My 5 year Blogiversary with a chance to win a favorite book!

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I can hardly believe I’ve been blogging for 5 years!  I started slow, got involved with the community through memes, challenges and events, and then slowed down again these past few months have really slowed down due to home demands.  This slowdown will continue for the next few months, but I will still be here, reading, writing, quizzing and visiting your blogs.  Only on a more laid back schedule!

It’s really the community that makes it worth the time and effort.  There have been one or two times in the past year when I’ve considered giving it up because I only have so much time in the day and while I love all of you, you aren’t the ones giving me hugs and kisses at night.  But I would miss it so here I am 5 years in and looking forward to 5 more.

I’ll be going some Best-of-the Best posts this weeks with giveaways.  For the first one I thought I’d compare my favorite lists over the years.  The only big difference I see is that I read less romances these days.  I bolded my 5 favorites from these lists (at least my favorite 5 today :)).  My 5 faves from the last 5 years.

GIVEAWAY-Tell me what your favorite is from these lists and you’ll be entered to win a favorite pick of your choice!  Make sure you leave your email too.  I’ll draw a winner on Saturday.  Look for more giveaways this week!

When I started on January 7, 2008 these were the books I listed as favorites from the year before…

the 5 Prey novels by John Sandford (Broken, Chosen, Mortal, Naked, Hidden)

Natural Born Lover by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows by JK Rowling

Sophie Metropolis by Tori Carrington

A year later and my 2008 list looked like this…

On Writing by Stephen King

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr

The Coffin Dancer by Jeffrey Deaver

Splendor by Brenda Joyce

Fear & Trembling by Amelie Nothomb

A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler

Here are my 2009 favorites

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Watchers by Dean Koontz

Joy School by Elizabeth Berg

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

My 2010 faves may be my favorite of the lists…

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

2011 had more great reading

Good Grief by Lolly Winston

Roots by Alex Haley

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigani

Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart

Live Wire by Harlan Coben

The Missing Ink by Karen Olson

Buried Prey by John Sandford

A Room with a View by EM Forster

Heart Sick by Chelsea Cain

And finally last year’s  list

Beloved by Toni Morrison

The Violets of March by Sarah Jio

In the Woods by Tana French

It by Stephen King

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

Thank you all for being such great reading buddies these past years and always steering my to awesome books I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

Film Friday – 148 + 148 = $296 for charity, but which one?

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I love when I have participation on my blog.  It makes me happy 🙂  I want to thank all of you who add your thoughts (and 5 words) to my monthly 5 word movie reviews.  For the second year in a row I’ve tied it to money for charity.   In November, Kay (formerly of Purple Sage and Scorpions) offered to match my charity donation, thinking it was going to be $100.  Well, since we were coming to the end of the year I opened the door for extra money to be earned and by the 31st, we had 148 reviews.  When I contacted Kay she awesomely matched the $148 that I donated.  We are lucky to know Kay.

With the deadline looming, Heather (Gofita’s Pages) went on a reviewing rampage and finished the year with 57 reviews!  I guess she really wanted that money for the charity of her choice!  Let me give you a hint for the charity she chose.

2012-12-23 20.34.132012-12-23 20.41.15OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThese are her kitties and the charity Heather chose is

The Humane Society! 

Here’s what Heather had to say

“My favorite charity is The Humane Society. I love animals and the Humane Society is one way I can give back, along with having a rescue cat and two other cats.  It can go to the main organization or to your local one. Either way, I know it’ll be used to help animals! Here are pictures of my kitties. I adore them!”

I think this is a great charity, especially since both Scout and Max are rescues too.  Thanks to Heather (and Kay) $296 was donated to the national organization. I hope you’ll hop on over to their website to discover all of the wonderful things they do.  And why not check out Heather’s blog too?  She’s got some cute pictures of her son posted.  I think Gage and Gabe would be friends 🙂

A world of Postcrossing

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When Meg (Write Meg) wrote about her love affair with Postcrossing I was intrigued by the thought of exchanging mail with people from around the world.  When I checked out the website, Postcrossing.com, it seemed so easy to get started, so in November I signed up and immediately sent out four postcards, to China, Germany, Brazil, and Russia.  Then I waited.  It takes a while for all that travel! Once the person receives your card they register the ID number and then you receive a card from someone else.  So I waited some more.  And then I got my first postcard!!  From Alabama 😦  Okay, okay, the frowny face seems wrong, but I was disappointed.  So, I sent out two more postcards, both to Germany.  The week before Christmas, on the same day, I received two postcards, one from Taiwan and one from England.  Now that’s more like it 🙂  Then came one from Germany and this week I retrieved a beautiful postcard from Spain from the mailbox.  Of the six I’ve sent, two are still travelling, but the other four combined to travel over 34,000 km!   Of the 5 I’ve received so far, only the one from Taiwan wanted to become pen pals, the others it was more of a one time thing, which is okay for me these days.  All in all those 5 postcards travelled over 34,000 km to get here.

I took December off but plan for more postcard fun in 2013.  I recommend it for those who love to write and received letters (because c’mon, who has time for that these days?!) and for those curious about meeting people from around the world.

