Random Friday: Home

We are home from Hawaii, where we had a wonderful time. I plan to do a post on it soon, once the pictures are sorted.

I read ONE book while in Hawaii (mostly on the plane): The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose. I am now reading Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Kristof and WuDunn but it's pretty slow as I can't read much at a time. What are you reading?

Yesterday I called and signed The Pirate up for his Kindergarten pre-screening. How can he be old enough for SCHOOL?

And on a similar note, the Bug will have his first haircut this weekend.  My babies are growing up!

They did not miss us at ALL while we were gone. I guess Grandma makes a good substitute, especially when she takes you to Target.

What did I miss while I was gone? I had roughly 2000 posts in Google Reader and I marked most of them read.




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Blog Tour: Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini

Keeping the Feast: One Couple's Story of Love, Food, and Healing in Italy by Paula Butturini is my first venture into the world of blog tours. When I was first approached to join I thought that this would be a book that I would love. Love, Food, Italy? What's not to love?  I did end up liking it, but I wasn't totally blown away by it.

Keeping the Feast is the story of a couple of face tragedy almost immediately after their wedding.  John is reporting on a political uprising in Romania and is nearly killed by a sniper.  The newlyweds spend the next three years or so recovering from his injury and subsequent depression. Each chapter begins with the author's memories of a special food or dish from her youth that is supposed to relate to the remainder of the chapter, which is about John's injury or healing.

So. I feel almost guilty saying this, but I didn't think it worked.  I didn't think it flowed well from food story to life story. Last year I read and reviewed A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wisenberg, and I think it did a much better job of both writing about food and connecting it to the author's current life. I didn't really get hooked on the story until page 152, and I am unsure if I would have finished if it hadn't been for this blog tour. I felt the author's strongest writing was in the beginning when she was talking about their jobs as journalists, which only makes sense, as that was her job.

I hesitate to even say the following, but the focus of the book is her husband's descent into and out of depression, and while I know everyone's experience is different and this is her's (holy disclaimer Batman!), I am put off by some of her beliefs. Her mother also struggled with depression and the author repeats several times that it was the medications for depression that pushed her mom off the edge. She and her husband refuse to ever consider medication, and she makes a very strong point that many people are on drugs who shouldn't be, and that American doctors in particular like to prescribe drugs more than Italian doctors. I know this is her experience, but I am very turned off by a book that is almost entirely about someone's experience with depression that criticizes the use to medications that help so many people.

So there ya go. I did love the parts about Italy, but I wasn't blown away by the book. You can find other reviews on the tour that are much, MUCH more positive than mine at the following blogs:

Monday, January 18th: Tripping Towards Lucidity
Tuesday, January 19th: Park City Girl
Wednesday, January 20th: Baking Delights
Thursday, January 21st: Brunette on a Budget
Tuesday, January 26th: Farmgirl Fare
Tuesday, January 26th: Farmgirl Fare author’s recipe
Wednesday, January 27th: Booklust
Thursday, January 28th: Booklust (Rosie’s Riveters- guest post)
Tuesday, February 2nd: Peeking Between the Pages
Wednesday, February 3rd: Dolce Bellezza
Thursday, February 4th: Caribousmom
Tuesday, February 9th: Books, Lists, Life
Wednesday, February 10th: Book Addiction
Reading Series at Books on the Brain- Date TBD



Disclaimer: This book was provided to me by the publisher.



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.

Random... Monday?

I can't seem to get my act together for a Random Friday, so you get Random Monday.

We leave for Hawaii on SATURDAY!  We have so much left to do before then! Would-be thieves should know that my mama is flying in from Alabama (on Friday) to stay at my house with my children, so the house will not be left unattended!  Speaking of which, my mama is flying in on Friday to stay with my children! My house is a wreck. Seriously. Because she is my mom, my house will be spotless upon our return, no matter how grody I leave it for her, but I'd really like to find the time to make it presentable.

Did I mention we leave for HAWAII on Saturday? The high here today is 6. We have snow on the ground.

Last chance to give me good recommendations for things to do in Kauai!

Does anyone knit? I'm trying to find a nice lovely "bulky weight" yarn for a project. I do not want any type of homespun. The only thing I can find locally is a Lion Brand acrylic, which I do not want.  I would prefer something machine washable, if possible. Since I am not able to go feel up the yarn that I will hopefully be buying, does anyone have any suggestions? This is one option I have found.

My main laptop has died, taking with it all of my pictures. I am not too worried as I think it is likely a power supply issue. One side effect of this is that I don't do a lot of blogging from home any more, as the netbook requires a lot of scrolling and I am lazy.

I will likely be taking a little blog break until we return from Hawaii. I am part of a book blog tour tomorrow, so that will go up, but otherwise I'll see you all in a couple of weeks. I may post a couple pictures from Hawaii, since we taking a laptop, but I might not.  Have a great week!




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.

January List Wrap-up (TSS)

I added a lot of books to my list in January, and apparently I was on a romance jag- this is also borne out in what I chose to read in January, which I'll get to in a moment.

Here's what was added, and the review that pushed me over the edge:
The Adoration of Jenna Fox- Kelly at YAnnabe
Free for All by Dan Borschert-mjmbecky at One Literature Nut  (my review)
The Sky Always Hears Me and the Hills Don't Mind by Kristin Cronn-Mills- Abby (the) Librarian
Heist Society by Ally Carter- Liz B at A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell- Janssen at Everyday Reading
Dedication by Janet Mullany- Ames at Thrifty Reader
Lost by Jacqueline Davies- Corinne at The Book Nest
What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss- Wendy at The Misadventures of Super Librarian
Her Secret Fling by Sarah Mayberry- Holly at Book Binge
Bossman's Baby Scandal by Catherine Mann (Yes, I KNOW!)- limecello at The Good, The Bad and the Unread
Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl- Kati at Katidom
Almost Like Being in Love by Steve Kluger- Ames at Thrifty Reader

I also read SIX books in January, shocking! Three of them are re-reads from my college days, let's see if you can tell which ones:

1. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by AJ Jacobs (review)
2. The Lion's Lady by Julie Garwood
3. Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert (review)
4. Guardian Angel by Julie Garwood
5. The Gift by Julie Garwood
6. The Man Most Likely (Harlequin American Romance Series) by Cindi Myers

I started keeping track of Mike's books this year as well. He read seven books in January:

1. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
2. Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker by James McManus
3. Unbelievable: Investigations into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, and Other Unseen Phenomena, from the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory by Stacy Horn
4. The Little Sleep: A Novel by Paul Tremblay
5. Downtown Owl: A Novel by Chuck Klosterman
6. Searching for El Dorado: A Journey into the South American Rainforest on the Tail of the World's Largest Gold Rush by Marc Herman
7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage) by Stieg Larsson

(He's a pretty eclectic reader, can you tell?)


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.

3. Free For All by Don Borchert

Back in early January I read a review of Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert on One Literature Nut. This seemed like something I would enjoy so it put it on my library list. Amazingly, the library had it on the shelf the next time I went so I actually get to cross something off my list earlier, rather than later.

Borchert is a librarian at a small library in a large system. He's written a book telling about his experience with the patrons and the employees of said library. The book is full of little insider scenes from a library that I am sure librarian bloggers are all too familiar with. Turns out as many people want to scam their library as want to scam their credit union!  Free for All is a quick read, one that I enjoyed, but you have to appreciate a little bit of bite with your humor or you may find it a bit harsh.

Free for All by Don Borchert
Virgin Books
2008
224 pages




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.