Armchair BEA Best of 2011

Today’s suggested posting topic is “Best of 2011!” 

We're almost half-way through 2011, so here's a list of a few books that so far this year have won my undying affection:

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells
The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson

And then there's these books that I've read this year, but came out in other years:

Juliet by Anne Frontier
The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffeneggar
32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest and The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Radleys by Matt Haig

Armchair BEA Kick Off Post!

Who are you, and how do you Armchair?  

My name is Kate, and normally I Armchair sitting down.

Besides Kate, I also answer to Katie, Keeks, Kirby, and of course, Midnight Book Girl.

I've been blogging for about 2 years, but it's really been this past year that my site has taken off and become a priority in my life.

I started blogging in order to participate in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon, sadly though it was after Dewey passed. I named my blog Midnight Book Girl because of the book The Midnight Club by Christopher Pike- my favorite YA horror author ever.

I read a lot, and I have a job as a home health care nurse assistant/companion caregiver that allows me to read quite a bit. I feel really blessed to have a job that I love... and one that lets me read!

I don't have a particular genre I read, I like mysteries, thrillers, horror, and I do read a lot of YA. I can't believe that before I started a blog that I sometimes felt like there was nothing to read that I hadn't already read- now my tbr pile is overflowing and it's hard to pick what to read next!

I read books in any form, but I will admit to being a happy Kindle owner, and more recently a Nook owner. Someone once made the point that as long as people are reading, it shouldn't matter in what format. 

I normally carry a tote bag filled with my e-readers and a few paperback/hardbacks. One of my greatest dislikes/fears is to be stuck somewhere with nothing to read. I also carry around the chargers for my e-readers.

I own a LOT of books. I have several book cases that are arranged just by color. I'm a fairly disorganized person, so my other bookshelves are kind of haphazardly shelved. And I feel bad about that.

I almost flunked first grade because I couldn't learn to read. It turns out I had dyslexia. I'm super grateful to my book loving parents, they had me tested at George Mason University, discovered my learning disability and found me a tutor. By the time I started second grade I was reading on a 5th grade level- thanks Mrs. A! 

Once I finally got started reading, I never stopped! I read while sitting, I read while eating, I read while exercising, waiting in lines, getting a pedicure, and yes, I read in the bathroom. 

Okay, that's enough with the "I" and "Me"'s! How about you?

Sisters Red Review

Sisters Red
by Jackson Pearce

From Goodreads:

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead. Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?

My Thoughts: I really loved this book. The relationship between Rosie and Scarlett, and their relationship with Silas was wonderful and intricate and complicated. Great, strong female leads... almost makes me wish I had a sister... almost.  I thought the struggle and guilt that Rosie went through was realistic, as was Scarlet's intense focus on hunting the Fenris. I picked this up, expecting a re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood, but it is so much more than that.  I was surprised that it was set in modern times, and the depth of the mythology that Pearce has created is pretty impressive.  I will definitely be continuing with this series, and Pearce is an author to be watched!

Rating:

 

The Confession Review

The Confession
by John Grisham

From Goodreads:

John Grisham delivers his most extraordinary legal thriller yet. Filled with the intriguing twists and turns that have become Grisham’s trademark, this newest novel will prove once again that no one keeps readers in suspense like America’s favorite storyteller. An innocent man is days from execution. Only a guilty man can save him.

For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn’t understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn’t care. He just can’t believe his good luck. Time passes and he realizes that the mistake will not be corrected: the authorities believe in their case and are determined to get a conviction. He may even watch the trial of the person wrongly accused of his crime. He is relieved when the verdict is guilty. He laughs when the police and prosecutors congratulate themselves. He is content to allow an innocent person to go to prison, to serve hard time, even to be executed.

Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Donté is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess.

But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?

