It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday, everyone!

I've been thinking about participating in some weekly blog memes in hopes of sparking some blogging consistency on my part and this meme is one of them. It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, the goal of which is for readers to share what they're reading, spark conversation and maybe expand our reading lists. There's usually a link up at Sheila's blog every Monday, but of course the first day I decide to join there isn't one. ;)

Sheila has been busy hosting a Reading to Beat the Band book event for Banned Book Week last week, so go check that out.

Now for the the books I'm reading this week. Normally I am a one book at a time kind of girl. Maybe two if one is a graphic novel and the other is a regular full length novel. But right now I find myself pages deep into not one, not two, not even three books but SIX! Who does that? Okay it's really more like five because I shouldn't be counting Anna Karenina if I haven't cracked it open in a few months already. Still, five is just ridiculous, but I couldn't seem to avoid it. I want to read all of these books yesterday.

1. Demon Forged by Meljean Brook (p.148) 
Guardians series, #5
The concluding book of this series that I LOVE so much came out in August so I am playing series catch up and LOVING it. I started reading Demon Forged within hours of finishing the previous book and I just can't put it down. So much is going on in this book's plot and the overall series arc, it's fantastic. Every single page is gripping! I have to tell you, it's going to take ALL of my resolve to read all the other books I've started reading already before reading the next book in the series. I don't know if I'll be able to do it!

2. A Study in Scarlet by Ian Edginton (p.11) 
This is a graphic novel adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes novel of the same title, of course. I've been on a graphic novel kick lately (I've recently read some really awesome ones, by the way..) and I picked this one up over the weekend. Would you believe I've never read a Sherlock Holmes story before? Have you?

3. Lady Susan by Jane Austen (maybe 10%?) 
I started reading this book in late August for the Austen in August book event hosted by Adam who blogs at Roof Beam Reader. I chose Lady Susan out of all of Jane Austen's books because it was the shortest in the collection I own, which I thought would increase my odds of reading an Austen book in Auguts, but alas, I still haven't finished it. Truthfully, I find it a little boring. Is that terrible? I'm determined to finish it though. Austen in September, perhaps?

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (p.67) 
I started reading this beloved classic (yes, for the first time!) in August while on vacation for the July read along hosted again by Adam at Roof Beam Reader. My high school freshman daughter is reading it right now in her English class so OF COURSE this would be the ideal time to finish it!

5. The Fault of Our Stars by John Green (p.1) 
This book topped my 'The Ones That Got Away' 2012 list which consisted of a handful of books published in 2012 that I really, REALLY wanted to read when they came out, but never did. It was my suggestion for September's book club pick and it is the one we are reading. Yay! So I MUST read this before the end of the month! Which uh... is any day now. Yikes! I have to read this book NOW. (I haven't really started this one yet..)

6. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (p.252) 
Okay, okay, I guess I'm not really reading this NOW if I haven't picked it up in months.. but my bookmark still sits at p.252, so I'll list it here once but won't re-list it again in future What Am I Reading? memes unless I am ACTUALLY reading it at the time. Fair?

So What are YOU reading right now?

Where In The World Are You Reading? Café Style

Where in the World Are You Reading? is a monthly themed meme that started over the summer by Trish [Love Laugh Insanity], Lisa [Books Lists Life] and Kelly [The Written World].  This is a book meme that encourages readers to share the places they're reading or getting their books around the world. Visit the blogs above for more details and follow the #wwread hash tag on twitter for more buzz!

This month's theme for the Where In the World Are You Reading? monthly blog meme is Cafés & Coffee Shops. My favorite kind of place right after libraries and bookstores! Especially if they're serving desserts. With ice cream. Yep, that's heaven to me right there.

Truthfully, I don't often read in cafés or coffee shops because I rarely go to those places alone where I can sit and stick my nose in a book for a while. I have a favorite local coffeehouse that I frequent, but again, not alone. I'm usually with friends taking an hour or two to step away from the blissful craziness of home and responsibilities to sit over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake for some much needed girl talk. In fact, I just met with some friends one evening earlier this month for that very thing!

I was hoping I'd see someone in the coffee shop reading so I could get a photo for this meme, and sure enough I saw not one, but two people in the coffee shop reading! One was reading on a kindle and the other was reading on her laptop. The latter may or may not have been reading a book, but she must have been reading something, right?

Reading in my local coffeehouse.

I should have snapped a photo of the counter with all the desserts in the glass case. To die for!

