10/13: Finished my 55th book of the year October 14, 2009

I am almost there- I was slacking a bit when school started, but I’m back on track.  I am now aiming for 75 by year’s end (and no, I do not count books I read to my class such as Horrible Harry, Farley Farts, and The Ugly Pumpkin.)

55th book: Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes  LOVED IT!  Note: I would spell Rachel Rachael because that is my personal preference.  However, that would be incorrect in this case.

Image from: http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:_DxAjXS6tap8oM:http://images.contentreserve.com/ImageType-100/0293-1/%257BAEA8E4BA-245B-486F-916F-D6041F7FABAD%257DImg100.jpg

10/3: went to the New England Mobile Book Fair October 3, 2009

Interesting.  It is pretty much a book warehouse.  Good prices in the bargain room, but the rest weren’t that much of a discount.  Not really worth the drive.  When looking for a picture of books to put on here, I found this and it make me laugh:

5/27: received my 30,000th blog hit! May 27, 2009

5/6: got Street Gang: History of Sesame Street May 6, 2009

I am only a chapter in, but so far so good.  I was waiting on the library list for like 4 months and I finally gave in and bought it.

I laughed so hard when I saw this:

3/10: got an email from an author March 10, 2009

Warning:  Nerd Alert!

If you know nothing else about me, know that I love to read. I was delighted to find an email from Joel Derfner in my inbox today, a response to an email I sent about how I laughed my head off when I read his book Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever.  I thought it was very cool for him to respond, so I thought I would throw this out here:  This book is hysterical.  Buy it.

http://www.joelderfner.com/

Which makes me feel guilty for listing this as a new thing.  I have a habit of emailing authors of books that I really enjoyed.  Awhile ago I received a reply from Abigail Thomas also because I loved her book Three Dog Life so much that I read the entire thing at a Barnes and Noble straight through.  So you can check her out too.

http://www.abigailthomas.net/abigail-thomas-three-dog-life.html

1/25: started a new page January 25, 2009

Cost: Free because I use the library

Time: one book a week (hopefully more) for a year

Because I am reading 52 books this year, I added a page (Reading is Fun!) so I can keep track.  I tend to be on the absentminded side.

1/5: read the first book of the new year January 10, 2009

I challenged myself to read 52 books this year.  I just finished the first one.  It was called Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes. I had heard a lot of good things about it, but I didn’t love it.  It wasn’t terrible, but I just couldn’t really get into it.  Please send your book recommendations my way.

In other news, I returned to school today after what seemed like the longest vacation ever.  I was so happy to be back in my class with my students.  I missed them a lot!  I am so lucky to have a job that I love so much.

1/4: unsubscribed from Boston magazine January 4, 2009

I used to love Boston magazine, but there is apparently a new format.  I can’t get into it, so I discontinued my subscription.  I subscribe to way too many magazines: National Geographic Adventure, Cosmopolitan, Reader’s Digest, Marie Claire, Budget Travel, People, and US Weekly.  I love magazines and would buy them every month/week anyway, so it makes sense to subscribe.

1/3: read Women’s Health magazine January 3, 2009

I much prefer Men’s Health.  Women’s Health seems to be an inadequate ripoff.  I didn’t find anything particularly interesting or exciting in there.  Oh well.  EDIT: I believe they are put out by the same company which would make Women’s Health an inadequate read, but not a ripoff per se.

12/29: read about Dewey the library cat December 29, 2008

I read this book today: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter

It was cute and touching, but I don’t recommend it if you have recently lost a pet yourself.  My cat Barney passed away two weeks ago and it is breaking my heart.  I miss him a ton. I had him since he was a baby and I love him so so so much.   Anyway, the book is good, but I should have let more time pass before I picked it up.  It made me miss my boy even more than I already did.

Some people say that it is dumb to cry over an animal, but I think that is crap because he was part of my family for just about 17 years and I adored him.  There is a huge hole in my life right now.  Yes, I can get another cat but the whole point is that it wouldn’t be him.

B, you were one of a kind and you ruled.

This is me and Barney on Christmas in 2005.  He was always dazzled by catnip.