September 04, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday: My Fall TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

I wasn't going to do Top Ten Tuesdays again this week, but then I thought maybe I could use this weeks topic of 'top ten books on your fall TBR list' to get my reading list organized for this fall. I rarely never have a reading plan in place, instead, I tend to just go to my bookshelf and grab a new book when I need one, But sometimes, this means I'll go a whole day or two without reading anything because I can't decide on what to read. Or I'll become too overwhelmed with my TBR pile to pick something. OR...I forget about the books I was so excited to read just last month. So without further ado, here are the 10 books I am challenging myself to read this fall. Most of them are no longer new, but they will be new to me! 

 
1. When God Was a Rabbit, by Sarah Winman. This is Septembers book club pick, and it is also my pick. Which means that I am hosting book club this month as well. While I think everyone should read every book club book, I definitely think you should read the book you choose!

2. We'll Always Have Summer, by Jenny Han. This is the 3rd book in the Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy and I absolutely loved the first two. I'm excited to finish this series.

3. Love Anthony, by Lisa Genova. My boss received an ARC of this book which comes out this month, but decided it wasn't for her. She passed it along to me, feeling the subject matter is much more up my alley. I'd love to finally read a book *before* it's released. I've never had this opportunity because I've never asked for or received an ARC before.

The Tower of TBR


My husband and I were supposed to be in Nova Scotia right now for a holiday, but ended up having to move the trip to the end of September. The next few books are the books that I was saving for the trip and would like to read while I am there.


4. Summer Sisters, by Judy Blume. I've never read this book of Judy Blume's before. When I was getting ready to leave for my destination wedding last November, I asked Twitter for "beach-read" recommendations. (Ha! Silly me, thinking I would have time to read during my wedding...!) Anyway, a conversation occurred in which a friend of my SIL's highly recommended Summer Sisters, but my SIL was like "ugh, do not read that book" (or maybe it was the other way around, I can't remember). Either way, of course it made me want to read it all that much more to decide for myself, you know? I found an old paperback copy at Value Village a few months ago and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since.

5. On the Island, by Tracey Garvis Graves. I have read nothing but amazing reviews on other blogs about this book. When I picked it up for super-cheap at Costco one day, I decided I wanted to save it for the long plane ride to Nova Scotia. Flying is one of my favourite times to read, and I wanted to ensure I had an unputdownable book with me.

6. The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker. This cover was constantly catching my eye from the shelves at the bookstore, but the synopsis on the front flap didn't really grab my attention. Then I read a really great review of this book on Bookosaur that pretty much had me purchasing the book the next day!

7. The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough. My mother-in-law gave me this book several months ago. She said she had been keeping her eye out for it at thrift stores as she really wants me to read it. I generally cringe at the sight of old mass market paperbacks, but then a little discussion with her and a little research on this book had me bumping it up on my TBR list.


I know to most people, four books for a 10-day vacation doesn't seem like a lot, but I'll be lucky if I read two of the four. I always take more books with me than I will read because I hate running out of the things to read when I am travelling. How much reading I get done will really depend on how much we do in Nova Scotia. I can't read in the car so that takes away a large chunk of possible reading time.


8. The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate. I have had my eye on this book sine January. I even ordered myself a hard cover copy! But I'm a little nervous to read it as books about animals are almost always sad.

9. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs. I bought this book months ago because it's cover and pages are beautiful and eerie at the same time. I figure it will be a good Halloween read this fall!

10. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. I don't think I need to say much about this book. It's been all over book blogs and best seller lists this past month. I picked up a copy at Costco the other week and can't wait to read it. I may take it with me to Nova Scotia if I don't get to it before then. 


So there we go! Hopefully now that I've put it down on paper the internet for everyone to see, I'll feel more accountable to sticking with my list. Unfortunately, at the speed I'm reading books these days, these ten books *could* potentially take me to the end of the year to read! Yikes. Or maybe this list will encourage and prevent me from wasting time in between books!

Tell me: What books are on your must-read list for the fall?

September 02, 2012

Saigon Sundays: Change is Scary

Don't be fooled by Saigon's size or his breed. He's actually quite the baby and is scared of the silliest things. Like vacuum's, brooms, ladders...all those scary household appliances! He's also very wary of anything new - like this new dog dish we bought him yesterday.




 


He was so worried that he actually cried a little bit and I had to hand feed him the first few bites.  Which I also had to repeat today. And will probably have to repeat tomorrow. Until he figures out that it's just his dish, but raised. He's a funny one. Jim was able to get a quick video of Saigon's first reaction to the new dish.



August 28, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday - Bookish Confessions


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I've never participated in a Top Ten Tuesday post before, but that's because I usually can't think of 10 things to list. This Tuesday's post was different. Everyone bookworm has bookish confessions - for me, it was just a matter of deciding which ones I wanted to share with you guys.

So here ya go, my top ten bookish confessions:


1.  I love hard covers. So much so, that if I own the book in soft cover and come across the hard cover at a thrift store or in the bargain section of the book stores, I will buy the hard cover to replace the soft cover.

2. Before I purchase a hard cover, I always remove the dust jacket to look at the cover/spine just to see how visually pleasing it is or isn’t. But I never actually remove the dust jackets once I get them home.

3. I was 16 years old when I read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I loved the book and I fell in love with Jamie Fraser. Now, 10+ years later, I am married and my husband’s name is James Fraser.  Crazy. 

4. I always have a book with me, wherever I go. Even if I’m just going over to a friend’s house – you never know - they could get a really important phone call and I’d just be sitting there for 20 minutes wishing I had a book with me. 

5. I look forward to waiting in the waiting room before appointments just so I can read my book. I also look forward to flying, just for the (mostly) uninterrupted reading time.

6. I have only read the first 3 Harry Potter Books.  I was reading them as they were being released, but then I fell behind and the movies started coming out. I told myself I wanted to re-read the first HP book before the movie and that never happened. This is what I said before each movie. And now I tell anyone who will listen that I plan to have a huge Harry Potter reading/movie watching marathon in which I will read each book, followed by its movie.  This hasn’t happened yet, but it’s on my bucket list!

7. I think it’s really weird when people don’t have any books in their home. I get it, you don’t read a lot, or you use the library, but everyone should own a few books, even if it’s just coffee table books! 


 8. It makes me sad that I will die before I can read ALL the books. When I was really young, I believed that I could read every book in the library and for a few months, I took out books starting on the top shelf of the ‘A's.  
 
9.  When my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I were moving from the East Coast of Canada, back to the West Coast, he made me lift up all my boxes of books and decide which boxes felt the heaviest. The top 10 heaviest boxes came in the truck with us because hubby didn't want to pay the movers to ship the books across the country for a second time. Seriously. I think we saved maybe 10 bucks.

10.  If I’ve been to an author reading and hear them read out-loud parts of their book, I will then read the entire book in said author’s voice.  So if they have a British accent, I will read the book with a British accent in my head.


Tell me: What are your bookish confessions?!