Do you ever sit and read in a café or coffee shop?

To see where in the world others are reading in cafes and coffee shops, visit this month's links at Trish's blog, Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity. Go check it out!

I've been tagged!

Lisa tagged me with this fun meme last week and now I'm tagging you. That's right, if you're reading this post, consider yourself tagged! Follow the rules below and tag more people on your own blog, or to make it easier and encourage you to play along--you can simply answer my questions in the comments below. Since most of the people who regularly comment on my blog are book bloggers, I am gearing all of my questions towards books and reading.

Rules:
1. You must post the rules.
2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
3. Tag eleven people and link them to your post.
4. Let them know you've tagged them!

First, the questions Lisa posed for me:

1. Could you eat the same thing for lunch every day? What would it be?
I practically DO eat the same thing for lunch every day. This salad:

Romaine or green leaf lettuce, sometimes also baby spinach, chopped apples, celery, radish, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, sliced strawberries topped with pomegranate dressing. I'm trying to develop a homemade pomegranate vinaigrette, but it's a work in progress. In between batches of my own dressing, I've been using Simply Dressed All Natural Pomegranate Vinaigrette by Marzetti. You can find it in the refrigerator case alongside the packaged salads at your grocer.

I often have a small sandwich with the salad, usually turkey on whole grain bread.

2. How many library books do you have checked out right now?
Six [See yesterday's Library Loot post to see what I got..]

3. Do you feel strongly about specific music? Or more of a music in general type person?
I like a variety of music, but my go to is usually sexy R&B and or pop music with a pumping beat because it lifts my mood and motivates me to workout hard.

4. What is your favorite brick and mortar retail store?
Does a grocery store count? If yes, then my local Trader Joe's. I'm in there once or twice a week and am on a first name basis with several employees there. That's what happens at a small store when you go there regularly for 13+ years.

5. What is your favorite online store?
Athleta or Terry Bicycles. Although most of my shopping in those stores is of the window shopping sort.

6. What is your favorite moment of heartstopping romantic tension?
(Book, movie, music, tv, real life, art, anywhere..)
Definitely the first kiss.

7. What is the first book you remember reading?
I See Sam series of learning to read books in kindergarten. I can't believe those books are still out there being used! At home, probably One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

8. Are you creative in any way? How so?
I can be... if the directions are written really well. ;)

9. Not counting your family, pets and vital personal documents/pictures, what one thing would you save in a fire?
My TBR pile.

10. What is your favorite type of vacation?
(museums, beach, cabin, mountains, theme parks..)
National Parks and foreign cities/countries.

11. What is the most surprising or unexpected thing you've done in the last 12 months?
I trained and competed in my first sprint triathlon in September 2011 and did really well in the cycling portion. I wowed myself with that one. :)

Now my questions for YOU to answer:

1. What is your favorite genre to read?

2. What is the first romance novel you ever read and how old were you when you read it?

3. How many books--paper or ebooks--are in your existing TBR pile?
 [TBR = your To-Be-Read and typically refers to books you already own but haven't yet read]

4. Do you read nonfiction? If so, from which sub-genre?

5. Do you own an e-reading device? If so, which one(s)?

6. Which one book have you re-read most often?

7. How many library books do you have out right now?

8. How do you mark your place in a book?

9. About how many books do you typically read in a month?

10. What was the last book that made you cry?

11. What was the last book that made you laugh?


I hope you play along! :)

What's in YOUR refrigerator?

I still haven't sorted through my vacation photos, but am determined to do so over the weekend. In the meantime, I've been trying to catch up on my blog hopping, which is taking a while. Man, you guys have a lot to say!! Which is great--don't get me wrong. It's just taking me a while to get around the block to everyone. ;)

I got this fun '5 Things' meme from Dru a few weeks ago that was later also posted by Brandy. Check out what kinds of things I always have around ...

5 things always in my purse
wallet, Burt's Bees lip shimmer, earphones for iPhone, gym ID, keys

5 Things always in my wallet
driver's license, library card, credit card, health insurance cards, pennies

5 things always in my refrigerator
milk, orange juice, eggs, carrots, apples,

5 Things always in my closet
clothes, blankets, books, an iron, sewing kit

5 things always on my desk

post its, calculator, bills, jar of pens + pencils, paper clips

5 things always in my car

insurance & registration cards, iphone charger, jumper cables, coins, lollipops

What's always in your refrigerator?

