Day 5 - Now to Find a Book I Can Put Down

Bad thing about summer reading is the little widget to the right will hardly ever be accurate. You see our local library has prizes for reading, the more you read the more of a chance to win. Last year I won 2 totebags and a digital camera, well worth the lack of sleep. Plus they count audiobooks, so I listen to those at work, bad thing about audiobooks id if you let your mind wander you have to go back and listen again. "Full Blast" was pretty good at the end and suprised me with who ended up being the murderer. I did go ahead and get the second in the series on audiobook today though I don't rememeber the exact name I'll hopefully post it tomorrow if I can get the girls to bed at a decent hour. "Mini Shopaholic" I'd have to say is one of my favorite Kinsella novels. I definitely recommend the series if you enjoy upbeat funny stories. Not sure what other book I'll read next. But good news is I've got a whole box of unread books and looks like I'll have a box coming this Saturday as well!

Day 4 - Just a short update

One common aspect of motherhood is having hardly any time to yourself and after playing musical beds with my 2 year old til 11 I find I'd prefer to read a few pages of "Mini Shopaholic" and head for bed, as opposed to writing about books I could be reading. "Mini Shopaholic" like the rest of the series is absolutely amusing, and I find more so because the "mini" refers to the maincharacter Becky's two year old daughter who reminds me quite easily of my own two, who I refer to as the children of the corn. Not to spoil your fun I won't detail the antics in the book so far but to give you one example, its christmas and guests have arrived to almost immediatly be spray with ketchup by the two year old. I can not recommend Kinsella's novels enough. One postive note is though it is of a series they will stand alone as "Full Blast" by Evanovich. Turns out it is number four of the series, but thats on audio tape and I'm about halfway through it so I'll tell you all about that one tomorrow.

Day 3 – Kinsella, Kinsella, Kinsella

So it’s Day 3, and I’ve just finished “Sleeping Arrangements”, by Madeleine Wickham (Sophie Kinsella).  I enjoyed it as I tend to enjoy her sense of wit and humor, but overall I wasn’t nearly as impressed with this book as I am with all of her other books.  It is a story of two British families who go on holiday and find their Villa is double-booked.  Hugh and Chloe turn out to already know each other and this “accident” may not be so accidental after all.  If you enjoy Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series you’ll probably enjoy this one as well (just maybe not as much)  Which speaking of I picked up “Mini Shopaholic”   today at the library, as well as “Full Blast”, a Janet Evanovich novel, on audio book. 

As well, I picked up a few books for my daughters which we spent the evening reading together.  One I though was most indearing is entitled “The Ticky-Tacky Doll” by Cynthia Rylant.  Its a story of a little girl who is quite fond of a sewing scrap doll made by her grandmother.  It’s a cute story that makes me want to attempt to sew one for my daughters (albeit I’d have to add a beginners sewing book to reading list).

Day 2 "Sleeping Arrangements"

Offically Day 2 of the Summer Reading Program. As I mentioned on an earlier post I've already begun "Under the Dome" by Stephen King, and though I was quite excited to get into it, it's turning out to be a slow read for me. So I've begun another that I received from a girl I work with. She brought in a huge bags of books she was intending to donate to goodwill and graciously offered them to us first. And actually I have quite a few from her that I'll be sharing with you this summer. The first book I choose was a Sophie Kinsella novel, which for those of you who don't instantly recognize the name, shame on you she is the author of the "Shopaholic" series. I absolutely fell in love, during last years summer reading program, with her style of writing and her witty humor. The one I started today is under her pen name, Madeleine Wickham, entitled "Sleeping Arrangements", and for me she does not disappoint as I've already made it to page 100 of 295.


((I apologize and ask you to forgive me any spelling error, formatting uglies, poor tag choices, and lack of overall appeal or direction as most and probably a few more (posts) to come are written, edited, and posted with a blackberry notepad and phone internet.))

Summer Reading "Kick Off Carnival"

We arrived at the "Kick 0ff Carnival" around twelve, missing the 11:30 pm steel drums. There was lots to see and do. Each separate branch seemed to be responsible for some activity or game. Our closest branch was in charge of the face painting, where my daughters got matching suns on their cheeks. There was a ring toss and a lollipop tree. Both had prizes for winning and everyone was a winner. Having never seen a lollipop tree it was a cute idea. Not only did you get to keep the lollipop but the ends were colored to show which prize box you could chose from. When you got too hot there were sno cones readily available as well as lemonade. And if sno cones weren't your preference there was cotton candy and popcorn. And if all that wasn't enough there were three inflatables: a bounce house, a slide, and what I choose to call the racing obstacle as it was like an obstacle course but made for two to race through.

Summer Reading Begins

It's that time again. Summer Reading Program at the local library. I hadn't done it in a long time and never as an adult until last summer. I very much enjoyed it as a child and pre-teen. And it still, for whatever reason, excites me now as it did as a child. I believe it lasts for 2 months, so I've made my reading goal 50, which though it may sound improbable in a 2 month time period that does include audio books as well. The offical library "kick off carnival" is tomorrow. To include a bounce house, sumo wrestling, games, food and in the words of the local radio DJ, when he parodies radio contests, "big, big, prizes". I hope to do this with my two daughters every year, and hope they find the same love of reading that I have. Here in this blog you will find the chronicale of our summer reading and after all the wonderful reads we find. We'll get the girls books tomorrow. My first book is "Under the Dome" by that little known auther Stephen King. If anyone should happen upon these posts feel free to leave favorite authors or book titles, I'm always looking for a great story to escape into from the non-fiction of what is my life.