Good Things

They are forthcoming!

Top 5 Male (book) Crushes

{photo credit: istockphoto.com}

Earlier today I read this post by Bobbie @ 'Til We Read Again. So I started thinking about who would be in my top 5. I don't know if I could rank them, like Bobbie did, so mine are in no particular order.

• Garion {Wiki} from David Eddings' The Belgariad and The Malloreon series'.
• Norman Rhodes {Wiki} from Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson Mysteries series.
• Keirnan Fitzgerald from Loucinda McGary's The Treasures of Venice.
• Dale "Barbie" Barbara {Wiki} from Stephen King's Under the Dome.
• #1 This one I can rank! Ron Weasley {Wiki} from JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Who makes your list?

Also I have changed the look of my blog. Come check it out and let me know what you think!

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop

Jen over at Crazy For Books has started something that I found out about from Lori @ Lori's Reading Corner.

Here is what Jen has to say:

Hey book bloggers!  Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following.  In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on!

Now, I follow a lot of blogs and I haven't seen this feature yet, so if someone else is doing a Book Blog Hop, please let me know!!  I don't want to step on any toes or anything!

So, if you'd like to participate, just repost this, sign MckLinky below, and check out other blogs in MckLinky!  Let's connect and make new book bloggy friends!!

I'll try to make a nifty graphic to go along with this, but give me another week to get that done!  :)

So, pop on over!

Award: Your Blog Is Over The Top!

This award was passed on to me by Trisha from Trisha's Book Blog. Thank you!

Rules for this award: Answer each question with a one word answer and then pass along to five other bloggers.

On Blogging from New England

I recently received an email from Elizabeth at Thoughts from an Evil Overlord, the originator of the New England Bloggers list. That list is approaching it's one year anniversary! While I have only been apart of it for a few months, but Elizabeth asked me to contribute to the celebration.

YAY

... just yay!

Make Kylee Read Me - winner

Here's how it broke down!

The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton	IIIII (5)
The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx	I (1)
Middlemarch - George Elliot	II (2)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith	IIII (4)
Three Junes - Julia Glass	II (2)

The winner of "Make Kylee Read Me" is The House of Mirth, by one vote! I picked up a used copy at my local Goodwill store this weekend. No more excuses. =)

This post is inspired by the most recent Booking Through Thursday question. Also, I will still be reading a book with my 15yo daughter this summer; most likely To Kill a Mockingbird.

Reviews coming soon!

• Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners
• The Smart One
• Pretties
• Specials
  

I've Been Tagged: Some Christmas Fun

Wendi @ Wendi's Book Corner tagged me for "Some Christmas Fun".

Some Christmas Fun

Answer these questions and then tag a person or two. Post these questions on your blog and link back to me.

This is a short quiz since we are all so busy this time of year.

1. What is your very first Christmas memory? My first vivid memory that I know for sure is from Christmas is when I was 7 and I got a snow globe from my paternal grandparents. I remember thinking I was SO cool. The globe part of it was glass and I thought I was so grown up to be given something so breakable. I still have it. I passed it my oldest (she'll be 15 in... 10 days!) when she was 10.

2. Do you have a favorite Christmas gift? Probably that same snow globe.

3. Have you ever celebrated Christmas outside of your country? no

4. What is your favorite Christmas decoration? We're not big with the decorations at our home. (read: we don't even have a tree.) But my mom keeps several ornaments and other decorations that, when we (Matt, Sarah-Ellen, Reaghan & myself) have a house, she'll give to me for our house. I think the stocking are my favorite.

5. What is your favorite Christmas tradition? Making cookies, setting them out for "Santa".

6. Have you ever had a white Christmas? We live in Connecticut, I'm sure we have, but all I can recall at the moment are dustings at most.

7. Have you ever gone Christmas caroling? not that I can remember. Mom?

8. What is your favorite Christmas movie or story? Movie: It's a Wonderful Life and those CBS movies - Story: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

9. Do you have a Christmas link you would like to share? nope, sorry

If you would like to participate, consider yourself tagged! Follow the instructions and leave me a comment here. I'll add your link and come read your answers.

Oh, yeah! That picture is of Matt and I. I was pregnant with Reaghan at the time. Christmas 2005. She came along about 6 1/2 weeks later. 5 weeks early, exactly 1 week before my baby shower! Just thought I'd share.

Delurking December

Shauna @ Shaunarumbling has declared this month "Delurking Decmeber".

