A Brief Note

I'm sorry to say that my newly established blogging schedule will be interrupted for the next few weeks, but it's for a fantastic reason.  I found out that I got a job!  And it starts in two weeks!  And I need to find a place to live!  Ahhh!  I will be moving about two hours away from my current location, so commuting isn't an option for me.  I have been doing a lot of searching and making phone calls to set up appointments to see some places later this week.  Hopefully, I will find something quickly so I can move before I start working.  Until I'm settled, the blogging (and reading) will be sporadic at best.  I hope to be back soon!  :)

Saturday Sentiment

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves."

-

James M. Barrie

Booking Through Thursday: Disaster!

This week's Booking Through Thursday asks:

You’ve just dropped your favorite, out-of-print book into a bathtub, ruining it completely … What do you do now?

Well, I honestly don't think this would happen to me as I avoid the water and book combo for this very reason.  But if it did, I would probably have a mini freak out while at least trying to save my book.  Once I recovered my senses, I would tell myself it's not the end of the world and try to find another copy online.  Hopefully, it never comes to this!

Thoughts: Eat, Pray, Love

Title: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Year: 2006
Pages: 334
First Line: "When you're traveling in India - especially through holy sites and Ashrams - you see a lot of people wearing beads around their necks."

I LOVE this trade paperback cover of Eat, Pray, Love.  It has always appealed to me.    The book itself?  Not as much.  Yet, with the recent release of the movie starring Julia Roberts (which I would like to see), I decided to give it a try.  I was surprised to find that I enjoyed reading Eat, Pray, Love and especially appreciated the way Gilbert structured her memoir. 

I know that many people dislike, even hate, this book.  I certainly didn't agree with everything Gilbert did or wrote about, but I can't fault her simply because she got paid to travel and write this book.  I would love for somebody to pay for me to do that.  The idea of traveling abroad by myself for a year is terrifying to me.  I wish I were brave enough to tackle such a feat.  I'm a bit of a homebody, but maybe one day I will do some traveling of my own.  One of the main reasons I liked Eat, Pray, Love is that Gilbert's life is so different from mine and she doesn't have a typical travel experience.  Despite any differences, I found her to be very likable.  Most of all, perhaps, Eat, Pray, Love made me want to go eat pasta in Italy. 

I want to share one of my favorite little stories in the book.  Gilbert has just attended a soccer game with her friend Luca while in Italy: 

"That's what sports fans in America would do if their team had just lost.  They'd go to a bar and get good and drunk.  And not just Americans would do this - so would the English, the Australians, the Germans... everyone, right?  But Luca and his friends didn't go out to a bar to cheer themselves up.  They went to a bakery.  A small, innocuous bakery hidden in a basement in a nondescript district in Rome.  The place was crowded that Sunday night.  But it always is crowded after the games.  The Lazio fans always stop here on their way home from the stadium to stand in the street for hours, leaning up against their motorcycles, talking about the game, looking macho as anything, and eating cream puffs.  I love Italy." (page 70)

I think I would also love Italy!

My Rating: 4 of 5

Top Ten Tuesday: Words I Love

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and The Bookish.   

Top Ten Words I Love (in no particular order):

1. egregious - "extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant" - I use this word as often as I can use it appropriately.  I have always loved it. 
2. minion - "a servile follower or subordinate of a person in power" - Let's be honest; who hasn't thought about having some minions running around to do their bidding?  Oh wait, maybe it's just me.  :)
3. conspicuous  - "easily seen or noticed; readily visible or observable" - I have a thing for amateur sleuths and their stories.  This word seems necessary to any sort of sleuthing. 
4. schnapps - "any strong, dry spirit" - I'm not much of a drinker, but I enjoy saying this word. 
5. ambiguous - "open to or having several possible meanings or interpretations" - If I had to choose one word to describe my future right now, this would probably be it. 
6. vortex - "something regarded as drawing into its powerful current everything that surrounds it" - Do you have a word that just makes you laugh every time you hear it?  This is that word for me. 
7. diaphragm - "the partition separating the thoracic cavity from the abdominal cavity in mammals" - Hiccups?  No way.  It's much more interesting to call them a spasm of the diaphragm. 
8. superfluous - "being more than is sufficient or required; excessive" - What is not to love about saying this word? 
9. aficionado - "an ardent devotee; fan, enthusiast" - It feels so much more sophisticated to call oneself an aficionado and it's fun to say. 
10. drawl - "to say or speak in a slow manner, usually prolonging the vowels" - I'm a sucker for a sweet Southern drawl. 

All definitions from Dictionary.com.  

Teaser Tuesday: The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

This week's teaser comes from The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life: How to Get More Books in Your Life and More Life From Your Books by Steve Leveen.  

"You probably already have some books at home that you plan to read.  I suggest that you expand this to a whole new level: a to-read library in which you gradually accumulate shelves of books, in different categories, that you plan to read - a Library of Candidates that evolves from your list." (page 16)

Well, that certainly makes me feel better about owning books I haven't yet read!  :)

Saturday Sentiment

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading.  Think, every day, something no one else is thinking.  Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do.  It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity."

-

Christopher Morley

Booking Through Thursday: Film to Paper?

This week's Booking Through Thursday asks:

Even though it’s usually a mistake (grin) … do movies made out of books make you want to read the original?

I love watching movies, so any excuse to watch works for me!  I usually try to read the book before I see the movie though.  In most cases, I've already read the book and then the movie comes out a few years later.  However, I recently read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert because of the release of the movie.  I wasn't really interested in it until I saw the movie preview with all that beautiful scenery.

Thoughts: A Short History of Nearly Everything

Title: A Short History of Nearly Everything
Author: Bill Bryson
Year: 2003
Pages: 478
First Lines: "Welcome.  And congratulations.  I am delighted that you could make it.  Getting here wasn't easy, I know.  In fact, I suspect it was a little tougher than you realize."

A Short History of Nearly Everything is the first book I've ever read by Bill Bryson and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Slightly intimidating at first, A Short History of Nearly Everything proved to be surprisingly easy to read for a "science" book.  This is definitely not a textbook, but I finished with the sense that I had added to my knowledge base.  Bryson's wit and humor made sometimes less than exciting topics engaging.  It seemed that Bryson also infused some lesser known personal details about many of the famous scientists, which furthered my interest in the book. 

My Rating: 4 of 5