Teaser Tuesday - Christmas is coming!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Christmas is coming...I gave this book to Alex a few years ago for Christmas. I *know* he hasn't read it, but I thought I'd give it a try. I'm just a handful of pages in, but I'm enjoying it...I wish I had more time to read!

We spend at least one month out of each year of our lives under the spell of the planet's most widely celebrated holiday. At no other time are our feelings as intense; at no other time are we so caught up in a relentless round of preparation, enjoyment, and recovery.

Santa Claus: A Biography, Gerry Bowler, page vii

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This book doesn't count for the challenge because, well, it's a reread...but it does count for this!

By Easter my recasting was complete. And I felt new things had become natural.

French Women Don't Get Fat, Mireille Guiliano, page 48

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Teaser Tuesday...I'm back!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I'm back...hopefully I can keep doing this every Tuesday. I have a new book now too...finally! Yay for a new month!

It took a while for the Bible to leave the room. Shakespeare's solemn phrases hung in the air like the afterglow of a shooting star.

The Final Act of Mr. Shakespeare, Robert Winder, page 47

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Mrs P's Journey

I'm a couple of days late posting about October's book...

After I read about this book on Ann's blog, My Villa Life, I had to search it out. Partly because I love maps. Partly because I love London. Partly because I was intrigued by this woman's story.



I have read a bunch of background and it's hard to say whether this is a true, non-fiction biography or a historical novel. Certainly it's based on facts and many of them from Phyllis Pearsall, but there is a lot that the author had to fill in herself. I had trouble categorizing it...

I also had trouble finding it. It appears it is out of print in North America and the VPL didn't have it. But the UBC library did. So that's where I finally got it. I don't often get books from the UBC library mostly because you only get them for two weeks, not three. But, unlike the VPL, you can renew them as many times as you want as long as there are no holds.

Phyllis had a colourful childhood and yound adulthood and it definitely helped frame how the A-Z was born, but I loved the last part of the book that detailed how the A-Z came about. I love the A-Z. One of my favourite things to do when I lived in London and had enough of people was to get on the underground and get out and wander with only my A-Z as company. I figured it was pretty hard to get lost in London - if you had an A-Z you could figure out where you were and if you could find a tube station (the A-Z could tell you) then you could home. Maybe you could find yourself not knowing where you were, but you weren't lost!

I liked this book and if you like London or maps, it's definitely something worth reading. The editor side of me wasn't happy with a few things that were missed (how many siblings did Bella have? Five or eight?) but overall, I was happy with my choice.

Thanks Ann for writing about it...I never would have known it existed otherwise!

Making time to read...

How do you make time to read?! I need to figure that out...

I'm not sure the last time I picked up a book I wanted to read. I've read lots and lots and lots of How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You, Elephant, I'm Gonna Like Me (yes, I know she's too young, but she loves it,so I figured it wasn't going to hurt anything), and Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball in the past couple of weeks, but not a lot of adult books. I've had a ton of reading to do for work, but it's not going on here...

For a while I was going to bed half an hour early so that I could read...this worked, kind of...either I'd read for half an hour, I'd fall asleep (or put my book down early) or I'd stay up WAY TOO LATE. This week if I went to bed half an hour early, I can guarantee that I'd be sound asleep before I even opened the book (I might just do that tonight, because, hey, sleep is good...

Strategies for getting more reading time in anyone?!?!

It was a gift...really...

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Apparently this book changed the lives of my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law. So my mother-in-law thought I might be interested in it...umm...anyway, when (IF) I finally get through this, we can talk about that more....

When you are feeling good feelings, it is communication back from the Universe saying, "You are thinking good thoughts." Likewise, when you are feeling bad, you are receiving communication back form the Universe saying, "You are thinking bad thoughts."

The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, page 33

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan

I know, I know, I'm posting this a day late. But. September was nuts.

Crazy.

So glad it's gone.

And reading, ha! That's a pastime for those who are retired, independently wealthy, or who aren't trying to juggle a toddler with a new daycare and essentially a new job and, because of a temporary change at their spouse's workplace, all of the meals and grocery shopping and most of the housework life.

I seriously went to bed last night a bit disappointed with myself. I thought I'd failed September.

I have about three books in progress. I've been writing tons. I've been reading tons, actually, but for the purposes of this challenge I had to finish a book. And magazines, they don't count. And browsing through cookbooks, that doesn't count. And reading about 50 million blogs a day, that also doesn't count (although on that note, I have culled a number of blogs from my feed. This morning there were only 96 posts for me to read. I skipped most of them. It makes me sad.) And reading articles and papers for work, well, that doesn't count either.

So sad. I only survived three months of my challenge.

But then I remembered this AWESOME birthday gift from my brother-in-law.


It's not literature. It's not a biography. It's not thoughtful or instructional. It might qualify as thought provoking.

But it made me laugh. And cringe. And possibly throw up a little in my mouth.

And, best of all, IT'S A BOOK!

