Books Lists Life

Great news!

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:15:00 +0000

The Bug's Doctor's Nurse called today to tell us that the EEG results were normal. We still have to meet with the neurologist next month for full details, but for now-- NORMAL!

Thank you, everyone, but your good thoughts.

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.

More Random Friday than usual

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:43:00 +0000

It has been a long week.

Yesterday was the Bug's EEG. It went really smoothly, except for the insane crabbiness of a sleep deprived one year old. He would trip over lint and then cry like I cut off his hand. (Cutting off of hands are a theme at our house. Have you seen Star Wars?) He is sleeping in the picture, doesn't he look so little?!

My inbox has exploded lately. I can't find the time to respond to everyone who is leaving such thoughtful nice comments about my Worst Week Ever. If you asked something specific, I will try to get back to you. Otherwise, thank you. The Bug seems to be doing fine, we should know something more in a few days.

I have won a few things lately. A Joshua Bell CD from Just Pure Lovely/ Freely Educate, which I can't WAIT to get, and a scarf and workout video (Dance and Be Fit: Brazilian Body ) from T Minus, T Plus. No, I haven't tried the video yet.

Which brings me to the 100 Mile Fitness Challenge. I AM SO FAR BEHIND.

I have read two great Nora Roberts romances in the last week or two. I was never a huge fan but have completely fallen for both of these. Reviews soon.

In all the excitement Sunday, I totally and completely forgot about my anniversary giveaway. So I decided to extend it another month. I'll drawn a winner of my little gift pack from ALL the blog comments between September 1st and December 1st. Sorry to leave you hanging.

I recently put on a pair of pants I'd bought on clearance last summer and they fit. Not only did they fit, they are the best pants ever. If you sew, and you know of a basic pants pattern with a side zipper, please tell me what pattern it is! I think I can trace off the awesome pants, but I'd like a little guidance on assembly.

Whew. I think that's it. What have I missed in the world this week?

The Missing Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen E. Olson

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:55:00 +0000

The Missing Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen E. Olson is the one book I managed to read during the Read-A-Thon. Clocking in at 320 pages, I was pretty proud of accomplishing that. (Plus another hundred or so of Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs.) I don't read a lot of mysteries, but this one makes me want to read more. I'll definitely be picking up the followup in the series-Pretty In Ink.

So what's it about? Brett Kavanaugh owns a tattoo shop on the Vegas Strip called The Painted Lady. A few days after being contacted by a client to do a devotional tattoo, the client disappears and Brett and her shop are the last people to have seen her. It seems as though Brett may have been involved in her disappearance, so she decides the only way to clear her name is to investigate the crime herself.

What did I think about it? This one was a lot of fun to read. I love seeing the little bits of the tattoo shop and am always a fan of strong, sassy heroines. Brett is a lot of fun and the secondary characters will well done, with the exception of the shop manager (Bitsy) who I just didn't like. I don't read a lot of mysteries so my brain isn't really used to figuring out who-dun-it and I was happy just to read along and let the story unfold instead of trying to guess. It seems like perhaps the final explanation was a bit sketchy, but I still enjoyed it. It was great choice for the Read-a-Thon.

Have you read any Karen E. Olson? Are mysteries a normal part of your reading diet? How do you feel about mysteries starring NON-detectives like tattoo shop or candy shop owners? Do you prefer a more serious mystery? ( I admit that I find it hard to believe that places like a tattoo shop can run into enough mysteries to create a series. I'll still read them, but I prefer mysteries with logical protagonists. )

You can find the author online at http://www.kareneolson.com/ and her blog at First Offenders with several other authors.

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:10:00 +0000

I read Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols back before the Read-A-Thon so forgive me if my review is brief. This one got great reviews all over the blogosphere and I was really excited about getting my hands on it. I think it really holds up to the hype and only have a few minor complaints.

So what happens? Meg is a high school senior. She's got quite the reputation and the blue hair to back up her attitude. She lives in Smalltown, Alabama (Alabama! Yay!) and is dying to get away. It's the week before spring break and she and her trouble-making boyfriend are caught on the railroad bridge. Local cop, and recent high school grad himself, John After is determined to teach the kids a lesson so they have to do a ride along all week- spring break week- as punishment. Meg has to ride with John After. The entire book takes place within a one week span, during with both Meg and John After learn a lot about life and each other.

