Cottage by the Sea

I received Cottage by the Sea as a free book on kindle and was pretty impressed! The present day story was very believable, but almost too believable to enjoy the included "flashbacks" or the dual time of the book.

As a whole, some good relational content (between Blythe and her ex husband, and then Blythe and Lucas, and the strained relationship between Lucas and his son) and enjoyable "mystery".

Worth a go. But not worth your only three hours of free time in a hectic day. More like a "what do I do with all this free time" on a long plane ride or relaxing vacation.

At Home in Mitford

This book reminds me of my grandpa. I've heard about the series for years, but until I found the first book on sale for 50 cents at a used book store, I had not read any of it, and after I was done with the book, I was sad it took me so long!

This book is quaint and makes me want to garden and cook feasts every day. City slickers, country livin' can really be like this. And if you're from the country and find yourself trapped in a city, this idyllic book will transport you into the most endearing little town.

The Uncommon Reader

This book is about the Queen of England, her corgis and her love of reading, so what could be better? Well, unfortunately, a lot of things. While enjoyable, it was hard to feel a part of the story, and it was occasionally hard to believe what was going on.

But still, worth a read! (Isn't every book?) However, if you do read it, try not to pack it into your belongings and take it across country and accrue tens of dollars of late fees to your old library. Never a good idea.

Bossy Pants

I think I read this book too soon after Seriously... I'm Kidding. Tina Fey writes a good autobiography, and its actually the story of her life... but I wanted it to be funnier. Granted, Ellen's book is not her autobiography, so she can just choose to write about funny things.

Tina Fey is pretty darn inspiring. She stuck with her guns and did what she wanted to do, and it really good and it.

The "rules of improv" are really facinating! Seriously, if you follow these you will be an awesome actor. ok, maybe not. But you'll be better.  And read this article! It talks about the connection between improv (show business) and your career.

Final word: Read this book.

Since Nobody is Perfect... How Good is Good Enough?

I have been sick this week. It started out just as a man voice on Tuesday, followed by a cough, followed by hacking up copious amount of green (GREEN!!!) phlegm at 530 am and not being able to go back to sleep. But I don't feel like reading when I'm sick, I just want to curl up in a little ball with someone with cold hands touching my eyeballs. Sickness brings out the needyness in me.

So, this book is very short. But very good! It's about heaven and what our culture thinks about getting into heaven, and was written pre-Love Wins. Andy Stanley is a great pastor and speaker. You should listen to some podcasts by him.

That being said, I'm still sick and I dreamed I ate gillyweed so that I could hide under water while people were trying to kill me, so I'm going to be done with the post.

Farmer Boy

My family was known for having the best Halloween parties. We had pinatas, did cake walks, had prizes for best costume, and the list goes on.  I was quite an imaginative child when it came to my Halloween costumes: The Three Tenors (I was Pavarotti), an envelope (addressed to my favorite teacher), and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Needless to say, I didn't usually win best costume because nobody really knew what I was.

Reading this book (by Laura Ingalls Wilder) took me back to the time when I was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder. Little House on the Prairie was fun, wholesome, and they always ate good food. Oh. My. Goodness. Do NOT read this book when you are hungry. They describe each dinner and feast in perfect detail. While they are feasting on honeyed ham, apples 'n onions, homemade bread and canned green beans from mama's garden, I start thinking about the leftovers I had for lunch and am ashamed. I have an oven! A grocery store across the street! Electricity! And I never make feasts like that. This week, I will cook at least one (or two things from scratch).

But this is a wonderful book in a great series. Tell your kids to read it. Read it yourself. It will make you want to cook and buy cows.

Much Ado About Nothing

How is this not in schools's required reading? This is one of Shakespeare's better known comedies, but I think it should be up there with the tragedies. The characters are fun, and I love the typical play on words with the names (Hero).

This is a story about two sets of couples, one who love each other but banter with the best of them (comedies today that think they came up with loving banter need to go back and read this play) and another who get tricked out of getting married.

It was kind of hard to process in a day, not because of the content, but because the names were abbreviated so I would sometimes get confused about who was saying what.

But one of the last lines.... oh my word so good!

Benedick says to Beatrice (after she goes on for a bit about something) "Peace! I will stop your mouth!" and he kisses her.

Way better than "shut up so I can kiss you". Good job Bill.

Specials

My husband loves baseball. He played it in high school, almost played it in college, and will jump at the chance to join a summer softball league. I, on the other hand, know that there are 9 innings, and three strikes means you are out.

But since we are moving and he LOVES the Cubs, we decided to go to a Memorial Day game with some friends. We took the train to Chicago and then caught the red line up to the stadium. We were at the front of the line for the bleachers and got amazing seats.... front row in the bleachers! Wow.

Needless to say, I did not read at the game. But look at this hypothetical reading picture! Beautiful.

I read my book on the train, Specials by Scott Westerfeld. It's the third book in the Uglies series (I wrote about the second, Pretties, previously) and it was ok. I love the concept and I think they could make cool movies, but the slang still really gets to me, and Tally's character wasn't as strong as it was in the other two books.

But I will read the fourth in a month or so (trying to space out the series so that you don't get bored)