Shauna says: "I'm designating this month as Delurking December! Consider giving the gift of your comments to bloggers whose blogs you read regularly or happen upon."

So keep this in mind while traveling the blogosphere and at least say hi. Let those bloggers that you read KNOW that you are reading. Even if you've just clicked through from somewhere else. =)

Funny side note: FireFox wants me to change "bloggers" to "floggers"....

Bookworm Award

Beth F @ Beth Fish Reads has given me this: Bookworm Award

Thanks so much Beth!

Here’s how it goes.

Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56.

Write out the fifth sentence, as well as two to five sentences following there.

Pass this on to five blogging friends.

The book closest to me is The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath since it's my current read and I have a habit of taking my current read with me all over the apartment (and when I leave the apartment, too).

page 56:
And he looked so proud of having thought of this that I just stared at his blond hair and his blue eyes and his white teeth - he had very long, strong white teeth - and said, "I guess so."
It was only in the middle of New York a whole year later that I finally though of an answer to that remark.
I spent a lot of time having imaginary conversations with Buddy Willard. He was a couple of years older than I was and very scientific, so he could always prove things. When I was with him I had to work to keep my head above water.

There are some fairly long sentences in this book.

I'll tag the following (I hope I don't tag someone for this that has been tagged for it already):
Florida @ The 3R's
Alyce @ At Home With Books
misscz @ Babbling Book Reviews
Jan @ Jottings from Jan
avisannschild @ she reads and reads

Here's my inner Dewey, what's yours?

Thank you to Marg for posting hers. This was fun. It give you 3 to choose from (if you give them your birth date). This is the one that I thought MOST suited me.

Kylee's Dewey Decimal Section:

015 Bibliographies of works from specific places

Kylee's birthday: 3/9/1976 = 39+1976 = 2015


Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works


Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.



What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

Yes, I know I could have removed my birth date from the coding, but I chose not to.

New book for teens

From School Library Journal: Extra Helping

In Gay America: Struggle for Equality (Abrams/Amulet, 2008)—the first comprehensive history on this subject for teens—Linas Alsenas chronicles how gay men and women have lived, worked, and loved for the past 125 years. Using archival images, illustrations, and full-color photos, Alsenas, a U.S. citizen who lives in Sweden with his partner, takes us from Colonial times to the present debate over gay marriage.

Click the link at the top to read an interview regarding this book.

It's funny that this should be in the issue of SLJ:EH that arrived in my inbox this afternoon. Yesterday my 14yo daughter (I'll call her SV) told me that one of her friends at school was very excited by the ruling allowing same-sex couples to marry here in Connecticut. I jokingly asked her if her friend was gay (assuming the girl was happy because she was being raised by a same-sex couple and wanted her parents to be 'married'; not uncommon in a city this size). Well it turns out that her friend IS gay. And open about it at 14! How great is that? I'm proud of my daughter for not shunning her friend (I guess I've done some things right) and I'm so proud of my daughter's school that this girl can be open about her preferance without fear of repercussions.

USA Today's Top Selling Books - Meme-style

S. Krishna has converted USA Today's List into a meme!

I've decided to turn USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books of Last 15 Years into a meme. Why? Because I'm a total nerd and enjoy stuff like this!!

So here's the deal: bold what you've read, italicize what you own, star books on your TBR list!

Here is my list:

1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
2 Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution - Robert C. Atkins
3 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
4 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
6 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
9 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
10 Who Moved My Cheese? - Spencer Johnson
11 The South Beach Diet - Arthur Agatston
12 Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom
13 Angels & Demons - Dan Brown
14 What to Expect When You’re Expecting - Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway
15 The Purpose-Driven Life - Rick Warren
16 The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
17 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
18 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
19 Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus - John Gray
20 The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
21 Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter
22 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee*
23 Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff ... And It’s All Small Stuff - Richard Carlson
24 The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
25 Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert*
26 Twilight - Stephenie Meyer (technically, my oldest daughter ‘owns’ this one)
27 The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks
28 The Memory Keeper’s Daughter - Kim Edwards
29 The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger* (started this 3 times, never finished)
30 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden*
31 A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
32 Oh, the Places You’ll Go! - Dr. Seuss
33 The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz
34 Angela’s Ashes - Frank McCourt
35 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
36 Body-for-Life - Bill Phillips, Michael D’Orso
37 New Moon - Stephenie Meyer*
38 Night - Elie Wiesel, translations by Marion Wiesel and Stella Rodway*
39 Chicken Soup for the Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen
40 The Greatest Generation - Tom Brokaw*
41 Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer*
42 The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield
43 Wicked - Gregory Maguire
44 Good to Great - Jim Collins
45 Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer*
46 Eragon - Christopher Paolini*
47 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells
48 Your Best Life Now - Joel Osteen
49 In the Kitchen With Rosie - Rosie Daley*
50 Simple Abundance - Sarah Ban Breathnach
51 A Child Called It - Dave Pelzer*
52 A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
53 The Testament - John Grisham
54 Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Kimberly Kirberger
55 Deception Point - Dan Brown
56 The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho*
57 Marley & Me - John Grogan
58 Dr. Atkins’ New Carbohydrate Gram Counter - Robert C. Atkins
59 Life of Pi - Yann Martel*
60 The Brethren - John Grisham
61 The South Beach Diet Good Fats Good Carbs Guide - Arthur Agatston
62 The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town - John Grisham
63 For One More Day - Mitch Albom*
64 The Polar Express - Chris Van Allsburg*
65 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
66 The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow*
67 What to Expect the First Year - Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi Murkoff, Sandee Hathaway
68 Love You Forever - Robert Munsch, art by Sheila McGraw
69 Green Eggs and Ham - Dr. Seuss*
70 A Painted House - John Grisham
71 The Rainmaker - John Grisham
72 Skipping Christmas - John Grisham
73 Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier
74 The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
75 Life Strategies - Phillip C. McGraw
76 Seabiscuit: An American Legend - Laura Hillenbrand*
77 The Summons - John Grisham
78 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt*
79 The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
80 The Runaway Jury - John Grisham
81 Goodnight Moon Board Book - Margaret Wise Brown, art by Clement Hurd
82 The Perfect Storm - Sebastian Junger
83 Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson*
84 The Giver - Lois Lowry*
85 Embraced by the Light - Betty J. Eadie
86 The Chamber - John Grisham
87 You: On A Diet - Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz
88 The Prayer of Jabez - Bruce Wilkinson
89 Holes - Louis Sachar
90 Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
91 The Shack - William P. Young
92 The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger
93 Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
94 A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini*
95 The Seat of the Soul - Gary Zukav
96 Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, Marci Shimoff
97 The Partner - John Grisham
98 Lord of the Flies - William Golding*
99 Eldest: Inheritance, Book II - Christopher Paolini*
100 The Broker - John Grisham
101 The Street Lawyer - John Grisham
102 A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 1: The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket*
103 The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver*
104 Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
105 The King of Torts - John Grisham
106 The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
107 The Horse Whisperer - Nicholas Evans
108 Hannibal - Thomas Harris
109 The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama*
110 Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
111 The Glass Castle: A Memoir - Jeannette Walls*
112 My Sister’s Keeper - Jodi Picoult*
113 The Last Juror - John Grisham
114 The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
115 Left Behind - Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins
116 America (The Book) - Jon Stewart and The Writers of The Daily Show
117 The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
118 John Adams - David McCullough*
119 The Christmas Box - Richard Paul Evans
120 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Ann Brashares
121 Sugar Busters! - H. Leighton Steward, Sam S. Andrews, Morrison C. Bethea, Luis A. Balart
122 Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
123 The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
124 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life - Don Piper, Cecil Murphey
125 The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien
126 1776 - David McCullough
127 The Bridges of Madison County - Robert James Waller
128 Where the Heart Is - Billie Letts*
129 The Ultimate Weight Solution - Phillip C. McGraw
130 Protein Power - Michael R. Eades, Mary Dan Eades
131 Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, Marci Shimoff
132 Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
133 Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides*
134 Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
135 You: The Owner’s Manual - Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz
136 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List - Patricia Schultz
137 Self Matters - Phillip C. McGraw
138 She’s Come Undone - Wally Lamb
139 1984 - George Orwell
140 The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis*
141 The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko
142 The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
143 The Zone - Barry Sears, Bill Lawren
144 The Pilot’s Wife - Anita Shreve
145 The Lost World Michael Crichton
146 Atonement - Ian McEwan*
147 He’s Just Not That Into You - Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo
148 Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
149 The World Is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman
150 Cross - James Patterson

I've read 42/150 .

What kind of reader are you?

Your Reading Personality: Serial Reader!

Start quiz You may read a lot or a little, but either way you're a publisher's dream, because once you discover a favorite writer you stick with him/her through thick and thin and eagerly await the next in the series; but even you need to discover some new blood from time to time! I found this quiz at: ~Red Lady's Reading Room~