My Thoughts:  What an emotional read! Grisham always knows how to stir up the controversy, and this makes for an edge of your seat read. My only complaint, and what keeps this from being 5 stars, is that the book is decidedly anti-death penalty and presents everyone on the pro-death penalty side as unsympathetic. The story is of Donte Drumm, innocent and awaiting execution for the murder of Nicole Yarber. Donte is black, Nicole was white. Her body was never found, there is no physical evidence against Donte, and he was convicted based mostly on a coerced confession and a false (purposely so) witness. The book really helps you understand how someone could be forced to confess despite their innocence, especially a scared 18 year high school kid. The true killer is thrilled to have gotten away with his crime and only comes forward a few days before the execution. Nicole's mother, Reeva, is the character I have the most problem with. It's hard to be sympathetic towards her, because she's portrayed as being very attention seeking and is quite vocal in calling for Donte's death. As the reader, you already know that Donte is innocent, but Reeva believes the police and prosecutors and thinks Donte killed her daughter. I think making her a little less crazy, a little less fake, would have made for a far more interesting character. Donte's lawyer, Ronnie, is completely against the death penalty and has nothing but contempt for those that are for it, and yet when confronted with the real killer he is tempted to kill him for what he has done to the Drumm family. I think that's a very human response. The real killer, Travis, is hard to feel sympathy for despite his sad childhood.

The ending of the book was not what I was expecting, but I think it's a better book because of it. Be prepared to get emotional, and at times uncomfortable. The book also brings up issues of race, and riots, and in someways it remind of Grisham's A Time To Kill. In fact, I'm looking forward to the movie!  


Rating:

The Girl Who Played With Fire Review

The Girl Who Played With Fire 
by Stieg Larsson

From Goodreads:

The electrifying follow-up to the phenomenal best seller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ("An intelligent, ingeniously plotted, utterly engrossing thriller" –The Washington Post), and this time it is Lisbeth Salander, the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker, who is the focus and fierce heart of the story.

Mikael Blomkvist—crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium—has decided to publish a story exposing an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

On the eve of publication, the two reporters responsible for the story are brutally murdered. But perhaps more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander.

Now, as Blomkvist—alone in his belief in her innocence—plunges into his own investigation of the slayings, Salander is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all.

My Thoughts:  I really liked The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  The beginning was slow, but once I got into it, I devoured it.  The second book in the Millennium series, The Girl Who Played With Fire,  was devourable from the very start.  It helps that I've watched the movies, which are awesome.  The books are even more awesome.  For me the pacing of the second book is perfect, there's so much going on, and there's more Lizbeth!   Somehow prickly, tattooed Lizbeth Salander has crawled into my heart and become one of my favorite characters of all time, which would probably piss her off if she were real.  This series really makes me wish I was some kick ass computer hacker! Plus you have the sex trafficing plot, which is something that happens here in America too, and it's heartbreaking that even in this day and age women can be so mistreated.

Rating:

Read it now!

Audio Book Reviews the First

I'm taking part in the 2011 Audio Book Challenge.  Other than my very first audio book listen, I haven't bothered to put up my reviews- telling myself I'd save it for this kind of post but honestly I'm just lazy.  But now I have a nifty new blog look and rating system so it's time to try it out!

I Love You, Beth Cooper
by Larry Doyle

From Goodreads:

Denis Cooverman wanted to say something really important in his high school graduation speech. So, in front of his 512 classmates and their 3,000 relatives, he announced: "I love you, Beth Cooper."
It would have been such a sweet, romantic moment. Except that Beth, the head cheerleader, has only the vaguest idea who Denis is. And Denis, the captain of the debate team, is so far out of her league he is barely even the same species. And then there's Kevin, Beth's remarkably large boyfriend, who's in town on furlough from the United States Army. Complications ensue.

My Thoughts: I really just love this book!  It's funny, it has that 80's movie feel.  Yes, it's completely unrealistic.  Dennis, if any of the things that happened to him had really happened, would still be in a coma today.  The movie version of I Love You, Beth Cooper kind of ruined this book for me for a bit, but I was still happy to pick up audio version at discount at Barnes and Noble (also because it counts for my Read Me, Baby, 1 More Time challenge).  The actor who plays Dennis in the movie also narrates and he does a reasonable job, but his voice is a bit nasally and doesn't work so much for every character.  Still a great listen if you need a laugh!