How did I like it? I loved it. I think I loved the journey even more than the ending, but the ending was good too. Meg and John After are both very well drawn, despite being complete opposites. Meg really learns what is important to her, and it's not just graduating and getting away. John After is able to release some of his demons as well. I thought the week they spent together was really well done, from almost all angles. It's possible that Echols took a couple aspects a wee bit far to prove a point, one that I think we would have gotten anyway, but it didn't ruin the book for me. (The title IS Going Too Far!) I loved that even when the characters pushed each other to the limit they were able to get over it without drawing it out into a major conflict. The little details are perfectly done, from John After's scribbled drawings to the details of the diner Meg's parents own. I LOVED John After. (Seriously, second only to Wes so far this year!) I loved that we saw him as both an adult and as a 19 year old, as a cop and as a guy. (Suddenly I feel a bit creepy talking about the boys in YA novels. I will redeem myself with my review of an actually adult romance novel later this week.)

This one will be going on my best of 2009 list.

I loved that this is by an Alabama author, and I really want to look for her other books. My library doesn't have any, but perhaps ILL will. You can find Jennifer Echols's website here, and her blog is here. I could very easily imagine several small towns that could have been the setting for this one, which made me love it all the more. (One of the reasons that one of my very favorite books is Heartbreak Hotel by Anne Rivers Siddons is that I can perfectly imagine myself there, having gone to Auburn.)

If you liked this one, you might check out some of my other YA reviews, including:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Some other bloggy reviews:
Angieville
Katidom
The Book Smugglers (that one really nails it)
Persnickety Snark

Did you read it? What did you think? Did I miss your review?

Worst Week Ever?

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:04:00 +0000

Remember how I said it had been a bad week? Today we took the Bug to the ER for a possible seizure. The CT scan showed all normal, healthy brain. We're to call for follow up appointments tomorrow. Anyway.

CRAPPY WEEK.

Edited to add what happened: He fell a very short distance and bumped his cheek. He got up crying and did that thing he does where he screams til he holds his breath and then passes out. He has done this before and while it's freaky, it's not scary. This time though, we he would normally come out of the faint he had what appeared to be a seizure. It lasted long enough for me to send the neighbor's kid over to get his dad (Mike was not home) and for the dad to come over and us to call 911. At least 2 minutes, perhaps a bit more. So we went to the ER.

October Reading Update (TSS)

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:08:00 +0000

Despite everything else this month, I actually managed to read 4 books! Looking at the titles it is clear that I'm going to easy reads, but a book is a book and I'm happy to have time to read anything. My goal for the year was 52 books and right now I'm sitting at 39. It might be a stretch to make my goal at this point, but hopefully I'll get close.

Here's what I read in October:

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway (my review)
Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols (review to come Monday)
The Missing Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen E Olson (review to come Wednesday)
Vision in White by Nora Roberts (review to be written soon)

I've added a few books to my "I'd like to read that!" list, based on the following reviews:

One Day by David Nicholls- Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies and Keris at Five Minutes Peace
The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist- Kristen at BookNAround
When Mike Kissed Emma by Christine Marciniak - Liz B at A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy
Methland by Nick Reding- Maggie at Maggie Reads
Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern- Thao at Serenehours
The Ex Games by Jennifer Echols - Adele at Persnickety Snark
Hate List by Jennifer Brown- Staci at Life in the Thumb
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts - Rowena at Book Binge
Abandoned by Cody McFadyen - Lesley at Lesley's Book Nook

I have a handful of books in various states of progress, as usual. I don't expect to finish them all by the end of the year, but a couple have promise. I also just received a copy of The Lace Reader: A Novel by Brunonia Barry in the mail that I am looking forward to diving into. Today I have some laundry to do and a shop order to complete, but then I hope to spend a little time reading one of the books. I haven't spent a lot of time reading blogs lately either so I might take a little time to blog hop and leave comments.

What are your plans for today? Have you kept up with your reading goals this year? Are you adding books to your lists faster than you can keep up? Are your fingernails still painted black from your witch costume?

Please note, I am an Amazon Associate, I do receive a small (very small) percentage from any book you buy from my links to Amazon.com.

Confessions of a Reader #1, the paranormal classic

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:26:00 +0000

Ti over at Book Chatter (and other stuff) hosts a weekly meme called Confessions of a Reader. I don't expect that I'll have a weekly confession, but I do have one that I've been saving up to post somewhere and this seems like a good time.

