Guess who turns 6 today?

January 7, 201433 Comments

If you guessed Stacy’s Books give yourself a high five! I am so thankful that I discovered the blogging world those many years ago. What started out as a way to track what I read turned into a way to talk about my interests and make friends. I started this adventure without ever having read a blog so the first year (well okay, and every year after) was a major learning experience. Blogging takes time, time I haven’t always had, but whenever I think about stopping it’s doesn’t take me more than a few days to realize how much I’d miss having my own little spot on the web to say whatever I wanted about anything I wanted. I thank you all for your friendship, anyone who blogs knows that it’s the friendships you find that make it worth all of the work.

I want to give something away so I’m giving a $25 Barnes & Noble giftcard to one of you!!!!! All you need to do is leave a comment on one of my 6 all-time most viewed posts. Or all six, I’ll give you an entry for every one that you leave a comment on 🙂

Here are my most viewed posts of the past 6 years…

1. 5,000 piece puzzle of Florence (this has been viewed 7,678 times. maybe I need more puzzle posts?)

2. Rome pics (Seriously?! This post has no comments and is my 2nd viewed post. Weird. Click to see Jason and I in 2008)

3. Baby-to-be Update (the post after the first ultrasound where I asked for name suggestions. Funny, no one mentioned Gage!)

4. My book problem (2008 was the beginning of my yearly pic of unread books. Oh, how silly I was back then to think that TBR was too big)

5. Monday Movie Meme- Bring on the Heat (interesting that this is the first movie post that appears since it’s pretty much the opposite of hot everywhere right now!)

6. Venice pics (a few more pics from our Italian tour)

So, three of these are Italy related. Maybe I need to change the focus of Stacy’s Books. How does Stacy’s Italian Tour sound?

Anyway, I’ll have Gage choose a winner on Sunday. While I’ll accept kind comments on this post, the sweet talk will not get you an entry for $25 at B&N. You must leave a comment on one of the above posts for that (yes, I’m making you work for it :))

Weekends with Gage(‘s obsession)

January 5, 201438 Comments

When given a present to open on Christmas, Gage would take it and say, “There’s a train in here.” Oftentimes there was, but if there wasn’t not much time or attention was paid and he wanted the next gift because it still had the possibility of being the love of his 3-year-old life. He’s pretty single-minded in his love for trains and we’ve attempted to get him hooked on other things and sometimes it works, for a day or a week, but the trains always come back. In some of the reading we’ve done this last year it is often suggested to feed the obsession and we’ve been doing that but I am trained out. Yesterday we took Gage to his first model train show or as Gage thinks of it, heaven. Let’s look at how Gage spent two-and-half bliss-filled hours…

He was so intent that he did not want to take time out to smile for me. Trains are serious business!

Most of us are obviously crazy about books but is there another obsession that needs fed? Something that you love as much as Gage loves trains?

We have a WINNER and a charity $100 richer!

January 3, 2014January 4, 20149 Comments

Three years ago I started writing my 5 word movie reviews and asking for your input too, tying it to raising money for charity. I love seeing what you all come up with. The more participants the more fun!

We hit 100 reviews at 12:15-ish on January 1st and we have a repeat winner! Heather (Gofita’s Pages) topped the reviews this year with 28! Way to go Heather 🙂 And thanks to the other 16 of you who added your two cents (and $1 for charity). So where is the money going? Let’s hear from Heather…

My charity this year is the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. http://www.afsp.org/

I lost my brother to suicide this year and love that there are people and organizations out there who offer support for those affected by suicide and those in crisis, as well as destigmatizing mental illness in general.

I don’t know how many of you know Heather, but if you don’t you are missing out. When she lost her brother and a good friend weeks apart her post on them both touched me and I think it will you too if you have a few minutes to read it (Life and Death). As we start a new year (even if you are practically snowed in like we are) remember to give more hugs, laugh a little bit more and enjoy life. And if you know of someone who might benefit from this charity I hope you will pass it along to them. I am honored that I can help in some way – even if it’s only by donating $100 (money is never enough) in Heather’s brother’s name, Blaine.

