Water for Elephants

"As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival."

I just couldn't put this book down. I stayed up until almost 2 am finishing Water for Elephants. 


Gruen has an amazing talent for painting a picture in my mind. I felt as though I was in the book and watching everything take place. To be able to clearly see in my mind a circus act performed was incredible. Each and every step was viewed in my mind rather than just the general idea that a performance was taking place.


I finished the book torn between wanting to go to a circus (I've never been) and wanting to boycott them for past offenses, though I'm sure things are much better these days. 


Great book, must read!

I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas

I downloaded I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas expecting a humorous, cynical read about Christmas. Bah hum bug.

What you get instead of constant humor is a lesson in humanity. Black doesn't claim to be perfect, he admits many faults throughout this book. Black walks us through a typical holiday season from his perspective from Thanksgiving through Christmas. While his view of the commercial Christmas is negative, he celebrates Christmas day with friends and by donating to various charities. Black sets a good example even though he admits that he could never possibly do or give enough.

With the stage and microphone stripped away, we are left with a man who has fought to get where he is today. A man who is not without regrets. When you take away the humor, we're left with a man who had a brush with marriage and fatherhood.

I did get a chuckle or two from this book but I felt more sobered by Black's book than tickled. I didn't walk away from this book hating Christmas but rather inspired to do more for others.

Personal Reading Challenge

Over the weekend we moved our bookshelves from an unused downstairs bedroom up to our personal bedroom.  This accomplished two things. 1. We transformed an unused bedroom into a family/playroom for us and our daughter. 2. We do most of our reading at bedtime, so by having the bookshelves in our bedroom, we're promoting reading.

Every April and October, our local library distract has a Friends of the Library Book Sale. The books come from the library itself and many donations from the community. I personally donate a large number of books each year. I go to both sales each year, probably two days of the sale each time. On average, I gain about 60-100 new books each year. Once I finish reading them, I donate them back. The books are inexpensive and the profit goes to many great causes, supporting our local library and sending books to our troops.

I also have friends and family members (ahem HEATHER) that constantly give me books to read, usually with permission to donate when I am done with them.

As you can imagine, my ONE bookshelf is double stacked.

Last year my husband bought me a Nook e-reader. I've had it for over a year and have yet to pay for a book for it. Between Barnes and Noble's free selection, Gutenberg.org , and the Overdrive program through our library, my Nook bookshelf resembles the one in my bedroom...packed.

My problem is that I continue to shop the book sale (4 or so trips a year), but since the addition of my Nook, that is so comfy in my hand and easy to read (!), I have stopped reading actual books. Which means that when it comes time for me to make room by selecting books to donate I have a difficult time since I haven't read any of them! Of my haul from April, I have read ONE book. It was a good book, but I'm sure the others are too!

So here is my personal challenge. I am going to read each book on my shelf.

I will start by removing and boxing up my "collector" books, the books that I have already read and though I may never read again I am unwilling to part with, and ship them off to my storage unit for safe keeping. I will then place ALL of my unread books on my shelf. That's right, despite my cleansing ritual, I still have additional books in boxes, canvas bags and plastic tubs. Yes, I do have a problem with books! From there I will begin reading through ALL of my unread books until every last one has been read or discarded because I couldn't get into it. Along the way I will attempt to review each one (I'm bad about that but it is a habit I need to form.)

So there you have it. There is no deadline, no real rules. I would like to increase my reading time. Currently I only read at bedtime, but now that we have this cozy reading corner in the family room, I would like to spend LESS time online and MORE time doing the things I love...like reading!

Follow my progress here and on Goodreads.

P.S Kim, if you're reading this...I'm not proofreading that rambling mess. If you found a typo or bad grammar, you're just going to have to ignore it. *Giggles*

Pinterest

I'm back with one of my newest addictions; Pinterest. I first heard of Pinterest from my mother who heard of it from Jessica who heard of it from...Yeah, you get the point. So mother describes Pinterest to me and I can't help but to think that it's a really dumb idea. I mean, all you do is "Pin" things you like on to your "boards". So basically it's like "liking" something on Facebook but instead you have pictures. But I'm not one to pass up on trying a new website, so I signed up.

Today is day two and I now have 85+ pins. I am no shamelessly addicted to Pinterest...and I still don't know why! If you're bored and would like to check out a fun (even if it does seem pointless) website, come follow me, Smurfyabs, at Pinterest!