The premise: A woman found her grandmother's (she assumes, since no one will own up to actually being the original owners) set of Weight Watchers recipes from the 70s. She keeps them, because, wow, easy laughs! And the book is great. It pokes fun at the actual recipes. It pokes fun at the names of the recipes. It pokes fun at the staging of the food.

I loved it! I don't know which recipe was my favourite, but this book had me cracking up. Even Alex read a good chunk of it.

What I do know now though, is WHY people lost weight (and probably lots of it) on Weight Watchers in the 70s - the food was just too gross to eat. And if they did eat it, it probably made them have tummy aches, so they didn't eat much.

I'm glad Weight Watchers uses a healthier model for weight loss these days!

I just googled the book and you can see some of the cards and commentary here.

EDIT: Also check out this page - it's got Weight Watchers information from the 1970s...scary stuff!

Teaser Tuesday - Mrs P's Journey

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I haven't forgotten...really...just, September came. And with it came the insanity of back to school. But now that September is almost over, well, now I can get back to routine...maybe.

This week's teaser:

In the swirls of her subconscious and memory, it is highly likely that Phyllis interpreted her family's erratic dashes around Europe when she was between the ages of four and ten, and their perpetual moving house as a soothing, lulling momentum. For on such a trip the happy package of mother, father, sister and brother were tightly tied together, and the attention of both parents was bound to their children.

Mrs P's Journey, Sarah Hartley, page 43

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Day 30: Is there an author who you will read anything they write?

(UGH again with the weird sentence structure!)

Irène Némirovsky. Suite Française was super! I loved it. I didn’t want it to end. And when it did end, I wanted more. Fire in the Blood was also excellent. This is a woman who’s life ended too early and who I wish had had the opportunity to write more. If you haven’t read Suite Française, I can’t recommend it enough!

Day 29: What author do you avoid?

Dr. Laura Schlessinger. UGH. And even more so since she went on her rant a few weeks ago.

When I was in university, I worked at a fast food place one summer. The girls who decorated cakes had a work station in the back next to the break table. And they listened to Dr. Laura on the radio. And she drove me nuts.

Then my grandma gave me The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands as a shower gift. She hadn't read it (which is strange for her, she usually reads everything before she gives it away so she can discuss it with you) and I don't know that she would have given it to me if she had. I think maybe Dr. Laura is a misandrist. And she's narrow minded. And she gives bad advice. And she makes me mad. MAD.

So I avoid her. Because I don't like being mad!

Day 28: What book do you wish you had never read?

Lolita. I hated it. I was very uncomfortable the whole time I read it. It bothered me. But I finished it. And I wished I'd never picked it up. We read it for our book club with Reading Lolita in Tehran. I enjoyed that, but not Lolita.

Day 27: What book would you write if you had all the resources?

I don't know. I've never really thought I’d write a book. So I don't have the next great Canadian novel floating around in my head.

Do you have the next great novel (Canadian or otherwise) buried in your imagination? Or is there a non-fiction book you would write?

Day 26: What is a book you wish would be written?

I sort of wish there was more Harry Potter. But maybe not. I feel like the epilogue tied everything up nicely and if there was more Harry Potter, it would be boring. Or boring compared to the first seven books.

I don't really have a lot to say...I figure if there was a book that I really wished would be written, then maybe I should write it myself!

Day 25: What is your favourite autobiographical or biographical book

(Ummm...again with the weird sentence structure...isn't “What is your favourite autobiography or biography?” better???)

Almost French: love and a new life in Paris by Sarah Turnbull. My copy is lost and I'm very sad. I loaned it someone who loaned it to someone else who doesn't remember what happened to it. I don't know if you can get it over here, my friend in Australia read it and thought I'd enjoy it and posted her copy on up.

It's about a woman who met a man in Eastern Europe. She went to France to visit him. And the story goes from there. I'm not going to spoil it. Anyway, besides their relationship, it's about her adventures in adapting to French culture. She describes how she was dressed when she arrives – flowing broomstick skirt and Birkenstocks I think – and how it contrasts to the French women around and how eventually her style evolves.

I really enjoyed this book. I read it a few years after moving back to Canada after spending the better part of three years abroad. I was still adjusting (some days I think I'm still adjusting and I've been back for eight years). I was wrestling with what to do with my own life and her story gave me some perspective and possibly, unknowingly, some advice.

I am off to see if I can locate a copy of this at the library or online. I want to reread it now!

Day 24: What book did you later find out the author lied about?

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. That's the only one I could think of, maybe because it was big news when it came out that he lied. I didn't care that he lied. I figured it was a novel and while it was based on his life since it was a novel, why shouldn't he expand, elaborate and create when the story line needed it? I never saw or read his interviews with Oprah or anyone else, so I don't know exactly how he presented himself, but if he's promoting his book, maybe it was all part of the show? Who knows.

Day 23: What is your favourite romance novel?

Well, this took some thought. And then I settled on two – though one might not be classified as a novel and the other might not want to be classified as a romance...I'm not sure.