10 Things I Love About Where I Live

I'm informally and unofficially declaring this week 'List Mania' on the happily ever after because I have a few posts in mind for this week that all happen to involve lists. I got tagged to play a game of "10 Things I love about where I live" by Hilda of The Dip-Files, so that'll be my first list of the week. Before I do that, though, I'd like to tell you a little bit about Hilda.

Hilda is a book blogger that I befriended last year through our mutual adoration of Larissa Ione's Demonica series. Let me just say that Hilda loves her vampires and all things paranormal romance. She is a young student from Venezuela who is now living in Shanghai. She blogs about herself, her life in China, and about books! Did I mention she loves paranormal romance? In addition to speaking her native language of Spanish, Hilda also speaks English and Portuguese. She's also been learning to speak Mandarin Chinese and Swedish! But wait! There's more! Hilda has also been picking up bits of Korean from her friends! Isn't her multilingualism so incredibly impressive?!

After a long haitus from blogging due to the internet constraints imposed by the Chinese government, Hilda is finally back online with her blog. She's been working hard to get her blogging mojo back and gain more followers to her blog. We all know how much more fun blogging is when we know we have an audience, right? So to help Hilda get her blog groove back, head on over to her blog, poke around, and follow her. If she gets 50 followers by the end of April, she's going to do a giveaway! So head on over to The Dip-Files and visit my friend Hilda! Just to warn you, though, Hilda has music that automatically plays at her blog, so if you're at work or if you have a sleeping baby nearby, turn down the volume on your computer first! :)

Now for my list. Which was way harder to do than I thought it would be.

10 Things I Love About Where I Live
Suburbia, New Jersey, USA.

1. I'm 45 minutes from NYC.

2. I'm 45 minutes from rolling hills and countrysides of New Jersey.

3. I'm 45 minutes from the beaches of the New Jersey shoreline. Although my love for this is debatable. I much prefer quieter, less populated beaches.

4. I'm 10 minutes from a wildlife reservation with acres and acres of woodlands with hiking trails, a lake and streams to explore. And roads that make some kick-my-butt bike rides!

5. I can walk or ride my bike to shops, post office, library, the train station, restaurants, the movie theater ... too bad I usually drive because I'm always short on time. I should try to be more green.

6. The distinct change of seasons with snow in the winter and hot and humid days in the summer. Although I could do without the 90+% humidity.

7. I live within five miles of at least 6 libraries and 2 major bookstores.

8. I live less than two miles from a Trader Joe's store, so my out of town friends always love to visit me.

9. I live close to a major international airport which makes traveling all over the world a piece of cake. Too bad I don't actually do that. :/

10. I could probably buy just about anything you could think of within a 30 mile radius from my house. I guess that's one of the benefits of living close to one of the world's biggest cities and busiest container ports. Then again, this point is rather moot considering the ease, speed and convenience of online shopping!

That was way harder than I thought. I'm thinking it would have been easier to make a list of 10 Things that I don't love about living around here.


Anyway, go say hi to Hilda. Tell her I sent you. :)

Catching Up And a Truth Game!

I haven't been around blogland much in the last week and a day or two, but I couldn't even tell you why. I haven't really been that busy, but if you give me a minute, I'm sure I can come up with a few good excuses. Let's see...

Oh! I've been cleaning my house more than usual lately as we had overnight guests last weekend (with toddlers!) and I had a friend over for lunch yesterday. Neither parties have seen the house since way before the construction even started, so of course, I had to make good first impressions. Now I'm thinking that I should schedule visitors every three or four days so that I'm compelled to maintain this level of clean and tidy. ;)

What else? I've been making an honest effort to work out again at 5-6 days a week instead of the 3-4 that I was doing in the last two months or so. I realize now how lucky I was when I could workout every day at 9 am after getting the girls off to school. Now that I need to stay home during the days to take care of my father-in-law who can't be left home alone anymore, I have to workout out every Saturday and Sunday--or at least try, and try to get in as many early morning workouts as possible before my husband leaves for work during the week. So now I'm getting up three days a week by 5:30 am to go to the gym, which is forcing me to go to bed earlier at night, which in turn cuts into my usual reading and blogging time. You'd think I'd be in such awesome shape by now... grrr.

