Wednesday, July 08, 2009

BB: Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad

My mother emailed me to remind me that it's been awhile since I posted anything. So I'll try and get caught up on some posts.

The Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad was one of the Barefoot Blogger recipes from last month. Cat, of Delta Whisky selected the recipe. I served the salad with an Italian beef sandwich. Truthfully, we weren't crazy about the salad. We liked all the elements, but somehow all together it didn't do anything for us. I wonder if it would have been better warm. The second recipe for the month was a Peach and Blueberry Crumble, chosen by Aggie's Kitchen. Neither of us eat peaches, so we skipped this recipe. I am looking forward to trying this month's recipes.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Books Read in June

Before the month gets much further gone I wanted to share what I read in June. There are some good things on my list.

Cotillion by Georgette Heyer. Rated 4. The beginning of this one is a little confusing as all of the male cousins are introduced. The plot was good and kept me guessing as to which of the cousins Kitty would pick.

At Bertrams Hotel by Agatha Christie. Rated 4. My very first Agatha Christie, and I loved it. It's a really good story with wonderful characters. It's more of a character and setting kind of book than a mystery.

Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. Rated 4. This was for the Picador Twitter book club that I wasn't able to participate in because we were in the car for one of our trips to KY. I'm disappointed that I missed the discussion because this is one heck of a book. The story is narrated by an unnamed neighborhood boy as he and his friends try and figure out why the five neighbor girls all commit suicide.

The Other by David Guterson. Rated 4. Tim and I listened to this on audio on one of our trips to KY. It was read by Mark Bramhall. We both enjoyed the book very much. In fact, Tim has commented on it several weeks later. Guterson writes a wonderful sense of place. This book reminded me of Bridge of Sighs with it's themes of male friendship, reminiscing on the past and how the past affects our lives.

Beach Trip by Cathy Horton. Rated 3. A story of women's friendships and trying to reconnect after many years. My favorite character was Lola.

Not Becomming My Mother by Ruth Reichl. Rated 5. This is a short memoir. Reichle is saying a thank you to her mother.

Seducing and Angel by Mary Balogh. Rated 4. Historical romance.

Laws of Harmony by Judith Ryan Hendricks. Rated 3. The characters and setting were good, but I felt the author was overdoing Sunny's relationship with her mother and the death of her younger sister.

Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber. Rated 4. Good stories and characters. We got to meet a few new characters and revisit several former characters. The story is still fresh.

Souvenir by Therese Fowler. Rated 2.5. Fowler is going to be the author for our annual Friends of the Library Author Dinner later this year. I'm looking forward to reading her second novel.

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie. Rated 4. Another great Miss Marple mystery.

And one DNF: The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. I love Wally Lamb and had been looking forward to his newest book. We started listen to it on audio on one of our trips to KY. We didn't get it all listened to so I started reading when we got home. It just got tedious, so I quit reading.

Monday, July 06, 2009

Mailbox Monday: July 6


This is actually several weeks of Mailbox Monday's all rolled together.


Mari from Bookworm With a View has sent me several books over the last month or so.


For the Summer Reading Series discussion on July 14th, I have a copy of All We Ever Wanted by Janelle Brown.


The MMBC book for August 19th is A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick.


And then, I have a copy of Divorce Party by Laura Dave


So thank you Mari, I look forward to some great reading and discussion.


Random House Publishers sent me an ARC of Huge by James W. Fuerst. Thank you Random House.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Everything Austen


I'm taking the Everything Austen Challenge hosted by Stephanie at Stephanies Written Word. I might have to call mine the Everything Pride and Prejudice. It's my favorite book, so the six books I'm reading for this challenge all have to do with P&P.
Here's my Everything Austen/Everything Pride and Prejudice reading plan for the next 6 months:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Darcys and the Bingleys: a Tale of Two Gentlemen's Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters by Marsha Altman

Two Shall Become One: Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Sharon Lathan

Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberly by Linda Berdoll

Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster

The Darcy Connection by Elizabeth Aston