New Year Goals

I keep going back and forth about whether I want/need to write down actual goals for this year. I finally decided to just go ahead and do it:

1. Go to a yoga class at least once a week and practice at home at least once a week

2. Train for and run the Hospital Hill 10K (it's in June sometime I think)

3. Read at least one book a week (hopefully more but I want to make sure that reading stays fun and not a chore. I read 40 books last year so this would be 12 more, hopefully not too much of a stretch.) I also want to make sure I read at least a couple of classics.

4. Scrapbook at least one layout a week, either digitally or on paper

5. Lay out my clothes for the next day (both running and regular) before I go to bed every night and make sure everything the boys need for school is laid out/packed up.

6. Plan a dinner menu every week

7. Go to bed earlier. Ideally I would like to be upstairs getting ready for bed 10pm and then I can read for an hour or so. (It's 10:30pm as I type this so obviously I'm not doing too well so far!) I know an earlier bed time will help with the motivation to get my butt out of bed to run.

8. Be more patient with the boys. Practice deep breathing and counting to ten when they're pushing my buttons.

9. Pay off the credit cards

10. I feel like I need to have some kind of goal to decrease my Internet time but honestly, I get the shakes just thinking about it. Maybe if I concentrate on all my other goals my computer time will automatically decrease.

Book Review: Kiss of Midnight

Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Kiss of Midnight is the first book in Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series. Lucan Thorne is a Breed warrior, a vampire who protects his kind by trying to rid the world of Rogue vampires. Rogue vampires have given in to Bloodlust – an addiction to blood that turns them into feral savages. Gabrielle, a human, witnesses a Rogue attack. Lucan goes to her intending to wipe the memory of the attack from her mind but ends up strangely drawn to her.

I thought this book was a creative twist on the vampire mythology. In Adrian's world, vampires are descended from aliens that crashed here long ago. New vampires are born when a vampire (who are only male) mate with a human female, called a Breedmate.

The chemistry between Lucan and Gabrielle was absolutely electric. The whole book was charged with tension, between Lucan and Gabrielle and between the Breeds and the Rogues. There were several twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this book for vampire/paranormal romance fans.
View all my reviews >>

Sunday Salon: January 3-9

The lowlight of the week was Wednesday when Tiny left to live with his grandparents. I still miss him a lot. Yesterday the boys were making a lot of noise and my first thought was, "They need to be quiet or they'll wake Tiny up." Then I remembered Tiny wasn't here. Cash and West are doing really well with it. There were some tears the first couple of days after he left but now they both have told me that we need to get another baby ASAP. I don't have any control over that but I'm hoping we get a call soon.

I read a little on a few different books and finished two. Reviews on both are forthcoming:

My Darling, My Hamburger by Paul Zindel for the Shelf Discovery Challenge
Truly, Madly by Heather Webber which was a LibraryThing Early Reviewers win

End of Year Meme 2009

Boston Bibliophile did this meme and it looked fun so I'm going to do it too: (It originated at SavidgedReads.)

How many books read in 2009?

40

How many fiction and non-fiction?

28 fiction and 12 non-fiction

Male/female author ratio?

17 male to 23 female

Favorite book of 2009?

A tie between This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Least favorite?

Life With My Sister Madonna by Christopher Ciccone

Any that you simply couldn't finish and why?

I still haven't finished Reading Lolita in Tehran. It's boring, plain and simple.

Oldest book?

Until We Meet Again: A True Story of Love and Survival in the Holocaust by Michael Korenblit was published in 1983.

Newest?

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Longest and shortest book titles?

Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomanical, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase by Jen Lancaster and Plan B by Jonathan Tropper

Longest and shortest books?

I don't keep track of page numbers so I don't know.

How many books from the library?

16

Any translated books?

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Most read author of the year and how many books by the author?

Charlaine Harris – the first four books in the Sookie Stackhouse series

Any re-reads?

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Favorite character of the year?

I think my favorite character this year is Vampire Eric in the Sookie Stackhouse books. The hottest anyway!

What countries did you go to through the page in your reading?

Afghanistan, Italy, England, Holland, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Ancient Rome, Kenya, France, Germany and Poland

Which book wouldn't you have read without someone's specific recommendation?

I wouldn't have read The Khaarijee: A Chronicle of Friendship and War in Kabul if it wasn't a book club pick. It was a two-star book for me.

Which author was new for you 2009 that you now want to read the entire works of?

Jonathan Tropper

Which books are you annoyed that you didn't read?

None, there's always next year!

Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read?

Not any classics but I did read One For the Money by Janet Evanovich. I've been curious about her books for a while.

Bittersweet Goodbye

Tiny went to live with his grandparents this afternoon. It was a bit of a surprise – I wasn't expecting him to go for a couple more weeks. I hope it works out for him and he grows up and has a great life because he was the sweetest little guy.

Teaser Tuesday: January 5

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"The little furball was adorable but not quite the type of dog I'd hoped Sean would bring with him. A big bloodhound would be more likely to "dig" up a long-buried body."