 Rating:

Cell
by Stephen King

From Goodreads:

Stephen King was born to write horror. His monumental catalog of novels has already assured his place in history as one of the most popular authors of all time. With the goresplattered literary bludgeon that is Cell, King conjures a startling horror tale of popular technology and the supernatural. On October 1, a single pulse is simultaneously transmitted through every active cell phone on the planet, causing people to transform into mindless killing machines.

My Thoughts:  Cell is a great non-zombie zombie story if that makes any sense.  Just think how reliant we are on cell phones, or just phones in general.  Although this book came out several years ago, it's even more disturbing in this day and age of iPhones and Androids and other phones that just confuse old people.  There is a lot of sadness in this book, people die, but it's not completely without hope.  Campbell Scott reads the book, and I think he did a really good job... however he obviously made a lot of mistakes because they brought in some creepy monotone guy to re-record a lot of the parts.  It's pretty scary if you're driving down the road at night, caught up in the book and suddenly a strange voice is coming out of your cd player.  One that sounds nothing like Campbell Scott, one that's not even trying to read with emotion.  Although it worked in a few of the tense moments, overall it took me out of the moment.  So while the book version of Cell probably rates a Midnight with me, the audio version doesn't quite make it.  Next time, schedule some re-records, Campbell Scott!  I know your film career isn't that busy!

Rating:

Plum Spooky
by Janet Evanovich

From Goodreads:

"According to legend, the Jersey Devil prowls the Pine Barrens and soars above the treetops in the dark of night. As eerie as this might seem, there are things in the Barrens that are even more frightening and dangerous. And there are monkeys. Lots of monkeys." "Wulf Grimoire is a world wanderer and an opportunist who can kill without remorse and disappear like smoke. He's chosen Martin Munch, boy genius, as his new business partner, and he's chosen the Barrens as his new playground." "Munch received his doctorate degree in quantum physics when he was twenty-two. He's now twenty-four, and while his brain is large, his body hasn't made it out of the boys' department at Macy's. Anyone who says good things come in small packages hasn't met Munch. Wulf Grimoire is looking for world domination. Martin Munch would be happy if he could just get a woman naked and tied to a tree." "Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has Munch on her most-wanted list for failure to appear in court. Plum is the all-American girl stuck in an uncomfortable job, succeeding on luck and tenacity. Usually she gets her man. This time she gets a monkey. She also gets a big guy named Diesel." "Diesel pops in and out of Plum's life like birthday cake - delicious to look at and taste, not especially healthy as a steady diet, gone by the end of the week if not sooner. He's an uber bounty hunter with special skills when it comes to tracking men and pleasing women. He's after Grimoire, and now he's also after Munch. And if truth were told, he wouldn't mind setting Stephanie Plum in his crosshairs." Diesel and Plum hunt down Munch and Grimoire, following them into the Barrens, surviving cranberry bogs, the Jersey Devil, ahair-raising experience, sand in their underwear, and, of course ... monkeys.

My Thoughts:  I'm just not a huge fan of the in-between-the-numbers books for the Plum series.  Diesel does not do it for me, and the narrator- while she did a fair job with all the female characters, managed to make all the guys sound creepy.  I didn't think it was possible to make Ranger sound un-sexy, but apparently it is.  Of course I'm a Joe girl, but I do get Ranger's appeal.  The story is entertaining, and there's lots of Lula and monkey Carl.  I know a lot of people find the monkey annoying but I'm okay with him.  I won't be listening to any more of the Plum books on audio, because the narrator doesn't work for me.  It's hard, really hard, to listen to the sexy parts when whoever Stephanie's chosen partner atm sounds like a dirty prank call phoned in by a boy just hitting puberty.  Eventually it got easier to listen to, but I'm not looking to having to go through that again.  

