sometimes I like melodramatic stories. And sometimes I'm looking for a little shallow when real life is getting too deep. I think that a lot of people would really enjoy The Lost Hours. Maybe I'm just being cranky.

You can check out Karen White's website and read an excerpt from her previous book, The House on Tradd Street, to get an idea of her writing style and if it will suit you. You can see that she has ten published books and has received a RITA award. She is a writer with a lot to recommend her.

Buy this book at Amazon.