Reason #23 Why I love being in BlogHer's Book Club

Thank you, BlogHer Book Club.

These books arrived in the mail this week.

I can't wait to read them!

By the way, my Caleb's Crossing book review is up on BlogHer's site now.

My thoughts about the Kindle

I put one on my wish list for Christmas.

I wasn't sure I really wanted one,

but I thought I'd try it out.

OK, the real reason?

My mom and sister had one,

and I felt left out.

I love electronics and new technology,

and I love books,

so while I had some hesitations about combining the two,

it seemed like something I should check out.

I received the Kindle for Christmas, to my suprise...

and slowly fell in love.

It wasn't a full blown immediate, passionate love affair,

but a slow, kindling kind of fire.

hehe

Pun intended.

I personalized it with a cool-looking skin and found a nice purple case to keep it safe,

and it fits in my purse and goes with me everywhere.

I've downloaded free word games...
to further my addiction of word games.

And I can connect to Amazon anytime I want via the Kindle...
to browse books and download the first chapter FREE of any book I want.

The instantaneous access is powerfully addicting.

The cheaper price of new hardbacks and best sellers is extremely gratifying.
I don't have to feel guilty about buying the latest Karen Marie Morning or Kim Harrison novel.

(Amazon hasn't paid or compensated me in any way to write this post!)

Also cool? 
You can loan some books to anyone else with a Kindle. 
And, since my mom and sister have one,
and we all read voraciously, this is awesome...
although not many books are "loanable" yet. 

I have a Kindle App on my iPhone now where I can read any of the books on my Kindle, on my iPhone.  The Kindle and the iPhone share knowledge
and keep track of where I am in a book. 
How smart is that?

I love technology. 
And I love reading. 
And I now love the Kindle.

Have you tried an electronic reading device?

Are you for or against them?

I don't want hard and soft cover books to go away, or bookstores for that matter,
but I love the buying convenience and the ability to store thousands of books on my Kindle.

Being Dead is No Excuse

Once a week we have family dinner at my grandmother's house.

And by family, I mean, me and my boys, 

my mother and her husband, 

my elderly father 

and my grandmother.

And one week, I saw this book on my grandmother's counter:

Being Dead is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral

Apparently polishing silver can be classified as "grief therapy" 

and, quite frankly, no one eats better than a bereaved southerner.  

I'm not sure whther to be amused...or horrified!

Well ok, I'm amused.

Because if you can't find humor in things, life is just painful and boring!!

Have you thought about what kind of funeral you want?

I know several people who are so claustrophobic that they do NOT want to be buried, but instead cremated. 

I love the idea of a New Orleans Funeral parade with jazz music, dancing and umbrella waving.  

Wow, this post is getting way too morbid. 

I found another book by this author called

Looks hilarious.

Why Twilight is Unhealthy for Girls (and women!)

I read the Twilight books.

I enjoyed reading them.

I was swept up in the romance and uniqueness...

and I enjoyed the first movie.

BUT, if you really think about it...maybe the message isn't very healthy for females.

Bella can't exist with Edward.

(Granted he can't seem to exist without her either.)

Love isn't really like that.

It can be powerful and consuming...

but I think I'd prefer the message for tweens and teenagers to read is

that we females can function on our own.

Do I sound bitter?

Or butch?

I am going through a divorce, so maybe I am biased.

And don't get me wrong, I loved the books...but a little part of me didn't like that message.

I prefer strong heroines who can kick butt,  honestly. 

It's not just about the books

This is our local town library.

We don't just go there to read.

We've been there to use the Internet, for free, when we didn't have it.

We've been there for storytime.

We've been there to join the summer reading club.

But, most recently, we've been there for...

(I can't help it, the sight of all these books makes me so happy!)

Am I nutty to take my camera to the library?

We went to the library to meet with the seniors' chess club.

My boys were invited to play.
and play they did.

We LOVE to play chess.

It's good for your brain.

You never know who meets at the library.

Do you ever go to your library?

How many times a day do you do IT?

I grew up on a ranch.
And my parents chose not to have TV hooked up out there.
So, I basically grew up not watching TV.

I read.
And used my imagination.
and read.
and made up whacked bedtime stories for my little sister.

Books were my world.

Why am I telling you this?

To explain my relationship with books.

Whenever there is something I don't know, I turn to books for the answer.

I'm always ordering a book from Amazon to teach me how to do something
or how to handle something...

and recently I found a book that sounded interesting.

The Experts Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do

100 experts explain how to do things in these short essays:

Bob Villa shares how to paint a room. Bobbi Brown shares how to apply lipstick. Peggy Post shares how to set a formal table. The Holiday Inn Housekeeper of the Year shares how to make a bed.
You get the idea.

I randomly opened this book today to share an entry with you.

It's about Washing Your Hands by Julie Gerberding. (she's the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aka CDC)


We all know how to wash our hands, right?
Do you remember who taught you how?
I don't.
It's something I've done all my life.







When I was 15, I worked as a volunteer at the Children's Hospital in Austin, Texas.
And the nurses there told me to wash my hands while singing "Yankee Doodle."
Because the length of time it took to sing was adequate time to kill germs.