Rating:

Room 
by Emma Donoghue

From Goodreads:

Amazon Best of the Month, September 2010: In many ways, Jack is a typical 5-year-old. He likes to read books, watch TV, and play games with his Ma. But Jack is different in a big way--he has lived his entire life in a single room, sharing the tiny space with only his mother and an unnerving nighttime visitor known as Old Nick. For Jack, Room is the only world he knows, but for Ma, it is a prison in which she has tried to craft a normal life for her son. When their insular world suddenly expands beyond the confines of their four walls, the consequences are piercing and extraordinary. Despite its profoundly disturbing premise, Emma Donoghue's Room is rife with moments of hope and beauty, and the dogged determination to live, even in the most desolate circumstances. A stunning and original novel of survival in captivity, readers who enter Room will leave staggered, as though, like Jack, they are seeing the world for the very first time. --Lynette Mong 

My Thoughts: I have some mixed feelings about this audio.  First off the book is AMAZING.  I get the buzz that surrounded this book.  Secondly, the audio recording was flawless.  But it's a hard book to listen to.  The narrators do an amazing job, especially Michal Friedman as Jack and Ellen Archer as Ma.  I did switch over to the book version at times, but listened mostly to the audio.  I was amazed by how inventive and patient Ma was with Jack, and how brave Jack was- although not overly so.  Jack is still a child, he still throws temper tantrums and does normal kid activities despite living in a glorified shed.  Although I liked the story told through Jack's eyes, there was so much more about Ma that I wanted to know, and I would have loved to get inside her head a bit more.  An amazing book, a fantastic audio (although it can take a bit to get over the 5yr old sounding narrator, but heck, that's how old Jack is)!


Rating:

Lisey's Story 
by Stephen King

From Goodreads:

Lisey Debusher Landon lost her husband Scott two years ago, after a twenty-five year marriage of the most profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey had to learn from him about books and blood and bools. Later, she understood that there was a place Scott went -- a place that both terrified and healed him, could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it's Lisey's turn to face Scott's demons, Lisey's turn to go to Boo'ya Moon. What begins as a widow's effort to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited. Perhaps King's most personal and powerful story ever, Lisey's Story is about the wellsprings of creativity, the temptations of madness, and the secret language of love.

My Thoughts:  I bought the hard cover version of Lisey's Story the very first day it came out.  But for some reason, despite picking it up several times in the past several years, I never got more than a third of the way through the book.  So I though, hey, let me try the audio version!  After making peace with the library I was able to check it out.  Mare Winningham does a wonderful job as Lisey, which with King's quirky writing is not always an easy thing.  Lisey and her husband Scott had a language to their marriage, one Winningham brings to life.  Lisey's Story might not go on my favorite Stephen King book list, but it's still an excellent read, and a great audio book.  Mare Winningham also read The Gingerbread Girl by Stephen King, which I really enjoyed listening to awhile back.  I have noticed that it seems a lot of people who don't normally read King books tend to like this book, and it's not really a horror story it's still got elements of horror- crazy illiterate stalker, a dad even crazier than the dad in Frailty, monsters, and above all the horror of how our minds can turn on us and make us prisoners.  There is a lot of jumping around in this book- from the past, the way past, the just kind of past and the present.  Listening to it on audio, I'll admit there were times I was a bit lost, but it never took long for me to find my way back.