The first one, definitely a novel, is Gone With the Wind. I first saw the movie when I was six or seven – well, parts of the movie – I was at my grandma's house and she was watching it for the twenty eighth time or something and she kept turning it off and then turning it back on. So I wouldn't see things like Bonnie (that's her name, right?) falling off her horse. And then I saw parts of the movie many times over the next few years. It's a long movie and I wasn't up to sitting through it. I'm not sure when I first saw the whole thing – maybe when I had a retreat at Chez Piltz in 2002? Possibly when I had my wisdom teeth out, but anything I watched then doesn’t count.

But the book, I have read the book! When I moved to London there was an extensive library where I was living, made up mostly of books that were donated or left behind by travellers or staff who were moving on. I was there for six months and there wasn't a lot of time for reading, but I decided that I'd try to read Gone With the Wind because I should be able to do it in that amount of time! I know it took me a while because I was in one room for the first three months and another rood for the last three and I have memories of reading it in both rooms.

Part of me loves reading epics – they tend to last longer than other books and that makes me happy. Part of me hates reading epics – they tend to last longer than other books and that can be frustrating. With this book, I was happy. I knew the story fairly well and I really enjoyed reading it. Scarlett drove me nuts sometimes because she was so self-centered, but she evolved and while she could still be very self-centered, she became a stronger person. Rhett just drove me nuts. Ashley and Melanie were a bit whiny, but overall, I really did just like reading it.

So, what did you think about Gone With the Wind (I know there's at least one differing opinion out there!)?

The second romance I mentioned is Pioneer Woman's story of how she met her husband, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. I couldn’t stop reading it. It's broken up into blog posts and I had to limit myself to three a day or I would have just wasted all my time with Alex and J and all of my time at work to reading it as quickly as possible. Not a good use of my time...Check it out! And I think I heard she has expanded it and it's coming out in book form.

So – does that count as a novel? What is your favourite romance??
 

Day 22: What is your favourite series?

Harry Potter.
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What? You want more?

I love Harry Potter. Earlier in the challenge I wrote about Harry Potter. I could also have written about Harry Potter as my favourite book. But I didn't. Because which book is my favourite? The Philosopher's Stone? Prisoner of Azkaban? The Half-Blood Prince?

Exactly.

Favourite series.

Because I can reread them over and over and over. And never get bored. And find things I missed the last time. And they help get back into the reading groove when I've fallen out. And, well, I just love them. That's all.

Tuesday Teaser...

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I just finished this this morning, so I've decided it counts:

She would look back and marvel that she could have woken that day with no idea of what lay ahead of her. That she could start the day as a - oh, as a child! - and end it in his arms, his hands clumsily stroking her hair, their slick bodies clinging to each other, exhilarated, exhausted.

I Remember You, Harriet Evans, page 269

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Bonus Book: I Remember You

So, this book wouldn't count for my little challenge, since I went out and bought it. I KNOW! I needed a book though. We were going to a wedding and I was getting my hair cut before we left and I needed a dress. So I went to get the dress before my appointment. And it was quick and easy and I had an hour to kill and nothing but my wallet, my phone and a pack of gum in my purse.

ANYWAY.

Brit Chick Lit. Seems fitting seeing as I wrote about chick lit being my guilty pleasure books for the 30 day challenge today!

The not having a book with me excuse actually worked out quite well as we were away on holiday for three days and this was the perfect book to read on the ferry and in the morning before Alex woke up - what can I say, my body is used to my usual pattern and wanted me to be up at 6:30 even though we were on VACATION. Alex, he didn't have that problem.

Can I just say that I love how there is a section of this book that is rewritten pretty much word for word? On purpose. And it confused me, because I was sure I hadn't succumbed to my sometimes bad habit of reading ahead to see what happens later because the suspense is killing me now...and I hadn't, it was just there twice.

So, basically (no spoilers here, the back of the book has more details) Tess moves back to the town she grew up in because her life fell apart. The only person (her age) she knows is her childhood friend Adam. And then she becomes an old lady (figuratively) and figures out who is she and turns herself young again. Ha! That's horrible Shannon, it sounds like it's some kind of magic book. It's not. It's a fairly close to some kind of reality that's not my own kind of book.

Ignore me. And if you like the occasional chick lit book, I recommend this one. It's not overly cheesy or unbelievable or gooey-lovey-dovey. It was a good weekend read!

And yes, I will be reading more Harriet Evans as my busy painting and parenting schedule allows.

Day 21: What is a book you read as a guilty pleasure

Ummm...I don't have too much to say here. Marian Keyes and other Brit chick-lit type books (I know Marian Keyes is Irish).

They're fast reads. They don't demand too much from me. They're entertaining. They don't usually talk about poop, puke or boogers. The library has an endless supply.

When you have a toddler, sometimes those are the qualities you need in a book so that you don't go crazy.

What about you? What do you read as a guilty pleasure?

PS Also (okay, not a book, but likely fiction, and it's reading and reading counts, right?) gossip magazines in the grocery store line up. Some of those celebrities are busy - getting married, getting divorces, renewing their vows, getting along just fine, fighting like cats and dogs. All at the same time. Each truthful, honest report in a different magazine.