Books

As many of you know from my blogging/tweeting/facebooking/whatever, my phone broke just over a month ago and I lost everything. INCLUDING my giant list of books, which I had saved in my Blackberry. And nowhere else. Big mistake, clearly. Thankfully, I put my list of books on the blog awhile back, so I thought I'd revisit it and update it a bit.

1. A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey (read it, loved it, made me thankful I never did drugs, got sad at the end because I knew it was fake)

2. Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown (READ!)

3. April and Oliver, by Tess Callahan (just checked out of the library)

4. Baby Proof, by Emily Giffin (read, and liked, but not as much as Something Borrowed and Something Blue)

5. Belong to Me, by Maria De Los Santos (read - very enjoyable)

6. Bitter is the New Black, by Jen Lancaster (just checked out of the library)

7. Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall (haven't read yet but REALLY NEED TO!)

8. Breaking Dawn, by Stephanie Meyer (read, FINALLY)

9. Bright Lights, Big Ass, by Jen Lancaster (just checked out of the library)

10. Can You Keep a Secret?, by Sophie Kinsella

11. City of Falling Angels, by John Berendt (started it, couldn't get into it, gave up on it)

12. City of Thieves, by David Benioff

13. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon (just read last week and LOVED IT!)

14. Eclipse (READ!)

15. Escape, by Carolyn Jessop (OMG. GO AND READ THIS BOOK. NOW. IT IS AMAZING AND SCARY AND INCREDIBLE AND SAD AND HAPPY.)

16. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (read it, loved it, laughed out loud several times)

17. In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

18. Master Your Metabolism, by Jillian Michaels (ahhhh)

19. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards (read ... had very mixed emotions about this one. thoughts?)

20. Merle's Door, by Ted Kerasote (read - total sob fest if you are a dog lover)

21. Mommywood, by Tori Spelling (don't judge me)

22. My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult (read this yesterday. The whole thing. I was not ready for the sadness factor. Argh.)

23. Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro (just started this yesterday!)

24. Nudge, by Somebody Thaler and Somebody Sunstein (I guess I skipped first names with this one)

25. Outtakes From a Marriage, by Ann Leary (read, blah)

26. Perfection, by Julie Metz

27. Please Stop Laughing at Me, by Jodee Blanco (read, made me feel sad about how cruel kids are)

28. Pretty in Plaid, by Jen Lancaster (just checked out from the library)

29. Remember Me?, by Sophie Kinsella (just checked out from the library)

30. Rhett Butler's People, by Donald McCaig (read and had mixed feelings about...lots of inconsistencies with Scarlett)

31. Scarlett, by...I don't remember because it's not in front of me (READ!)

32. Shopaholic and Baby, by Sophie Kinsella (READ!)

33. Shopaholic and Sister (READ)

34. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (READ)

35. Shopaholic Ties the Knot (READ)

36. Something Blue, by Emily Giffin (READ AND LOVED!!!!!)

37. Something Borrowed, by Emily Giffin (READ AND LOVED!!!!!)

38. Stori Telling, by Tori Spelling (listened to the audio book on the way to Charlotte...LOVED it...it was like listening to US Weekly for 6 hours!)

39. Such a Pretty Fat, by Jen Lancaster (just read it and laughed out loud for the entire book)

40. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

41. The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold (listened to the audio book on the way home from Charlotte. Wow, that was a dark one. Seriously. If you want to read a book about a woman who kills her elderly mother, this one's for you!)

42. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

43. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Steig Larsson (don't know anything about this, but Matt pointed it out at Border's and said it's supposed to be great)

44. The Middle Place, by Kelly Corrigan

45. The Mother Tongue, by Bill Bryson

46. The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett

47. The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink

48. The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro

49. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

50. When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris (I LOVE him!!!)

Whew. So, there's your update. I know I've asked you before, and I'll ask you again...tell me what you're reading right now! Anything good? Anything I should be adding to my list? Please let me know!!!

