A reading slump??

I had been keeping track of the books I read the last two years. This year is completely different. I started and didn't finish so many books in the last few months that I was getting totally frustrated and wondered if I was losing my reading 'touch'.. so I decided not to keep lists anymore and just will focus on books I finished and liked. Fortunately, these are becoming a lot more frequent again so I will start attempting to post more short reviews...

yeah Im still here

Only now there are 3 kats instead of 2. I will have to change the name of this blog...I might as well start with a book review...

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White.

Like many books I read, I picked this one up at Goodwill for 1.00 because "it looked interesting". Did I know it was a wishlist book? Not until I got home. But thanks to PBS, I have a sixth sense about these things. Was I planning to read it right away? Not until a nice person at PBS gave me a 2-for-1 deal and I discovered this book was on her wish list so I decided to read it so I could post it to her. I am so glad I did. Only now, I have to wait for the sequel to pop up on MY wish list...

The book is described as 'romance' but its really a nice Southern mystery complete with ghosts, old houses, and a main character who starts out really really anal but loosens up as the story progresses. Well, she doesn't completely loosen up..hence the need for a sequel. However, its nice to see her progression. I started out not caring for her too much but the author was good at giving her star a bit of a sense of humor and the ability to make fun of herself, and I found myself being drawn into the story faster than I realized. Without giving too much away, loose ends get neatly tied up and the supernatural aspect of the story is believable and logical. Give this one a go!

Books Read in 2009 and mini ratings

. Passion, Betrayal, and Killer Highlights - Davis (2nd in series) finished 1/1/09
2. The Book Thief - Zusak (1/09) Excellent story about living in Germany during WWII.
3. Bloodsucking Fiends - Moore (1/09) Good read about modern-day vampires!
4. The 19th Wife - Ebershoff (1/09) Exhaustive novelization about the roots of polygamy.
5. Bringing Home the Birkin - Tonello (1/09) LOVED LOVED LOVED this book. Funny and well written.
6. The Last King of Scotland - Foden (2/09) Novelized story of a Scottish Doctor working for Idi Amin. Interesting, a little slow.
7. Trophy Hunt - Box (2/09) Mystery series continues.
8. Crossing Over - Garrett (2/09) Memoir about leaving the Amish life.
9. Bombay Time - Umrigar (2/09) Novel about life in India. 2nd Ive read by this author.
10. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Lindsay (2/09) Loved it, and looking forward to reading the series.
11. Deja Demon - Kenner (2/09) 4th in Series. I'm done with this series. Its getting repetitive.
12. Dangerous Beauty - Ross (2/09) Adventure memoir by a safari guide in Africa who was kidnapped during the Congo war.
13. No Shortcuts To The Top - Viesturs (3/09) Adventure memoir by one of the worlds top mountain climbers.
14. The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove - Moore (3/09) Strange!
15. Leaving the Saints - Beck (3/09) Interesting memoir by an ex-Mormon
16. Dearly Devoted Dexter - Lindsay (3/09) 2nd in series. Loved it!
17. A G-Man's Life - Felt (4/09) Memoir by the infamous "Deep Throat"
18. Are You There, Vodka? It's me, Chelsea - Handler (4/09) HYSTERICALLY FUNNY!
19. The Associate - Grisham (4/09) Reliable Grisham suspense, with a totally unsatisfactory ending that leaves you hanging.
20. Left to Tell - Ilibagiza (4/09) Incredible memoir of a woman who survived the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Have a box of tissue handy when you read this.
21. All the Numbers - Larson (4/09) Good fiction about loss