Well, Dr. Gerberding suggests something similar!
Here's her instruction:

1. Wet your hands.
2. Apply liquid or bar soap.
3. Run your hands together vigorously to make a lather and scrub all surfaces (including between your fingers and under your fingernails).
4. Continue to rub your hands together for 20 seconds. It takes that long for the soap and scrubbing action to dislodge and remove stubborn germs. Sing Happy Birthday TWICE as a timer.
5. Rinse your hands well under running water.
6. Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer.
7. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet.

Seems basic?
makes sense?




When to do it?
before, during and after you prepare food.
before you eat.
after you use the bathroom.
after handling animals or animal waste.
when you or someone in your home is sick.
when your hands are dirty.

So, my questions for you:

Have you been washing your hands correctly? Have you ever worked in a hospital? Or volunteered there?

Worming my way through

It's no secret I love to read.
I read FAST and I read FURIOUSLY.
hehe
and I don't really do many memes anymore,
but I was tagged with a book one, so here we go:

The meme originated with A Striped Armchair.
but Veggie Mom tagged me with it.

A few Rules, follow them if you want or don't, no biggie:

1. Tag 3-5 people, so the fun keeps going!
2. Leave a comment at the original post at A Striped Armchair, so that Eva, the originator, can collect everyone’s answers.
3. If you leave a comment and link back to Eva as the meme’s creator, she will enter you in a book giveaway contest! She has a whole shelf devoted to giveaway books that you’ll be able to choose from, or a BookMooch Point, if you prefer.
4. Remember that this is all about enjoying books as physical objects, so feel free to describe the exact book you’re talking about, down to that warping from being dropped in the bath water…
5. Make the meme more fun with visuals! Covers of the specific edition you’re talking about, photos of your bookshelves, etc.

So, here goes:

The books that’ve been on your shelves the longest.

Actually, I got rid of most of my books when we moved a year and a half ago. It was de-cluttering time. I didn't get rid of my Harry Potter books or some old school books, like Wheelock's Latin. I also have the Bible my grandmother gave me when I was younger.

A book that reminds you of something specific in your life

(a person, a place, a time, etc.).

The Nancy Drew series was the first large series that swept me away and impressed me big time. I wanted to BE Nancy Drew.

Then, the next series that amazed me, besides Harry Potter, was a vampire/mystery series by Laurell K. Hamilton about a vampire executioner/necromancer named Anita Blake. The first book was called Guilty Pleasures, and I fell in love.

"Anita Blake may be small and young, but vampires call her the Executioner. Anita is a necromancer and vampire hunter in a time when vampires are protected by law--as long as they don't get too nasty. Now someone's killing innocent vampires and Anita agrees--with a bit of vampiric arm-twisting--to help figure out who and why."

I had just had baby Remy, Donny was five, and we were temporarily living with my mother and stepfather in Austin because my husband was in Dallas in law school. I remember being up late in the night with newborn Remy, nursing and reading this scary but exciting new series.

The series is still being written but it's gone way too erotica. Overboard. Unfortunately.

A book you acquired in some interesting way

(gift, serendipity in a used bookstore, prize, etc.).

Most books I have bought or borrowed...

but, one time, when we were on a family vacation in Jamaica, I was up really early one morning, walking the beach as the sun came up, searching for shells to collect, when I noticed there was a bottle in the sand. It was a big bottle, wine bottle size, and corked. Inside the bottle was rolled up paper, a thick wad I had trouble getting out. But, when I did, I realized it was a printed manuscript of a Tennessee Williams play I'd never heard of!

Turns out it was an original by him that he'd never shared...I made millions, and this is a total lie.

The most recent addition to your shelves.

I'm heading out this weekend to buy two new books.

The company that just hired me this week recommended I read them: The Starbucks Experience and Raving Fans.

A book that’s been with you to the most places.

My little colorful, striped blank book/journal that I keep in my purse.

So, I can take notes, jot down ideas or funny conversations I overhear, story ideas, blog ideas, lists, you name it.

A bonus book that you want to talk about but doesn’t fit into the other questions.

My cousin is a famous author (well, he's my dad's first cousin, don't know what that makes him to me...). His name is James Lee Burke, he's a mystery writer, and one of his books, Heaven's Prisoners was made into a movie with Alec Baldwin as the main character.

And the three I tag for this meme?

• Sunshine and Lemonade Kat is an avid reader and really knows books.
  
• Monogram Chick because she just hit me with another meme and she has awesome style.
  
• Two Dogs Running Mama Dawg is a fun person, and I want to see what she has to say.
  

What are you reading right now?
I need to know!

Blue meat & noodles

I will announce the giveaway winner soon, I promise,
but a lot more people entered than I expected,
and it's taking time to tally up how many entries everyone earned
with extra posts and comments and tweets.
What did I get myself into?!



Did you see my interview with Pioneer Woman?



Now on to today's post.


I love my little sister, The Bug.
She's moved to California, and I miss her terribly.