-p. 117 truly, madly by Heather Webber

Countdown To the Golden Globes…

Award show season is here! I love the Golden Globes and the Oscars. Every year I try to watch as many of the nominated movies as I can. This year will be a challenge because we have three kids in the house now and one of them is a baby. Not too many people are willing or able to babysit three small kids. I've been focusing on the movies on DVD or pay-per-view for now.

Here are the Golden Globes nominations – the movies I've seen are in bold:

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

AVATAR
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
UP IN THE AIR

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

EMILY BLUNT – THE YOUNG VICTORIA
SANDRA BULLOCK – THE BLIND SIDE
HELEN MIRREN – THE LAST STATION
CAREY MULLIGAN – AN EDUCATION
GABOUREY SIDIBE – PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

JEFF BRIDGES – CRAZY HEART
GEORGE CLOONEY – UP IN THE AIR
COLIN FIRTH – A SINGLE MAN
MORGAN FREEMAN – INVICTUS
TOBEY MAGUIRE – BROTHERS

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
THE HANGOVER
IT’S COMPLICATED
JULIE & JULIA
NINE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

SANDRA BULLOCK – THE PROPOSAL
MARION COTILLARD – NINE
JULIA ROBERTS – DUPLICITY
MERYL STREEP – IT’S COMPLICATED
MERYL STREEP – JULIE & JULIA

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL

MATT DAMON – THE INFORMANT!
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS – NINE
ROBERT DOWNEY JR – SHERLOCK HOLMES
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT – (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
MICHAEL STUHLBARG – A SERIOUS MAN

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
CORALINE
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
UP

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BAARIA (ITALY)
BROKEN EMBRACES (SPAIN)
THE MAID (CHILE)
A PROPHET (UN PROPHETE) (FRANCE)
THE WHITE RIBBON (GERMANY)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

PENÉLOPE CRUZ – NINE
VERA FARMIGA – UP IN THE AIR
ANNA KENDRICK – UP IN THE AIR
MO’NIQUE – PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
JULIANNE MOORE – A SINGLE MAN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

MATT DAMON – INVICTUS
WOODY HARRELSON – THE MESSENGER
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – THE LAST STATION
STANLEY TUCCI – THE LOVELY BONES
CHRISTOPH WALTZ – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

KATHRYN BIGELOW – THE HURT LOCKER
JAMES CAMERON – AVATAR
CLINT EASTWOOD – INVICTUS
JASON REITMAN – UP IN THE AIR
QUENTIN TARANTINO – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

NEILL BLOMKAMP, TERRI TATCHELL – DISTRICT 9
MARK BOAL – THE HURT LOCKER
NANCY MEYERS – IT'S COMPLICATED
JASON REITMAN, SHELDON TURNER – UP IN THE AIR
QUENTIN TARANTINO – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

There are still a lot of movies to be seen. Unfortunately most of the nominated movies aren't available on DVD yet. Travis and I are working on a plan to get a babysitter and go see Avatar. I have a feeling it will be nominated for quite a few Oscars too so it's a good one to see.

Weekend Cooking: Julie & Julia Movie Review

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads every weekend. Here's what she says about it:

Weekend Cooking
is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book
(novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes,
random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your
post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up
anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your
blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Travis and I watched Julie & Julia last night as part of our Christmas vacation Golden Globe nominee marathon. I thought it was a really fun movie. I didn't know much about Julia Child before I watched this and I was surprised at her charm and wit. Meryl Streep is spot-on in her portrayal of Child and the director did a great job of making her look gigantic compared to everyone else. (Child was six foot two inches tall.) Amy Adams is adorable as always. Her character Julie's blogging is actually entertaining and fun to watch. I wonder how much of the drama related to her blog was real and how much was embellished for more exciting storytelling. I recommend this movie to anyone looking for a fun, charming movie and especially to bloggers and/or foodies.

Sunday Salon: Top Reads of 2009

My five-star books read in 2009:

Three Little Words: A Memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Cane River by Lalita Tademy

I'm in the process of revamping my blog for 2010. Hopefully I'll be done soon – I'm really excited about the changes I'm making.

Books Won Reading Challenge

I heard about this challenge on Booking Mama's blog. It's hosted by Teddy Rose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time. Here are the details from Teddy's blog:

This
is a new challenge I have come up with to read and review some of the
books I have won from other bloggers.  The reason publishing companies
supply books for book bloggers to give away is to get word out about
the books and create buzz.  I feel bad that I haven't read many of the
book I have won and want to make an effort to read them in 2010.

If you would like to join me, here are the levels:

Honorable Mention: Read 1-3 book you won.
Bronze: Read 4-6 books you won.
Silver: Read 7-9 Books you won.
Gold: Read 10 or more books you won.

The Rules:

    1.
You must write a review for each book that you read for it to count. 
If you do not have a blog you can write your reviews on a place like
Amazon, Powell's, Chapters, etc.
    

    2.Crossovers with other challenges are okay.

    3. Audiobooks count, as long as you won them.  As do won e-books.

    4. You can change up levels but cannot go back down a level.  

    5. Make a list of the books won that you plan to read for the challenge.  You can always make changes to the list.

I'm going to enter at the Honorable Mention level because I've only won two books from other bloggers so far. They are:

1. Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Lizzie Skurnick
2. Now and Then by Jacqueline Sheehan