Friday Fill-ins #109

#109
And...here we go!


1. I'd really like not be at work right now.

2. Golly is the word you'd most often hear me say if I stubbed my toe.

3. Possession is 9 tenths of the law.

4. What a fellow that Captain Jack Sparrow.

5. Marshmallows and fire go together like chocolate & graham crackers too to make somores.

6. Going on and on.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to stitching, tomorrow my plans include watching a movie with my SIL not sure what she’s got from Netflix lately and Sunday, I want to to root for the Arizona Cardinals to win the Super Bowl!

Book Review - Fast Track by Fern Michaels

#10

Title: Fast Track
Author: Fern Michaels
Genre: Suspense (Sisterhood: Rules of the Game, #3)
Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days, TBR Challenge 2009, A to Z Reading Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, From the Stacks 2008, Series Challenge Season 3, Winter Reading Challenge 2009, To be Continued…Challenge, Books Around the States Challenge,

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: 320
Published: 2008

From the back:
It's been years since the members of the Sisterhood first banded together, with the help of their mentor Charles Martin, to exact their own form of justice on those whose crimes had gone unpunished by the legal system. Now, back in the United States after an enforced exile, and ensconced in a new home on Big Pine Mountain in North Carolina, Myra, Kathryn, Annie, Alexis, Isabelle, Yoko, and Nikki are breathing easy at last - but not for long.One dark night, under cover of a vicious storm, a helicopter lands on their mountain. The Sisters aren't about to wait to be ambushed. Braving the storm, they set out to greet their guests, only to be told by Charles that the mysterious visitors are the Sisterhood's new employers, and they've got a dangerous new assignment in mind. The task they face is daunting. If they succeed, the Sisterhood will be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams. If they fail, they'll forfeit much more than a pay check. But if the Ladies of Pinewood have learned one thing over the course of their adventures, it's that when friends band together, miracles can happen...

Mine:

The Sisters are almost caught again as plans go astray when their nemisis at the Post gets in the way. He stumbles onto them and makes it difficult for them to stay on track. As luck as it they meet the girlfriend of the person they are after. The World Bank money that is for feeding poor countries is lining the pockets of it’s President. This is the target of the Sisterhood. Will they be able to do right? If so the money they will make will got to non-profits to support their women’s causes.

Book Review - 4:50 to Paddington by Agatha Christie

# 9
Title: 4:50 to Paddington
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Mystery

Challenges: Winter Reading Challenge 2009, TBR Challenge 2009 , A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Support Your Local Library, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, Agatha Christie Challenge 2009, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge, Numbers Challenge

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio (320)
Published: Originally 1957 (Audio 2005)

From the back:
Elspeth McGillicuddy is down from Scotland for a holiday and boards the 4:50 train from Paddington station to visit her friend Miss Marple. During the journey, another train pulls alongside, and through the window Mrs. McGillicuddy witnesses a tall, dark man strangling a blonde woman. She reports what she has seen, yet no one takes any notice. There is no report of any murder, no dead woman found on any train, and the police have no record of any persons reported missing that match the descripton given by Mrs. McGillicuddy. Only Miss Marple believes her account, and realizing that the body must have been thrown off the train, with the help of maps and train timetables she pinpoints the exact spot where the body must be. With the help of her young friend Lucy Eylelesbarrow, she goes about the tricky task of uncovering a murder – and a cunning murder…….

Mine:
Mrs. McGillicuddy sees a murder – but no one wants to believe her , but her good friend Miss Marple does. Now all she has to do is solve the crime, since the police won’t believe them. She enlists her friends Lucy Elylelesbarrow to check out the family. Who could be the guilty one, the family of dark horses all have a secret to hide.

Musing Mondays

A few weeks back we had a question about borrowing books, this week I was wondering what your policy was on lending books. Do you lend books to anyone? Just friends? Only big readers? How long are they allowed to have them?

I only lend to good friends who I know will return the books or pass them on. My sister-in-law is the best - we are always trading books - thank goodness we have some of the same tastes for reading (cozy mysteries, Janet Evanovich romance, etc)

We trade for as long as it takes us to read them. We usually have about 5-6 books swapped at a time.

Friday Fill-ins #108

#108
And...here we go!

1. Oh, I am so happy it’s the weekend!

2. Embrace changes, big and little.

3. During weekend, I plan on working on my blogs.

4. No Recession; are you kidding me???

5. Right now I'd like to be reading a book.

6. iPod is my favorite gadget.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to stitching, tomorrow my plans include fun errands – bank, post office and Sunday, I want to be able to read the newspaper!

Blog Improvement - 1/19

After reading all the suggested articles. These are the three things I've picked out some of which I already had started to do.

