Goodbye, 2009.

Most of the blogging world is writing up nice recaps of 2009. I'm pretty happy for 2009 to be over and am looking forward to a fresh start in 2010 so I'm not doing that. Plus, we're packing up to spend an extended weekend with all my in-laws for our Christmas fun so I'm a wee bit short on time.   For those of you who wonder, I did manage to read two more books and hit my goal of 52. Maybe next year I'll aim for 53! I hope you all have a lovely evening, however you ring in the new year, and I'll see you all in 2010.



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Two!

I am TWO books shy of my goal for the year. Not counting today I have 4 days left. I am off work all week. We're super busy the 31st and I have a loaner child on Tuesday. This leaves Monday and Wednesday.  I'll see you when I finish the books or next year, whichever happens first! 

I hope you all have a Happy 2010 and I look forward to a slew of New Year's Resolution posts of both the bookish and non-bookish variety!

(Pictures have nothing to do with the post. I just like to have pictures.)

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Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you.





I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.

American Roulette by Richard Marcus

 by Richard Marcus is pretty much what you'd expect it to be from the title-American Roulette: How I Turned the Odds Upside Down---My Wild Twenty-Five-Year Ride Ripping Off the World's Casinos (Thomas Dunne Books).  Marcus spent his life cheating casinos all over the world out of a LOT of money.  Near the end of his career he invents a new way to cheat and he's so proud of himself he retires from gambling to write a book and brag about it.American Roulette: How I Turned the Odds Upside Down---My Wild Twenty-Five-Year Ride Ripping Off the World's Casinos (Thomas Dunne Books)

So what did I think? I was by turns fascinated and appalled. The parts about the casinos and how he actually did the scams was really interesting- quite like watching the shows about it on TLC or The Discovery Channel is.  It was similar to learning how magic tricks are performed in that it really is a bit of slight of hand. However,  Marcus is really arrogant. He really belives that he is The Shit and he writes like it. He talks about women like they are objects and is often crude when talking about them. His language is very coarse in places and it seemed to be thrown in for shock value. I'm not usually a prude about language or sex, but the manner in which he talked about it was a big turn off for me. Despite this, I would be willing to read his second book- The World's Greatest Gambling Scams, or other books about gambling in general. (Uh, not how to gamble, that doesn't really interest me.) If you're at all interested in this sort of book, this is a good general description of how scam artists work and how casinos can be taken.

American Roulette by Richard Marcus
St Martin's Griffin
2004
384 pages




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November Wrap Up and the Rest of the Year (TSS)

Only one month to go before 2010! How's everyone doing on their goals? I was hoping to read 52 books this year, but since I've started sewing more reading time slips away. I'm holding at 42 for the year. I have several books in the works and am sure to finish a couple of them, so if I finish out at 45 or 46 I'll be happy.

The ones I'm likely to finish:

Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
American Roulette: How I Turned the Odds Upside Down by Richard Marcus
The MacKade Brothers: Rafe And Jared: The Return Of Rafe MacKade\The Pride Of Jared MacKade by Nora Roberts
The Year of Living Biblically by A J Jacobs

The ones I've started and won't likely finish before 2010:

Just the Sexiest Man Alive By Julie James
Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul by Edward Humes
For a Few Demons More (The Hollows, Book 5) by Kim Harrison

I also have a few library books out, and one more on hold at the library. In a perfect world, I'd read these too.

Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industryby Todd Farley
Parallel Play: Growing Up with Undiagnosed Asperger's by Tim Page (Did you review this one? I can't remember who's review I read.)
The Genius Engine: Where Memory, Reason, Passion, Violence, and Creativity Intersect in the Human Brain by Kathleen Stein
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale by Art Speigelman
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich

(Seeing as that's 11 books and I've only read 42 this whole year, it's not likely that I'll get very far on this list!)


I didn't add so many books to my list this month, which may be because I'm WAY behind on Reader and there are still a ton of November posts waiting for me. But here's what I did add, and who is to blame.

A Sportscaster's Guide to Watching Football by Mark Oristano - Ti at Book Chatter
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson- Raych at books i done read
The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes- Keris at Five Minutes Peace
Come Closer: A Novel by Sara Gran- Nymeth at things mean a lot
Too Good To Be True by Kristin Higgins- Kay at the Infinite Shelf
Virgin River by Robin Carr- Jaime at Confessions of a Bibliophile

What have you added to your list recently? What are your goals for the rest of the year? Do you expect to finish everything you had hoped? Are you planning to take a week off life to read it all?




Don't forget to check my shop for last minute Christmas gifts!

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.

Virtual Advent Tour, Randomly

Welcome to a Special Edition Random Friday! Today is my day to participate in the Virtual Advent Tour, and I thought what better way to put my own touch on it than to combine both events. So, here's some random Christmas thoughts for you.

At 4.5, this is the first year that The Pirate both understands Christmas and is not completely transparent. He informed me this morning that he could NOT tell me what he wanted Santa to bring, because he has to tell Santa- not me. I'm thinking perhaps we'll need to write a letter to Santa, and he may need a little help with it.

(last year's holiday picture, look how little they are!)

Christmas is exactly 3 weeks from today! While many of you have been shopping for weeks (months? all year?) I am one of those people who loves the concentrated rush of doing it all after Thanksgiving. (Ask me about that on the night of the 24th, ok?) I did intend to make the gifts I was sewing earlier in the year, but kept getting distracted. If I ever get it all done I'll blog about what I made too! Meanwhile, here's the advent calendar we use- I made it last year.

And speaking of handmade gifts, where do you all fall on that? Do you love it when someone makes something for you? Would you rather get a store bought gift? Do you somehow feel that a handmade gift isn't as meaningful? Be honest!

We have lots of little things planned this holiday season, because with the kids we want to expose them to a lot of fun stuff. So this weekend we'll go hike through the woods to find a tree. Next weekend we're having a small Christmas party for the Pirate and his friends. One night we'll go for a drive to see the lights and one night we'll visit a local attration that decorates with miles and miles of lights. We have to find time to go visit Santa himself as well (hopefully AFTER we write a letter to him!)

One of the best things about Christmas for me, is making new traditions with my kids. I love having little things that hopefully one day they will look back on and remember with a smile. I'm always on the lookout for new ideas though, so tell me, what are your favorite holiday traditions?

Make sure you stop to visit the other bloggers who posted today:

Maree @ Just Add Books

Aarti @ Booklust

Robin @ A Fondness for Reading

I'm in good company, no?

And the complete list at the Virtual Advent Blog.

Still need a few gifts? Visit my Etsy shop for handmade goodness!

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Right Now...

Right Now, I am:

watching... So You Think You Can Dance. This is my first season watching and I love it. Legacy is my favorite.

smelling... woodstoves/fires in the neighborhood chimneys

reading... Another Nora Roberts - The Return Of Rafe MacKade I can't help it, they are so comfortable and easy and romantic, just right for a stressful time

enjoying... wearing tights and boots with skirts in the cold weather

eating... Yummy, easy Mexican cheese dip and crackers

listening... to the new Joshua Bell CD At Home With Friends that I won from Just Pure Lovely

sewing... Christmas presents and shop items.

drinking... Peppermint Mochas

embracing ... the idea of a simple Christmas with my boys

anticipating... taking the last week of the month, last week of the year, off work to recharge

What are you enjoying right now? Can you believe that it's already December?

I have blantantly stolen this from Turkeycookies. Every month she does this post and every month I think I wanna do that too! This month I remembered.

(The picture has nothing to do with the post, I just like pictures on my posts. )

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.