1-12-08
The new year is getting away from me already! But not without a fun happening on Book Crossing - a member emailed and asked if I would send a couple books on my available list to another member in France. This I did, except that I sent new books from Amazon, so the France member would be able to keep them, because in my humble opinion, they are particularly good books that are worth owning! (They are about dogs, one of my personal passions!) Anyway it all went off without a hitch and they were received and appreciated. However, the fun part was I did not give any indication who sent the books...so it was fun to have an anonymous gift of reading go across the waters! :-) Thanks to Book Crossing!!

The latest book I am reading is The Goose Girl. My book club has made this book the selection of the month. It is an elaborate fairytale and an easy read, but I just haven't been prepared for how much this simple book is affecting me. I have been delighted and have cried a couple times already in the story. I am hooked. I hope the rest of the book is as good as the start! Somehow I think it will be.

Happy New Year to all - and this year, be sure to take time to read more than you did last year. It is a wonderful world to drop into and its there whenever you are ready. No commercials, no need to record on Tivo, its always right at your fingertips!!

11/11/07 - I have not had a lot of time to read lately, but I did discover a fun read in a local book club I attend. The first of the series was the book of the month. It was not my usual cup of tea, but I read it and actually really enjoyed it.

I admit, it is very NOT seated in reality, but I think that is what I enjoy - a total life fantasy! As I was reading this love story, I kept saying, "This is definitely fiction and it is most definitely written by a woman!!"

Men just aren't like this - and there was never such a perfect man born than our hero of the story! Of course, the heroine is also perfect and a far cry from my own nature, but it is a fun and enjoyable book nonetheless. It is most assuredly a "girl book." If you are curious as to the title, the series is The Barrington Family Saga by Anita Stansfield. (I will register the ISBN in my library.) If you are a fan of Sound of Music and are a Christian religion is important to you, you may very well enjoy this book.

I actually have bought and am reading the rest of the series because I was so intrigued as to what will actually happen. Will they stay perfect? Where will life take them next?

Reading is a wonderful escape. I need to find a way to do more of it. And now the holidays are beckoning. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and then it will be the mad dash to Christmas. I love this time of year and I am determined to find a way to make it not be so filled with work and commitments that I can't enjoy the spirit of the season.

I hope you are able to do the same!!

9/30/07 - It has been a while, eh? Things got hectic at work, in life, etc. You all know how it goes. But I am back to leisure reading. "Leisure," the key word that has been missing from my life. Its time to get back to things I enjoy...like a good book. I am currently reading a simple historical novel about a governess who marries the widowed master of the household. What is that I hear in the distance? Someone singing perhaps? "The hills are alive......" The book is always better than the movie!

1/20/07 - I still have not been able to bring myself to read another book since "Water for Elephants." That was a tough one - a very good book, but hard for me to read because of some content to which I have personal issues. I have still to finish "Anyone Out There?" and I even started Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls." However, I just can't bring myself to get down to it and focus on reading. It would seem my brain is content with Sudoku these days.

12/29/06 - The New Year is almost here and I am ready to start 2007 off with a bang. I just finished a good book - although it was difficult to read. (See journal entry for Water for Elephants) I have several books on the shelf, but I am feeling it is time to clean out my life - including my books. I will be donating many of my current collection to the local library. (I doubt I will be able to register and write notes about all of them!) I am feeling a new era as I am quickly approaching 50 years of age - I will turn 46 in 2007. Yikes! I never imagined my self to be this age...it is a difficult concept to get my head around. I'm still about 23, right? OK maybe 25. Certainly not a day over 29!! Age is a curious thing - and with age comes wisdom and the changing of the tides as wisdom soaks in and permeates ideas and long time belief systems. With wisdom (and one can only hope greater maturity) literary tastes change. So 2007 will see a turn over in my library. Happy New Year to all.

11/5/06 - I just received an email that someone has caught one of my books...How exciting! The Anonymous Finder said this is the second book they have caught in their travels so "the idea must be catching on." The reader is from New Jersey and said they will release the book in St. George where they are staying this weekend. I am just tickled pink! I have 2 more books ready to go and was going to release them somehwere besides the hospital lobby - but maybe it is a good place after all. I think I will release one book at one of the local casinos and one at the hospital again and see what happens next. What a nice (and much needed) thrill for today!

10/22/06 - I was in Las Vegas this week, but could not get to a public place to release a book - too many time commitments and traffic was awful!! I will have to release in Saint George or Mesquite...I have a couple books I have completed and are ready to go. Look for release alerts soon!

10/15/06 - So I have had a little time over the weekend to register a couple books - I have one set up to release tomorrow in the lobby of the local hospital. Surely someone will pick it up and read it from there! Lots of waiting and reading going on! I'll put a nice note on it.

10/5/06 - A friend of mine travels the world and he told me about Book Crossing - I love the concept and thought it would be great to become part of the adventure by releasing books and therefore spreading enjoyment throughout my own travels. I also thought making connections with other book lovers potentially around the globe would be fun and interesting. Now when I finish a book I hear it plea, "Release me!"