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As you can see, the postcards are fun and they made me realize that I really need to work on my handwriting!  My favorite photo is the one from Spain and the note I liked best was from the UK but the writer is from the Czech Republic and she wrote about her Christmas traditions there.

Meg has now sent over 500 postcards!  Thanks to her inspiration I may get there someday too.  If you’re interested I highly recommend checking out the site.  It’s easy to start and use and a cheap way to travel 🙂

2012 in review

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The blog, while still having some of the same features-Tuesday Quizzes, Sundays with Gage and Monthly 5 Word Movie Reviews being the constants- also managed some book reviews 😉  I read 55 books, a new low since I began blogging 5 years ago.

Here are the books by the numbers-

43 Fiction, 12 Non-Fiction (that’s a high percentage of non-fiction for me!)

39 women, 15 men, 1 both (let’s hear it for the gals!)

9 from a continuing series, 7 from a new series.  (of those new series books I will continue on with 6!)

Most read author? Karen E Olson with 3 when I finished up her Tattoo Shop series.

The 3 Rounds of Quizzes this year were exciting!  Nise (Under the Boardwalk) took the first two rounds and Hannah (Word Lily) was the winner of the last round.  I hope that you all will jump in when the new season starts.  You don’t have to win to get a prize.  Marie (Boston Bibliophile), Staci (Life in the Thumb), and Carol M all won special prizes just for playing.  If you want to browse through old quizzes click here.

Gage has been a big part of the blog this year.  If you want to look through all his posts for what you may have missed click here.  Here are the first and last photos of 2012.

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Think he’s changed this year?  The boy sure does keep me busy.

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The year I’ve watched 49 new-to-me movies, reviewed 3 from my Top 100 list, wrote 3 book vs. movies posts, and even had a few Friday Movie Talks.  My monthly 5 word movie reviews are tied to money for charity.  You still have a few hours (until 7om EST) to get your reviews in to be counted for charity.  $1 for every 5 word review you contribute.  I already told you about my favorite movies, what about a few stats?

Surprisingly, I watched more movies released in 2012 (19) than in any other.  Surprising because I consider myself a classic movie lover!

The oldest movie I watched was War and Peace released in 1956.

My most viewed actor- Denzel Washington, 3 movies

Most viewed actress- Helena Bonham Carter, 4 movies (weird since this woman really bothers me)

2012 has been a good year and I’m happy the Mayans were wrong and there is the possibility of 2013 being better than all the other years before it.  I wish that for all of us.

Sundays with Gage & My favorite books and movies of 2012

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015This has been a fun year with Gage.  I think the year and a half range is my favorite age 🙂  Now that he’s 2 plus a few Gage’s role on the blog will be changing in 2013.  He’ll still be here, doing some book reviews, special events, showing up in Saturday Snapshots, and just to say hi.  He won’t be a stranger, but Sundays with Gage will be a thing of the past.  I hate to do it because Gage is much more popular that most of my book reviews, but it will be nice not to have the pressure of writing a post every Sunday.  If you truly need a consistent Gage update I would be happy to be friends on Facebook where I will be updating more.  Thank you all so much for your loving and kind words about my kid, I think he’s wonderful too 🙂  And expect to see him in the next week or so reviewing a very awesome book about a dog.  And he might be giving something away too.  See, he’ll be taking a more grown-up role around here!

As you can see, Gage refused to give me a smile when he realized this was his last Sundays with Gage.

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This has been a very slow reading year for me, so I’m going to do a top 5 list instead of 10 for my favorite movies and books.  Let me know if you’ve read any of them!

Top 5 Books

BelovedBeloved by Toni Morrison. Part of my Ohio tour and I am looking forward to reading more from this universally beloved author.

The Violets of MarchThe Violets of March by Sarah Jio.  The book was as great that sweet cover.

In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad Series #1)In the Woods by Tana French.  So glad that this was the last book I read this year.  Ended on a high note!

ItIt by Stephen King. Loved taking part in my first read-along.  The It-a-long rocked!

Stories I Only Tell My FriendsStories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe.  I can only vouch for the audio read by Lowe himself.  I was charmed by it.

Favorite 5 Movies of 2012

The Hunger Games, 2012.  I have not read the books but loved the movie.

Looper, 2012. Loved this time-travel thriller.  I think I have a crush on Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

The Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey, 2012.  It’s so nice to go back to Middle Earth, disappointed it’s going to be one of three Hobbit movies.

The Secret Life of Bees, 2008.  Loved the book and the movie, a rarity.

It’s Complicated, 2009.  I love Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin and this movie delivered.

December 5 Word Movie Reviews – With your help, $296 raised for The Humane Society

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I love bloggers, I really do.  This is the second year I’ve tied money for charity to your participation in my movie reviews and I can’t wait to see what this next charity will be.  When I put out the call last month you all helped inch us forward and the awesome Kay (formerly of Purple Sage and Scorpions) went one step further with this comment…

By the way, Stacy, when the charity if picked, let us know.  I want to match your $100 contribution.  :-)

There’s some incentive.  LOL

I think that is some incentive!  So, here’s the deal, we’re getting so close to giving money to charity and with your help we can get this money sent by the 31st!    We need just 7 more 5-word-reviews to get us to 100 and if we pass up that number by the 31st I’ll add that money to the charity pool.  (if we get 27 reviews by the 31st I’ll write a check for $120, etc.)

