The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova ~ just in case you needed to increase that stack of  ”To Be Read” books this is the one to add!!! I am only halfway through, but I am so excited about it that I could not wait to share. Her book The Historian was also another great book that you don’t want to miss.

I just added this one to my pile:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot……it came highly recommended and I can’t wait to settle into it.

Happy Reading!

The best book that I have read in quite awhile! Well written and very descriptive ~ not just about places but also in regards to emotions that are difficult to explain through the written word. What enormous talent this individual has. I cannot wait until her next book comes out. I hope that she is working on one now.

Synopsis from Daphne Kalotay’s Website of her most recent book Russian Winter:

Set in both modern-day Boston and post-WWII Moscow, RUSSIAN WINTER tells the story of Bolshoi ballerina Nina Revskaya as she becomes a member of Stalin’s cultural elite before escaping to the West following a terrible betrayal. Decades later, she has decided to auction off her famed jewelry collection—including the rare set of amber that a Boston professor, Grigori Solodin, translator of the works of Revskaya’s late poet-husband, believes may hold the key to a long-kept secret. The literary mystery Grigori sets out to solve—with the help of Drew Brooks, a young associate at the Boston auction house—reaches much deeper: to the cost of making art and trying to live and love under circumstances of enormous repression.

I had mixed feelings about wanting to get to the end of the book and not wanting it to end. It was so engrossing that she had you right there in Boston and Moscow…as though you yourself had stepped into a time machine with the characters and you were walking beside them on stage at the ballet or walking through Boston Common.

A great book to give as a Christmas present.

Next book on my list:

Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants…..

…….a nice big book to settle in with as winter makes it’s way to Florida with freezing temperatures…much too soon for this time of year.

New photos by Miss Sam coming soon!!!!

I can no longer cope with the feelings of being inadequate..not to mention the anxiety… when it comes to my “To Be Read” pile of books…..so off they go to the local lending library….well at least 18 so far.

Which ones did I keep???

My classics of course (just knowing they are there waiting brings me a sense of comfort):

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Collected Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

War and Peace by Leo Tlstoy

The Odyssey by Homer

Dracula by Bram Stoker

My psychology books (saving for when I feel intellectual):

Female Serial Killers by Peter Vronsky

Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet

An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison

The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout

EMDR by Francine Shapiro

The Gaslight Effect by Robin Stern

My Lobotomy by Howard Dully

My books on writing (for when I need be inspired):

On Writing by Stephen King

Writing for  Your Life by Deena Metzger

My fiction/non-fiction books (for when the sun gets too hot to work outside anymore):

An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor

Blackbird by Jennifer Lauck

A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs (my favorite author of all time)

And so there you go.

By the way….for inquiring minds that just can’t help themselves…while going through my “keep” pile to make the above list I managed to let go of  six more books.

Now perhaps I can focus a bit more.

So here are the books that I found under the tree Christmas morning:

Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

Under the Dome by Stephen King

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Women of the Bible by Sue and Lawrence Richards

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

What was your favorite Christmas gift?

When I got up this morning I had all the good intentions of working with some of my pre-school clients. I set out for Inverness with my day planned in my head. As I turned onto the main highway towards town I just couldn’t help myself.

The local Dunkin’ Donuts was beckoning to me with their caramel iced lattes and their pumpkin donuts. So I pulled in and “prepared” myself for a morning of play therapy.

On my way to the pre-school I began to feel not so good. Perhaps it is because last night a well meaning student handed in their paper with the words “I have been babysitting a child that has the swine flu and now I am throwing up like crazy”. Well, my goodness. Thank you for coming to class and SHARING that with all of us. So with my stomach turning somersaults, I thought it best not to expose a pre-school full of little ones to a possible virus. But I felt that surely the people at the library wouldn’t mind.

The library in Inverness has a better selection of books than our local one around the corner. Here’s what enticed me today and what I brought home:

• Full of Grace by Dorothea Benton Frank
• Isle of Palms by Dorothea Benton Frank
• Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown
• Duma Key by Stephen King

Oh, and by the way. I did buy a book at Borders during educator’s week. I bought Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It was a $25.00 book that I was able to get for $12.50 with the educator’s week discount and a borders reward coupon.

Okay…so back to my morning.

While at the library I noticed a flyer announcing the last day of their Friends of the  Library Book Sale. Well, we all know what the last day of a book sale means….BAG OF BOOKS!!!!

Yeppers. I bought the following books for just $3.00. However, it was so hot in there (probably related to that earlier queasy stomach) that I just couldn’t bear filling up a second bag:

• Living with Art by William McCarter/Rita Gilbert (for Sam)
• Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell
• America’s First Ladies by Betty Caroli
• Queen by Alex Haley
• The Mammoth Hunters by Jean Auel
• Beyond Red Rocks: Making Your Dreams a Reality by John Tesh
• Please Understand Me by David Keirsey (I already have the second one of this but I use it in my classes and thought a second would come in handy).
• On Women Turning 50 (I used to have this one…not sure where it went off to…I probably bought my own copy back)
• Lesbian and Gay Families: Redefining Parenting in America by Jill Pollack (a hot topic in my Developmental Psychology Class)
• When Perfect Isn’t Enough: How I Conquered My Fear of the Proverbs 31 Woman by Nancy Kennedy. (As many of you already know, Nancy Kennedy lives here and although I had this book at one time…well again…not sure where it got off to).