BBC Book List

I stole this from Lisa, who stole it from someone else. You know, the usual. I have bolded the books I have read.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
38. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
39. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
40. Animal Farm - George Orwell
41. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
42. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
43. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
44. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
45. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
46. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy–
47. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
48. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
49. Atonement - Ian McEwan
50. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
51. Dune - Frank Herbert
52. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
53. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
54. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
55. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
56. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
57. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
58. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon
59. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
60. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
61. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
62. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
63. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
64. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
65. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
66. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
67. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
68. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
69. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
70. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
71. Dracula - Bram Stoker
72. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
73. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
74. Ulysses - James Joyce
75. The Inferno – Dante
76. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
77. Germinal - Emile Zola
78. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
79. Possession - AS Byatt
80. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
81. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
82. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
83. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
84. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
85. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
86. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
87. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
88. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
89. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
90. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
91. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
92. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
93. Watership Down - Richard Adams
94. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
95. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
96. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
97. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
98. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
99. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Let's see...my grand total comes to...54.

But...is it just me, or does this list seem totally and completely random to you?

My "summer" reading list is out of control.

Tonight, Matt and I went to Border's to wander around, which is always fun.  We almost never buy books...instead, I just keep adding books to my must-read list.  As you know, the list started out as a summer reading list.  But...I seem to add books constantly.  I put them in my Blackberry as "Tasks," and then I can check them off as "completed" after I read them.

Yes, I know I'm a nerd.  Whatever.  Like you don't add things to your lists just so you can cross them off.

Anyway!  I added about a million more books to my reading list, and that's when I realized...my summer reading list is out of control.  And I'm pretty sure that it's no longer a "summer" reading list...I think it's just a reading list.  Because I only have a couple more weeks left of summer until school starts back up, and there's no way I'll be reading all of these books in time.

Instead, I thought I would repost my no-longer-summer reading list for you to see.  Clearly, I've barely made a dent.  Books are in alphabetical order by title, because that's how they're listed in my trusty Blackberry.

1. A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey

2. Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown (read)

3. April and Oliver, by Tess Callahan (just added this tonight...it looked cute)

4. Baby Proof, by Emily Giffin

5. Battle Cry of Freedom, by James McPherson (wait a minute...Matt had me take this one down for him.  It's a complete Civil War history, I believe)

6. Belong to Me, by Maria De Los Santos

7. Bitter is the New Black, by Jen Lancaster

8. Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall

9. Breaking Dawn, by HELLO you already know who wrote this one

10. Bright Lights, Big Ass, by Jen Lancaster

11. Can You Keep a Secret?, by Sophie Kinsella

12. City of Falling Angels, by John Berendt

13. City of Thieves, by David Benioff

14. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon

15. Eclipse (READ!)

16. Escape, by Carolyn Jessop

17. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (just started this one)

18. In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

19. Master Your Metabolism, by Jillian Michaels (ahhhh)

20. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards

21. Merle's Door, by Ted Kerasote

22. Mommywood, by Tori Spelling (don't judge me)

23. My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult

24. Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

25. Nudge, by Somebody Thaler and Somebody Sunstein (I guess I skipped first names with this one)

26. Outtakes From a Marriage, by Ann Leary

27. Perfection, by Julie Metz

28. Please Stop Laughing at Me, by Jodee Blanco

29. Pretty in Plaid, by Jen Lancaster

30. Remember Me?, by Sophie Kinsella

31. Rhett Butler's People, by Donald McCaig (currently reading...slowly but surely)

32. Scarlett, by...I don't remember because it's not in front of me (READ!)

33. Shopaholic and Baby, by Sophie Kinsella (READ!)

34. Shopaholic and Sister (READ)

35. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (READ)

36. Shopaholic Ties the Knot (READ)

37. Something Blue, by Emily Giffin

38. Something Borrowed, by Emily Giffin

39. Stori Telling, by Tori Spelling (listened to the audio book on the way to Charlotte...LOVED it...it was like listening to US Weekly for 6 hours!)