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories

January 2, 2014January 2, 201410 Comments

Tiny Little Book of Tiny Little Stories, Volume 1, 3.75 stars, 88 pages, pub. 2011

From hitRECord, the immensely popular open collaborative production company, and its founder, Golden Globe-nominated actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, comes The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1.

The universe is not made of atoms; it’s made of tiny stories.

To create The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, known within the hitRECord community as RegularJOE–directed thousands of collaborators to tell tiny stories through words and art. With the help of the entire creative collective, Gordon-Levitt culled, edited and curated over 8,500 contributions into this finely tuned collection of original art from 67 contributors. Reminiscent of the 6-Word Memoir series, The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 brings together art and voices from around the world to unite and tell stories that defy size.

from Goodreads

For my first read of the year, I also offer a confession. It’s not a well-kept secret of course, but it is why I was interested in this book. I’ve got a crush on Joseph Gordon-Levitt (not on him name though, I wish it were shorter. Maybe I can call him JG-L?) Not from his geeky days on that alien show, I didn’t watch that, but from his impressive diversity of movie roles. Okay, back to the book. A book with tiny stories like this (one or two pages long) wouldn’t usually say on my radar, but because of JG-L, I put it on my Christmas list and I was happy to find it in my stocking on Christmas Eve.

I could have read the whole thing in no time at all, but chose to read half on Christmas and half yesterday so it could be my first book of the year. I wanted to feel like I was accomplishing some reading goals right off the bat. I love everything about the physical book, the size (a hardcover that fits into the palm of my hand, the end pages full of the books illustrations and the actual black and white pages themselves. This is a great gift book and one that is perfect for the coffee table or guest room.

I liked most of the stories themselves, a few made me laugh out loud and many made me smile. What is a tiny story?

Visit here and you can see stories from volume 3 that came out in November and watch a 2 minute video of JG-L trying to sell it to you. Convinced me 🙂

2013 Book and Movie Favorites and Stats

December 31, 2013December 31, 201346 Comments

Books

I read 56 books this year (that’s one more than last year!) Here they are by the numbers-

Fiction 42, Non-fiction 14

Female authors 35, Male authors 21

Series books- continuing series 6, new series 4 (I only plan to continue one, the Louise Penny series)

Oldest book read? Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit published in 1975

December’s 5 word movie reviews with $ for charity – LET’S GET TO $100 by the 1st!!

December 30, 2013January 1, 20144 Comments

We finally made it to $100 for charity!! But you can still add your 5 words to start raising the next $100 for a new charity! Take a peak through the backlist or scroll through this year’s reviews to see if you missed anything.

You know the drill, add your 5 words to mine and earn $1 for charity. Once we get to $100 the person with the most reviews will choose the charity. Click here to see the past winners, the charities they chose and to see the other reviews you can add to. We made it to $100! Anyone is welcome to join in at any time.

The Hobbit:The Desolation of Smaug, 2013 (Cast-Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly) Grade A-

Smaug is compelling. Quality storytelling.

The Internship, 2013 (Cast-Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rose Byrne, John Goodman) Grade B-

Predictable but enjoyable Google infomercial.

Google overdose with funny guys. (Sheree)

Admission, 2013 (Cast-Tina Fey, Paul Rudd) Grade B-

Likeable chracters with decent story

Good; don’t compare to book (Kathy)

Cute but didn’t stand out. (Heather)

The Wolf of Wall Street, 2013 (Cast-Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler) Grade D

Sex, drugs, depravity. Repeat. Repeat.

Weekends with Gage-Welcome to 2014!