She was in town for Christmas, and it was so wonderful to see her.
She gave my boys Peruvian water whistles.

Well, she also gave my older son, Donny, who's 11, a book called The Big Book of Boy Stuff.

And boy has he learned stuff from this book.

We all have.




A lot of my tweets on Twitter these days are from this book.
thought provoking questions like:

Why is a boxing ring square?

If you choke a smurf, what color does it turn?

Do fish get thirsty?

If a number 2 pencil is so popular, why is it still number 2?

If corn oil comes from corn...where does baby oil come from?


And then there are the pranks.


My mouse was pranked.

The book taught him to tape a small piece of paper to the bottom of my mouse to interfere with the signal, causing me to think my mouse was broken.

The gallon of milk in the refrigerator was pranked.

The book taught him to put food dye in things.
The first gallon of milk was pink
the second is now a bluish-purple,
hence a lot of my meals have been the same hue...

my cream of wheat was blue mush.
the meat and noodles I made tonight was blue.

Thanks, Bug.

I'm going to give your kids
drums, whistles, water guns, a cow bell, play dough, slime,
fart putty, whoopee cushions, moon sand, glitter
and a big book of pranks.
All at once.

You just wait.

Starting the New Year Out Right - A Texas Word Tangle Giveaway

In my mind, there's only one way to bring in the New Year...

besides rocketing in a space ship from NASA up into outer space to look for aliens...

ahem.


and, that's with a fabulous giveaway!!!

The gift package will include three books:

When her plane en route from Glasgow to London experiences horrible turbulence, Emma Corrigan is convinced she is going to die. She babbles all of her most intimate thoughts and secrets to the handsome American man sitting next to her. But the plane lands safely, and Emma bids him an awkward good-bye. When she enters the office on Monday and learns the CEO of the company, Jack Harper, is in for a visit, Emma is horrified to learn Jack is actually the man in whom she confided on the flight. He knows everything, including that she hates her job and that she is not quite sure she loves her boyfriend. But Jack does not fire her on the spot; instead, he quietly replaces the office coffeemaker she hates and gives her advice about her personal life, which she finds infuriating. So why can't she stop thinking about him?

Something Borrowed is as much about the meaning and value of friendship as it is about love, and it takes some risky chances that pay off. Rachel is celebrating her thirtieth birthday with her friends, including her lifelong best friend, Darcy, and Dex, Rachel's handsome friend from law school and Darcy's fiance. One thing leads to another and Rachel ends up in bed with Dex.

Goodnight Nobody stars Kate Klein is a feisty, charmingly insecure Connecticut housewife who trades in a life of late-night karaoke sing-a-longs and West Village brunches with her best friend Janie for a world of mini-vans and Mommy and Me pilates classes. Life in Upchurch, Connecticut, heats up when Kate discovers picture-perfect wife and mother Kitty Cavanaugh dead on the pickled maple hardwood floor of her recently remodeled kitchen. A former chronicler of celebrity gossip, Kate takes it upon herself to solve the mystery of Kitty's murder and the disappearance of Lexi Hagen-Holdt, another Upchurch supermom. Along the way, the mysteries and disappointments in Kate's personal life begin to unravel, including her marriage to the kind-yet-uptight Ben, and her unresolved crush on Evan McKenna, a former neighbor with whom a one-night tryst ended in disaster.

So, I'm giving away those three books
as well as:

this 11" Thomas Stir Fry Pan free from my grocery store.
(and since I have plenty of pans) I've decided to pass on to you.

It's dishwasher safe, oven safe, comes with a glass lid and is $70 in value.

And with this fabulous piece of cookware I am including
a package of Cajun Magic Jambalaya mix.




And this yummy chocolate brownie mix.







I might throw in some more stuff as a surprise, like a picture frame or a photo album...

But only the winner will know for sure.

Leave me a comment a day to earn an entry each day,
Tweet about it for 5 extra entries,
blog about it for five more.

Giveaway ends Tuesday, January 6th at midnight U.S. central time.

Book Worm

I'm a book worm.

I love to read.

And read and read and read.

I choose reading over watching TV nine times out of ten, except when Lost is on.

LOST is the best TV show of all time.

I currently have at least two books I'm reading. It depends on my mood.

Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner is really good. I may have to hold a giveaway when I finish it, to share it with someone else.

Because I love to share the things that make me happy.

So, in the interest of sharing, here is the latest game I found online called Bookworm.

It's so much fun. And addicting.

Try it. If you enjoy playing Scrabble or word games, you'll love it.

What book are you reading right now?

Are you addicted to any online games?

Vampire Giveaway

I'm feel like having a giveaway!!
Here's what I'm offering,
two books:


This book, Dead Until Dark, is the first in a series of books about Sookie Stackhouse, a special waitress in Louisiana, that is awesome...
and it inspired the HBO show True Blood.

Everyone's read Twilight by now right?
And knows the movie comes out in a couple of weeks?

Well, you need the movie companion book!

One comment a day, for one entry a day. Contest ends Wednesday at midnight.
Winner gets BOTH books.