Haven't Read a Thing in Weeks

Well. My first week in the new office is behind me. I'm a bit homesick, when I have time, but am starting to get a handle on things, I think. Ricky and I are still unpacking the house. I just finished the kitchen today, so we can get back to cooking, instead of getting take-out all the time! We still have work to do on the house, but it's coming along, slowly but surely.

I have had ZERO time, or inclination, really, to read in the last few weeks. I can't find my book in this mess, anyway, so it's not a big deal. I've been catching up on about three weeks' worth of blog-reading that I didn't do (over 400 entries in my feed reader!), so that's keeping me busy. Usually, I'm simply too tired after work and the commute and unpacking to much more than rot on the couch. We're watching a lot of Food Network and Golden Girls reruns, since the summer is winding down. Hopefully, things will get back to normal soon (and I'll find my book). I just got a new BookMarks magazine and a new Glamour to peruse, so maybe that will kick me out of my funk! But college football season is starting soon, so I'll have another distraction to battle...always something.

How is your reading coming?

Recently Received

From Heather, at The Library Ladder, the first of the Night Watch trilogy...can't wait to get a chance to start in on these!

Also, from Random House and LibraryThing, Loon by Jack McLean. Another book on the for-review pile!

Sorry I've been away so much. It's been a long couple of weeks. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back into the swing of things this weekend...

The Books Just Keep on Comin'

Soooo many books received this week!

First: Matrimony by Joshua Henkin. After trying to get a copy of this book in giveaway after giveaway, I finally won a copy on Megan's blog. Yes, I could have just picked up a copy at the local bookstore, but I'm Type A...I want to WIN, dammit! So thanks to Joshua Henkin and Megan for giving me that thrill!

Next, another BookMooch acquisition: Doctor Zhivago. I have never read this classic, but I've heard SO MANY people talk about how great and sad it is. And the movie version figures heavily in one of my beloved John Cusack's movies, Must Love Dogs. So I figured it is a must-read for me at some point. And also? I CAN'T STOP MOOCHING. There is always something else I want/need.

Including...Marian Keyes' Angels, another Mooch. Something a little lighter, to break up the string of classics I seem to be picking up.

Finally, on the book front, I received a copy of Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. I believe I won this during the 24-Hour Read-a-Thon, but my eyes were so crossed by all the reading I did and my mind so fogged with the lack of sleep, that I just can't be sure. So if you gave this book away during the Read-a-Thon, and I won it, THANKS!

And last but by no means least, my lovely, lovely, wonderful journal from our own BookGirl, Iliana. I was so excited to have won the journal, which I simply don't have the free cash to out and out PURCHASE from her, and now it is here and it is GORGEOUS. I was thrilled to be able to see the craftsmanship that I've followed on her blog, up close and personal. You guys should all travel over to her Etsy shop and buy up all her stock!

What a week of book blessings. Thanks to everyone who has hosted a giveaway and/or donated prizes for the Read-a-Thon. I'm so lucky to have brought in this haul!

24-Hour Read-a-Thon Hour 3 Update

Wow, we're on Hour 3 already! I am nearing the end of The Empress of Weehawken, and I'll post a brief review of it when I finish.

Title of book(s) read since last update: The Empress of Weehawken
Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 88
Running total of pages read since you started: 88
Amount of time spent reading since last update: Approximately 2 full hours
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) Approx. 2 hours
Mini-challenges completed: 1
Other participants you’ve visited: Umm, I'm reading more than blog-hopping, so just Dewey.
Prize you’ve won: None, so far...

Don't Forget!!!

This weekend is Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon! Read all those books gracing your To-Be-Read shelves! Blog! Follow other bloggers! Cheer us all on! And win FABULOUS prizes!

I'll be there, will you?

Donate for a Good Cause

Sassymonkey has issued a challenge. She is asking everyone to donate a dollar (and what's a dollar, really?) to help fund a classroom library for a class of children who don't have satisfactory access to reading material. And if the joy of knowing you are helping a whole class of kids learn to appreciate reading is not enough, Sassymonkey will enter you into a chance to win a prize pack for donating and posting about the challenge. So run right over and drop a dollar to help these kids! Support literacy and help them learn to love books!!!

BBAW and the Pulitzer Project

Amy, at the blog My Friend Amy, is hosting Book Blogger Appreciation Week, September 15-19. I'm joining up, if for no other reason than to discover other book blogs I might like (as if I need more reading!). There are prizes and awards, as well as the creation of a Master Book Blog List! Sounds like it's going to be great! Thanks for hosting this, Amy.





Also, I'm joining the Pulitzer Project, an ongoing challenge in which the goal is to read all of the Pulitzer winners from 1918 to the present. So far, I've read three:

1940 - The Grapes of Wrath (read in high school English class, circa 1992, but which I plan to re-read soon, as I don't remember it)
1953 - The Old Man and the Sea (also read in high school, as a summer read right before my freshman year, 1991 - HATED this book, more than anything I have ever read, except possibly that other Hemingway novel, A Farewell to Arms. Actually, no, I hated Old Man and the Sea more.)
1961 - To Kill a Mockingbird (read in JUNIOR high, in Mrs. Setchell's class, circa 1990. LOVED IT then, loved it when I read it again a few years ago during law school, even love the movie...sigh...Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.)

It's pretty pathetic that I haven't read any Pulitzer winners since the early 90's. Not even the most recent winners! I believe most, if not all, of these are on my TBR list, but so is every other book in the known world, so I don't know when I'll get to them. Thank goodness for ongoing challenges without deadlines!

You can read more about the Pulitzer Project HERE.

A New Look

Just wanted to change things up a bit. I think I like it.

A Little Date on a Lazy Sunday

The fiance' and I went out for a mini-date. We had Panera Bread for lunch (mmm, portobella and mozzarella panini) and ran some errands, including a stop at Barnes & Noble. (We have nothing but big box stores around here...no indies, with the exception of a small used-book store that I haven't made it to yet). Anyway, I wanted particularly to pick up a copy of Bookmarks magazine. I'm debating ordering a subscription, so I wanted to see if it was any good. It's sitting on the recliner, taunting me, right now.

I also found an unabridged paperback copy of Les Miserables. I've been looking on BookMooch for a copy, but all that are offered are abridged copies. I mean, what's the point? Who wants to read an abridged copy? So I talked myself into buying it. Sigh. As if I needed another book to be added to the humongous list of things to be read. But I can't walk out of the bookstore without a book. It is physically impossible.

After the bookstore, we went to CVS to get a few things and then to TJMaxx, whose stock of pants suitable for work was incredible lame. I found two pair, but neither fit right. Ross was far superior in its selection. Who knew?

And so we are back at home, the fiance' headed out again to pick up Subway, while I peruse book blogs, my new magazine, and, perhaps, the end of Jane Eyre.

The Obsession Continues

I've joined Library Thing. So far, I've only listed the books on one of our three bookshelves, and I haven't listed anything that is truly Ricky's and not mine.

I continue to spend my free time reading book blogs, instead of actual books. Sigh. When Ricky awakens from slumber (he's on midnights indefinitely), I'll pick up my new Glamour magazine and take a break from the book blogs. Notice how I will NOT be picking up Jane Eyre. I really do love the book, but I'm not in the Gothic novel mood right now. Perhaps the sun has something to do with it.

Personality

I took the Myers-Briggs Personality Test for the first time since before I went to law school. I think all that legal training changed me. I used to be an INFJ. Now look at me!

Got the test from an old entry of JenClair's. I've actually spent a lot of time this weekend in perusing her blog. Found LOTS of new fodder for my already ridiculously long reading list.