Harper Collins First Look
I’ve mentioned it before, but Harper Collins has a cool program called First Look where they send you advance reader copies of books and you give a review. Well, I just found one of my reviews on their website!
http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060854232/Storm_Runners/index.aspx#readerreviews
Exciting! Everyone that likes to read should sign up. Although, I hope they pick me to get the free books, too! (It’s kind of a lottery system).
Book Binge
Thanks to BookMama, I’ll be participating in Book Binge - where I keep track of all my books for the month of April, and list them on her blog (and mine, too). Leave her a comment if you want to participate!
blabbery ridiculous people: George W. Bush presidential address
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The President is funny…on purpose this time
I can count on one hand the times I’ve wanted to listen to the President. That’s not to say I don’t listen, I almost always do, but I usually don’t enjoy it. I think this is an example of him at his best…although his comic timing isn’t great, his self-deprecation is appreciated.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/03/29/bush-monologues-open-thread/
live green movies wild salmon: baby BBC fish conservation guilt happy feet save the fish seafood watch
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Happy Feet ~ sad times
Have you seen this movie? I loved it, and I was glad it had a happy ending (sorry for the spoiler, if you haven’t seen it) for my son’s sake, although he didn’t really care. BUT, I was crying like a baby because that happy ending is so implausible in real life.
So, since I’m not a huge fish consumer, I thought the best way for me to take a little action is to share the list of fish recommendations provided in the DVD. It seems like a handy list, and I hope people start taking this seriously, because scientists have already reported that there will “virtually nothing left to fish from the seas” in 45-50 years!
I can’t imagine that my grandchildren my never get to taste wild salmon. It seems like a small thing, but really, what a huge hole in the ecosystem. And what about all the metaphors about salmon swimming upstream? When I tell my grandchildren about hard work, and I use salmon as an example, they’ll be like, “you’re crazy, grandma, what the heck are salmon?”
Don’t forget to check out the Seafood Watch list of recommendations:
books firefly glen harlequin RWA suspense: days of our lives Kathleen O'Brien RITA
by Blabby
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Book #10
Update: Check out the comments…I’m the “most awesome fan”!!! Woo hoo! Thanks Kathleen!
Quiet as the Grave by Kathleen O’Brien. Seriously, I thought that the last book was my favorite Firefly Glen book, but this one was the best. Intrigue, creepy people, murder, love, parenting issues…what more could you ask for? I’m glad I waited and read it last.
Now here’s my request for Kathleen. She introduced some of the kids created by all the love matches in the earlier books. I’d like to see some more Firefly Glen books featuring the kids when they grow up. It can be like how on Days of Our Lives, all the kids were babies, then all of a sudden, they were in high school with their own story lines. Now they have kids…you see where I’m going with this.
Come on Kathleen! Hurry and write some more :) No wonder this is a 2007 RITA finalist. I can’t wait until July to see if you won!
blabbery blessings: baby chocolate bunnies Easter homemade onsies iron on My Butt Hurts!
by Blabby
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Photos for our Easter cards
Update: I found the source, Snorg Tees. I hope they don’t sue me :) Go buy the shirt from them.
I saw this funny shirt online somewhere and decided to recreate it with my handy Office Depot printable iron-ons and a new white onsie. I got the bunnies from Microsoft’s media gallery and made their conversation boxes in Photoshop. I hope my grandma thinks it’s funny :) Oh yea, and isn’t my son the cutest kid ever?!!
Do you get it? Here’s the real picture…
I’d love to give the real artist credit, because this thing cracks me up every time. If anyone knows who it is, please let me know!
blabbery live green recycle: good magazine plastic grocery bags reusable bags
by Blabby
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Join the fight against plastic grocery bags!
Hooray, a victory for environmentalists (and shoppers with lots of groceries!) Check out this blog post from Good Magazine:
And just a word about those reusable canvas-type bags you can now purchase at the store for .99. They are AWESOME! I can empty my whole car into one of those things, sling it over my shoulder, and carry my toddler up five flights of stairs. Can you say that about plastic grocery bags?
sad times
I hate how I am able to compartmentalize the war…even able to forget it’s even happening at times. The last two years are some of the few in my life that I didn’t live either on a military base or very near one. I’m amazed at how I’ve distanced my mind from all that being a military family entails.
Here’s a good reminder:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17773294/site/newsweek/
I would apologize for being a downer, but I’m not sorry. I’m only sorry that I don’t make more of an effort know what’s happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once my brother-in-law returned from his second tour, and the last of my good friends came home, and I stopped working as a contractor - planning military blood drives, I kind of checked out.
But the reality is that the rotations go on. The number of wounded and dead continue to grow. The sacrifice amazes me, and humbles me. It’s sad and exhausting to think about. For me, anyway. There so much guilt tied into gathering information - how lucky I am that I was never deployed, that my husband was never deployed. But even now, as other friends prepare to deploy on their third and fourth tours, I’m so grateful to be so lucky. And I feel bad about that. I don’t know what I’m saying here. It’s a little rambly.
Sorry about that. I’ll come back and edit this later.
Book #9
The One Safe Place by Kathleen O’Brien - I’m sad to say this is the fourth book in the four-book Firefly Glen series. But rejoice! There is one more! And it’s just made the 2007 RITA list of finalists.
Back to this book, though. I loved that it was a departure from the sweet love stories in the first three books. It was still a sweet love story, but there was a lot more tense, edge-of-your-seat stuff. With the heroine hiding out from a murderous lunatic (who Kathleen made very scary and very believable), it made for an exciting story in addition to the lovey parts. I also loved Spencer and his growth throughout the book. Especially the ending.
Another winner from Kathleen - I’m off to read her 2007 RITA finalist Quiet As the Grave, which I’m super excited about, because it’s got my favorite characters from the Glen.
I can’t say it enough - if you never have, give Harlequin a chance. These books by Kathleen are quick, heartwarming reads. A million thumbs up!
Book #8
Forever in Blue, The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood by Anne Brashares. This book had a lot of low points for me, but a few high points too. I’m a big fan of this series. #3 was my favorite. If you haven’t read this one yet, I’m going to try not to give too much away.
As in each Sisterhood book, there are four concurrent stories happening. Each story was frustrating in the way of soap operas. You can see the character obviously making bad choices, but because of pride/love/embarassment/stupidity/etc. they continue on a destructive path. This happened a lot in this book. I don’t remember it being so obvious in the other books.
I was sad that Carmen didn’t figure as prominently in this book, as she’s always been my favorite character. I’d love to discuss this book with someone that’s read it, because I want to talk about how each girls’ story ended - but I don’t want to give anything away.
All that said, I read it in two days. I liked that the author made the girls seem older, through language if anything. Although, sometimes, I didn’t buy that a 19/20 year old girl would think/say the things they were thinking/saying. But still…I recommend it. It’s a satisfying ending to a great series.
