A Book Reivew...Sort of. (Harry Potter #6)

It's the start of a new year and the only real resolution that I have is to continue to read, and to try to read more books than the year before.  I almost feel like I've fallen behind already, seeing as how it took me 10 days to get the first one done.

It's my reading ADD at it's best - trying to read too many books at once and getting frustrated that I'm not making enough progress in any of them.  But I also don't want it to be just about the number of books I complete; I read because I enjoy it.  Some days I have more time for reading than others.  I was trying to read 4 books at once.

On twitter I proclaimed (cue the stately trumpets) that I would indeed finish the Harry Potter saga this year.  I've been trying to read through them since I was pregnant with Daven.  It's not that I dislike them.  It's just that other books seemed more important to read.  Plus, I've already seen the movies.  I just couldn't get myself motivated.

Today I finished The Half Blood Prince, number 6 in the series.  That means only one more to go!

There was a bit of mystery to it, as I had completely forgotten who the half blood prince was.  And the teenage romances are comical.  I already knew who died at the end, and if I hadn't been prepared for that I probably would have cried my blue little eyes out.  I'd like to say that if I were a character in the books that I would be a member of Dumbledore's army.  In reality (or fiction) I would be too scared.  I'd be a shy Hufflepuff who wouldn't have even registered on the trio's radar.

I wonder if I will be sad when I finish the last book?  That happens with any good series, and this one has finally began to grow on me. 

What do you think about generation Harry Potter?  Do you love him?  Who's your favorite character?  I think mine is a toss-up between Ginny and Neville.

Bloomin' Tea

I love tea. Especially hot tea in the winter. One of my wedding registry items was a shiny, red, electric tea kettle. It boils water crazy fast and among the pizza trays and Pyrex cookware, I use it often. In order to keep it clean, I use it only to boil, never to brew.

Sometimes I'll use a tea ball for my loose leaf tea. Over the summer I scored a really cute teapot with a mesh cup for brewing. The only drawback is it's big enough to only brew one cup at a time.

Mom got me a glass teapot for Christmas. It has a glass strainer for tea leaves. It also came with tea. Green, white, and black tea, as well as a handful of these strange balls of tea that "bloom" during the brewing process. These happen to be green tea with jasmine.

Daven and I watched the process and it was pretty neat. He was even brave enough to try some. We iced his, but he didn't like it. It had a very strong flavor, and could have used some honey! I added some sugar to the remaining tea before I put it in the fridge for later.

Who wants to come over for a tea party? We've got chocolate striped shortbread cookies...

Goodbye, Beautiful

I meant to compose a written tribute to Nora Greene, a fellow Transylvania alumni and exemplary person. But I can't seem to find the words.

How can she be gone? It's been a little over a year since I've seen her, but I know more than anything she wanted to start a family. And now her and her husband will never get that chance. As my tears flow, I think of all of those who were so much closer to her and how much pain they must be in.

I could only find this one picture of us together, probably because most pictures from those days were too inappropriate to post. And through the hurt at losing someone I didn't know nearly as well as I should and didn't keep in close enough contact with, I have to remember to smile at what a wonderful person she was. It wasn't a party without you, Nora.

2012 - The Book List

It truly and completely irks me to know that at the time my ongoing list on my phone magically disappeared, I had 84 books read (before counting comics).  And try as I might, even with the books I've completed since then added, I could only unearth 86 total of them that I for sure read in 2012.  Yet, since my goal was to read 75 books during the year, I never-the-less succeeded. I'll add them to the list as I think of any more.

I put these books in the category that I myself deemed most appropriate.  You may disagree, and that's ok.  Unless, of course, you think that Calico Joe should be listed under thriller like it is in the library.  Uh-uh.  To me, unless someone within in the book is in danger, it's not a thriller.  Sorry, Joe.  NOT a thriller.

Here's what I read in the year of 2012.  Did you read anything off my list?  Talk to me about it!


Nonfiction

• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future... Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned – Michael J. Fox
• Running For my Life: One Boy’s Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games – Lopez Lomong
• Reading Magic – Mem Fox
• MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend – Rachel Bertsche
• Guts – Kristen Johnson
• The Face Behind the Veil – Donna Gehrke-White
• Blood, Sweat + Tea – Tom Reynolds 
• Some Assembly Required - Anne Lamott

 

Nonfiction/Humor

 

• I Know I am but What are You? – Samantha Bee
• Sh*t my Dad Says - Oscar  Wilde
• Awkward Family Photos – Mike Bender
• Sloppy Seconds: The Tucker Max Leftovers – Max Tucker
• Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? – Mindy Kaling
• Holidays on Ice – David Sedaris
• Lets Pretend This Never Happened – Jenny Lawson
   

Historical Fiction

• The Secret Keeper – Julie Thomas
• A Good American – Alex George
• The Lola Quartet – Emily St. John Mandel
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet – Jamie Ford

Fiction

• Four of a Kind – Valerie Frankel
• Skipped Parts – Tim Sandlin
• The Five People you Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom
• The Pile of Stuff at the Bottom of the Stairs – Christina Hopkinson
• Paradise Valley – Robin Carr
• The Lucky One – Nicholas Sparks
• Fat Vampire – Adam Rex
• Calico Joe – John Grisham
• The Color of Hope – Susan Madison
• The Brightest Star in the Sky - Marian Keyes 
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K Rowling 

 

Janet Evanovich

 She gets her own category since she's my most read author of the year.  I'm so glad that my sister encouraged me to read her books.  They're "who done it" with a load of humor mixed in.