Here it is: I totally don't get why someone would ever want to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters or The War of the Worlds Plus Blood, Guts and Zombies. I Just. Don't. Get. It. Pride and Prejudice , yes. Books about zombies, yes. (Well, kinda. I'm not hugely impressed with the cult following zombies get. Why are they cool when Vampires are cheesy? People who would never read Twilight are all over The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Why is that?) I understand the love of classics. I understand that people love a good retelling. I am a huge fan of paranormal books in general. I do not understand this trend to throw paranormal stuff into the classics in this manner. I have zero interest in reading those.

Austenland as a retelling of Pride and Prejudice is fine. The movie Clueless for a retelling of Emma , also fine. I love seeing a modern retelling of a great story, with new characters following a classic plot. But I just don't get splicing paranormal bits into a perfectly good book.

If you're read these, can you tell me why? Did you enjoy them? Did you read and enjoy the original? If you haven't, would you? What about books that take the classic characters and write a whole new book, like Vampire Darcy's Desire: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation or Darcy's Temptation: A Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice? (I find them slightly more appealing, but they still wouldn't be on the top of my list.)

Do you have a confession to make? Drop by Ti's and leave a link, will ya?

Random Friday: TGIF

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:32:00 +0000

This has been a really tough week in our house. We had some bad financial surprises to start us off, The Pirate has H1N1 (but so far, knock wood, not the Bug), and work has been stressful. I have gotten an amazing amount of support from an online community of which I am a part and I can't begin to express my thanks to them. Their kindness and understanding has made a hard thing bearable. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I don't think any of them read my blog but I wanted to mention the kindness of the invisible people in my computer. I have been beyond stressed and haven't had the peace of mind to blog. That said, here are some thoughts.

It snowed here for the last two days.

I have three books waiting for review. I hope to actually review them before I forget them.

Tomorrow is Halloween and I am not at all excited about it.

Shop Update: I have listed a brand spankin' new type of item to the shop this week- small zippered wallets. They have a zipper pouch big enough for your credit card, cash, id, and chap stick, and a second snapped pocket that will also hold an id or credit card. They also have a key ring so you could attach them to your keys if desired. Go check them out. I have quite a few more cut out and ready to sew, so keep watching if you don't see a pattern you like. I also have a few crayon rolls in the wings.

Read-a-thon recovery

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:59:00 +0000

Well, I made it until shortly after midnight. Just as I was getting into my book and thinking that maybe I'd make it a few more hours The Bug woke up crying. I brought him out here but the book distracted him from going back to sleep. I spent half an hour or so trying to get him to drop off and when he finally did I put him back to bed. Where he instantly started to cry and woke up the Pirate. The two of us traded kids for a bit before Mike sent me to bed. It was not a good couple of hours and we have no idea what got into them. In any case, the read-a-thon was over. This morning the Bug came into bed with me and slept for a couple of hours (HIGHLY unusual!)

Here's my "stats"
Time read: no idea. A solid hour and a half in the morning, then off and on until about 4. Home from the party at 9 and read from about 10 to 12.
Pages read: 417
Books read: 1 and a half (The Missing Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen E. Olson and Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, Book 2) by Patricia Briggs
Blogs visited: not many!
Twitter: yes

Lesson learned: It is possible to do the read-a-thon with small children, just lower your expectations. I advise against leaving in the middle as it's very hard to regain your motivation to stay up late. I'd love to be able to make it all night, perhaps the next one will be the one! Thanks to all the cheerleaders who left such great comments, and all the bloggers who did mini-challenges and organized us all.

Read-a-thon, a mini-challenge

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:42:00 +0000

Infant Bibliophile wants to know my 5 favorite children's books. I'm pretty sure I've told her all five at some point but here we go:

1. Doggies One Dog, Woof.
2. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale - Where's Knuffle Bunny??
3. Llama Llama Red Pajama- Stop with all this llama drama
4. The Gruffalo-The Pirate: "Mommy, are Gruffalos real?"
5. How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?-Then one kiss more...

And that's all the review you get at midnight!

Read-a-thon, Hour 16? I think?

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:20:00 +0000

Back at it!

It's time to choose what I want to read next and I can't decide. Someone go look at my stack and tell me what to read.

