Midnight in Austenland

Or, rather, an afternoon at the Kings English Bookshop.  A very lovely afternoon spent with my good friend, Heidi:

Listening to a hilarious (albeit freezing) Shannon Hale

tell about her new book, Midnight in Austenland, share stories about the making of Austenland the movie, answering questions, introducing the players in her murder mystery game and generally having a good time.

Thankfully, we were there early and got good tickets for the signing line.

And after signing we had delicious raspberry lime infused water.  Too bad the cookies were already gone.  Sigh.  On to solving the murder mystery and chatting it up in a back corner.

What? What was that?  I won?  I won!!

Meet Ricky Whittle, aka Captain George East of Austenland fame.  Mine for all of 2012 and beyond. ;)

It was so much fun and totally worth the time.  Thanks Heidi for a fantastic memory!!

A Note About GoodReads

It's no secret.  I love to read.  Good Reads has been a great place to log what I've read and to keep track of what I'd like to read.  Not to mention see what all my real life and cyber "friends" are reading. But, I hate trying to write up a review on books.  It always feels like some lame statement or a 6th grade book report. (I'm speaking specifically of my own reviews.  I do enjoy reading others.)  I have a hard time with the rating system too.  So much how I feel about a book is based on my present mood, my life experiences and beliefs, standards, etc, my current stress levels, etc.  And I tend to be somewhat enthusiastic about things I like therefore tend to rate things a little higher than maybe I would if I waited a week to review/rate a book.  Same with books I don't like.  The other thing that's hard (for me) to account for in a rating system is how even if I don't like the book overall, I can appreciate it for something-a lesson, the writing, literary devices used...  Sometimes I leave my ratings blank.  If we're friends on GoodReads, assume that this is because I found the book very interesting in one way or another and want time to mull it over.  However, the whole rate and review process does make me think a little bit harder.  What I liked about the book, what I didn't, things that made some sort of an impression on me, things that changed me.  All great things to go into a review.  Too bad a lot of those things contain spoilers.  I hate spoilers.  (I don't even watch the movie trailers for the Twilight series, despite having read the books an embarrassing number of times. :)  Now the world has some insight to my mind when reading my GoodReads page.

Things To Do

Sorry. I can't think of anything else to post right now, so you get my somewhat ambitious to-do list.

1. Run 2x on the treadmill at a 6.0 for 20 minutes. (Reality-this is my goal, I'll be happy if I could do it at 5)


2. Make an apron for our RS enrichment-excuse me-Relief Society service auction on Wednesday.


3. Start on some doll clothes for the girls' for Xmas.


4. Laundry. Always laundry.


5. Figure out what Jeff wants for Christmas (along with a few others on our list)


6. Finish up some other doll-related crafts.


7. Try my hand at making some felt food.


8. Thaw a turkey


9. Cook a thawed turkey.


10. Hang with good friends.


11. Take Lyndsi Christmas shopping for Mia, her doll. (her idea not mine, but it's also her $$.)


12. Read.


13. Pick a book for next month's book club.



Hmm....I think that's enough. I'd wish for something interesting to blog about, but I'm kind of enjoying the slower pace right now. :)

Disinterested Politics

For not being overly interested in politics, I sure like a lot of political things. For example:

Music:

U2

Muse

Books:

The Uglies (series-Scott Westerfeld)

The Giver (Lois Lowery)

Movies:

The Bourne Trilogy (ok-really this one needs no explanation)

The Interpreter (finding photos for this post I realized should a movie ever be made of U2, Sean Penn would make an interesting choice for Bono)

Hmmm...Go figure.

Go Buy a Book

I just finished reading this very interesting blog article on the publishing industry, which apparently had a HARD October. http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2008/11/crash-flow-or-what-went-wrong-in.html

So, those who are still looking for a gift for that hard-to-buy for person on your Christmas list, here's a novel idea. :) Buy a book. A comic book, a cookbook, a novel, a gaming book. And don't tell me your person (or yourself) is not a reader. Everyone is. You just may not have found the right book, but watch out when you do. lol.

Here's a small list of my favorites:

-Anything by Shannon Hale, including Goose Girl (and the whole Bayern books), Princess Academy, Austenland, Repunzel's Revenge

-Twilight saga (duh)

-Marley and Me by Josh Grogan

-The Hobbit

-The Uglies (and related novels) by Scott Westerfeld

-A Girl of the Limberlost

-Jane Eyre

-Sundays at Tiffany's By James patterson

-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak



As I am a girl, most of these would appeal more to the female persuasion, but a few like The Hobbit (if you haven't read this, go get it NOW!), The Book Thief and Marley and me are all around good reads for anyone.

If you need something more to get you excited, watch this (always worked for me):


I think it's time for a trip to Barns and Noble myself......