LET”S SEE HOW MUCH MONEY WE CAN GIVE AWAY!  And thank you, Kay, for your generous support 🙂

UPDATED! Currently, you’ve contributed $148 to the charity of the top reviewer’s choice.  Heather went to town today and is in the lead with 57!! Beth and Kay with 13, BermudaOnion 11. Gofita with 10.   Teddyree and Michelle have 9, Wrighty has 8 and there are others who have contributed here.

Every time you add 5 words of your own to one of my reviews then you donate $1 to charity. The charity is chosen by the person who has the most reviews once we reach 100. (Last charity here)  PLEASE leave a clear 5 word comment so I can give credit for it.

If you want to see the full list of movies you can review to add money, click here.

The Hobbit trilogy dvd cover.jpgThe Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey, 2012 (Cast-Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage)   Grade A-

Back to the Shire, Hurray!

Middle-Earth–like coming home again.  (Michelle)

From Watson to Bilbo – Amazing!  (Kay)

Singing dwarves save the day.  (Tony)

The Town, 2010 (Cast-Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively)   Grade B

Dark, thoughtful take on loyalty

Gritty and thought provoking thriller. (Michelle)

Affleck proves his director chops.   (Jenners)

Ben Affleck regains his credibility.  (Tony)

The poster shows a man, injured and holding a gun, standing in front of a car. Text at the bottom reveals the tagline and in bottom reveals the film's main actor and title, credits, rating and release date.Jack Reacher, 2012 (Cast-Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike)  Grade B

Solid film for Reacher fans

OK, but not like books.  (Kay)

 Ok but Cruise no Reacher  (Sheree)

Wanderlust, 2012 (Cast-Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux, Alan Alda)    Grade   B-

An unexpected number of laughs

Naked man, overturned car–hilarious!  (Michelle)

The Back-Up Plan, 2010 (Cast-Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin)            Grade C-

Bland but watchable unrealistic romcom

In the Woods by Tana French

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In the Woods. Finished 12-26-12, rating 4.5/5, mystery, 464 pages, pub. 2007

Book 1 in the Dublin Murder Squad series.

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.
Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

from Goodreads

Ryan narrates the book with humor and enough foreshadowing to keep you reading well past bedtime (at least it did for me).  He has his problems.  At the best of times he’s cool and fun, at the worst he’s a real piece of work who I wanted to pour a beer on.  He’s best friends with his partner, Cassie, and their brother-sister relationship was one to be envied, by their fellow detectives and the reader.  I loved Cassie.  Loved her more than Rob, especially by the end.

The old mystery of what happens to Rob as a child and the new case of who killed little Katy have a few pieces of connecting evidence and Rob is stuck in the middle of his own hell, one he stepped into willingly.  The mystery was very good, if not totally surprising.  I loved the characters and the history of the village.  French did an excellent job of making me feel right at home in Dublin.  Now I need to visit!

I really, really liked this one.  Yes, by the end I was fairly disgusted with Rob, but I am so looking forward to reading the next of this series.  I know that a lot of bloggers were upset by the loose ends but I was okay with it.  But that could have been because I was expecting it, who knows?

I bought this for my Nook and if any other Nookster wants to borrow it for 2 weeks, let me know!

Nutcracker by E.T.A Hoffmann, pictures by Maurice Sendak GIVEAWAY!

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NutcrackerNutcracker. December has gotten away from me around here and I forgot to give away a this gorgeous hardcover book.

I used it in a quiz a few weeks ago and you can click here to see the pics I took.  It is 100 pages of gorgeousness 🙂  I want to thank Debbie from Random House for sending this book for the quiz and a giveaway.

Overview

“A classic, new and complete. One of the ten best illustrated children’s books of the year.” — New York Times Book Review

The tale of Nutcracker, written by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816, has fascinated and inspired artists, composers, and audiences for almost two hundred years. It has retained its freshness because it appeals to the sense of wonder we all share.

Maurice Sendak designed brilliant sets and costumes for the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Christmas production of Nutcracker and created even more magnificent pictures especially for this book. He joined with the eminent translator Ralph Manheim to produce this illustrated edition of Hoffmann’s wonderful tale, destined to become a classic for all ages.

The world of Nutcracker is a world of pleasures. Maurice Sendak’s art illuminates the delights of Hoffmann’s story in this rich and tantalizing treasure.

                        After hearing how her toy nutcracker got his ugly face, a little girl helps break the spell and watches him change into a handsome prince.

I’d like to get this mailed this week, so let’s get the giveaway started!  To be entered just leave a comment with your email address.  For a second entry you can tweet about it or post a link to Facebook.

Gage will draw a winner before he goes to bed on Thursday night (12/20).