My Summer To-Read List.

This week's topic at The Broke and the Bookish is the Top Ten Books at the Top of My Summer TBR List.  And since my To-Be-Read list on GoodReads is a mile long, I thought this would be a good opportunity to prioritize and strategize the for the summer!  (Also, blogger doesn't recognize "strategize" as a word.  They should update their dictionary perhaps...)  And of course, I'm always open to suggestions of books to add to my list!

This list is in no particular order...

1. Joyland by Stephen King.  After reading 11/22/63 last year, I want to read more Stephen King books.  But I don't care about any horror books.  This one sounds suspenseful and interesting without being gross.

2. Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.  I like all of the Weisberger books I've read.  They're not great literature, but they're good.  And I thought that The Devil Wears Prada was the best of her novels.  I'm curious to see where she takes the story.

3. Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham.  I was anxiously awaiting the release of this book this past spring but somehow never picked it up once it came out.  I love Lauren Graham and am curious to see if she can write...  I hope so.

4. Still Missing by Chevy Stevens.  I've read such great reviews about this book that I'm very excited about it.  It sounds fascinating-- can't wait to get my hands on it!

5. January First by Michael Schofield.  I know this book is going to make me cry, but I've been curious about it from the first time I saw it.  Schizophrenia and similar mental illnesses are fascinating to me.  I'm nervous and anxious to read this one.

6. Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.  This book has been on my list FOREVER.  But since he just released Inferno, I'm going to finally sit down and read this one!

7. Inferno by Dan Brown.  The Robert Langdon books are such great, suspenseful stories.  They're a little ridiculous and far-fetched, but they're fast-paced and keep me reading.

8. The Closers by Michael Connelly.  It's actually been a few books since I've picked up my favorite author, Michael Connelly.  I'm getting close to the end of his books that I haven't read, so I started to slow my pace a little.  But I think I'm going to pick him back up again and finish out the rest of his books before I start another author (Jo Nesbo, Harlan Coben, Laura Lippman, or any other recommendation??)

9. The Innocent Man by John Grisham.  Another book that's been both on my list and in my house for a while.  I've been putting this book off because I don't want it to depress me, and I'm afraid it will.  But I really do want to read it, so I'm going to give it a go this summer.

10. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.  I found this book at my parents' house when we were getting ready for the yard sale, and it was perfect timing because I just finished reading through Hosea!  So, this one is definitely going to get read (finally-- I've only had it since high school...).

So, as you can tell, this summer I'm going to reading books that I've been putting off.  I didn't plan it that way, but I'm looking forward to it.  Of course, there will be new books that strike me and get read in between these, but I'm pretty excited about the list that I've got here!

Any books that I just HAVE to read this summer/year??

This Weekend I...

... left work early on Friday to get ready for date night with the husband!  

We took some books to the used bookstore to sell then to went to my favorite hibachi Japanese steakhouse for dinner.  Oh so delicious...

After dinner, we went to the new Golfsmith store since Donny has recently taken up golf.  This wall of driver covers cracked me up.

And then we went to a store that my brother has told us about that supposedly had a huge, unique selection of beer.  And it did have some cool stuff that you don't find in a regular store.  But some of those beers were insanely expensive (we're talking $5 for a single bottle).  Donny got some Shiner summer beer that he has loved, but he wasn't overly impressed with the place.

... read a lot in this depressing book on Saturday.  I can't say that I believe her claims entirely, but I really don't think she killed Meredith Kercher (although I never did even before I read the book).  The rest of her perception of the events just seems so far-fetched.  Although if what she says is true, she was completely railroaded and the concept of justice in Italy is a joke.  But I can understand why she feels the way she does, and it is fascinating to read.

... got a hole in one!!  I spent most of the day Saturday lying around the house or in the backyard and started to get a little restless by the end of the day.  So Donny got me out of the house to go play some putt-putt!  We ended up splitting the rounds, but I got a hole in one!!  :)

... finally watched Argo all the way through.  We went to see this movie in the theater when it came out, but we went to a 10:30pm showing.  So, I got a nice nap in during the middle.  But we found the blu-ray at Target on Saturday for only $15, so I finally was able to see the whole thing!  It was so good-- I highly recommend it! 

... had some birthday cake.  Sunday, we celebrated both Father's Day and my dad's birthday (which is today).  My mom made this delicious cake for him!  We're also going to dinner tonight on his real birthday.  :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!

 

Book Club Friday-- Divergent.

