Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

Recent Reads I did it!   Got the last 3 reads in this year.   Total number of books read in 2010 = 73. Many much more than last year. I can’t thank my family enough for all the time they endure of me reading.   Might I suggest for my birthday, a speed-reading course.   I started the year with Maggie Stiefvater’s, Ballad, and ended with Suzanne Collin’s, Mockingjay.   That sums up the awesomeness of the year right there. Were they are all as beautifully written as Ballad or as heart pounding as Mockingjay ? No, of course not.   There were even a couple books I didn’t bother counting because, they weren’t worth it.   But most of them were enjoyable, or entertaining, or emotional or thought provoking.   They transported me to their world. They forced to peer at common situations from a new knot whole in the fence or to experience uncommon adventures that I wouldn’t ordinarily be part of.   Reading is the BOMB!   Thank you authors, for your hard work, dedication and perseverance so that

Overcast, spitting rain and cold enough to harden the drops so they sting when the wind whips them into your face. What a beautiful day.   Because I got these: Yippee! Squee! I’ve never been so glad to still be able to turn a cartwheel as I am today. Why do I feel vain staring at my book? It is more beautiful than I had expected.   Even my book’s spine is attractive; straight and colorful and with the title and my name.   I petted it.   I hadn’t expected to be so overwhelmed when I held my book in my hands.   But when I flipped through and saw chapter titles that I had come up with and the little anecdotes at the beginning of each chapter and the stories within the story, I grinned like a loon. My elevensie daughter paged through one of the paperback additions and quirked her own grin and said, “This is cool.” My eighteen-year-old daughter, off at college, facebooked me to ask where she can get one. My husband is dropping my name like I’m somebody. Do you GET how special that is?

I’m hoping this won’t be my last RECENTS post of the year.   I have three more books I’d like to finish this year, but I seem to be reading slower than molasses on a winter day.   Here’s to a week curled up on the couch, covered in a fuzzy throw with a book or my Kindle in my hand! Recent Reads Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne– humble rating: Golf Clap+ – It was like visiting my shy, insecure middle school self all over again, but this time liking myself. I don’t understand why my public library has this shelved in the teen section. I’d recommend to middle graders. A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn– humble rating: Golf Clap+ – I’ve got a bit of an attitude about fairytale retellings (though I’ve written a short retelling of Goldilocks). I always think they are a bit of a cop out because you are already starting with an idea someone else formed.   Yet a well-told retelling is so enjoyable, especially Alex Flinn’s retellings. The Golden Pathway by Donna D

Way back when I created my blog, Strands of Thought, I researched and researched the different blog host sites.   I read numerous blogger opinions on why they chose the host they chose. I read many reviews about what was right and what was wrong about different hosts.   Then I chose Livejournal as my host site. But now I’m not so sure it is the best option out there.   It seems to me that bloggers tend to get more followers on Blogger because of the ease of following.   I also like the look of Blogger better.   I don’t know how to write HTML code or change it to suit my needs and I’ve never figured out how to customize LJ because of it.   I think Blogger is more user friendly in that regard.   Well, time will tell.   I’ve taken the plunge and I’ve created a mirror blog on Blogger.   It will be the same as my LJ blog, so if you are a friend on Livejournal, I’ll still appear on your friends page.   I know you couldn’t live without my witty and insightful posts…um…er, well, I wouldn’t w