my books. my life.

On Tuesday I shared the books I would be reading if I still read books. Obviously I’m exaggerating a bit when I say I’m not reading at all. In fact, I’m in the middle of a bunch of books, including these ones:

I am so excited that I am far enough along that I can finally share my news with you. Baby Appleseed (so nicknamed for it’s size when we found out) is slated to make his/her appearance sometime around May 28. Ben and I are beyond thrilled (and a bit terrified).

Did I surprise you? Or have all of my tweets about being exhausted given me away? (at least two people figured it out on twitter despite my best efforts to hide it from you)

As for me, I was feeling pretty awful there for a few weeks but that appears to be nearing its end (which is good since I was growing desperately tired of ginger ale and saltines as a “meal”). Now I am just waiting to get my energy back so I can stop sleeping 10 hours a night and hopefully my reading/blogging mojo will come back with it. Who knew growing a baby was such hard work?

So…any advice for me? Any books I need to add to that pile?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Book Blogger Appreciation Week. It’s always a fun time, and even though I wasn’t able to participate as fully as I have in the past, I found some wonderful new blogger friends.

My reading slowed down this week – a combination of life, BBAW, and fall shows returning – but I also haven’t done a regular Sunday Salon post in a few weeks, so here are a couple of books I’ve finished since then that I haven’t reviewed yet (*builds anticipation*):

I am currently working my way through the magic of The Night Circus (keep your eyes open for a giveaway) and listening to Ready Player One.

Are you reading anything exciting? And how many new bloggers did you find this week?

My Life:

My husband, one of those lucky people that still get spring break, has abandoned me for a few days to visit his sister in Pittsburgh. So I am enjoying a some alone time this weekend. Unfortunately this has not translated into any reading time for me so far. Ah, life.

My Books:

This week I finished reading Picking Bones from Ash by Marie Mutsuki Mockett (review here) and listening to Bonobo Handshake by Vanessa Woods.

I am currently reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout and One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde.

And if you are lucky (still playing catchup), you may see a few reviews this week. These are the books I still have to review:

1. Betsy was a Junior by Maud Hart Lovelace
2. Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde (audio)(reread)
3. The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
4. First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (audio)(reread)
5. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
6. Matched by Ally Condie
7. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (audio)
8. The Inimitable Jeeves by PG Wodehouse (audio)
9. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
10. Bonobo Handshake by Vanessa Woods (audio)

Anyone dying for me to talk about one of these this week? I’m open to suggestions.

My Life

We are still enjoying beautiful March weather down here in Florida. I am trying to savor it before it gets crazy hot again. Thus, March weekends are full of visits to the beach, reading by the pool, and baseball games. It’s pretty awesome.

In other news, Jen from Devourer of Books convinced me to try the Game On Diet with her for Lent. We’re playing it a little modified and for 6 weeks instead of 4. I am not actually trying to lose weight but I am trying to get my body into a healthier state. For those who don’t know, the rules are basically:

• 5 small meals a day which include a carb, a protein, and a fat (two meals have to include veggies)
• 3 liters of water a day
• 7 hours of sleep each night
• 20 minutes of exercise each day
• Develop one good habit and get rid of one bad habit

I’m doing alright with the meals but I am being a little flexible, especially where it comes to protein because I am rather limited in my options and I normally wouldn’t try to eat protein at every meal. The water was tough at first but I’m getting used to it. Sleep isn’t a real issue for me nor is exercise, although I normally exercise 4 days a week so I had to throw in some extra workouts. My bad habit is leaving clothes/shoes strewn about the apartment so I am putting them in their proper place immediately. My good habit is to read for 30 minutes every single day (I normally don’t read much during the week). I will probably let you all know how it’s going because it is consuming a lot of my life right now.

My Books

Given the slow speed at which I read, you’d think I’d be able to keep up on reviews. You would be mistaken. I am woefully behind. But as always, I hope and plan to catch up.

This week I finished The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (after you all told me I really had to) and The Inimitable Jeeves by PG Wodehouse (audio).

I am currently reading Picking Bones from Ash by Marie Mutsuki Mockett (loving it) and listening to Bonobo Handshake by Vanessa Woods.

You can expect (I make no promises but I shall try) reviews this week on Wither by Lauren deStephano, Picking Bones from Ash, and an undecided older book for Thursday.

That’s it from me this week. Enjoy your Sundays, everyone.

Good morning! How is everyone today?

I am having a rough weekend back/neck/head-wise but it has forced me to actually get some reading done. I finished both Matched by Ally Condie and The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown yesterday. And today, I am starting the book that at least 7000 of you told me to read after my Top Ten Tuesday post: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Now, as for February. I read:

1. Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
2. Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde (audio)(reread)
3. The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
4. Great House by Nicole Krauss
5. First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (audio)(reread)
6. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
7. Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Favorite: Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares
Least Favorite: Great House

What was your favorite February read?