Jill has a mini-challenge asking us about music associated with the read-a-thon or reading. I don't usually listen to music while I read, because usually Mike has the tv on. There is however one romance novel that really calls out to me for music. In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind is all about the blues and I can't help but want to listen to them whenever I reread the book. Or for that matter whenever I think about the book. The book itself has a very strong storyline (though the little mystery is easy to figure out) and strong main characters. The blues, however, are as much of the story as the people. The two cds I most want to listen to with it are Keb' Mo''s Keb Mo and BB King and Eric Clapton's Riding with the King (which is easily my favorite CD of all time, and which I have LOST!!) So, not a specific song, but a specific mood and a book that calls out for music.

The other specific song that reminds me of the Read-a-thon is the Harry Potter song that TRISH always links to! Trish! Where's our link??

Read-a-thon, update number four

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:44:00 +0000

Where were we? The boys are all three sleeping (what are the chances??) and I finally got to read some more.

Here's my stats:
Books read: 1- The Missing Ink by Karen E. Olson
Pages read: 299
Time spent reading: who the hell knows?
Mini-challenges done: 1, kinda
Blogs visited: 2
Realizations had: 1- I forgot to buy snacks. I am scrounging. Cheese stick anyone?

Yeah, I suck.

Unfortunately, we still have a family party to attend tonight so even though the house is finally quiet, I have to go get ready. I am hoping that by the time we get home the boys will be ready to crash and I can read into the wee hours with the rest of you.

How's everyone else holding up?

Read-a-thon, what Read-a-thon?

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:44:00 +0000

It's shortly before 1pm, we're just over 6 hours into the Read-a-thon. I've managed to read almost 200 pages. Bah.

They are currently playing in the doghouse perhaps I can get a few minutes in now!

I hope everyone else's reading is going well.

Read-a-thon: Trending on Twitter, Lookit us go!

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:23:00 +0000

Look at all the readers this morning! I got to read for just over an hour before the boys woke up. I suspect it will be a while before I can jump back in with my full attention.

Meanwhile over at Wordlily there is a mini-challenge to capture a screen shot of the #readathon trending on Twitter. I have tried for the last 30 minutes to upload my screenshot but no dice. You'll just have to trust me on it!

Read-a-Thon: It begins again.

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:01:00 +0000

Good Morning Read-a-Thon'ers!
It's 6 am and I just settled in with a cup of coffee (pre-loaded the coffee pot, yes I did!) and two big stacks of books. I'll be lucky to get one or two read all day, but I need CHOICES.

This first stack is my library stack, minus a few sewing books. There's a nice mix here of YA, nonfiction, mystery and crafting books. Chocolat and the Nora Roberts are both large print so that hopefully I can read while I ride the bike for the 100 Mile Challenge.

The ones in this stack are my personal books. I thought I'd throw in a couple romance novels in case the mood struck, plus there's In the Woods.

I know everyone else posted their stacks earlier in the week, I just got around to taking my pictures last night. I'm hoping to get an hour or so in before the boys wake up and join me.

Game ON!

Random Friday, pre-Read-a-thon

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:01:00 +0000

I took the Bug for his 15 month check up today. Granted, he's 18 months, but better late than never! At his 12 month when they gave him his shots he passed out. This time he barely even cried. For those who are curious, he's 23 lbs (20th%) and 33 inches tall (70th%).

Our internet at work is messed up. This really put a kink in my plans to clear out my Google Reader before the Read-a-Thon tomorrow. New plan is to just clear out the bookish ones! This is also why this is so late in posting. And speaking of Google Reader, I have had a couple new people show up in my section of people who I see their shared items. I LOVE that! I want to see everyone's shared items! If you know an easy way to add people, please let me know.

Plans for the Read-a-thon continue, however sketchy. Mike is sick AND will be at work both days. The Bug has started to cough. It is supposed to rain so kicking them into the backyard is not an option. And now we have an unavoidable birthday party on Saturday night. I'll do my best, but will be absent a good bit. I did stop at the library and picked up two more hold books to add to my stack. I'll post an entire stack post first thing in the morning.

There was a dead snake in my dining room last night!

Reminder: Every comment you leave before November 1st enters you into my anniversary contest! There will be some nice handmade goodies as well as a couple bookish goodies in the prize bag, so comment comment comment.