GoodReads Synopsis: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.  During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

My Thoughts:  I thought the story moved incredibly slowly for the first 350+ pages.  The last 100 were far more interesting.  I could tell that it was building up to something, but it took FOREVER to get there.  I'm more excited about reading book 2 of the trilogy than this one-- it seems like this book was merely to set up the action that's coming.

Liars, Creepers, and Roses.

This week's episode was full of drama.  Perhaps you'd even say it was the most dramatic episode ever!!  Well, probably not unless you were Chris Harrison...

First, there was a group date with 10 guys.  They had a dodgeball tournament after being shown the ropes by a professional dodgeball team.  Yes, I wrote that sentence, and yes it's true.  There really are professional dodgeball players.  Who knew??

They have their "fight to the death" in a dodgeball cage.  Best out of three, and the blue team wins.  But not without a casualty-- Brooks breaks his finger and has to go to the hospital to have it reset (I got a little queasy during the footage of him at the hospital.  Poor guy...).  I hope they can fix his hair while he's there too.

This here is why men shouldn't have long hair-- 

they will be tempted to pull it back in hideous fashion.

But, rule-breaker that she is, Des decides to not just take the winning team to the cocktail party, but all the guys because she "needs time with them."

At the cocktail party, Brad tells Des about his son and baby mama drama.  I appreciate that this information waited until the third week and wasn't thrown on her immediately upon his arrival...  Points for Brad for handling this information well.  Brooks makes his triumphant return, and they make out.  She's clearly digging him, even in his dodgeball get-up.  Chris gets the rose after a very slightly-aired chat on the roof.  Brooks shoots eye-daggers at him, but he doesn't notice as they walk to a private concert by Kate Earl (who???).

The one on one date goes to Kasey (ps-- when will people stop spelling their boy Casey names with a K??).  But first, we have to deal with Brian.  Brian apparently has a girlfriend, and she is PISSED (not to mention, a real winner...).  They fight for a while, and I really don't believe either of their stories.  Des sends him packing, and he's escorted out by some big dude.

Brandon is bizarrely emotional about this turn of events, blaming it on his own feelings of being left by his mommy's boyfriends when he was young.  He can't believe that Brian would do that to a single mom.  Oh Brandon... please oh please get yourself some therapy.  Just not on national television.  This guy has stalker written all over him.

Kasey is pretty gracious about Brian's drama raining his date parade, and they head out to... rappel down a building.  Shock of all shocks!  That has never been done on The Bachelor before!  Oh wait, this time they're adding a little ballet into the mix.  And I've got to admit, it actually looked like a lot of fun.

After their acrobatics, they have dinner on a rooftop, make out in pool #2 of this season (awkwardly, with towels on their heads...), and try to escape the cold and wind.  Des feels like the whole day was off, but Kasey is so sweet and gracious with a great attitude, so she gives him a rose.

Next up is Group Date #2!  The five guys going on today's date are all excited about the Bentley or the limo that's going to take them to their destination only to walk out and find... a stagecoach and horses.

The stagecoach takes them to a ranch where they meet up with stunt coordinators from the new The Lone Ranger movie (shameless plug for ABC's parent company Disney!) and go through a "cowboy boot camp."  Juan Pablo "wins" the competition and gets some one-on-one time with Desiree.  They settle in to watch The Lone Ranger on what looks like the least comfortable loveseat ever.

They all re-convene around a bonfire.  Bryden has finally gotten a tip from a show stylist and done something with his hair to make him look less like Lloyd Christmas (thanks for the reference, Sar!).  James whines himself into getting the rose (she's such a sucker for a sad guy).

No cocktail party this evening, but a pool party instead!  But before she can even walk in the door, Ben tries to grab her and get some time without any of the guys knowing.  They make out in the driveway, and of course, everyone sees and just hates him even more.

Mikey confronts Ben again, because I guess he's the hall monitor of the guys' house.  Brandon continues to be overly emotional and creepy, giving her the most awkward kiss ever, and tells her that he's falling in love with her.  "There's not much else to think about except how perfect and how meant to be we really are."

Jim's face sums it up best...

Des picks a much better dress this week than last week's green/camo situation.

She also isn't an idiot and sends Brandon home.  Along with Dan, who I don't even remember.  I can't tell if this is shock or murderous rage on Brandon's face...

Brandon, of course, has a huge pity party.  "Once again, someone left me... I can't even cry.  I'm just out of tears."  I genuinely hope that this guy gets some therapy.