Rating:

32 Candles 
be Ernessa T. Carter

From Goodreads:

32 Candles is the slightly twisted, utterly romantic, and deftly wry story of Davie Jones, who, if she doesn't stand in her own way, just might get the man of her dreams.
Davie—an ugly duckling growing up in small-town Mississippi—is positive her life couldn't be any worse. She has the meanest mother in the South, possibly the world, and on top of that, she's pretty sure she's ugly. Just when she's resigned herself to her fate, she sees a movie that will change her life—Sixteen Candles. But in her case, life doesn't imitate art. Tormented endlessly in school with the nickname "Monkey Night," and hopelessly in unrequited love with a handsome football player, James Farrell, Davie finds that it is bittersweet to dream of Molly Ringwald endings. When a cruel school prank goes too far, Davie leaves the life she knows and reinvents herself in the glittery world of Hollywood—as a beautiful and successful lounge singer in a swanky nightclub.
Davie is finally a million miles from where she started—until she bumps into her former obsession, James Farrell. To Davie's astonishment, James doesn't recognize her, and she can't bring herself to end the fantasy. She lets him fall as deeply in love with her as she once was with him. But is life ever that simple? Just as they're about to ride off into the sunset, the past comes back with a vengeance, threatening to crush Davie's dreams—and break her heart again.
With wholly original characters and a cinematic storyline, 32 Candles introduces Ernessa T. Carter, a new voice in fiction with smarts, attitude, and sassiness to spare.

My Thoughts:  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this audio book.  I just picked it up from my library's pitiful selection of audio books one day because the plot sounded interesting.  I had no idea that it would become one of my favorite reads, and audio book, of the year.  The narrator does a wonderful job, it never felt like she was reading but as if she was telling a story to a friend.  I really want to get this in book form now, because it's just such a great, funny, heart warming story.  Even when Davie is telling of her fairly crappy childhood, Carter writes the story with humor.  I seriously laughed like a crazy person while listening to this book in the car.  Writing this review now makes me want to listen to the book again.  Read, listen, steal this book now!  Wait, don't steal, stealing is wrong.  Buy it, because Ernessa T. Carter deserves our money, she deserves to be given all the money she needs and wants so she can do nothing but sit in gilded cage writing books that will make you pee your pants in laughter and make people question your sanity as you're driving buy listening to her audio books.

Rating:

My Recent Reading Adventures!

Okay, I kind of led you to this post under false pretenses, as there hasn't been a whole lot of reading going on this past week.  But I did go on vacation, got two teeny tiny tattoos (sorry, you'll have to stick around a bit to see them... or simply scroll down), got a complete blog design, and just yesterday I got an awesome early birthday present!

It all started Friday, May 6th.  The Hubs and I left Virginia to travel to Oklahoma.  On the way out the weather was mostly nice, but it was sad to see the tornado damages along the highway.  Early morning Saturday (since we'd been overly stupid optimistic and had decided to drive straight to OK without stopping) we finally hit Arkansas- seriously, Tennessee, you are longer than any state has a legal right to be.  I-40 was flooded for many, many miles so we were forced to take a detour.  The Hubs was asleep as I made my way through some pretty scary rural areas and I'm pretty sure I heard some banjo music playing when we passed a particularly run down area of trailer homes.  One had a sign that read Indoor Yard Sale.

Now I love me some yard sales, but I also read a whole lot of Stephen King, so I knew it was a trap.  Instead of getting eviscerated by some overly related brothers, I stepped on the gas pedal.  The Hubs blissfully slept through our near death experience.  After stopping way too many times to pee, we eventually arrived with all our organs still intact in Oklahoma.

We spent Mother's Day with my mother-in-law mostly playing Phase 10 and Skip-Bo, where I ended up getting this hand:

 Needless to say, I did not win that round.  I can't whine too badly though, since I refuse to shuffle cards on the basis that I have no card shuffling skills.  The cards would be better shuffled by a simple game of 52 Pick Up than by my shuffling them.

On Monday, I met met up with my friends and had much fun.  Went to dinner with Courtney and Ame, and met all their book club gals- Andrea, Mandy, Tracy and Ame's friend Dawn.  We had a blast drinking margaritas and eating fajitas.  Well, except Mandy, who prefers her hard won girls night's out to consist of a liquid dinner.  I had a blast, and loved meeting the girls.  I'm also joining the book club despite the fact that I live over 24 hours away.