I've still been running one morning by myself (although not this week, because I'm resting a minor shin injury), and on Saturdays either by myself, with my running partner or with my husband. Running solo isn't anywhere near as fun as running with someone and is a lot harder! My online running friend, Shawn a.k.a. doodlegirl, once told me that solo runs should count as double the miles and I totally agree! Running with my partner is great because we talk the whole time, which is a nice distraction from how hard running is. Running with my husband is great, too, because, well... he's my husband! I simply love doing stuff with him. Plus in that 45 minutes we can have a conversation without being interrupted by children or his dad. Plus he's really nice to look at. He totally lets me set the pace for the run and doesn't put any pressure on me at all. I do that all by myself. I keep thinking I'm holding him back (the fact that he falls behind or runs ahead to take pictures or video of me and then is by my side a minute later hardly out of breath kinda makes it obvious that I'm not the same level), so I'm constantly playing tug of war with myself in my head about my pace. One minute, I'm relaxed about it, and the next minute I feel inadequate that I'm slow and can't run any faster for him. I'm like that when we cycle together, too. It's such a waste of mental energy on my part. I really have to learn to let that go and just have fun. I just can't help that I still want to impress him after all these years. ;)

My husband took this photo of me on our last run together. Lovely conditions. :)

Lovely backside, too. Hence the need to run.

And then run some more.

I've also been reading, which is always good. I'm almost finished with the last Lily Bard mystery book by Charlaine Harris. I love this series and am going to be sad in about 100 pages because then I'll be finished with the series. I told Angie on twitter yesterday that Lily Bard ranks right up there with Mercy Thompson as a favorite heroine, and if you know me, that says A LOT.

So as you can see, I haven't been unusually busy after all. I think sometimes I just lose my blogging momentum out of nowhere and it takes a week or more to get back into it. I seem to be the only one who does that!

Anyway, if I haven't lost your attention by rambling on and on about myself and you're still reading this... How about we play a little game? I got tagged by Tracy last week on game about telling the truth. Or telling lies, depending on how you look at it.

I've come up with a list of 10 statements about myself. Only TWO of them are true and the rest are lies. You have to guess which two statements are true.

To make it even more fun for you, I'm going to throw in prizes!

{Which I meant to do back in December for my two year blog anniversary but I missed it. Doh!}

Anyone who guesses the correct TWO true statements about me will be entered in a drawing for one of the following prizes:

• A $7 gift card to Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks. (winner's choice)
• A new book from TheBookDepository up to $7.
• Two gently used books from my prize shelf on Shelfari, which will be updated with more books by next week. (US or Canada only for this one)

Everyone else who leaves a guess is entered in a drawing to win a homemade book thong made by me. I'm too lazy to go take a picture of a book thong and upload it. Maybe I'll do it later. A book thong is basically a bookmark made with thin ribbon and beads at either end. It's very pretty.

Game Rules:

• Leave a comment below indicating which TWO statements you think are TRUE about me.
• Contest will close on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 by 11:59 pm EST.
• Answers will be revealed and winners announced the following day.
• Leave your email address in your comment if it is not available on your blog or blog profile so I can contact you if you win.
• Winners have three days to claim their prize before I chose another winner.

Truth or Lie?

1. I spent my summers as a kid on eastern Long Island, NY where I spent days "working" on my grandfather's fishing boat.

2. I have only been out of the country once, when I visited the Philippines with my husband the year after we were married.

3. Both of my daughters have my mother-in-law's first name as their middle name.

4. I met my husband in college when he was my TA in physics and I was his student.

5. I have never beat my husband in Scrabble.

6. The only state I have ever vacationed in twice is Utah.

7. I was on the track team in high school.

8. I have my bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and my master's degree in business management.

9. I recently reconnected with my best friend from childhood with whom I was friends when we were 4 years old for the first time on Facebook.

10. I had a part time job in high school working in my town's public library shelving books and making sure the card catalog was properly alphabetized.

(Raise your hand if you actually remember card catalogs?!)

Good luck! :)

Tagged! Top 10 Favorite TV Couples

Ana and Thea of The Book Smugglers tagged me last week for this fun blog meme. All you have to do is make a list of your top 10 all time favorite TV couples. Easy, right? Only I don't really watch that much television. Haven't actually watched TV since late November of last year. O_0 Miraculously, I actually managed to pull together a decent list! Check it out:

1. Lucy & Ricky Ricardo from I Love Lucy.
(October 15, 1951 to May 6, 1957)

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez star in this classic old time comedy sitcom. No explanation really needed. Lucy totally steals the show. Actually... I love the scenes with Lucy and Ethel most of all!