Books Read in 2008

Books Read (finished)
in 2008 (and mini-ratings):
1. A Paper Life - Tatum O'Neal - ok, gossipy (but there's nothing WRONG with that!)
2. The Whistling Season - Ivan Doig - good, different
3. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer (#1) - not my interest, but glad I read it to see what the fuss was about
4. The Good Husband of Zebra Dr. - McCall-Smith - LOVE this series
5. Wheel of Darkness - Preston/Child - LOVE anything by these guys-latest in the Pendergast series
6. Boo - Rene Gutteridge (#1) - a feel good read!
7. The Mango Season - Amulya Malladi - loved it! and it had recipes!
8. Chore Whore - Heather Howard - forgot what it was about but a good mindless read!
9. Justice Denied - JA Jance - like this series and author
10. Plain Truth- Jodi Picoult - only book I will ever read by this author but they are great to have on hand for swaps!
11. Shop Til You Drop - Elaine Viets (#1) - fun cozy
12. Three Cups of Tea - Relin/Mortenson - great true story
13. Stone Cold - Baldacci - series, good
14. Carpe Demon - Kenner (#1) - found it on PBS! Like the series.
15. Boo Who - Gutteridge (#2) (see above rating)
16. No Country for Old Men - McCarthy - very good, chilling. Need to see the film.
17. The Sex Lives of Cannibals - Troost - not as good as I hoped it would be
18. My Horizontal Life - Handler - hysterical!
19. Piece of Work - Zigman - good
20. My Goodness - Queenan - this guy is funny!
21. Boo Hiss - Gutteridge (#3) (3/08) (see above rating)
22. Sky Burial - Xinran (3/08) - excellent, fascinating story
23. Hungry For The World - Barnes (3/08) - could barely finish it
24. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Lewycka (3/08) - funny, and different
25. The Mangler of Malibu Canyon - Colt (3/08) - found it on PBS! Love the series
26. The Year of living Biblically - Jacobs (4/08) - good but dragged out
27. The Eyre Affair - Fforde (4/08) - Very bizarre but good series
28. Me And My Shadows - Luft (4/08) - gossipy, but we all need that once in awhile!
29. New Mercies - Dallas (4/08) - LOVE this author and so far everything Ive read by her
30. The Broke Diaries - Nissel (4/08) - funny!
31. Between Two Worlds - Salbi (4/08) - good
32. The 6th Target - Patterson (4/08) - this series is getting monotonous
33. The First Assistant - Naylor/Hare (5/08) - good chick lit
34. Seven Up - Evanovich (5/08) - this series is also getting monotonous
35. California Demon (#2)- Kenner (5/08) - see above rating
36. The Secret of Lost Things - Hay (5/08) - Excellent! won it in a swap, was pleasantly surprised
37. Vanished at Sea - Dirmann (5/08) - why do they write these before the perp goes on trial!
38. Kabul Beauty School - Rodriguez (5/08) - good story
39. Uglies - Westerfeld (6/08) - YA SCI fi but good
40. Steve and Me - Irwin (6/08) - Im crying
41. Rainbow's End - St. John (6/08) - good
42. Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief - Miller (6/08) - page turner, suspenseful true story
43. Big Russ & Me - Russert (6/08) - Im crying
44. The Monster of Florence - Preston/Spezi (6/08) - Preston, fave author
45. The Manny - Peterson(6/08) - good chick lit
46. Funny in Farsi - Dumas (6/08) - Very good, can't wait to read her latest.
47. Pretties - Westerfeld (6/08) - series book 2, liked it better than the first one.
48. Winterkill - Box (7/08) - good cozy series
49. Tracks - Davidson (7/08) - very interesting travel/adventure
50. I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But...- Cowell (7/08) Gossipy fun for Idol fans..
51. Miracle at Speedy Motors -McCall Smith (7/08) - series(see above), this one made me cry
52. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Hosseini (7/08) - very good, and very sad
53. Blasphemy - Douglas Preston (7/08) -thriller, but Doug got carried away a little!
54. The Space Between Us - Umrigar (7/08) - sad, disturbing but good.
55. Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals - Dale (7/08) Funny writer
56. Demons are Forever (#3) - Kenner (7/08) Continuation of series.
57. Fair Game - Wilson (8/08) - very disturbing true story.
58. Running with the Devil - Droban (8/08) - true story about the Feds' infiltration of Hells Angels. reads like a novel.
59. The Village Bride of Beverly Hills - Daswani (8/08) Nice chick lit story with a happy ending!
60. The Appeal - Grisham (8/08) Typical Grisham and I wasn't expecting the ending. But a good read.
61. The Crazy School - Read (8/08) Interesting, different suspense.
62. Remember Me - Kinsella (8/08) Fun chick lit.
63. A Crooked Path - Smith (8/08) Great feel-good story.
64. The Nazi Officer's Wife - Beer (8/08) Memoir, incredible story of survival in WWII
65. Like Water for Chocolate - Esquivel (8/08) Very strange book.
66. Unholy Fire - Mrazek (8/08) Great civil war fiction. A page turner.
67. Wouldn't It Be Nice - Wilson (9/08) Memoir about Beach Boy Brian Wilson
68. On the Run - Hill (9/08) Memoir by children of a wiseguy
69. Lost In Rooville (9/08) Blackston - Unusual story but good.
70. Sex, Murder and a Double Latte - Davis (9/08) Fun chick lit mystery.
71. Save Karyn - Bosnak (9/08) - started a little goofy, but ended well.
72. The Tortilla Curtain - Boyle (9/08) Great book-unexpected ending.
73. Same Kind of Different As Me - Hall/Moore (9/08) Great book about an unlikely friendship.
74. Persian Girls - Rachlin (10/08) Memoir about two Iranian sisters and the different paths their lives take.
75. Red River - Tademy (10/08) Family history semi-novelized.
76. Bright Lights, Big Ass... - Lancaster (10/08) Started out a little rocky, but got real funny real fast.
77. Stolen Innocence - Wall (10/08) Triumphant memoir of a former FLDS woman.
78. An Alphabetical Life - Werris (10/08) GREAT memoir of a woman who spent over 30 years in the book business.

I sewed the sides and back on. I have completed my first quilt!

Now I just have to figure out how to tie it. But I already have another project in mind.

Never too old to try something new

Today I completed the top for my first quilt. Not bad for 49. I have always wanted to make a quilt, it was one of my goals in life, but I have never been able to sustain a relationship with a sewing machine. They always seem to not work for me, or I jam them with thread. This time, I bought a simple beginner machine for $50.00 from a friend, and sat down and went at it. I became one with the machine, and the result is...a new creation!

Stay tuned for the finished product (probably next week..I need to come up for air!)