Shop Update: I listed two new backpacks in the shop this week as well as the lovely banner pictured above (it says "be thankful) (Also, that's what color my kitchen walls are!) Go check 'em out. This week I experimented with a little zippered wallet as well and you can defininately expect to see some of those showing up soon, and at a decent price.

What are you plans for the weekend? Are you Read-A-Thoning? If not, why not? Do you think the HUNDREDS of us that signed up are insane? (I kinda do!) If you are, are you planning an early bedtime tonight?

Reading about marketing, two brief reviews

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:08:00 +0000

I've recently read two books about marketing and I'm going to save myself some work and review them in one post. First is How to Market and Sell Your Art, Music, Photographs, & Handmade Crafts Online by Lee Rowley and the other is Rubies in the Orchard: How to Uncover the Hidden Gems in Your Business by Lynda Resnick.

I picked up How to Market and Sell Your Art, Music, Photographs, & Handmade Crafts Online at the library a few weeks ago. Before checking it out I double checked the publication date, as anything about technology gets outdated so quickly that I didn't want to waste my time if it wasn't going to be helpful. This one was published in 2008 so it seemed like it would be fairly accurate. As it turned out, the book itself was really aimed at someone with a little less computer experience than I have and didn't really give me a lot of new ideas. I can see that there is a group of people who could really use the book, but I am not that person. The book it divided into chapters about buying a computer, creating a website, hiring help, and other similar topics. There is a chapter on social media as well, but it emphasized using MySpace with only a brief mention of Facebook and that's about it. I learned a tiny bit about keywords, but that's pretty much the only thing I got out of it. The plus side is that I "read" it in a couple of hours and was done.

Rubies in the Orchard: How to Uncover the Hidden Gems in Your Business was sent to me directly by the author, or rather by her company POMWonderful, back in February. Resnick and her husband are (or were) owners of several well known companies, including POM, Teleflora, and Fiji water. I looked forward to discovering how she managed to turn the companies into a success. However, I quickly got the feeling that the book itself was nothing more than a giant ad for her various companies, and having received it directly from her just confirms this feeling. I read through the marvelous success of POM, and then that of Teleflora, and then her brilliance with the Franklin Mint before I got tired of hearing her pat herself on the back. Unfortunately, hearing her brag wasn't what I was looking for in a marketing book and I decided not to finish the book at all. I'm very glad that I did not pay for this one.

You can find more reviews at:
Savvy Verse & Wit,
Lost in Books,
book-a-rama

Did I miss yours?

What marketing book or advice do you like? Do you ever read business books? How do you feel about an author using his or her book as a giant advertisement for their product?

The Read-a-Thon OR I May Be Crazy(TSS)

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:37:00 +0000

Next Saturday is the 24 Hour Read-a-Thon. I've wavered a lot on it. I was in, then I wasn't. I really would like to participate, even just a little. So I went ahead and signed up! It is entirely possible that I'll get a couple hours in and that's it. I'll be solo parenting next weekend, both on Saturday and Sunday, and I don't wanna kill myself trying to read. But I'm gonna do it anyway.

So what will I read? I just went to Goodreads and made myself a library shelf and I'm working on adding all my library books to it (I'm also gonna add it to my sidebar and try to keep it updated.) I haven't taken a picture of them yet but will before it starts. I'm also adding In the Woods because I hear it's spooky and the middle of the night the weekend before Halloween seems like a good time for spooky. I'll also add anything else I've already started.

I REALLY hope the cheerleaders are good this time! (Last time they kind petered out in the middle of the night when I really could have used the help!)

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a TON of stuff to get done before Saturday!

Random Friday: Halfway through October!

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:01:00 +0000

I know I said I was gonna, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do the Read-a-Thon now. Mike has to work both Saturday and Sunday that weekend and I think it might just be too hard.

So, you all saw that the Kindle was down to $259, right? I don't have the money for one. I don't think I'd even use it that much. But I still want one.

On Wednesday night the Pirate came home insisting we make pumpkin muffins. I didn't have the stuff for that, but I did have a Carrot cake box mix. And the Pirate CAN'T READ. So we made ~~cupcakes~~ muffins. And they were good.