1) Outline Posts Before Writing Them - need to start this one.(suggestions welcome)
2) Take Your Ideas and Plan a Posting Schedule - have started with weekly memes and weekly events
3) Improve Your Title Writing Skills - need to work on this one, Book Review and the book title doesn't seem to work well. (suggestions welcome)

Library Loot #2

I went to the library on Saturday to pick up my holds. I've decided that this is really the year to get library books and cut back on buying unless it comes from the Friends of the Library sales (4x a year) or from the Book-Go-Round which is the used book store that is run by the Friends of the Library. It is actually housed in the orignal library building in town, which is now a historic building.

I picked up the following books:






4:50 From Paddington & Death in the Clouds (I'd never heard of this one) by Agatha Christie (Audio. It's on CDs so I can listen to it to and from work and while running errands. I'm using this the the Library Challenge and also my Agatha Christie challenge.



Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck (Audio)the cover on the CDs is different. I'm using this for the Libarary Challenge and my John Steinbeck mini challenge.




1st to Die and 2nd Change by James Patterson (Audio). I'm using both of these for my Number Challenge also the Series challenge.

Book Review - Hot Stuff by Janet Evanovich

# 7
Title: Hot Stuff
Author: Janet Evanovich & Leanne Banks
Genre: Chick-lit/Romance
Challenges: 2009 Support Your Local Library, 20 Books in 2009, Chick Lit Challenge 2, Pages Read Challenge 2009, Books Around the States Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: 352
Published: 2007
From the back:
Cate Madigan isn’t asking for trouble. Her wacky Irish family is constantly palying matchmaker for her with men who leave much to be desired. All she wants is peach and quiet and a nice place to live while she saves her money from tending bar in a lively Boston pub. Okay, so what if her roommate is a cross-dressing lounge singer named Marty Longfellow? In exchange for cheap rent, all she has to do is take care of his plants and collect his mail when he’s out of town. And then ….Marty disappears. At the same time, a bullmastiff named Beast shows up with instructions from Marty to take care of him. Can Cate handle this 120-pound bundle of joy who wants to devour everything in sight? Ex-cop Kellen McBride has decided to make Cate’s bar his nightly hang-out. But is he just there for the beer? Or does he have an ulterior motive for getting close to Cate? When Cate comes home to a ransacked apartment, she realized Kellen knows more htan he’s saying. Problem is, he’s turning up the heat in her life-in more ways than one. Soon Cate finds herself in deep trouble with mysterious stalkers, a lovesick would-be boyfried named Patrick Pugg, two friends who are looking for love, and the very sexy, possibley dangerous Kellen McBride. The south side of Boston has never been wilder…..
Mine:
Cate Madigan is leaving in Boston renting a room, so she can live away from her Irish family who are trying to to set her up. The latest set up is Patrick Pugg. “Pugg” follows her around like a lost puppy and refers to himself as “Pugg”.

Her roommate Marty Longfellow, is a cross-dressing lounge singer who is in trouble. Little does Cate know that the trouble will follow her also. Marty disappears and when trouble come he send a dog “Beast” to help guard Cate. Beast is a big slobbering 120 bull mastiff “Puppy”.

Enter in Kellen McBride found at the bar the Cate works out. He is actually there to try to recover stolen items from Marty. Kellen quickly falls for Cate. Cate is unsure if Kellen is the right man for her when she finds out that she is there for Marty.

As always the love connections works and Cate and Kellen fall in love. Marty does have the stolen items, but does get off easy as he tells who was pushing him to do the jobs.

Monday Musings

How does your being sick (or injured) affect your reading? Do you read more? Less? Do you pick out a different book than you had already planned? Do you have a "comfort book" that makes you feel better?

I often read much more and read differently. I will take the opportunity to read something different, since I will have more time. When I had back surgery in 1998 I read quite a few things that I normally wouldn't have - I actually got through Kane & Abel (a chucky book to say the least).

If I'm sick for just one day. I love to read Richard Bach's Illusions or Rachel Carson's Gifts of the Sea.

Book Review - Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie

#8
Title: Murder in Mesopotamia
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Mystery

Challenges: Winter Reading Challenge 2009, TBR *Lite* Challenge 2009 (completed), A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Support Your Local Library, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, Agatha Christie Challenge 2009, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio (352)
Published: Orignally 1936 (2001)

From the back:
Nurse Amy Leatheran is recruited to care for th frightened wife of an American archeologists at an excavation in the Iraqi desert. Are the wife’s fears mere hallucinations? When she is found bludgeoned to death, her paranoia proves, too late, fully justified. Famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, nearby on another mission, gets involved and realizes that every member of the team could be a suspect. Can Poirot stop the murder before he or she strikes again?