And on the way into Inverness I couldn’t help but stop at a thrift store and pick up:

• Growing and Using Healing Herbs by Gaea and Shandor Weiss (got this one for Miss Sam as one of the characters in her book is a healer ~ it will provide of wealth of information for character development).

Well, I am home now. Still queasy. Still hot.

Off to drink some apple juice and lay down for awhile. Although my 3:45 class has been canceled today due to “College Planning”, my night class still meets.

As for my little pre-school clients? Looks like Thursday is going to be a jam packed day.

Happy Reading.

It’s been awhile since I made my way over to Booking Through Thursday. I found it rather humorous that today, Deb’s prompt is:

Give me the list or take a picture of all the books you have stacked on your bedside table, hidden under the bed or standing in your shelf – the books you have not read, but keep meaning to. The books that begin to weigh on your mind. The books that make you cover your ears in conversation and say, ‘No! Don’t give me another book to read! I can’t finish the ones I have!’ “

As many of you know ~ books are my #1 addiction. So here they are ~ my photos of the books that I have not read but keep meaning to:

My Christian Reads

My Professional Reads

My Just For Fun Reads

How about you? What does your TBR pile look like???? Inquiring minds want to know ~ in case I have this insatiable craving to add “just one more” book to my own To Be Read pile.

This post is one of many to come that have been inspired by this post by Susan the Wellness Writer.

I was in the waiting room of our local health department this morning (waiting to get my Tetanus shot so I can play around in my garden safely ~ ouch) and this is the conversation I overheard between a mother and young son:

Son: Mommy, will you read this book to me?

The son climbed up on his Mommy’s lap and she read him a book about Jack and the Beanstalk.

Son: Mommy, will you read it to me again?

Mommy: I just read it to you.

Son: Then Mommy, will you teach me to read it to you?

The Mommy put the book down and encouraged her son to go play with the other children.

I was very blessed to have a mother that took the time to not only read to me but to teach me to read ~ as you know ~ I have an insatiable love of books to this day.

In fac,t on my way into the big city to teach this evening, I am going to make my regular stop at Barnes and Nobles and check out the recommendations from Thia (Dorthea Benton Frank) and Vicki (Mary Kay Andrews). I just finished Widow of the South this afternoon and although it was a great book (I can’t wait for his new on to come out in September…A Separate Country) it was quite compelling and dramatic and I need something beachy and trashy to balance me out. Thanks ladies!!!

A neighbor of mine recently loaned me this book titled: Boundaries: When to Say Yes/How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life. The book is so good that I had to go out and purchase my own copy (thank goodness for my educator’s discount card!!). I couldn’t very well mark up HER copy with pencil marks in the margins and yellow highlighter now could I?

Have you ever found yourself wondering:

• Can I set limits and still be a loving person?
• How do I answer someone who wants my time, love, energy, or money?
• Why do I feel guilty when I consider setting boundaries?

Boundaries are personal property lines that define who you are and who you are not, and influence all areas of your life.

• Physical boundaries help you determine who may touch you and under what circumstances.
• Mental boundaries give you the freedom to have your own thoughts and opinions.
• Emotional boundaries help you deal with your own emotions and disengage from the harmful, manipulative emotions of others.
• Spiritual boundaries help you distinguish God’s will from your own and give you renewed awe for your Creator.

Unpacking ten “laws of boundaries,” Drs. Cloud and Townsend show you how to bring new health to your relationships. You’ll discover first hand how sound boundaries give you the freedom to walk as the loving, giving, fulfilled individual God created you to be.

Excerpt from the inside jacket cover of Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend.

May is Mental Health Month. Have you identified and set your boundaries to begin living well?

This is it!!! I first heard about the Big Stone Gap series by reading a comment written over at Thoughts of Joy (one of my favorites places to find books for my ‘To Be Read’ list). I am so glad that I did!! I have really enjoyed this book and have already checked out the remaining books in the series from our local library. I hope it rains all weekend!!!

So how does this happen??? I am currently reading 5 absolutely enthralling books at one time:

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

Invisible No More: The Secret Lives of Women Over Fifty by Renee Fisher, Joyce Kramer and Jean Peelen

The Second Lady by Irving Wallace

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

Betrayal by John Lescroart

Perhaps it is because one is in my car, one is on my nightstand, one is on my side table by my spot on the couch, one is in my school bookbag and the other is on the table out on the lanai. I just can’t bear to be without a book within easy reach…especially if I am caught at a red light for any extended period of time.

So how about you???? How many books are you reading at one time????

Today I am grateful for: the freedom that my husband I have in our job situations to take tomorrow off to celebrate our ‘baby’s” fourteenth birthday!!!!!