Books I read in 2012

I like writing this post so I can actually have a list of all the books I have read

I didn't read as many as I did in 2011

but my list is not meager.

This year I plan to read a few more classics...I am kicking off the new year with

Little Women (can you believe I have never read that?!?!?) and I plan to top this year 

for sure!

My Life in France

Very Valentine

Brava, Valentine

Chasing China

The Paris Wife

Divergent 

Insurgent 

The Maze Runner

The Scorch Trials

The Death Cure

The Kill Order

The Fault in our Stars 

The Thirteenth Tale

The Night Circus

Blackberry Winter

The Irresistible Henry House

Rules of Civility

Yellow Crocus

 

To e-read or not...that is the question!

I was gifted a Kindle for my birthday

I really didn't know if I was an "e-reader" type...but I am hooked...I love it!

I have a Kindle Touch...as much as I love the Kindle Fire, I knew I just could not read with a back-lit screen.  The e-ink is much easier on my eyes AND I can read in the sun.  

That being said, I really can't get magazines on my Touch because who wants to look at a black and white magazine?  

I have a lovely fleur di lis case, but I would love to have a fun case for spring/summer.  

The case really makes it feel like you are holding a book

I am CRAZY for this Kate Spade cover!

My Kindle really wants this!

I thought I would peek and see if there were any covers listed on Etsy...oh my
I had no idea there were so many...here a few I found!

I love this...it is a "real" book!

via

another "real" book with the pages removed

via

This seller had some really fun fabrics!

via

So, if you have an e-reader...do you have a fun case??

 

The Hunger Games

Have you read The Hunger Games?

At first, I was not interested in reading the books,

they seemed completely unlike anything I would normally read

After hearing a couple of friends say the same thing, and then LOVING the books 

I thought I would give them a shot

I started the first book

and

I was

HOOKED!

I read the first two books in a week...I could not put them down

I talked about them so much that Blake picked up my Kindle and started reading them too

and now we are both waiting for the movie to come out at the end of March....

I might even be there at midnight :)

Did you read The Hunger Games??

Pin It

Books I read in 2011!

My goal in 2011 was to read read read...and I did just that!!

I put a * next to some of my favorites!

Heart of the Matter

Cold Tangerines *

Room  *

Bittersweet

The Help **

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

As Husbands Go

My Life From Scratch

Chasing Harry Winston

A Vintage Affair * 

Red Hook Road *

Cinderella (As If You Didn't Already Know the Story)

Last Night at Chateau Marmont

The Swan House *

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt  **

Three Cups of Tea

Thumbelina, Tiny Runaway Bride

Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives *

One Day

Debt-Free U

Three Weissmanns of Westport

Water for Elephant

What Alice Forgot *

Crazy Sexy Diet *

The China Study **

The Kind Diet

Rob Lowe : Stories I only tell my friends

The Cookbook Collector

The Beauty Detox Solution

Clean Start

The Hunger Games *

Catching Fire (The second Hunger Games) *

The Luxe *

Envy: A Luxe Novel *

Rumors: A Luxe Novel *

Splendor: A Luxe Novel *

Today...

I was "excused" from jury duty

and

the sky looked like this much of the day

so, I drank lots of this

{tea with a candle lit for my friend Emily and her Mom}

spent a little time working on this

and reading this

{I LOVED Rob Lowe in the 80's...I thought for sure we would get married :)...glad things didn't work out that way :)}

A Homemade Life

Last night I went to my local Library, and listened to Molly Wizenberg share her inspiration for this book!

I have to admit, I have never gone to listen to an author before, but have gone to two in the last month...it helps that they have been so close as my library...and have loved it!

I loved hearing Molly share about her Dad, her love of preparing and sharing food, and hearing others in the audience mention that they tried some of her recipes from the book and LOVED them (the chocolate cake was a BIG hit..and Molly even made them for her wedding cake!)

Molly lives here in Seattle and is author of the blog Orangette.  I also learned that she and her hubby Brandon opened Delancey, a NY style wood fired pizza place, in Ballard that I am anxious to try.

If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it!

Speaking of "homemade"...I shared THIS recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Latte last Fall, and it is so delicious.

However, it you are not wanting to buy the "jug" :) of Pumpkin Pie Sauce (if you share this with a friend it works out great!) or the sugar content....then Lori has shared a recipe for a  version using REAL pumpkin!!  I can't wait to give it a try!