 2. Ralph & Alice Kramden from the Honeymooners.
October 1, 1955 –September 22, 1956.  

I never realized this show had such a short run.

These two are a classic. Talk about old time. When I got my own place for the first time about a year after graduating college, I used to watch reruns of The Honeymooners late at night. Ralph and Alice kept me company. :)

3. Darin & Samantha Stevens from Bewitched.
September 17, 1964 – July 1, 1972.
Another quirky, fun loving couple from a comedic sitcom. Oh, how I wish I could twitch my nose like Samantha and have my house all tidy and clean!!!

4. Batman & Robin from Batman (TV Series)

January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968.

Okay, so Batman and Robin are not exactly a couple per se... but they are the dynamic duo and I spent many an hour watching repeats of this show after school in the 70s.

5. Captain Kirk & well.... any female creature in the galaxy? from Star Trek.
September 8, 1966 - June 3, 1969.

Check it out... there's even a book about Captain Kirk and his ladies! LOL!

To boldly go where no man--or woman--has gone before: The very first interracial kiss to ever air on television was a kiss between Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura in 1968. 


6. Captain/Major Nelson & Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie. 

September 18, 1965 – May 26, 1970.

Actually, I mostly liked Jeannie. She had great outfits and I always loved--and envied--her room in her bottle. Very cool digs. 

7. Homer & Marge Simpson from The Simpsons. 

December 17, 1989 - present.

A very funny show about a very dysfunctional family. But you gotta love Homer and Marge and how they stick together through the best and worst of times!

8. Ray & Debra Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond.
September 13, 1996 to May 16, 2005.

I've never watched a single episode of this show that didn't have me rolling with laughter. Everybody Loves Raymond has been nominated for many awards, including 2 Golden Globe nominations, and won many awards, as well, including 13 Emmys.

9. Dharma & Greg from Dharma & Greg.

September 24, 1997 - April 30, 2002.

I loved this show! Dharma and Greg had this classic opposites attract thing going on and worked it so well. Dharma was such a fantastic character. Loved her!

Dharma & Greg was nominated for several awards, including, but not limited to, 6 Emmy nominations and 7 Golden Globe nominations. In 1999, Jenna Elfman won a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical. The series also won several other lesser known awards.


10. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from the X Files.
September 10, 1993 –May 19, 2002.

The X-Files is probably the only show that I ever religiously watched every week it aired. I think I only started watching the series during its second or third season, but caught up on those episodes at one time when they were aired on the Fx channel or something like that. Mulder and Scully were an undeniably awesome investigative team--one the believer of the paranormal and the other the skeptic, determined to explain everything with science. They had a great chemistry between them that grew slowly over the years as they investigated government X-Files together. Initially merely colleagues, their relationship evolved to friendship and finally platonic love.

The X-Files won 5 Golden Globes, 16 Emmy Awards, and 49 other various awards. The show also boasts 142 award nominations. It's also the longest running science fiction series in the history of US television. Sweet.

Tag! You're it! Let me know if you decide to play so I don't miss your list! 

Award information from www.imdb.com

Series run time information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia

Page 56: A Book Meme

I got tagged by Kmont from Lurv à la Mode.

The Rules:

Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions.

Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the closest. Tag five other people to do the same.

I grabbed my current read, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan.

This morning my life seemed so clear. Turn down Brown, check. Go into the city to see the band Caroline likes rather than suffer through an evening with Mom and Dad entertaining the dreaded hip-hop people at the house, check. This night was supposed to end like any other night out with Caroline--watch her hook up with a guy, then get her home safely. Check. I'm not that girl who randomly meets a guy one night and has her life change.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is a young adult novel about two college bound teens, Nick and Norah during one night in New York City. Nick O'Leary, bass player in a rock band, meets Norah Silverberg in a club after his band's gig and asks her to be his girlfriend for five minutes in order to avoid his ex. The novel was published in 2006 and has recently been made to a movie that was released in theaters nationwide last weekend. My daughter read the book a few weeks ago, and now I'm reading it before we go see the movie together.

I tag:

Anna of Anna's Book Blog

Amy C of Romance Book Wyrm

Barbara of Happily Forever After 

Nancy of The Things In Life That Make Me Happy

dd03 of Thoughts of a DayDreamer

As always, if you don't want to respond, that's quite all right. No pressure. All fun. :) 

Give me a 'J' . . .