Mine:
Nurse Leatheran is brought in to take care of the wife who is fearful for her life. She keeps getting threatening letters telling her that she can not be with another man. She thought when she left America that she was safe, but the letters catch up to her in Iraq. One afternoon she is murdered and Poirot is brought in to help solve the crime.

It seems that every member of the excavation is a suspect, but who did really do it. Is it a crime of passion? We must understand that she was previously married and thought that her previous controlling husband was dead – but was he?

Poirot to the rescue to prove that the current husband is truly the previous husband and is a very jealous fool and does in fact kill his wife.

Friday Fill-ins #107

#107
And...here we go!

Sorry I missed a few....

1. Enough with the resolutions.

2. Changes sometimes causes me to be conflicted.

3. I've been craving a butterscotch sundae.

4. My nephews makes me laugh.

5. I wish I could go to the movies next week.

6. My parents health has been on my mind lately.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to do some stitching, tomorrow my plans include running errands (bank, post office, library) and Sunday, I want to sleep in!

Library Loot #1

I went to the library on Saturday to pick up my holds. I've decided that this is really the year to get library books and cut back on buying unless it comes from the Friends of the Library sales (4x a year) or from the Book-Go-Round which is the used book store that is run by the Friends of the Library. It is actually housed in the orignal library building in town, which is now a historic building.



I got Hot Stuff by Janet Evanovich and Leanne Banks. I am intersted in reading all the non-Plum books by Janet Evanovich. I'm using this in my Support your Library Challenge amoung others.



I also got Murder in Mesopotania by Agatha Christie. It's on CDs so I can listen to it to and from work and while running errands. I'm using this the the Library Challenge and also my Agatha Christie challenge.

Ten on Tuesday

Ten On Tuesday

10 Things You're Really Good At

1. Procrastinating
2. Research for Genealogy
3. Gardening
4. Making Lists
5. Saving money
6. Reading
7. Counted Cross-stitch
8. Learning New things
9. Listening to others
10. Organizing

Book Review - A Christmas Thief by Mary Higgins Clark & Carole Higgins Clark

#6
Title: A Christmas Thief

Author: Mary Higgins Clark/Carole Higgins Clark

Genre: Suspense

Challenges: Winter Holiday Reading Challenge, Winter Reading Challenge 2009, A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, 2009 Second Chances, Pages Read Challenge 2009, Read Your Own Books Challenge 2009, To be Continued…Challenge, Books Around the States Challenge, 101 Books in 1001 Days Challenge

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: 336 (Audio)
Published: 2006

From the back:
The folks who picked a beautiful eighty-foot blue spruce from Stowe, Vermont, to be Rockefeller Center's famous Christmas tree don't have a clue that Packy Noonan, a scam artist just released from prison, hid priceless diamonds in it more than twelve years ago. But when Packy learns that his special tree will be heading to New York City the next morning, he knows he has to act fast.
What Packy does not know is that Alvirah, everyone's favorite lottery winner turned amateur sleuth, and savvy private investigator Regan Reilly are visiting Stowe with their friend Opal, who lost all her lottery winnings in Packy's scam. And just when they're supposed to head home, they learn that the tree is missing . . . and that Opal has disappeared.

Mine:
Alvirah is in the thick of it again, when she takes her friend Opal on their getaway weekend in Stowe Vermont. Little do they know that Packy who swindled Opal of her Lottery Winnings is in the area also, trying to gain the possession of his diamond that he hid over 13 years ago. This is his stockpile of loot that was left over from his scheme.

When Opal goes missing on an early morning cross-country ski run – Alvirah does everything she can to find her and along the way finds the diamond the Rockerfeller tree and Packy and his band of merrymen.

Book Review - Knitting Bones by Monica Ferris

#5
Title: Knitting Bones
Author: Monica Ferris
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days, TBR *Lite* Challenge 2009, A to Z Reading Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, From the Stacks 2008, Series Challenge Season 3, Winter Reading Challenge 2009, To be Continued…Challenge, Books Around the States Challenge,

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: 268
Published: 2007
From the back:
The stitchers of the Embroiderers Guild are thrilled to have raised over $20,000 for charity-but they're less pleased when the representative who accepts the check disappears with it. After breaking her leg in a fall from a horse, Betsy's confined to her apartment and loopy on pain killers-she can't possibly investigate. But Godwin, her store manager, insists that he can do the legwork. Little do they know that a man across town has a similar injury-and he too is wondering what happened to that check. Betsy and Godwin have got to figure it out first, or it'll be a bad break for everyone.

