Happy Valentine's Day!

bound to you is by vol25.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were 2 of my favorite books I read last year. I was so excited to read Mockingjay, the final installment in the series! Now that I have read it I am sad to announce that it fell far short of my expectations.

An abundance of sub plots, mundane details, characters introduced only to be killed off a few pages later, and outright implausibility kept me from enjoying this book. Incidentally the ending I'd been hoping for not only didn't happen, but came to an abrupt, screeching halt. I almost feel like Suzanne Collins died and her husband finished writing the series for her.

Of course if you've read the first two books I recommend you read this one. You have to find out how it all ends, right? I'm honestly hoping you won't be as bitterly disappointed as I am.

P.S. At least this book counts toward my Dystopian genre for the Eclectic Reader Challenge.

Ah yes indeed it's fun time!

My principal sent us a link to this today and it made me laugh out loud more than once! For all the teaching Beastie Boys fans out there:

Congratulations Laura

True XOXO Scrapbooking asked us to use Audrey Hepburn as our inspiration this month. Easy.

The biggest Audrey fan I know is Laura Beth so I decided to use her pictures from graduation last year. I'm so proud of all her hard work. She truly deserves everything good that comes her way.

I busted out some really old die cuts for this page but I think they work here. Then I used a quote on my page which XOXO provided:

I believe in pink.

I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.

I believe in kissing, kissing a lot.

I believe in being strong when everything else seems to be going wrong.

I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.

I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.

~Audrey Hepburn

walking those dogs

Just got back from walking the mini pack. We missed a few walks because we had four days of rain in a row! Unheard of! They did pretty good and it felt nice to be moving our legs again.

P.S. Rainy long walk is by holli.

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

I requested this book as an Early Reviewer because I read the author's first book, The Day the Falls Stood Still, a few years ago and loved it. The Painted Girls did not disappoint!

This well-researched historical fiction novel takes place in Paris 1878. It follows the van Goethem sisters as they struggle to survive after their father dies. Luckily the oldest sister, Antoinette, once trained in ballet for the Paris Opera and uses her mischievous ways to get auditions for her little sisters. Little did I know, but they used to pay girls to train for the ballet.

Every other chapter is told from the middle sister, Marie's, point of view, although the story mainly centers around her. She wants nothing more than stability for her family. Marie is a hard worker who loves music and her family, which makes her accessible to almost all of us. One way she makes extra money is by posing for Edgar Degas. He has a smaller role in this story but is still well developed as a character.

This is an excellent sister story, but I also felt the author was making a commentary on our roles in the world. Can you truly pull yourself up by your bootstraps or were you born to your lot in life? Don't tell. I'm not supposed to quote an advanced copy of the book but I feel in sharing this you will understand an underlying theme:

Monsieur Zola's tale is not about getting a washhouse or a chance upon the stage. It is about begin born downtrodden and staying that way. Hard work makes no difference, he is saying. My lot, the lots of those around me, were cast the moment we were born into the gutter to parents who never managed to step outside the gutter themselves.

Read this book and you will be magicked away to a time and place very different from our own. Fortunately the characters will make you feel at home.

P.S. This book counts as my book Published in 2013 for my Eclectic Reader Challenge.

quote of the day/how I know my class is going to fail state standardized testing

Me: {pressing play}

State Approved CD Instruction Deliverer: Write your full name on the line.

Girl: I don't have a full name!

P.S. I got this picture from Private Arts.

2012 End of the Year Book Survey

Time for end of the year book quizzes! Yay! On this one you're supposed to answer the questions with titles of books read in 2012.

Describe yourself: The Girl Who Played With Fire

How do you feel? Serenity

Describe where you currently live: East of Denver

If you could go anywhere...? The Voyage Out

Favorite form of transportation: Ruffian (she was a racehorse)

Your best friend is: I, Robot

You and your friends are: Catching Fire

What's the weather like? Day of Honey

Your favorite time of day is: After Dark

What is life for you? The Penultimate Peril

You fear: Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Best advice: Animals Make Us Human

Thought for the day: You Shall Know Our Velocity!

How you would like to die: The End

Who else wants to play?

P.S. Books is by Emily Martin.

21

I made this scrapbook page back in November as a birthday present for my niece Alyssa. Her friend Stephanie asked friends and relatives to make a scrapbook page with a drink recipe, then put them together in a scrapbook for Alyssa's 21st birthday. Well I love alcohol, scrapbooking, and my niece (not in that order) so this was perfect for me.

I use a template to cut 21 out of some confetti paper and added some alcohol stickers. I put my recipe on a We R Memory Keepers Project Life-type card that I thought looked like a recipe card. Alyssa loves cats so I had to add a sticker I had of a cat with a birthday hat on.

The picture of me is with our pink grapefruit tree in our backyard, since the recipe for a vodka greyhound requires grapefruit juice. I hurried home, set up my camera on a tripod, and used the timer to take this picture. You can still see the sunglasses imprint on my nose but I was under a deadline!

The main reason I want to share this picture is because this week, after living here for 5 years, I finally invested $25 in an electric juicer and it has changed my life. I got to make a greyhound with ease after an annoying day at school (uncommon this year, and because of adults of course, not students!). And then I tried the juice without the vodka for the first time and I liked that too. Maybe I'll be healthy or something now.