I saw this meme at Stacy's Place on Earth, and decided to play along. Before I play my version of the meme, here are the rules:

1. Comment on this blog and ask for a letter.
2. I will give you one.
3. Think of 5 fictional characters whose name begins with that letter, and post their names and your comments on that character on your blog.

Stacy assigned me the letter 'J.'  I chose all romance heroes whose first name starts with the lettter 'J.' 


1. Jack Travis, hero of the upcoming Lisa Kleypas contemporary romance, Smooth Talking Stranger. So far, readers had a brief glimpse of Jack Travis in Sugar Daddy, and then a more prominent one as the brother of the heroine Haven Travis in Blue Eyed Devil. Jack Travis and Gage Travis were both protective of their sister Haven, and I admired the way Jack still gave Haven the space she needed to figure out her own way. He's obviously a ladies man, i.e., he has many, frequent lovers, but I get the impression that he's always a gentleman. Well, at least I think he is. LOL Even though he hasn't yet had is own story, with Lisa Kleypas writing his story, I'm confident he'll be a hero I'll love. Smooth Talking Stranger is scheduled for release in March 2009 and you can read my post about it HERE.

2. Judd Lauren, hero of Caressed by Ice, Book 3 in the Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh. Judd is a defected Arrow or soldier of the Psy Council who is renowned for his cold silence and control. He falls in love with Brenna Kincaid, the sensual Snow Dancer wolf who has just been rescued from having had been abducted, abused and experimented on by a sociopathic killer. Judd's struggle with finding a balance between the cold, unfeeling nature of his psy being and the desire to be emotionally and physically intimate with Brenna just melted my heart.


3. Jacob Black from the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. Jacob Black is best friends with the heroine Bella Swan, their love often teetering on the edge of friendship and lovers throughout much of the series. While it is undeniable that Bella Swan and Edward Cullen are soulmates, the intensity and wholesomeness of the love shared between Bella and Jacob cannot be denied. On more than one occasion, Jacob demonstrates what it means to be a hero and by the end of the series, he is my favorite Twilight character. For even more explanation of why I love Jacob, read this awesome post HERE by Ciara on her blog.

4. Julian Sinclair, the hero from The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran. I don't normally gravitate to historical romance, but do pick up one up now and then if highly recommended by readers, this being one of them and I loved it! The story was poignant and romantic, the hero and heroine flawed and misunderstood, but oh so right for each other. The author's story telling voice was beautiful and poetic and I'm truly looking forward to her upcoming novels.

5. John Matthew, a.k.a. JM, a.k.a. Terrhor from J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series. JM's story has been sloooowly developing over this series, ever since the very first book when the Scribe Virgin gave the deceased vampire, Darius, who was Beth's father and Tohr's best friend, the gift of returning to Earth as the young pretrans John Matthew. It's been a fun, albeit a rather drawn out, journey as readers have watched JM transition from a scared, abused young orphan to the lethal vampire he was in the more recent novels. His role was especially interesting in Lover Enshrined, and I'm looking forward to his own story. And please, J.R., make someone figure out that he is Darius soon. His apparent mysterious identity is getting old.

Anyone want to play? 

Banned Book Week Meme: How many have you read?

Celebrating Banned Book Week 2008, here is the ALA’s list of the 100 most frequently challenged books from 1990-2000. How many have you read?

How to Play:

1: Copy this list.
2: Highlight the ones you have read (or at least remember reading) in RED.
3: Tag five people to play.

My list:

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry <-- ONE OF MY FAVORITES
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

TAG YOU’RE IT:

Ana from The Book Smugglers

Thea from The Book Smugglers

Alice from for peaceful days and dreamy nights

Naida from the bookworm

CarolynJean from The Thrillionth Page

The Never Ending Meme!

Amy C tagged me for this meme. Whew, it's the never-ending list because you add a question at the end!

1. What is your occupation?
Housekeeper, Accountant, Nurse, Cook, Tutor, Chauffeur, Personal Assistant (to husband), Elder Care Giver (to my father-in-law), Landscaper/Gardener, Entertainment Director, Party Planner, Therapist (what? I have a teenage girl!).... did I miss something?

2. What color are your socks right now?
Not wearing any but if I were they would be white.

3. What are you listening to right now?
My husband playing guitar.

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
An amazing meal at a local Indian restaurant with friends from out of town. So delicious.

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
Yes. I learned on one and even took my driver's license test on one. It was all my family had.

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Mauve.  I asked my family. Husband said mauve and both girls said pink, so be it.

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
My contractor.

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
Very much so.