Tuesday was our big day- literary tattoos!  We had a great lunch at BJ's (which I can't say, write or type without giggling like a teen watching Beavis and Butthead for the first time). Then we went to get our ink!  My friend Michelle came with me, Ame and Courtney, and of course the Hubs was there to hold my hand because I wasn't sure how great tattoos on my big toes would feel.

I have wanted a tattoo on my big toe since freshman year of college when one of my dorm buddies, Piper, got hers done.  But like most things I talk about getting but am too lazy to get, it took about 15 years to actually get done.  I decided to go simple and get the stars that adorn the Harry Potter book pages on both toes- so each toe would represent an open HP book.  I got them pretty small, so it's not something that will be overly obvious to anyone unless they dare to get that close to my feet- which I only recommend after I get a recent pedicure otherwise you do so at your own risk. Here's how they turned out:

Courtney got a wonderful quote from a C.S. Lewis novel, here's the link where she explains it, and Ame got a quote from Shakespeare in Love as it's one of her favorite movies/screenplays- and why doesn't Joseph Fiennes make more movies?!.  Here's some pics:

 Courtney's view of her tattoo artist's collection of awesome Garbage Pail Kids cards!

 I also have a great pic of the face Ame was making whilst getting her ink, but I'm pretty sure she'll hunt me down and kill me if I post it.

 Tuesday night was also karaoke at Henry Hudson's.  I have never sang karaoke, and with good reason.  But Courtney sang a special song for me, Help! by the Beatles, and she also did a crazy cool version of Jump by Kris Kross.  I did realize my life long dream of singing a Bangles song, and forced Courtney and Andrea to help me sing Manic Monday.  But only after I'd had several beers and an Irish Car Bomb.  And somehow not a single person's ear bled!  Some glasses were broken in my attempts to hit some high notes, but I think it was simply from people trying to knock themselves unconscious to escape my singing voice.

Wednesday I was all set to meet the Immortal Holly, but the weather was bad and fate obviously decided that Holly and I contain too much awesomeness to be in the same city at the same time.  It might have caused spontaneous human combustion, so I guess we'll have to meet when the moon is in another house and there's less chance of us causing freak accidents.  Instead the Hubs and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with Ame, Courtney, Andrea and her husband, Jeremy, and their adorable son Jonathan.  We played trivia, which for Ame and I can be more of a contact sport due to our competitiveness, but we were all having a super smart evening and much fun was had.

Thursday was a bit of a downer because it was our last day in OK, but I did go to Hastings and buy some books.  Courtney and I were surprised to learn that dying-teenager writer Lurlene McDaniel had written a book about hot-teacher-getting-it-on-with-young-student book Prey.  So of course I had to get it!  Will send it to Courtney when I'm done.

I also scored books from Ame and Courtney gave me DUFF on audio... but I'm still listening to Discovery of Witches with a million more cds to go.  I really thought I'd listen to a lot of audio books during all that driving, but our car rental has Sirius Satellite radio, so we basically listened to that non-stop.  My mother-in-law also gave me a book, because I obviously finally have my friends and family well trained- the best way to shut me up is to give me something to read!

The trip home was slower, as we did stop for the night in Tennessee.  Perhaps traveling on Friday the 13th was a stupid move, but we survived.  We watched Cirque De Freaks on cable so now I want to read the books!  And I did read (finally!!) in the car on Friday and Saturday- finishing Dead Reckoning and starting The Golden Acorn and Prey. The weather on Saturday was crazy- rain, creepy, thick fog, and sunshine.  And then Bambi's girlfriend decided to take a stroll across the highway, but once again I saved us by screaming, "Oh, poo!" (or something like that), and Aaron was able to use his amazing driving skills and avoided introducing deer to Kia. 

Lucky me, I was off yesterday and today.  So last night the Hubs let me get my birthday present a bit early (because if the world ends on May 21st, than I don't even get my official birthday day on the 22nd!) so here's what I got:

My Kindle and Nook meet and attempt to ignore the obvious tension between them.