December 29, 201336 Comments

Gage wasn’t on the blog much this year, but that will change in 2014 as I plan on having Weekends with Gage every week. I will have the usual kid book reviews, kid book activities, some milestones, but I’ve also decided to go back to basics and come out of the closet, such as it is. I miss blogging about being Gage’s mom and after I read through my posts from that first year I was so glad that I had taken the time because they are all moments I can’t get back. The coming out of the closet part is a closet that some of you already know about but now one that I am taking public on the blog, last December before Christmas Gage was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (for him the mild side of autism). Last year I wasn’t up to talking about about it and Jason didn’t think it was fair to blog about Gage when he had no control or say over it, but we’ve come to an understanding 🙂 This past year I have found so many bloggers who have already been through what we are going through and lived to tell the tale and they were a source of comfort and information to me and I think I can add to the conversation. Gage’s PDD diagnosis is a small part of who he is (some therapists aren’t even sure the diagnosis is correct) but a part I want to acknowledge because otherwise it seems like I think it’s something bad or embarrassing and that’s not true. I couldn’t be prouder of him. He is super smart and comes up with some of the best lines. He is doing well because he’s worked so hard this year and the sky’s the limit for 2014!

Jason’s dad came over the weekend and I had the chance to recreate a photo I took in May 2011. Oh my how times have changed 🙂 Forgive the quality – I only had time for the camera phone!

2013 Challenge fail but high hopes for 2014 Finishing the Series Reading Challenge

December 28, 2013December 28, 20139 Comments

I’d given up challenges a few years ago because they put too much pressure on my reading. Last year I gave myself a personal challenge of reading 9 books, but failed. I only had to read these awesome books.. I managed to read 6 of them which is still okay. After I read everyone’s favorites lists this year I may make a personal reading list again. If at first you don’t succeed and all that.

This year I decided to join one challenge. I saw that Bookfan Mary was going to make this her one challenge of the year and I thought it sounded like a great idea. I am a champion at starting a series but not in completing them. Sometimes I don’t care for the first one but often I just get distracted by new shiny books.

So, I’m signing up here and choosing one series, level 1, so that I don’t have to work too hard to feel successful 🙂 I’ll be completing a series that I started back in 2009 when read the first two of Shirley Tallman’s Sarah Woolson series. It’s a great historical mystery series set in San Francisco. I chose this one because I’m only three behind and I have the next two on my shelves already.

#3 The Cliff House Strangler

#4 Scandal on Rincon Hill

#5 Death on Telegraph Hill

Looking for Alaska by John Green

December 27, 201310 Comments

Looking for Alaska. Finished audio 12-23-13, rating 4.25, YA, pub. 2005

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter’s whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the “Great Perhaps” (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

I’d heard all of the hype surrounding John Green almost since I started blogging almost 6 years ago, but this was my first experience with him. For the first half of the book I was entertained but a little confused about all the fuss, but then when the big event happened it made the book deeper and more poignant. Lots of great discussion for teens and parents. This is a great book for a young adult (15 or 16 and older?) and I have found a new YA author to check out and gift 🙂

I checked the cds out of the library and was actually listening to it when I got into my car accident. After some consideration I have decided not to hold this against the book or author. Highly recommended.

Six Years by Harlan Coben

December 26, 20137 Comments

Six Years. Finished 12-22-13, rating 4.5/5, thriller, 351 pages, pub. 2013

Six years have passed since Jake Sanders watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd.

But six years haven’t come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd’s obituary, he can’t keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife he’s hoping for . . . but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she’s been married to Todd for more than a decade, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life – a time he has never gotten over – is turned completely inside out.

As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can’t be found or don’t remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. Jake’s search for the woman who broke his heart – and who lied to him – soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on carefully constructed fiction.

from Goodreads

I consider myself a Harlan fan, having happily read every one of his books, first falling in love with Tell No One and then the Myron series. I find his stand-alones hit or miss but this one was one of the most enjoyable of his that I’ve read in a while.

I liked the premise, the writing kept me turning pages and I really didn’t want to put this thriller down at all. Jake finds himself in some crazy situations and like all of Harlan’s main characters, he can take a beating, find more clues, cheat death again, find the answer he was looking for, and still manage to come out relatively unharmed. Considering I’m still suffering from headaches and some dizziness due to my car accident last week I think I’d like some of their durability!

This was from my personal library and I think it was one of his better standalones.

Stacy's Books

books, movies, and boy