9. Favorite drink?
Coffee.

10. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Tennis or The Olympics.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Once in college.

12. Pets?
Four cats: Peekaboo, Noel, Mona and Gigi

13. Favorite food?
Ice cream. It is my weakness.

14. Last movie you watched?
Dan In Real Life. Very good movie. A bit predictable, but very enjoyable.

15. Favorite Day of the year?
The sunny ones. And the snowy ones. 

16. What do you do to vent anger?
Mostly I rant to whoever is around. Sometimes I do whatever I'm doing a little more roughly. Then I cry.

17. What was your favorite toy as a child?
My baby dolls.

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring?
No answer. That's like asking a mom who her favorite child is! The bottom line is that I love the change of seasons.

19. Hugs or kisses?
Hugs and kisses from my husband or children. Hugs from anyone else.

20. What kind of pie?
Yes. Oh, wait. I have to pick just one? It's a tie between Blueberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, or Apple. With ice cream, of course. Ooo! Or pumpkin pie! Argh! I can't pick one.

21. Living arrangements?
I live in a house with my husband, two daughters, elderly father-in-law and four cats.

22. When was the last time you cried?
Friday afternoon because of the idiots in my town's building department who are on some pathetic power trip, making my application for construction a grueling process and delaying it by weeks just because they can. Even my contractor says their actions are becoming abusive. Assholes.

23. What is on the floor of your closet?
Plastic containers of various craft supplies. Mostly for cross stitching.

24. Favorite smell?
My grandmother's rose garden.

25. What inspires you?
People who overcome adversity. Or at least strive to.

26. What are you afraid of?
Losing my husband or children.

27. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?
Cheese!

28. Favorite car?
My powder blue VW bug I had in college. It was so me.

29. Favorite cat breed?
The regular ones you can adopt at animal shelters. :)

30. Number of keys on your key ring?
Four

31. How many years at your current job?
Thirteen years, four months, eighteen days. 

32. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday.

33. How many states/provinces have you lived in?
One.

34. How many countries have you been to?
Three. USA, Mexico, and Canada. I've also been to Bermuda, but it's a British overseas colony, not a country.

35. How much do you love "Knowing Me, Knowing You" by ABBA?
I don't know it very well.

36. The name of the first person you kissed (romantically)?
Marcus Allen. Or was his name Allen Marcus? Huh.

37. Are you the oldest child, youngest child, middle or only?
I was the middle child. Only girl.

38. Last book you read?
Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

39. Favorite flavor of ice cream:
Vanilla. So I can add my own various toppings to mix up the flavor. Like chocolate, peanut butter, berries, peaches, nuts, coconut, crushed cookies, etc.


Ok, now it is my turn to tag two people. I tag dd03, DarlingDiva. I'll also tag Katiebabs because good things come in threes. No worries if you don't want to play. If you do, don't forget to ask your own new question! :)

Tagged! SF Movies Based on a Novel

I've been tagged by Thea and Ana at The Book Smugglers.

Copy the list below.

Mark in bold the movie titles for which you read the book.

Italicize the that you’ve watched.

Tag 5 people to perpetuate the meme. (You may of course play along anyway.)


1. Jurassic Park
2. War of the Worlds
3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
4. I, Robot
5. Contact
6. Congo
7. Cocoon
8. The Stepford Wives
9. The Time Machine
10. Starship Troopers
11. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
12. K-PAX
13. 2010
14. The Running Man
15. Sphere
16. The Mothman Prophecies
17. Dreamcatcher
18. Blade Runner(Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
19. Dune
20. The Island of Dr. Moreau
21. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
22. The Iron Giant(The Iron Man)
23. Battlefield Earth
24. The Incredible Shrinking Woman
25. Fire in the Sky
26. Altered States
27. Timeline
28. The Postman
29. Freejack(Immortality, Inc.)
30. Solaris
31. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
32. The Thing(Who Goes There?)
33. The Thirteenth Floor
34. Lifeforce(Space Vampires)
35. Deadly Friend
36. The Puppet Masters
37. 1984
38. A Scanner Darkly
39. Creator
40. Monkey Shines
41. Solo(Weapon)
42. The Handmaid’s Tale
43. Communion
44. Carnosaur
45. From Beyond
46. Nightflyers
47. Watchers
48. Body Snatchers

Contact and The Iron Giant are two of my favorite films.

2010 is my husband's favorite film of all time.

I've watched 18 out of 48 movies (37.5%). That's actually a lot better than I expected when I first glanced at the list.