The Nook Color!!!  It's beautiful!  I love my Kindle, and I still think it'll remain my main e-reader, but I did download Angry Birds and Zombies Vs. Unicorns as my first Nook purchases.  So according to some article I read once, I am now a Nookie.  Yeah, I think it sounds dirty too.

So that was my reading adventures!  Not a lot of reading got done, but a lot of memories were made, and I got to spend time with the best friends I've ever had and meet some new friends as well.  And despite the fact that I couldn't check my email on a regular basis (we were staying out in the country so we had to go "in town" to get internet access), Lori was still able to complete my beautiful blog design!  Now if I could only catch up on some review writing so that I can put my new rating system to the test...

New Look!

Sorry for the quiet, but my Oklahoma friends have kept me busy.  But I was the only one slacking, Lori at Use Your Imaginations Designs has been hard at work on my new blog design while I've been getting ink, singing karaoke and drinking margaritas with my girls!
 
Lori will be uploading my new look soon, so stop by and let me know what you think.  I'm in LOVE with it, and it really has surpassed all my expectations- which were kinda huge to begin with ;).  I'm sure my new blog (and twitter) design will have a million little blog babies since I love it so much. 

Once I'm back in Virginia I'll be sure to post on my teeny, tiny literary tattoos, and how my friends fared during their inking- complete with pictures!

Oklahoma Bound!

We leave for Oklahoma tomorrow morning!  I am so excited that soon I'll be hanging with all my best girls.   I will be taking my laptop and posting while I'm away because Tuesday is the Big Day.

I'm talking about literary tattoos! 

There will be a post on the ink.  Courtney of Abducted By Books, and my friend Ame are also getting some lit tats too, and a few other friends will be there for moral support (and duct tape in case any of us try to punk out).  Which I officially can't do now, since I've posted this and talked my friends into permanently mutilating their flesh.

So be sure to keep an eye out for that post!




Also, my blog is getting a complete makeover from Lori at Use You Imagination Designs.  All this should happen while I'm on vacation.  I've been a fan of her blog design skills for a long time, and she made my awesome Read Me, Baby, 1 More Time challenge button.  I debated on spending the money on a blog design, but I've been blogging almost two years now and my love for it has only increased.  As I have no artistic/html skills, I'm more than happy to pay someone who will make my blog beautiful and unique. Plus it also comes with a matching business card templates!

Actually I'm getting The Works, with comes with so many bells and whistles that I'm not even sure what all of them are, but I'm pretty excited!!  Lori has been amazing during this whole process, and she has a real enthusiasm for blog designing. I can't wait to see what she comes up with!


So, the Hubs and I are driving to Oklahoma... during tornado season... with the super high gas prices.  I'm hoping the recent events in the Middle East will lower the gas prices, but it's still cheaper than flying.  I'm prone to panic attacks in airports anyways, and the only time I let people feel me up is if there's dinner and a movie involved.

So what books am I bringing to OK?  Actually not a lot, because I plan on spending every spare moment with my friends, but here are the ones I'm planning on packing:

Audio:
The Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling - the Hubs is not a huge reader, but he's an HP fan, and with the second half of the movie out soon, and a 23 hour drive, it'll be nice to listen to Jim Dale voice the final tale of the Boy Who Lived.

On my Kindle:
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
Abandon by Meg Cabot

Library Books:
Up in Honey's Room by Elmore Leonard

Challenge Check In!

Okay, I really should have done this before, but since it's May, and my official Birthday Month- yes, I celebrate my birthday the entire month of May- I thought it would be time to do a check in and give-away for my Read Me, Baby, 1 More Time challenge!

Below is a linky, just add your review of a book you re-read for the challenge- each review will be worth a entry. You will have the entire month of May to leave reviews (so there's time for you newbies to jump aboard the re-reading train!).

What am I giving away?  How about a winner of an gift certificate (Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository)?  And if there's enough entries, maybe there will be a second winner too!