Welcome to my greatest passion in life, BOOKS! Come on in kick off your shoes, grab a cup of tea [Java] and join me while I discuss my life and books that I read, authors I love or dislike, post reviews, ask for your opinions, just chat about stuff, and maybe swap a book or two.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Heads or Tails




I just started with Heads or Tails over at Skittles place. And I wasn't exactly sure how to play, so even though I was suppose to get this up yesterday, I am doing it today.

The Heads questions is? Who would you like to meet and why?



Well I had to think about this one...there are so many people I would love to meet. One would be John Travolta..and Nickolas Cage...Nickolas Cage grew up right down the street from me when he was Nickolas Decopela. I think he and John T are 2 of the sexiest men in show biz....I love his [Nick C] demeanor and the way he acts. He is very convincing and in Family Man he was great, one of my favorite movies. When he sng the birthday song to his wife it was a classic moment!!!! And the City of Angels he was so moving with his love for Meg Ryan, and then FaceOff with Travolta was awesome. John T is just a great actor with a wholesome look on life. He is cheerful and I love that he is so mucically inclined. He really has fun in most of his movies, especially the ones where dance is invovled. I saw him on Jay leno one time and he said that he loves to sing and dance and tried to put it in all his movies if he can. The other day I wated Phenomeon again for the 4th time and it was still great. And lets face it, who didn't love him in Greese? He is my personal best!!!

Monday, January 28, 2008

A Very Cute Story

While visiting one of my favorite blogs I read this really cute post and had to share it here.
A successful man reached retirement age and was happy to have time for all the things he enjoyed. On the first morning of his retirement he got up and walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He realized, as he picked up his razor, he had never liked to shave. "Now that I'm retired I think I'll let someone else shave me. That will be my one indulgence."
So he went to the local barber shop and ask for a shave. The barber told him that his wife did the shaving. "Grace", the barber said, "this man wants a shave."The man sat down and relaxed while Grace performed her magic. When she was finished the man asked the cost. "Twenty dollars," she said. He thought that was little high but it was the closest shave he had ever had. He assured her he would be back.
The next morning when he got up he went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He could not believe his eyes. His face was as smooth as it was the day before. It was unbelievable. This went on for several days. "I've got to find out what Grace's secret is. She must have some some special razor or shaving cream."
He went back to the barber shop and went straight to Grace. "Grace, I've got to know your secret. My face is as smooth today as it was a week ago. How is this possible?"
She smiled and answered, "The answer is simple. Once you have been shaved by Grace you never need shaving again"!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, January 21, 2008

What Your Reading Says About You?



What does your reading say about you? I love a good mystery and lots of suspense. You know the kind that keeps you on the end of your seat and makes you want to put the book in the freezer? You remember that segment of Friends where Rachel and Joey exchanged books to out smart the other in "scary" books.

And the classic monalogue of the group in the coffee house where Joey says: Oh! All blank and no blank makes blank a blank blank. Oh no-no, no! The end, when Jack almost kills them all with that blank, but then at the last second they get away. And Rachel says: Joey! I can't believe you just did that! And then the classic where Chandler says: I can't believe she cracked your code!" Too funny....


The science fiction and fantasy is a bit of weird and wonderous People tend to come to science fiction and fantasy for the familiarity -- most children's fairy tales are deeply fantastical -- but they stay for reasons as varied as why people read at all.

The editor Teresa Nielsen-Hayden wisely says, "If you ask 20 different readers why they read, they will all be right." People read straight-out non-genre fiction to enjoy a world that is not their own, to live someone's life tangentially and vicariously. People read fiction to be informed, to be entertained, to escape, etc. there are million reasons from all readers, but I read to relax and escape into a world of mystery and challenge and work my mind trying to discover the plot.

Reading is an escapist hobby, but science fiction and fantasy reading even more so -- people escape out of their own worlds into places and times that do not exist nor ever will.