AND...on another "homemade" note...I had seen this on another blog, I can't remember which one...but knew I needed to make this for Lucy and her Baby :)

a milk jug swing!! :)

Have a great day!

What I'm Reading!

My lastest "haul" from the library :)

I just finished A Vintage Affair...I thought it was great!

Just getting started on As Husbands Go

I am anxious to get into The Beauty Detox Solution...I had heard it was "similar" to Crazy Sexy Diet, but some liked it better...we shall see :)

Clean Start is a "clean eating" cookbook, I am anxious to check out the recipes :)

I need to get reading...I have two more books to pick up from the library that I have been waiting for, Cutting for Stone and Room: a novel!!

What I'm Reading~

My Life From Scratch...I just started this one...Gesine Bullock-Prado former Hollywood film developer and the sister of actress Sandra Bullock (LOVE HER!) leaves her career to move to Vermont with her Husband and open a patisserie...I am looking forward to it! 

A Homemade Life...this one sounded good...the author lives here in Seattle and is author of the foodie blog Orangette

Crazy Sexy Diet....love this book.  I have read through it, and I keep going back to re-read ...I am keeping this one until it's due date...might have to own it at some point!

(I also have The Beauty Detox Solution on hold, so it will be fun to compare the two)

Clean Food...on the heels of reading Crazy Sexy Diet, this has LOTS of great vegetarian/vegan recipes...now I am not either of these (yet), but am finding myself more and more interested :)  Looking through this book last night, I saw LOTS of great recipes using clean whole foods...her motto "keep it simple...keep it natural"!

Chasing Harry Winston...this was a frivolous read and not my "usual", but since all the other books I was waiting for were still on hold I checked it out.  It is acutally by the author of "The Devil wears Prada" which was a fun read, and this was too.

Water for Elephants

update:  I picked up this book yesterday...and I cannot put it down...it is terrific!

Have you read this book??

I have not, but I am thinking I need to before the movie comes out!

I think it looks fantastic!

Bottom Photos by Peter Lindbergh for Vogue

At Home with Books

I just checked this book out from my library, and it is crazy GOOD!

I love being able to get some books in my hand to see if in fact it is a book that I would want to add to my own library...and this one is!

It is full of wonderful personal libraries from Frances Fitzgerald, Michael Graves to Keith Richards, to name just a few...each eclectic and charming in their own way.  There are interviews with each library "owner" about their early love for books, how they store them and how they chose to build their libraries...I have yet to read any of the interviews, I got so caught up in the pictures.

There is also a section in the book about how to organize your own library, and if you are running out of shelf space, which are books that might be obsolete.

(library of Michele Oka Doner)

I would love to own a home with a library...shelves that go all the way to the ceiling that I would HAVE to get a rolling ladder...ahhh.

I have decided our office will now be called "the library" :)...yes, even though our computer is in there and Lucy's play kitchen...the library it is!

(my "library")

So....do you too dream of your own Library??

Jackets off & a book review

Not too long ago, Pam, did a post on her blog about taking the "jackets" off her books on her bookshelf.

I love books.

I love worn books...

used books...

old books...

but I especially love their colors.  

I had taken the jackets off all the books on my bookshelves in our office...but I had hesitated taking them off my cookbooks...I guess because I thought they would get "dirty"...but then Pam shared this picture and I was sold...the colors did it for me...

so this is my little kitchen bookshelf

It was an awkward cupboard, so I took off the door and made it the cookbook shelf....

and now that the jackets are off I love it even more...I love looking at the rainbow of colors...

I love the colors of the Serendipity Sundaes book!

I am so glad I did it!

next

I just finished this book...

and would only give it 

✭✭

I thought of not finishing it, but kept hoping it would get better....

it didn't.

I am a little obsessed with.....

THESE!!

I know if these were on my bookshelf I would definitely read each of these classics!

I have seen these at Anthropologie...but Amazon's price is terrific!

Books Books Beautiful Books!!

I have always LOVED reading ever since I was a little girl...reading was always one of my favorite pastimes. It seems as the years have passed, I go through phases where I read like mad, and then...nothing. As my Boys have gotten older, my reading time slowly re-appeared, and then after bringing home Lucy it took a backseat as we adjusted to life with a 4 year old.

So, this year, I plan to make time to once again enjoy my favorite pastime...there are so many wonderful books I want to read...I have begun stacking them on my bedside table so they will call to me as I climb into bed everynight. As a way to motivate myself and keep track of all the books I have read this year...I am going to keep a list on my sidebar and look forward to watching it grow~