Mine:
Betsy still has the knack for solving a mystery even though bed-ridden. Goddy takes over as her eyes and ears and learns a lot in the process. The time line is the same as the criminal was in the hospital the same time as Betsy.

The crow does put a little dent in the ointment though.

Book Reveiw: Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

#4 (2009)

Title: Around the World in 80 Days
Author: Jules Verne
Genre: Young Adult

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days, TBR *Lite* Challenge 2009, A to Z Reading Challenge, Numbers Challenge, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, 2009 YA (Young Adult) Challenge, The Year Of Readers - 2009

Rating: 4/5
No. of Pages: Audio ( 304 pgs. )
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From the back:
English gentleman Phileas Fogg wagers half his fortune so he can travel around the world in only 80 days. Along the way he meets a beautiful princess, rides an elephant through the jungle, and survives an Indian attach. Meanwhile, his arch enemy Detective Fix does his best to keep up with and deter Fogg from his itinerary. Will Phileas Fogg overcome these obstacles to fulfill his destiny? Only the calendar will tell in this exciting tale.

Mine:
The race is one – will Fogg make it in time with all the interruptions? He has staked half of his wealth on a bet to make it around the world in 80 days or less. He meets many interesting people along the way – the princess he must rescue, the owner of the elephant he must ride to catch up ( I recommend not riding a elephant in shorts – very bristly hairs. Found out by doing so), Detective Fix who is determined that he his the guilty party of a robbery that has taken place.

Book Review - The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

#3 (2009)

Title: The Red Badge of Courage
Author: Stephen Crane
Genre: Young Adult

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days, A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, 2009 YA (Young Adult) Challenge, The Year Of Readers - 2009

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: Audio ( 176pgs. )

From the back:
Although the exact battle is never identified, Crane based this story of a soldier's experiences during the American Civil War on the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville. Many veterans, both Union and Confederate, praised the book's accurate representation of war, and critics consider its stylistic strength the mark of a literary classic.

Mine:
I always have thought that the time period was Civil War, but never a specific battle. I love this story for it’s depiction of wartime and what people thought during the time.

Book Review - Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

Only reason I was able to listen to so many books was I was waiting at the ER with my dad on Friday for about 6 hours.

#2 (2009)

Title: Doctor Dolittle
Author: Hugh Lofting
Genre: Young Adult

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days, A to Z Reading Challenge, What’s In a Name 2009 (Profession), 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, 2009 YA (Young Adult) Challenge, Well Seasoned Reader Challenge, The Year Of Readers - 2009

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: Audio ( pgs. 144)

From the back:
Have you ever wished that you could hear your horse’s deepest secrets? Or dreamt of having a pet crocodile..one who has promised not to eat you? Or have you ever imagined how amazing it would be to hang out in Africa with the King of the beasts and be able to communicate? Well, thanks to the teachings of his parrot, Polynesia, Dr. Dolittle has done all those things and much, much more! When he learns of an epidemic in the monkey community in Africa, Dr. Dolittle embarks on a journey to save them. Along the way, he will encounter African royalty, pirates, the mysterious pushmi-pullyu, and a world full of adventure.

Mine:
What a wonderful story for the imagination (although I like the original Dr. Dolittle movie with Rex Harrison). What a wonderful adventure he embarks on to help the monkey colony. He encounters many obstacles along the way, but somehow with the help of all the animals that he has learned to talk to he can pass through most of them easily. The animals even help him get out of the way. I’ve always loved this movie, but the book is even better, since it really does tell you the background of how he learned to “talk to the animals”. He was actually a people doctor first before learning the languages of the animals and becoming a doctor for them.

Book Review - Alice Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

#1 (2009)

Title: Alice Throught The Looking Glass
Author: Lewis Carroll
Genre: Young Adult

Challenges: 101 Books in 1001 Days, A to Z Reading Challenge, 2009 Audiobook Challenge, 20 Books in 2009, Pages Read Challenge 2009, 2009 YA (Young Adult) Challenge, The Year Of Readers - 2009

Rating: 5/5
No. of Pages: Audio (pgs. 240)

From the back: Through the Looking Glass revisits Alice, back form Wonderland, and ready for a new adventure. This whimsical tale of imagination and fantasy finds Alice stepping through her parlor mirror into a chess game that encompasses the entire land beyond. Along the way, Alice encounters such favorite nursery rhyme characters as Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and the Lion and the Unicorn.

Mine:
What a wonderful story to listen to you forget about the nursery rhyme characters that exist in Alice’s world. What a neat story of investigation. These girls know how to figure things out by just thinking.It was easy for them to find the “hidden treasure” before the many adults that were looking.Would read more from this series again.