Last week I said I wanted to make cloth napkins. This week I did. We bought some clearance pirate fabric and made two sets of napkins. They are smaller than most cloth napkins- 7X14. Folding them in half once makes them the same size as paper napkins from the store. This is plenty for a single use, which is all we'd do anyway with small kids. The Pirate thinks it is great fun to pick out your napkin each time you eat. I'm thinking that his introduction to folding laundry may become folding napkins to fit in the basket.

A couple new books showed up at my door this week from Paperbackswap. If I can keep up with the shop like I am now, and make it routine, I might have time to read again soon!

Shop Update: I have GOT to find a way to take indoor pictures. The soggy backyard with the slimy garden isn't so lovely. I have 2 backpacks and a fall/harvest banner waiting for pictures. I've managed to find time to sew several nights this week. I love it.

So much to do, so little time!

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:53:00 +0000

I'm behind. I'm running out of time and motivation in my days well before I get everything I want done. I need to be staying up later or getting up earlier or something. The new sewing room is so lovely and enticing at 5 pm, but by the time I can get down there at 8pm I'm already settling in at the computer instead. I've got tons of things I want to work on as well as a few things with deadlines, but that chair is just so darn comfy.

I've got stacks of books that I really want to read, and every day at least one book I already own is blogged somewhere and suddenly I urgently need to read it. Fortunately the Read-a-thon is coming and perhaps I can catch up a little there. Still haven't formally signed up since I already know I'll be going it alone with the boys all day that day, but I will.

And Google Reader! WOW. I've managed to overwhelm myself with all your lovely blogs. I turned off total unread counts several weeks ago so that I am not stressed out by it, but I can tell you it's closer to 1000+ than to 0. Which leads me to mention something else- with so many blogs, many of which have the word "books" in the title, it's sometimes hard for me to keep you all straight. Here's what I've started to do: if you don't post a lot I still read you one or two posts at a time. If you're a frequent poster I tend to let you build up for a week (or two if I'm really behind) and then read it all in one fell swoop. I'll click through on the ones that I want to comment on, so you sometimes see me posting comments to several old posts all at once. This actually works well for me because then I can focus on YOUR blog instead of it being scattered in with a lot of others. Obviously, there are exceptions to this, but right now it's working for me. The other benefit is that I can skim all those weekly memes at all once instead of spending all day Tuesday paging through Tuesday Teasers. The downfall is that I miss most contests and catch a lot of great conversations at the tail end.

Edited to add: Just as I hit publish on this post I got notification that I won a slot in a ecourse on marketing your craft business. I am SO excited to take the class, I really think it'll be incredibly useful, but there's more time to set aside.

Any tips? What do you do when you feel overwhelmed by everything? To do lists? Naps? Blog breaks (no!)? Hole up with a good book and a glass of wine? How do you keep your blog reader managable? (Yes, I know I'm subscribed to too much stuff. I'm working on that one.) What is the first thing to go when you're feeling behind? What do you find impossible to give up?

Sewing room tour

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:50:00 +0000

No Sunday Salon for me today! We've spent the last 24 hours moving every piece of furniture in my sewing area. I share the room with the boys and we decided it would make more sense to flip the room 180 degrees. So we did. This is a very large basement room, bare concrete floor, ugly paneling, no windows. None of that has changed.

Mike built me a big work table, so we started with that. We used couches to split the room in half. We got rid of some furniture and re-purposed other pieces. We made a giant chalkboard for the boys.

It was a lot of work. It's still not a room worthy of a magazine spread, but it's so much better that I can't even describe it. I am so excited to get to work down there. There are still a few details to finish, like hanging my cork boards and whiteboards. The chalkboard needs to be seasoned before they can use it. The boys seem to like it better, and there are lots more things for them to do.

You can see a guided tour of it on my flickr page, complete with notes. I'd love to say they are all perfect photos, but I was working with 30 seconds time in a windowless room. Go look anyway.

Now I'm reading to have craft night at my house. Who's coming?

Random Friday: Apple Picking

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:39:00 +0000

We picked the apples in our tree last weekend. This was the results of about 10 minutes of picking. The tree is still about 1/2 full but we won't be able to reach too many more. I think I'm going to make crockpot apple butter this weekend.

I don't usually blog about giveaways for an extra entry, but this blog is giving away a $200 Best Buy gift certificate. We have been without a microwave for 3 months, at least. We've mostly learned to work around it, but with the cold weather it would be really nice to be able to heat up a bowl of soup quickly. Or defrost meat.