40. Such a Pretty Fat, by Jen Lancaster

41. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

42. The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold (listened to the audio book on the way home from Charlotte.  Wow, that was a dark one.  Seriously.  If you want to read a book about a woman who kills her elderly mother, this one's for you!)

43. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

44. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Steig Larsson (don't know anything about this, but Matt pointed it out at Border's and said it's supposed to be great)

45. The Middle Place, by Kelly Corrigan

46. The Mother Tongue, by Bill Bryson

47. The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett

48. The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink

49. The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro

50. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

51. When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris (I LOVE him!!!)

Um, wow.  51 books.  I didn't realize there were so many.  So, clearly, I have a lot of reading to do!  If you think I should add any books to my list, let me know!  I am always eager for suggestions.  

So, a question.  What are your top five favorite books of all time?  This is a really hard question for me to answer...I love books and reading so much that I'm not sure I can choose a favorite.  But I'd love to hear yours.  In the meantime, I'll try to figure out what my favorite books are.  

And on that note...I have GOT to finish Rhett Butler's People!  

Withdrawal

Does anyone else get really bummed out when they finish a great book?  

I tend to get so wrapped up in the story and the characters, that I just can't bear to part with them when it's over.  I have spent the last three days reading four of the Shopaholic books - I checked out Confessions of a Shopaholic a few months ago, and since then had been on the waiting list for Shopaholic Takes Manhattan.  I finally got that on Thursday, and devoured it.  So, Friday I went back to the library to check out Shopaholic Ties the Knot.  Which I read in exactly two hours.  So this morning, I decided to play it safe, and I checked out the remaining two Shopaholic books - Shopaholic and Sister, and Shopaholic and Baby, thinking that would last me at least through the weekend.

Sadly, I read both books this afternoon/evening.  Now, the entire series is over, and my time with Becky Brandon nee Bloomwood is over.  Sniffle.  

Anyone out there know what I'm talking about?  Kind of like when Matt and I rented every season of the Sopranos.  And when it was over, it was so sad.  No more Sopranos.  And then, we rented every season of the West Wing.  And then, that was over, too.  

But, anyway.  I absolutely LOVED the Shopaholic books (if you don't know what I'm talking about, they are written by Sophie Kinsella and I highly recommend that you head to the library immediately and start reading), and I can't wait to see the movie!  It's in our Blockbuster queue, and it should be coming to us next, which I know will please Matt quite a bit.  Okay, maybe not.

But after reading those books, a large part of me wished that we lived in London, hopping on trains to places like Cumbria, meeting lovely British people and having tea.  Oh, and it wouldn't be so bad if I had a best friend who had a castle in Scotland, either.  Sigh.

Okay, enough is enough.  I have been consistently setting Rhett Butler's People aside every time I check out another Shopaholic book, so I guess it's time to finish this one up.  

On a not-so-surprising note, I am making almost no headway whatsoever with my summer reading list.  Mostly because I keep reading books that aren't on it.  But then, of course, I add them to the list, just so I can check them off.  :)

Summer Reading List

I was always the kid who loved school and loved reading.  To be honest, I still am.  Even when I was in high school and everyone dreads school, I still looked forward to it.  Well okay, maybe not every day, but I was always excited for the first day of school every year after a long summer.  I know, I know, I'm weird.  Whatever.  I loved college, and I loved grad school.  Of course, I couldn't wait to be done...but still.  I never hated going to school.  

I taught myself how to read at age four and have basically been buried in a book ever since.  Remember summer reading lists?  I LOVED them.  I would read all the books and always looked forward to the next book.  

In college and grad school, I had to read so much for school that reading for pleasure took a back seat.  I majored in English lit in undergrad and read an absolute ton...but those books weren't always my first choice.  Call me crazy, but I never felt pumped to pick up Sir Gawain and the Green Night.  Whatever.

Then...I went on to get my masters in social work.  Ridiculous amounts of reading ensued...so much so that even I, a super duper speedreader, couldn't get through all of it all the time.  Whew.  

