a to z book challenge update.

We are just about at the end of the school year, which means I'm completely strung out and don't have time for much.  I haven't read a lot over the past few weeks, but I did finish up the new Sookie book, Dead Reckoning, pretty much within 2 days of downloading it onto my Kindle.  I also finished The Constant Princess, which I enjoyed.

I started reading The Art of Racing in the Rain, and was crying by the end of the first chapter, so I put that one aside.  I will absolutely read it and have heard phenomenal things about it, but I need to wait a bit.  Too close to losing our fluffy ones.  Maybe sometime this summer.

I've moved on to Five Quarters of the Orange  and am liking that one so far.  Joanne Harris has a very nice writing style and I look forward to reading it each evening (even if it's only a chapter before I fall asleep...).  It's a relatively quick read, so I imagine I'll be able to finish it up soon.  

I have The Art of Racing in the Rain on standby in my Kindle for the summer, as well as hard copies of Baking Cakes in Kigali; Eat, Pray, Love; Running With Scissors; and The Shipping News.  I'll grab a few others from the library before we let out for the summer as well.  

A - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
B - Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
C - The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory
D - Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
E - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
F - Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris <-- reading this now!
G - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
H -The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzch
I - I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale
J - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
K - Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
L - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
M - The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
N - A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman
O - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
P - The Practical Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman
Q - The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
R - Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
S - The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
T - The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
U - Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi
V - The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
W - The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
X - XVI by Julia Karr
Y - Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore
Z - The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

hello, there.

Been crazy busy and have completely neglected the blog... :( 

So much has happened I need to spread it out over several posts!

Today I'll just simply update my A-Z book list.

I've completely abandoned Last Night in Twisted River.  It's just not my thing.  And honestly, I'm worried about the other John Irving books on my list, so I've decided to amend.  Changes are in red below.

I did finish up A Queen's Fool by Phillipa Gregory, which I LOVED.  I was very sad when that one was over.  So much so, in fact, that I went on to read The Constant Princess and am almost done with that one.  I'm adding that to my "C" below (it was originally Creepy Cute Crochet, which was definitely creepy and cute btw!).

I purchased and read through the crafty books on here...I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale.  LOVE!! And Elizabeth Hartman's The Practical Guide to Patchwork which is another score.  I loved every inch of each of these books and will come back to them again and again.  Elizabeth is my hero.

A - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
B - Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
C - The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory <-- Almost done!
D - Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
E - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
F - Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
G - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
H -The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzch
I - I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale
J - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
K - Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
L - Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
M - The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
N - A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman
O - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
P - The Practical Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman
Q - The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
R - Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
S - The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
T - The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
U - Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi
V - The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
W - The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
X - XVI by Julia Karr
Y - Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore
Z - The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

I'm starting to work on my summer reading list.  We've been doing a lot of work in the yard, and I really hope to have a bit of our patio done for hanging out on those awesome summer evenings.  There's nothing I love more than sitting outside as the sun sets reading a book and drinking a bottle glass of wine.  Just a few more weeks!

Will be back soon with more updates...wait until you see my garden!!

xvi.

One more book crossed off my A to Z Reading Challenge list...XVI by Julia Karr.


I enjoyed this one...light YA reading.  I really needed that right now.  Work is stressful and I haven't been feeling well overall these past few days. I plodded through XVI in 3 days.  Quick reading.

Here's my updated reading list:

A - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
B - Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
C - Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden
D - Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
E - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
F - Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
G - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
H -The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzch
I - I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale
J - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
K - Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
L - Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
M - The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
N - A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman
O - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
P - The Practial Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman
Q - The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
R - Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
S - The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
T - The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
U - Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi
V - The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
W - A Widow for One Year by John Irving
X - XVI by Julia Karr
Y - Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore
Z - The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

I'm not really digging Last Night on Twisted River right now.  I haven't given up, but I'm taking a break from it for right now.  I think I may go on to The Queen's Fool next.

yarn bombing.

So one of the books on my A to Z Reading Challenge list was Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain.

Wow.  Awesome eye candy here.  I loved flipping through the pages and taking in all of the projects.  There were a few tutorials included as well, but that's not really the primary motivation for checking this book out.  Honestly, I didn't even read it cover-to-cover...just kind of flipped through and skimmed captions of the photographs that caught my eye. 

Overall - definitely recommended, but check your local library.  I borrowed my copy, and I really don't think it's one I would purchase outright.  Worth checking out, though!

PS - Still plodding through "Last Night in Twisted River"...

Here's my updated reading list:

A - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
B - Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
C - Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden
D - Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
E - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
F - Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
G - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
H -The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzch
I - I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale
J - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
K - Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
L - Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
M - The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
N - A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman
O - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
P - The Practial Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman
Q - The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
R - Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
S - The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
T - The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
U - Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi
V - The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
W - A Widow for One Year by John Irving
X - XVI by Julia Karr
Y - Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore
Z - The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

a to z reading challenge

I read about a reading challenge for 2011 here.  It's too late to participate actively on her blog, but I really like the idea of this, and thought it would be a great motivator anyway!

Here's the deal:  Make a list of 26 books you want to read in 2011...one for each letter of the alphabet (not including "the" or "a/an").  Cross them off as you go!

Since I'm starting off a bit late, I'm going to include the books I've already read this year.

A - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
B - Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
C - Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden
D - Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
E - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
F - Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
G - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
H -The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzch
I - I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale
J - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
K - Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
L - Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
M - The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
N - A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman
O - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
P - The Practial Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman
Q - The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
R - Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
S - The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
T - The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
U - Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi
V - The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
W - A Widow for One Year by John Irving
X - XVI by Julia Karr
Y - Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore
Z - The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

Will update on progress as I go!