2013 Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge

Last year I made a weak attempt at the Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge and only read 1 book. You can read any number of books to join, but this year I'm going to shoot for 2. That would keep me at the "Initiate: Read 1 - 5 Witchy Books" level.

Here are some books that I already have which I will choose from:

1. Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman - I haven't read a book by him in a really long time

2. Son of a Witch: Volume Two in the Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire - I read Wicked in 2006 so I guess it's time to read the sequel

3. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts by Arthur Miller - I did a scene from this in a competition in high school but never read the whole thing

4. The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow - this has been on my shelf for 4 years

5. Witch by Christopher Pike - I have been wanting to reread some of my Christopher Pike books (my favorite in high school) but never find a reason to. Maybe this challenge will get me going.

(non-fiction)

6. The Truth About Witchcraft by Hans Holzer

7. The Complete Art of Witchcraft by Sybil Leek

8. Witchcraft in the World Today by C.H. Wallace

If you would like to join my reading coven visit Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf.

P.S. Matilda is by Jayme McGowan.

My Favorite Books of 2012

I read 43 books last year. Here are my 9 fiction and 2 non-fiction favorites, which I recommend you read as well. They are listed in the order I read them.

fiction

Watchmen by Alan Moore - This is the first graphic novel I've ever finished. Superheroes deal with their inner demons and struggle with power trips.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese - reviewed here on March 11th

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - imagine the competitive life of Geisha while learning about Japanese history. Made me cry. My favorite book of the year.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Follow Katniss as she battles for her life in a game designed to entertain and control the masses.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - The exciting sequel to The Hunger Games.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey - reviewed here on December 28th

After Dark by Haruki Murakami - reviewed here on December 29th

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson - reviewed here on December 29th

The Kite Runner by Kahleid Hosseini - coming of age story about a boy from Afghanistan and his best friend/family servant. Made me cry.

non-fiction

Columbine by Dave Cullen - very thoroughly researched account of the Columbine shooters, tragedy, and aftermath. Everything you think you know about what happened is wrong.

Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage, and Championed Pit Bulls--One Flying Disc at a Time by Jim Gorant - reviewed here on September 11th

2012: A Year in Pictures

January: Chad's Annual Bowling Birthday Party

February: Petsmart Charities 5K PetWalk with Stephanie and Corey's Family

March: Angi and I See Fran Lebowitz Together

and a Visit From Amy!

April: Date Night to See Sucre

and Girls Night to See Florence + the Machine

May: 3 Graduations in Kansas

June: Trip to Palm Springs

July: Jaws Pool Party with Mini-Pack

August: Hottest Hike Ever

September: Diamondbacks Lose to Cubs :(

October: Suns Game on Halloween

November: Trip to Titan Missile Museum

and South Mountain Birthday Walk

December: Corey Puts Up Christmas Lights and Declares He Does Like Christmas

Love and Happiness to All in 2013!

Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge

This was the only book I was able to read for the challenge this year, but it was enough to earn me Initiate status at Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf.

No Rest for the Witches is 4 short stories by 4 different authors: MaryJanice Davidson, Cheyenne McCray, Christine Warren, and Lori Handeland. Unfortunately it was not as much fun as I had hoped it would be. I had never heard of Paranormal Romance before and that is what I discovered this book is. The Paranormal element was fun, but they lost me at the Romance part. One story ended with people having sex to save the world. The whole thing just seemed ridiculous to me. At least I got this book free from a pile at work.

If you're looking for some Paranormal Romance, I suggest sticking to Twilight.

Eclectic Reader Challenge 2013

I had a lot of fun doing the Eclectic Reader Challenge this year so I'm going to try it again next year. I have to read 1 book from each of these categories by the end of next year. Some of them I had never even heard of and had to look up.

Here are the categories and some of the books I've decided to read:

Translated fiction

Historical mystery - The Egyptologist: A Novel by Arthur Phillips

Romantic suspense

Made into a movie

New Adult - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Urban Fantasy

Dystopian - Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3) by Suzanne Collins

Memoir

LGBT

Action Adventure

Humour

Published in 2013 - The Painted Girls: A Novel by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Who's ready to join me?

P.S. I found the top picture at redlipsandicecream but I don't see it there any more.

What's in a Name 2013

I found a reading challenge that I did a few years ago which now has a new host. I'm very excited to accept the challenge thrown down at Beth Fish Reads.

Here are the categories and the books I own with suitable titles:

A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title:

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

A book with something you'd find in your kitchen in the title:

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A Novel by Aimee Bender

By Bread Alone by Sarah-Kate Lynch

Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies by Laura Esquivel

Five Quarters of the Orange: A Novel by Joanne Harris

and I have 3 unread Chicken Soup for the Soul books

A book with a party or celebration in the title:

Happy Deathday! by Alfred Hitchcock

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish

A book with fire (or equivalent) in the title:

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt

A book with an emotion in the title:

Getting to Happy by Terry McMillan

Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook

Loving Frank: A Novel by Nancy Horan

The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland

Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin

Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire: A Novel by Margot Berwin

The Walking Dead, Vol. 4: The Heart's Desire by Robert Kirkman

A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title:

The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser

The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay

Lost Highways by Curtiss Ann Matlock

Lost Laysen by Margaret Mitchell

Who else wants to join in?!

P.S. I found the awesome library pic at Epic Win FTW.