And then, something amazing happened...I graduated from grad school and - gasp - had time again.  You know, for reading.  Fun stuff, not school stuff.  And I've been reading ever since.

So, there's your long, drawn-out intro.  I wanted to share with you my 2009 Summer Reading List:

The Mother Tongue, by Bill Bryson (have any of you read any Bryson before?  If not...seriously, run to your nearest Borders/library/whathaveyou and grab one of his books.  I have read the one where he takes a roadtrip around America - amazing - the one where he takes a trip around Europe - amazing - and the one where he hikes the Appalachian Trail - amazing.  He is so freaking funny that you will laugh out loud while reading.  Seriously.  I promise.  This book is about the English language...and I CAN'T not read something so fantabulous.)

A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey (I am probably the only person who hasn't read this book, after all the Oprah scandal.)

The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards 

The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink (I'm still dying to see the movie)

The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Merle's Door, by Ted Kerasote (it's about a dog...naturally I have to read this one)

In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

City of Thieves, by David Benioff

The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold (Anyone else besides me super excited that they are making The Lovely Bones into a movie??!!  I think I read that book in one day.  It was amazing.)

The Middle Place, by Kelly Corrigan (recommended by one of you lovely bloggers...I can't remember who...)

The City of Falling Angels, by John Berendt (the same guy who wrote Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - this one takes place in Venice)

Have you read any of these books?  If so, let me know what you think.  Just don't give anything away.  :)  Also, if you have any further suggestions, comment and let me know what books I absolutely need to read this summer!

And...it goes without saying that the last two Twilight books, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, are on the list.  I have been on the library waitlist for Eclipse for over a month.  Seriously.

Monday Monday

Happy Monday, friends!

Gosh, I feel like it's been forever since I've posted.  I don't have much to say today, for some reason, but I wanted to talk about a couple of movies.

First of all - has anyone seen Seven Pounds?  I am dying to talk about this movie with someone but I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen it.  If you've seen it and want to chat about it...comment/email me.  

Second - Mr. Smith and I rented The Changeling over the weekend.  Wow, wow, wow.  What an absolutely amazing film.  Clint Eastwood never disappoints, I'll say that much.  Have you seen it?  What did you think?  In real life, I'm not a huge fan of Angelina Jolie, but I do think that she's a great actress and I tend to like most of her movies (yes, even the Lara Croft movies.  Don't judge.).

Hey - has anyone read (or looked at) the Runner's World Complete Guide to Women's Running?  That may or may not be the exact title of the book, but...it's something similar to that.  I checked it out of the library last week and I'm really enjoying it.  So much so that I think I will probably buy a copy to keep forever and ever.  It's tailored to women and has everything from training plans to stretches to strength training exercises to tips on diet and motivation.  I highly recommend - and I'm only halfway through it!

If you have read or seen any of the above...let me know.  What did you think?  Like/not like?  Discuss.  :)

Monday Evening...

Well, I flew through The Historian and finished it this evening...all 600-some pages of it! I thought I would write a quick post to say - read this book! It is really interesting, and even more so if you are a history buff!

It was rainy and icky all day today - Mr. Smith and I decided to hit the treadmills instead of run outside. Of course, once we walked over to the gym, all the treadmills were being used. Fabulous. We decided to walk back home, change into outdoor running clothes, and brave the elements.

About one minute - literally - into our run, it started pouring rain, complete with gale-force winds. I don't actually know what that means, gale-force, but they seem to use it a lot on the Weather Channel when describing hurricanes. Seriously...it was freaking windy! Mr. Smith said, even though we were within eyesight of our apartment door, "Oh well, too bad! We're not stopping now that we've started!" and I agreed.

In an instant, the rain started hitting my legs like little daggers. It was extremely painful. And possibly...a bit hail-ish? The wind picked up even more and that was that. I was yelping with surprise and pain...and Mr. Smith suggested we scratch today's run. Agreed! Our main exercise was the sprint back to our front door. We were gone literally about 2-3 minutes, total...and I was drenched and shivering. Not fun!