A couple of personal updates:

• I posted about our anniversary yesterday so I wanted to share that it ended up being a lovely day. We spent much of it lounging about the apartment reading. We went to the library, got our new passport photos taken, and dropped by a pizza party at our complex (we had to make sure lunch was free since dinner was definitely not). Then went out for a nice, romantic dinner in the evening. And we finally had some warm-ish weather to enjoy. All in all, a great day.
• The other big news in my life right now is that we will be spending almost a month in Europe this summer. We are starting in Greece for my cousin’s wedding and ending the trip in England where Ben will remain for 6 weeks for his grad school program. We plan on finding the most interesting route to take us from Greece to England. Neither of us have seen much of Europe so we feel very lucky that we’ll be able to do it now.

Reading updates:

• Books finished this week:

• Books currently reading:

• Review posted this week:

Are you reading anything interesting right now? Do you have any advice for out Europe trip? Just want to say hi?

After a miserable week of rather severe neck pain, I am finally feeling better. I have no idea what (if any) of the hundred different remedies I tried worked but at this point, I’m just happy to be able to move again. I even welcomed my usual back pain (mysteriously absent this week) today when I woke up because it seems to be a sign that things are going back to normal. Thank you to everyone who let me vent and cheered me up on Twitter (book bloggers are kind of amazing) and I promise happier tweets this week.

All of this made it pretty much impossible to get any reading in this week. I simply couldn’t focus on anything. I was, for the most part, confined to watching endless hours of Gilmore Girls every evening. But, now that I’m feeling better, I’m ready to reach my new 80 books in 2010 goal (just finished #71).

Most Recently Finished:

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Audio

Currently Reading

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On Deck

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Last Sunday I confessed that I was not a Halloween fan. Well today I want to share my love for the end of Daylight Savings Time. I love today for so many reasons:

(a) Um, an extra hour. What’s not to love about that;
(b) Sunlight. In the morning. Crazy idea;
(c) I can now run in the morning (yes, I started running and yes, I know that’s hard to believe) without fearing for my life; and
(d) Did I mention the extra hour?

The only thing that could make this morning better would be if the temperature would get out of the 40s (it’s Florida – I can complain about 40s) and someone would bring me pancakes (*nudges husband*).

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As for books and blogging, I am once again a bit behind on reviews but they will be up someday. Remember, good things come to those who wait. And because my reading has far exceeded my original expectations I’ve now set a goal of reading 80 books by the end of the year (I’m currently at 69). You can start cheering me on now.

Most Recently Finished:

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Currently Reading

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(Zombies vs. Unicorns)

Audio

On Deck

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Note: I decided to save The Scorch Trials for my trip to Boston in a few weeks because I have the ebook and I must travel very light.

Audio

Happy Halloween! People are probably going to disown me for saying this, but I’m not really a fan of the holiday. I don’t like being scared, I don’t like the stress of planning a costume, and…did I mention I REALLY don’t like being scared? So I didn’t do anything Halloween related this weekend and I don’t plan on it today. Take that, people who like to jump out at me at haunted houses.

I do plan on reading today. I’d love to finish Betsy in Spite of Herself for two reasons: (1) I’d really like to finish the Maud Hart Lovelace Challenge and it ends today and (2) it would be my 10th book this month and I’ve never hit double digits in one month before (7 print, 3 audio).

So, onto the recap so that I can go read.

Most Recently Finished:

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Currently Reading

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(Betsy in Spite of Herself)

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On Deck

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I have no idea. Recommendations?

Are you reading anything interesting this weekend? Do you want to to try to convince me that Halloween is awesome?

What is it about fall that just makes the days fly by? I apologize for my sporadic posting and my inconsistent commenting lately. It just seems like by the time I settle down from my day, it’s 10pm and I can’t bring myself to finally get around to this blogging stuff. This week, my in laws are visiting so I don’t expect to be much better. Maybe I’ll get caught up on life in November?

For those who were following the Gatsby drama last week, he is home and doing well. He’s still recovering from a respiratory infection he picked up while at the hospital, but he seems to have recovered from whatever mystery illness sent him there. Now we have the fun task of keeping the two cats separated for awhile in our little apartment (with additional guests at the moment). Life is interesting.

(Gatsby on his first night back home – doesn’t the shaved arm make him look like he’s wearing uggs?)

I’m still finding some time to read (apparently not enough as I have to return 3 unread books to the library today which is becoming a habit), so let’s just move on to a little summary of that.

Most Recently Finished:

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Audio

Currently Reading

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On Deck

I’ve also added an “In the Wings” section to the sidebar so you can see what I’m thinking about reading in the near future.

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(Betsy in Spite of Herself)

Audio

I started to listen to the Bill Bryson playaway and a few hours in, I realized that it was abridged so I put it down and requested the unabridged cds. I’m annoyed that it was not written clearly on the front of the box. I’m also annoyed that abridged books exist.

What are you reading this weekend?