Author: Anna Johnson
The Art of More for Less. Written by a single Mom in New York with a flair for vintage. Kind of a source for acts of self love.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Little Bets
Author: Peter Sims
Sometimes authors have read all the same books you've read and it feels like an ongoing discussion. Best takeaway, try something small in limited quantities (ie. take a little risk) and see what happens.
Sometimes authors have read all the same books you've read and it feels like an ongoing discussion. Best takeaway, try something small in limited quantities (ie. take a little risk) and see what happens.
Best American Comics 2008
Editor: Lynda Barry
Mixed bag of funny, scary, lovely stuff with a great intro.
Mixed bag of funny, scary, lovely stuff with a great intro.
Claiming the Forbidden Bride
Author: Gayle Wilson
Second son rescues child of gypsies and falls for the mother and marries her (after an assortment of adventures). Grannie was the best character.
Second son rescues child of gypsies and falls for the mother and marries her (after an assortment of adventures). Grannie was the best character.
A Season of Seduction
Author: Jennifer Haymore
A widow decides to have an affair and is nearly manipulated into marriage, by a sea faring rogue.
A widow decides to have an affair and is nearly manipulated into marriage, by a sea faring rogue.
Kissing Christmas Goodbye
Author: M.C. Beaton
Nothing like Agatha Raisin on a rainy day. Pity I think I've read them all.
Nothing like Agatha Raisin on a rainy day. Pity I think I've read them all.
A Wife for Mr. Darcy
Author: Mary Lydon Simonsen
A different take on P&P, with greater agency on the part of women (esp. Georgianna & Miss De Bourgh). Odd to read a novel knowing the outcome but following a different path there.
A different take on P&P, with greater agency on the part of women (esp. Georgianna & Miss De Bourgh). Odd to read a novel knowing the outcome but following a different path there.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Insatiable
Author: Meg Cabot
I hate vampire romance but this was a tongue-in-cheek version and with typical wit, pretty funny.
I hate vampire romance but this was a tongue-in-cheek version and with typical wit, pretty funny.
No Man's Mistress
Author: Mary Balogh
Former prostitute/slave almost thrown out of home by rogue that wins it (illegally) at cards.
Former prostitute/slave almost thrown out of home by rogue that wins it (illegally) at cards.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The Power of Habit
Author: Charles Duhigg
Cue, routine, reward. That's how habits work. To change a habit, use the existing cue and change the routine to deliver the reward.When the habit is established the cue tells the brain that its being rewarded, even before undertaking the routine.
Identify the routine
Experiment with rewards - choose something other than the bad habit and record how you felt each time.
Isolate the cue - location, time, emotional state, other people, immediately preceding action
Make a plan that involves a cue, routine and reward.
Cue, routine, reward. That's how habits work. To change a habit, use the existing cue and change the routine to deliver the reward.When the habit is established the cue tells the brain that its being rewarded, even before undertaking the routine.
Identify the routine
Experiment with rewards - choose something other than the bad habit and record how you felt each time.
Isolate the cue - location, time, emotional state, other people, immediately preceding action
Make a plan that involves a cue, routine and reward.
The Empress of Weehawken
Author: Irene Dische
Great first person narrator, forceful, superior, opinionated and mean. That the author has the same name as the grand daughter makes me want to think that this is in part a memoir, but it is clearly labeled as fiction. It doesn't matter at all because the story is so fascinating and hard to put down. WWII, emigration to America, infidelity, weight gain and loss, and family, family, family.
Great first person narrator, forceful, superior, opinionated and mean. That the author has the same name as the grand daughter makes me want to think that this is in part a memoir, but it is clearly labeled as fiction. It doesn't matter at all because the story is so fascinating and hard to put down. WWII, emigration to America, infidelity, weight gain and loss, and family, family, family.
Rogue in My Arms
Author: Celeste Bradley
This was a pleasure - a down on her luck seamstress takes care of an orphan while the man who believes himself her father pursues the actress he believes to be the child's mother.
This was a pleasure - a down on her luck seamstress takes care of an orphan while the man who believes himself her father pursues the actress he believes to be the child's mother.
Getting Rid of Bradley
Author: Jennifer Crusie
Her second book (I love reading earlier work of writers that I enjoy) and it's funny and quirky, if a bit less subtle than her later work. Loved the dogs, especially the one that played dead.
Her second book (I love reading earlier work of writers that I enjoy) and it's funny and quirky, if a bit less subtle than her later work. Loved the dogs, especially the one that played dead.
Slightly Sinful
Author: Mary Balogh
Alleyne Bedwyn's tale of being lost at the Battle of Waterloo, then rescued by a penniless girl under the protection of prostitutes.
Alleyne Bedwyn's tale of being lost at the Battle of Waterloo, then rescued by a penniless girl under the protection of prostitutes.
How to Marry a Duke
Author: Vicky Dreiling
A matchmaker who specializes in wallflowers runs a bachelor style contest in Regency London. A bit too modern to believe, but a romp.
A matchmaker who specializes in wallflowers runs a bachelor style contest in Regency London. A bit too modern to believe, but a romp.
As You Desire
Author: Connie Brockway
A Victorian Egyptologist romance. Fun, mostly due to the characters and the situations they put themselves in.
A Victorian Egyptologist romance. Fun, mostly due to the characters and the situations they put themselves in.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Over 66 before the halfway point...
Oh dear. I haven't been able to hold back as much as I thought I could. Maybe it's time to take a reading break and focus only on writing for the next two months.
There's at least another five books read but not entered. Next library trip is only to return, not to sign out any...
There's at least another five books read but not entered. Next library trip is only to return, not to sign out any...
The Art of Intuition : Cultivating Your Inner Wisdom
Author: Sophy Burnham
Easily read and easily forgotten (within a week of reading).
Easily read and easily forgotten (within a week of reading).
The Summer Book
Author: Tove Jannson
Summer reading about a cabin on an island off the coast of Finland told from the perspective og=f the grandmother and 8 year old Sophie. Full of summer magic, storms and discoveries.
Summer reading about a cabin on an island off the coast of Finland told from the perspective og=f the grandmother and 8 year old Sophie. Full of summer magic, storms and discoveries.
A Woman in Berlin
Author: Anonymous
Memoir by a journalist of the surrender of Berlin to the Russian Army. Tragic, human and insightful.
Memoir by a journalist of the surrender of Berlin to the Russian Army. Tragic, human and insightful.
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