Melanie has started a brand new blog about a Southern girl moving North, go say hello and welcome her to blogging.

How do you keep track of bookmarks? I have all these sewing links and tutorials that I have been emailing to myself and filing them away, but it's not a good way to do it. I tried del.icio.us (or whatever it is) but I am not a total fan. Seems like I'm always having to log into it and I'm usually too impatient. Prior to that I used Google bookmarks and I'm thinking I might go back to them. If I had all the money in the world for printer ink I'd print them all out and store them in binders. Some of them are such great inspiration and you don't get that from looking at a link.

So the FTC has decided that ARCs and other freebies are compensation for a review and that bloggers should disclose where the book comes from. Um. Ok. I'd prefer that bloggers did anway. If you're worried about the tax implications, the logical solution would be: DON'T ACCEPT ARCs. No? I know a lot of people put a lot of time and effort into their blog (I do too!) and that ARCs and blog tours are a huge part of what they do. I realize that this (might) make them reconsider what they do, but if you're that worried talk to your tax preparer and make the disclosure. Of don't accept free stuff. Myself, I'll continue to accept ARCs at the rate I currently do, which is about 1 every 6 months, and hey, I'll say where I got it on my post. Perhaps I am oversimplifying the issue, but I do think that some people are making it into a much bigger deal than it is.

Are these boots as cool as I think or really wierd? I'd go with the black if I were buying, but you can see them better in the olive. Ok, I prefer the olive, but the black would fill a hole in my wardrobe.

I'm trying to do a weekly craft roundup over at the madebylisah blog. This week's is a little thin, but you can see my most recent quilt block there. Forgive the poor quality photo, it was a last minute, late at night, gotta get this done shot. I need to make myself a little button to post with both that weekly post and Random Friday. Or find a volunteer to do it for me.

Weekly Shop Update: Nothing new posted this week. I was a busy bee though, making up and sending out another tailgating banner (War Eagle baby!) and finishing up a nice sized batch of notepads. I have two more backpacks in the works, but lighting conditions haven't inspired me to photograph them yet.

What's on your desk Wednesday?

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:21:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago Kristen tagged me for the What's on your desk Wednesday meme. It took me a while to remember it before Wednesday was over, but today is the day. Now, I don't really have a desk. I have a cushy chair next to a endtable and a rolling table for my laptop. I took a picture anyway.

Here's the rules:

What's on your desk Wednesday? is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Sassy Brit of Alternative-Read.com. Check her blog out each Wednesday for the post titled What's on your desk Wednesday?

You can do one of two things or both!

Grab a camera and take a photo of your desk! Or anywhere you stack your books/TBR pile. And no tidying!
Add this photo to your blog.
Tag at least 5 people!
Come back here and leave a link back to your photo in comments.

OR

List at least 5 BOOKISH things on your desk (I'm thinking your TBR pile or books you haven't shelved...)
List at least 5 NON BOOK things. (I'm thinking some of some of the more unusual items on your desk/table?)
Tag at least 5 people to do the same.
Come back here and leave your link, so we can come and visit your blog. Or add your answers in the comments if you don't have a blog.

This is the full view. In this picture you can see my chair (that badly needs a slipcover since I'm not getting new furniture until my children have manners), my purse, the rolling cart and the endtable. On the floor are the Bug's favorite puzzle and current favorite book (and yes, we should vacuum. Don't tell Mike I posted this!) Underneath the table are a few random books and some more notepads.

In the close up there is a stack of library books on top of a handful of magazines. The magazines have been there for months. There is also a Kim Harrison book that I have read half of, two rolls of ribbon for making the drawstring pouches that I ship shop goodies in, a hair elastic, chapstick, some hair spray stuff (water, epson salt, a squirt of gel. Useful for small boys and adults alike!) and a notepad. And a giant Mountain Dew.

Now I'm supposed to tag 5 of you, which is really hard for me! I always tag the same people every time so let's try these nice folks today:

Lisa at Lit and Life

JoAnn at Lakeside Musing

Melissa at Shhhh I'm Reading..

Amanda at The Zen Leaf

Tina at Tina Says...

Be sure to come back and leave me a link to your desk!

(And don't forget that every comment you leave on my blog gets you an entry into my anniversary giveaway.)

Happy Blogiversary to me!