I've read 0 out of the 48 novels (0%). I thought that George Orwell's 1984 was at least a required reading in high school, but when I went to read a synopsis of the novel, I honestly don't recall ever reading it.

I tag:

kmont at Lurv à la Mode

JenB at The Ginger Kid's Den of Iniquity

Zeek at The Way I See It

Meljean Brook at Meljean Brook

Ann Aguirre at Ann Aguirre

Tag! You're It!

 

Pretty much irrelevant to the topic at hand here, but the movie titled "Five Children and It" (2004) popped into my head when I started writing this post.  Has anyone else seen it? The film was received with mixed reviews, but I think it is quite charming.  It is based on the book by the same title written in 1902 by Edith Nesbit about five children who move from London to the countryside in Kent where they meet a sand fairy at the beach who grants them each one wish that lasts a day and invariably deals with a lesson in consequences. 

Anyway.... I've been tagged by Ana & Thea from The Book Smugglers. 

Open the book nearest to you and open to page 123.  Then post the 5th sentence.  Very simple. 

Is it odd that it bugs me that we don't have to do anything with the number 4?      

Okay then. The closest book to me right now is Hidden by Eve Kenin.  Just finished it today, actually. 

Now, years later, he understood at least a part of the reason he had survived when his comrades had died.

  His telomeres--little stretches of DNA at the ends of his chromosomes--never shortened, no matter how many times his cells divided.

This is Eve's second novel written for Dorchester's Shomi line of 'action romance' and is the sequel to her August 2007 novel, Driven.  

I tag the following people:

Tracy at Ahhhhh romance 

dd03 at Thoughts of a Daydreamer 

Nancy at The Things In Life That Make Me Happy

Amy C at Romance Book Wyrm

Anna at Anna's Book Blog

My Random List of Six

I've been blog tagged by Jill. Her blog is Romance Rookie. 

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog

3. Share six random things about you

4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry

5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blog.

Six random things about me.... 

1. I'm a coffee addict. I started drinking coffee regularly after my second child was born because I was chronically sleep deprived and could barely keep my eyes open past 3:00 in the afternoon. Now I drink maybe 3 cups a day, but also LOVE coffee anything! Coffee drinks...hot, cold, frozen, alcoholic (Espresso Martinis YUM!), coffee ice cream, coffee candy, coffee desserts, etc...

2. I am not a "cat person," yet have four cats. I do love my pets, but I'm not really the "cat lady" that I must look like from the outside. I'm more of a "kitten person," and well, yeah, they grow. I've been suckered TWICE to adopted the last brother/sister pair in the shelter because I didn't want them to be separated. TWICE I did this. I won't be making that mistake ever again. 

3. I cry a lot. I've always have been a crier, and probably always will be. I wasn't even allowed to watch The Little House on the Prairie when I was a kid, because I'd be a basket case every time. I'm serious. I saw the Spiderwick Chronicles movie last weekend with my nine year old daughter. At the end, I said to her, "I cried." She sighs and says, "I know, Mommy." lol Yeah, so things like movies, books, Hallmark commercials, songs on the radio... they all get to me. My latest example is the Alicia Keys song, "Like You'll Never See Me Again." I can't listen to it without getting that burn behind the eyes. But I don't cry when I see roadkill anymore, so that's good. ;p

4. I love ethnic foods. My favorites are Thai, Mexican and Indian. I'm going out to dinner with my friend Kate tonight for Turkish food, which I'm really excited about. I have only had some traditional Turkish appetizers in the past... can't wait to discover something new! I will try anything once and refuse to get grossed out over what other cultures eat. I'm not vegetarian. I eat animal flesh, so really folks, there's not really much that's more gross than that.

5. I'm a world class procrastinator. Case in point, Jill tagged me Sunday and here I am posting this on Thursday. *rolling eyes* I'm going to try very, very, very hard not to procrastinate doing my taxes this year. Because when you are expecting a refund, it is extremely lame to mail them out on April 15. Just saying. 

6. I've lived in New Jersey my entire life, always within 30 minutes of New York City, barring traffic, and it wasn't until I started dating my husband (who immigrated here when he was 11) that I ever saw the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island, where my own grandparents passed through in the 1920s when they immigrated to the US! He was also the one who took me around to all the touristy places in NYC. 

I tag the following people: Anna, Amy, Sarai, Kat, and um... hmm... I think I need more blog friends. Humpf.