Genre stories are set in worlds that are unknown and disparate to us, and we automatically reorder them; at the same time, the main characters set fundamental wrongs to right. Readers of science fiction have the luxury of extrapolating a positive future or predicting and hopefully avoiding negative ones. But if one liked to read equations and logic puzzles, one would stick with non-fiction. Science fiction and fantasy also appeal to other temperaments, including readers of a "romantic" nature.


"SF is called the literature of ideas, and it really is, but the ideas aren't about fusion or nanotubules or seven schools of magic; they're the same ideas of love and anger and the human heart in conflict with itself (tm William Faulkner) that drive all other stories, but foregrounded and made new," says Maroney.

I like the natural fundamental pscotic killer mystery and the one that develops into a quesionable end. Stephen King is great at that. But it is the suspense of not knowing why that intriques many and I for one cannot get enough of the "high!"

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Reading Habits and Book Stores??




I have been posting about what I have been reading now I am going to talk about our habits...Most people who are as hooked on reading as much as I am have incorporated certain reading habits...I know I have. And they have certain "quirks" about their book buying and where they read.
So lets discuss a few...an article stated "How the Web changes your reading habits"
By Gregory M. Lamb Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor PALO ALTO, CALIF. –

He states in his article that the web has made tremendous changes because of the versitility and availability of information that is there at a click of your mouse. No more tedious searching the library or rummaging through pages and pages of books to gather info, just go to Google or any other search engine and click away.

He further states that and I quote him; "when Ed Chi wants to read, he turns to two of the six computer screens that surround his desk. One is devoted exclusively to e-mail; the other, to the rest of his reading material. The senior researcher is testing a theory: What if your "virtual desk" was as just big as your real desk? How would that change your behavior? Dr. Chi, of the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in California, has found out one thing already. Almost all his reading - text messages, e-mails, journal articles, even books - is done on-screen.

Analysts expect mobile phones to evolve into a multipurpose "third screen," along with televisions and computers displaying both pictures and text. But the small screen size has made reading cumbersome, as users scroll through tiny screen after screen."

Or you can try taking this Reading Habits Quiz to see where your habits lie???

Or do you have bad reading habits? This article suggests some ways to cope and change them.




But here are some simple questions....

  1. Where do you do it?
  2. At what times?
  3. For how long?
  4. How often?
  5. How long did it take to get like that?
  6. What do you usually read?
And then of course what about going into book stores??? How many of us can go into a book store and NOT buy books??? Not me... I cannot resist stopping and readin and filling my arms with more "must have" reads....I spend so much $$$$ and have so many books, but I have no time to read them all and my shelves are so full that I either have to start reading them and give them away or leave them around town, with "Bookcrossing"I love that group, or I need to buy more shelves...and unfortunately my DH says, "NO, more!!" So I must come up with a plan for 2008 that will put my reading habits in motion to reading some of my "stash" of books!!!

And having a Book Swap doesn't help lower my "stash" either????

Monday, January 7, 2008

What is Your New Year's Goals in Reading?


I thought a lot about this new year and wondered what is it I want to read? Or do I just want to wander through the book stores and buy more books? I will tell you that I never go into a book store without leaving with at least 4 new novels and even a couple magazine's under my arms. I consider them a major "requisite" of my life's existence. How many of you find yourselves in this same predicament? Or how many of you actually know most of the people in your local bookstore by their first name? Be honest now!



The answer I came up with was that I have tons of books on my book shelves now; and I need to get some of these read; and then pass them on to others; so I ultimately have room for new ones. As you can see I have many many books that are still calling out to me to be read!


However, I cannot resist making my monthly stops at the local B&N!



What a delimma????? So... what shall I do? Well..... here are some suggestions for me and everyone else out there that needs to read what's on their shelves as much as I do.


  1. Join BookCrossing and give those books away

  2. Pledge to not buy another book till you have read at 10

  3. Donate some books to a nearby library or school

  4. Giving books away

  5. Pay it Forward

  6. Sell it on Amazon

  7. Sell them to local book stores or get credit towards future purchases

  8. Try some web based book exchanges/swaps

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