• One for the Money
• Two for the Dough
• Three to get Deadly
• Four to Score
• High Five
• Hot Six
• Seven Up
• Hard Eight
• To the Nines
• Ten Big Ones
• Eleven on Top
• Twelve Sharp
• Lean Mean Thirteen
• Fearless Fourteen
• Finger Lickin’ Fifteen
• Sizzling Sixteen
• Smokin’ Seventeen
• Explosive Eighteen
• Plum Spookie  
• Wicked Appetite  
• Full Blast

 

 

  Thriller/Mystery

• The Perfect Husband – Lisa Gardner
• Alone– Lisa Gardner
• Hide– Lisa Gardner
• The Neighbor – Lisa Gardner

• A Bone to Pick– Charlaine Harris
• Shakespeare’s Landlord– Charlaine Harris
• Shakespeare’s Champion– Charlaine Harris
• Grave Sight– Charlaine Harris
• The Julius House– Charlaine Harris
• Three Bedrooms, One Corpse– Charlaine Harris
• The Sookie Stackhouse Companion – Charlaine Harris

• The Last Policeman – Ben Winters
• Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn 
• Ashes – Iisa J. Bick
• The Collector – Scott Whittenburg
• For the Love of Livy – JM Grifin

Smut-tery

• Bared to You – Sylvia Day
• Fifty Shades of Grey – E.L. James
• Fifty Shades Darker – E.L. James
• Fifty Shades Freed – E.L. James

 

 

Young Adult

• Blue Bloods – Melissa de la Cruz
• The Declaration – Gemma Malley
• The Resistance – Gemma Malley
• The Legacy – Gemma Malley
• Legon Awakening – Nicholas Taylor
• Fairytale – Maggie Shayne
• Emergency Room – Caroline B. Cooney
   

Comics

• How to Tell if your cat is plotting to kill you – Matthew Inman
• The Walking Dead, Book One - Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Book Two - Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Book Three - Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Book Four - Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Book Five - Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Book Six - Robert Kirkman
• The Walking Dead, Book Seven - Robert Kirkman

Congrats, Aunt Lauren!

This weekend my sister-in-law Lauren graduated from Ball State University up in Muncie, IN. We were lucky that my in-laws made it possible for us to go up there and share the special occasion. We left Friday around lunchtime and spent some time once we got there realizing that none of the packing aside from the kitchen table was going to happen until the next day.

We watched Rudolph in our hotel room and Daven went swimming with nana. Well actually, he clung to her like a baby monkey and then wanted to get out. He said that he was scared. It's odd since he's usually such a water bug. But it had been a long day. He kept saying that he wanted to go back home which made me sad. I thought he would be excited. I guess he's in a phase when he doesn't want to venture too far from the routine and familiar places.

It was a frantic race to get to graduation early enough to get good seats the next morning. We saw Lauren walk in but right after that I had to take Daven out because he was yelling at me for telling him he couldn't kick the seat in front of him. He was upset and said he would be good, but then he fell asleep on me. So I sat outside the arena on the floor with a sleeping Bub until an irritating mother with a screaming child hovered over us long enough to wake Daven up.

We went back in just in time to see Lauren walk up and receive her diploma. Everyone cheered when the last person crossed the stage. Hooray! Congratulations everyone, but that was long and boring!

Oh wait, the president has a few words. You could feel the collective disappointment from people in the audience that were already gathering their things in anticipation of seeing their new graduate.

This woman spoke for what felt like so long you could have made a drinking game out of it. Oh, she said innovative - take a drink!

We got pictures with our robed grad before it started raining. Then we filled up on shakes and chili at Steak n Shake before heading to her apartment to commence The Great Move.

Another car ride to get back home came next. That was made more enjoyable by the VHS tape of Toy Story. We watched this both ways. Daven was great in the van and was pretty agreeable the majority of the time.

I know she's going to miss her friends at school, but we're happy to have aunt Lauren home!

Handprints and Ornaments

We did this craft last Friday. It was Nana Julie's birthday and I wanted Daven to be able to give her something he made. We made salt dough, which is simply salt, flour and water. I let him play with it like playdough for a bit before we got to work.

We made a heart ornament for each nana, as well as handprints and a few others. Lainey didn't know what to think when I squished her fingers into the dough. We gave her hand print to her mommy and daddy to hang on their tree.

After they baked and cooled, Daven painted a few. Although he really didn't make a mess, he still insisted on taking off his shirt before he started painting.

I remember doing this craft with my mom and sisters. She added green dye to the dough and used a Christmas tree cookie cutter. Then we used the squirty fabric paint to decorate our trees. I'm pretty sure a handful of those still get put on my childhood Christmas tree.

Maybe next we'll make cinnamon ornaments.

Homemade Applesauce

I originally intended on making apple butter, but Daven wanted applesauce. The process is the same; there's just significantly less sugar in the sauce than there is in apple butter.

I didn't keep count of how many apples went into this. I had a bag full to work with.

Peel the skin off of apples.
(Some people leave the skin on. I don't like it that way. )

Slice apples and chop into small pieces.

Add cinnamon, sugar, and brown sugar to the bowl. The amount depends on your tastes. I used a cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup sugar and a few tsps of cinnamon. A dash of nutmeg if you're feeling adventurous.

This may sound like a lot of sugar, but keep in mind that my largest bel was filled to the top with apples.

Microwave for 15 min. Stir every 5 min.

Move apples to the blender and purée.

Eat hot or stick it in the fridge.


I also made a small batch without any sugar or spices for 6 month old Lainey to try. I'm excited to find out if she likes them as much as she likes sweet potatoes!

Daven will eat this by the bowl. I plan on making some biscuits soon so I can top them with the applesauce. Yum.