So, no run today. Boo. Which gives me a bit of anxiety about our rescheduled run tomorrow...since it's now been three full days since our last run. Oh well!

I checked out a beginners guide to training for a 5k, 10k and 1/2 marathon from the library the other day - it has some good training plans. I plan on training for the 10k as soon as we're done with the 5k, so I'm getting excited about increasing my mileage as I read! Now that I have finished The Historian, I think I will snuggle up in bed and read the chapter I need the most: Mental Training and Motivation. Good night!

Monday Hodgepodge

Good morning, lovely readers! Did you have a fabulous weekend?

I must say that I certainly did. On Friday, Mr. Smith and I ran 3 miles outdoors! With hills! We were going to run a 2.76 mile route I had created on MapMyRun, but at the last minute...Mr. Smith tricked me and made me keep going til we got to 3 miles. But - I did it! And we still have about a month until the race. I know that by the time May 16th comes around, I'll be feeling super confident with my 3 miles.

Friday night, we watched Twilight. Ladies, I read Twilight a few months ago and thought it was a decent story - nothing ground-breaking, but it was entertaining and oddly addictive. I have seen photo after photo of Robert Pattinson since the movie came out, and I never saw what all the fuss was about - I just didn't think he was that much to look at.

Until Friday. I was NOT prepared for how hot Edward was in the movie! Seriously...what is the deal? Whew. I felt like a 13 year-old girl, for real.

On Saturday, we went to the Farmers Market - not much there yet, because it's so early in the season. But I did snag some great looking sweet potatoes - yum! Looking forward to cooking with those quite a bit over the next couple of weeks.

We also went to the library, where I checked out the most fabulous book - The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Have you read this book? Holy moly, it has totally sucked me in. I spent yesterday sitting on the couch - yes, all day long - reading this book. I am just over 300 pages into it and I cannot get enough! I am just dying to get back home this afternoon and do more reading!

I did go to the grocery store yesterday and I picked up some of the Tazo Chai Latte mix. I have heard great things about this (from some of you fellow bloggers, in fact!) and decided to give it a shot. Anything to deter me from a Starbucks run, you know? Anyway, I made chai lattes for Mr. Smith and myself yesterday morning while scones baked in the oven. Yes, scones. Tie a frilly apron around me and I would be Little Mrs. Housewife, right? Anyway - the lattes were amazing! I highly recommend hitting up your area Kroger and picking up some Tazo Chai Latte mix - if, of course, you like chai lattes. I know I do.

What did everyone else do over the weekend?

Retraction

Never one to give up on a book (that's a lie - I've been reading 1776 for 3 years...), I sat down last night to give American Wife another shot. Three hours later, I had flown through 300 juicy pages. People, this book is not boring!!! I am totally loving it. I did not expect it to be so...graphic?! It reads like a part-memoir, part-politico novel, part-Harlequin romance. And I am totally loving it!
For those of you unfamiliar with the book, it is by Curtis Sittenfeld (who also wrote Prep, which you should run out and buy immediately because it is amazing) and is apparently loosely based on the life of Laura Bush. I don't want to give anything away, so I won't bring up any major details. But let's just say that there are some parts of her life that surprised me - upon checking with Mr. Smith (who knows a bit about the Bush family), I have learned that so far, they are mostly all true.


Did you know that I've seen Laura Bush in the flesh twice? When I worked at George Washington University Hospital in DC, she walked right by me. On two different occasions! I may not always have agreed with her husband's politics, but I think that she did a lot of good. She spent time at our hospital promoting women's cardiac health and, well, who can argue with that?

Anyway! A few of you also inquired about the bloggy book club I'm reading this for. First of all, I must say that I am jumping the gun. The book club is currently reading a different book - but I have already read that book, so I skipped ahead to the second book. :) Please click here to join La Belle Vie Bookclub!