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:55:00 +0000

Books Lists Life is 3 years old today!

(sorry for the spacing, Blogger won't let me add paragraph breaks)

I had hoped to do a giveaway of a cute totebag or backpack for all you book carrying and diaper carrying folks, but October 6th came earlier than I expected. I've decided to do a anniversary giveaway on November 1st instead. The prize will be a handmade tote bag with a few goodies stuffed inside, and no, it won't be all my leftover Halloween candy (though that IS a good idea!)

Here's how to enter: for every comment you leave between September 1st and October 31st I will enter your name one time in the drawing. But Lisa, you say, September 1st was a month ago! You're RIGHT! I want to give my regular commenters a slight advantage. Sue me. I reserve to right to discard ANY comment that I decide is just there as filler space, so don't leave 20 comments on this post unless you actually have 20 things to say. And don't intentionally spread them out either! I don't have a problem with "Oh, that sounds great I want to read that!" or "Hey, what adorable children you have!" but a string of "me too" "pick me" "I have cooties!" won't cut it. (Ok, that last one might make me laugh and I'd probably leave it in.) This is completely subjective on my part, I realize that, but I think most of you understand what I'm getting at-- NO SPAM!

This is open to my international friends as well, unless you are the person commenting in Chinese (? like I know) on the August 17th Random Friday post. You are not eligible.

In the meantime, in honor of my anniversary (birthday?) I'd like to ask you a couple questions.

What is your best blogging TO DO tip?
What is your best blogging DON'T DO tip?
What do you like to see in someone's sidebar(s)?
What do you wish blogger swould NOT do?
Where do you find new to you blogs? Comments? Twitter? Google?

Don't feel obligated to answer them all, or even any of them, but I am curious. And don't answer them in four separate comments, k?

A Reading Update, with Lists (TSS)

bookslistslife@gmail.com (Lisa) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:03:00 +0000

Ok, brace yourself. I have a bunch of book lists to share today.

First, Trish's Non-Fiction Five Challenge ended a few days ago. The challenge was to read 5 non-fiction books between May and the end of September. I didn't quite make it, finishing up at four books:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (I did not review this, but I loved it, and it changed my way of thinking about food.)
Rapture Ready! by Daniel Radosh (my review)
Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco (my review)
The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections by Amanda Blake Soule (my review)

I might not have finished the challenge but I got closer than I have on any other!

I added quite a few books to my TBR list in September (which is different from the TBR shelves!) Here's the titles, followed by a link to the review that pushed me over the edge.

Up for Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me About Love, Sex, and Starting Over by Cathy Alter - Nat at Book, Line and Sinker
Liar by Justine Larbalesteir- Liz B at A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy
The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff- Ti at Book Chatter and Other Stuff (BARGAIN PRICE!)
Playboy Boss by Kate Hardy- Senetra, Guest Reviewer at avidbookreader
French Milk by Lucy Knisley- JoAnn at Lakeside Musing (BARGAIN PRICE!)
Tattoo Machine: Tall Tales, True Stories, and My Life in Ink by Jeff Johnson- Maggie at Maggie Reads
Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr- Amanda at A Patchwork of Books
When Seducing a Duke by Kathryn Smith- Katiebabs at Babbling about Books
Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted- Angiegirl at Angieville (LOVE that cover!)
Can't Stand The Heat by Louisa Edwards- Jessica at Racy Romance Reviews
Almost Perfect
by Brian Katcher- Abby (the) Librarian

You can see the whole list at this link. What did you add to your list this month?

As I've mentioned before, I read several books at once. I decided to round up all the books that I've read more than a chapter of and make a list. It's about this time a year where I start to think that I should push to finish the ones I've started so that I can start next year with a blank slate. In no particular order, here's what I'm reading now:

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
For a Few Demons More (The Hollows, Book 5) by Kim Harrison
The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs
It Sucked and Then I Cried by Heather Armstrong
Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul by Edward Humes
Death Masks (The Dresden Files, Book 5) by Jim Butcher
Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James

Recent blog posts have made me want to read Outlander. And I really do plan to read Patricia Brigg's Hunting Ground very soon.

And then there are all the library books I have checked out.

Do you feel like you need to finish certain books before the end of the year? Do you have a stack of books you need to get back to or do you just read one til it's done? Are you frantically trying to finish your year end challenges? What's on your list?