Well Bred and Dead

Well Bred and Dead: A High Society Mystery
By Catherine O'Connell 

Pauline Cook is a widowed socialite who finds her best friend, Ethan Campbell dead in his apartment. Things aren't always what they seem and many questions quickly arise about her dear friend. Who was Ethan Campbell really?

Well Bred and Dead is well written. It was a light read filled with many twists and much suspense.

I did find it a little difficult to relate and even like Pauline Cook. The character is self centered and obsessed with money. At one point she rants about the pains of going to her expensive prep school as a child wearing brand name clothes from last season. Oh the horrors! She complains constantly throughout the book about her dwindling bank account, but yet has no qualms about buying suits that costs over $2000 just because. A simple lunch out costs her $360, but yet she's afraid of going broke? Sorry honey, Get a JOB! Stop spending! You're 49 years old, GROW UP!

That said, the book was enjoyable. One thing I learned from this book, don't read a funny book on a treadmill! I about fell on my tuckus! Worth reading if you're looking for a nice fluffy mystery novel and can look past the annoying rants of a 49 year old socialite.

Spark People

  I've been focusing on my weight loss goals pretty hard core lately. The best resource I use is Spark People . This website has everything I need and it's free!

I'm sure there are many features that I am not currently utilizing, but here's some of the features that I love.

*Nutrition Tracker. Spark People already has a great database of common foods but I can also manual add stuff if I can't find it. I can also create food groupings which is just awesome...I mean really, who wants to add each ingredient that they used to make up dinner every single time?

*Fitness Tracker. Once again they have a great database of exercises. What's awesome though, is that the calories burned it based on ME. The treadmill might tell me I only burned 50 calories but Spark People tells me the truth.

*Meal Plans. You don't have to use the meal plans, but they are pretty awesome. I set my week up all at once and then print the grocery list. If there's something I don't like I can easily swap it for something similar (they give me a list of options!).

*Spark Pages. You get your own page to customize and make your own. You can have a weight ticker, photos, blog etc. It's basically like a Myspace page, but cooler. ;) (Really who uses Myspace anymore?)

*Community. The community is what makes Spark People so amazing. They have Teams you can join based on your needs and interests, community forums, challenges...The people are so supportive! With a small amount of effort (just start yapping!) you can make lasting friendships with people who have similar goals to your own.

If you're pregnant or breastfeeding, you can check out their sister site Baby Fit. Baby Fit focuses on your health as a Mommy. They have great due date clubs and a similar atmosphere to Spark People.

If you decide to join Spark People, be sure to add me, Smurfyabs!

Little Big Planet...2

Yeah so you had to have known that this post was coming sooner or later, right? Well here it is, my humble opinion of Little Big Planet 1 and 2...

This game is AWESOME! Saw that coming? Yeah well bite me. :)

The first game was fun, so much fun that I still pop it in to play certain levels that are exclusive to that disc. My favorite level of all time? The Dangerous Descent. I could seriously play just that one level over and over for an hour without getting bored. Part of that might be that I'm really good at that level, but whatever. It's not like I was top 10 or anything, but I was proud of being in the top 600 for a minute or two.

Moving on, the second game is just incredible. The controls are all the same but with a few new toys thrown in for extra fun (I just love the grapple gun!). Story mode offers fun new levels with a creative and often funny story line. Backgrounds range from sweet and cute to dark and scary. Of course there's the bigger and better level creator. Honestly, I haven't even tried to start my own level...yet. I've had so much fun playing the Little Big Planet (1 and 2) Story Mode and the community levels, I haven't felt the need for anything else.

The best part about this series is that the gaming never ends. People are constantly creating and publishing amazing new levels for you to try. I honestly believe there's a level (or 100) for everyone. I've seen everything, classic sidescrolling games, retro arcade favorites, shooters, fighting...the only thing Little Big Planet lacks is limits. If you can dream it, you can certainly make it or find someone else that already has.

I love playing with others so being able to team up or against real people over the Playstation Network is great for me. It saves me from having to whine as much to my husband to get him to play with me.

In short, Little Big Planet is a must have for gamers of all levels. If you can't afford LBP2 (check your local Gamestop for a used copy to save a few bucks...that is if any one was dumb enough to part with their copy), pick up the first game.