I'm looking forward to next week's Mr. America competition!  What did you guys think??

Weekend.

Most of our weekend revolved around a yard sale. My parents' neighborhood was having a neighborhood-wide yard sale on Saturday morning, so Donny and I decided to sell some of our stuff there too.  Friday night we took most of our crap items to their house to get things set up.  Donny found himself a toy while he was there...

Saturday morning, we woke up to POURING rain.  But we were told that the sale was still on, so we drove through the frog-choker to my parents' house early in the morning.

About 8am, the rain stopped, and people started showing up.  And by 10am, the sun was out!

After the yard sale, we took the books/DVDs/CDs to the used book store to see what they'd give us.  Between both, we made over $200!  Pretty successful day, if I do say so.

Saturday night, I made three dozen banana muffins for church the next morning while we watched Broken City from the redbox (it's a miracle that we found a movie at the redbox that we hadn't already seen!).  It was okay-- not great, not horrible.  Glad we didn't pay to see it in the theaters, but it was worth a redbox rental.

Sunday, we didn't have our usual lunch at my grandma's house, so I made these Ranch Chicken Enchiladas! Donny loved them.  I thought they were okay.  But then again, I'm not the biggest enchilada fan.

I also got fresh peaches and cherries at the grocery store!  The fresh fruit is by far my favorite thing about summer.

Yesterday, we made it to Jim and Pam's wedding on The Office.  It was so sweet-- I got a good cry in.  My favorite part was Michael's wedding gift to them that he painted.  "From memory."  

I also read over 100 pages in my book, which I have seriously been neglecting!  When The Office is over, I'll be glad to get back to my reading.

How was y'all's weekend??

 

It's Friday!

Hallelujah and Praise the Lord that this week is almost over!  I thought about posting about all the things that made this week so annoying for me (I'm looking at you girl at work, security guard at the airport, and tropical storm Andrea...).  But instead, I think it will be healthier to focus on the positives.

This week, Donny was gone for 2.5 days.  I dropped him off at the airport on Tuesday, and he flew to Carlisle, Pennsylvania for orientation and training for his new job.  He was only busy for a little bit of that time, so he managed to see all sorts of things while he was there-- a minor league baseball game (on an island!), Hershey's Chocolate World, and Gettysburg National Military Park.

But I think he was more excited about the company that he's working for now.  They seem to really value him.  After working for such a great company in Texas for the last several years, I was nervous when he moved here that he wouldn't find something like that.  But God is good, and he always provides.  This company now seems to really be a great place with great people, so I'm very thankful.

While the husband was north of the Mason-Dixon Line, I was at home enjoying my Katie-time.  Tuesday night, since I had the house to myself, I had my small group girls over for the evening.  One great thing about having people over is that it forces you to clean your house!  (A HUGE thank you to Donny for helping me so much last weekend to get it ready for our guests!!)  I had a wonderful evening with those girls.  We celebrated Jen's birthday with a delicious and beautiful cake!

I love those girls so much.  We've started group texting during the days to encourage each other to do our quiet times and stay in God's Word. They have been the biggest blessing for me the past few weeks!!  Not too long ago, I was considering leaving the group, but now that idea makes me very sad.  Even though Emily (our host and quasi-leader) is leaving for Vegas, I desperately hope that we can figure out a way to continue meeting.

While he was gone, I also managed to keep our house clean!  Next up on Operation: House Clean is our bedroom.  There may or may not be piles of clothes in multiple places around the bedroom and closet... So, I got rid of a big one on Wednesday, going through it to get rid of stuff, wash stuff, and really just hang the rest up in the closet.  I never claimed to be a wonderful housekeeper, although I wish I was.  Anyone want to come clean our house weekly??

Yesterday, I got yelled at in the courthouse by the woman my client allegedly punched in the face, so that started the day off in a lovely tone...  But whatever, it was the day Donny was coming home!  But then President Obama screwed it all up.  Turns out that he was in Charlotte yesterday for who knows what.  So the plane that was supposed to bring Donny from PA to NC got stuck here and couldn't take off to get to PA for a couple hours.  His flight that was supposed to leave at 1:55 didn't end up leaving until 4:15.

So, I drove to Charlotte to get him instead of him waiting for hours to catch the next connecting flight to Greensboro.  We were getting some of the very northern strands of Tropical Storm Andrea yesterday, so almost all of the drive was in the rain, some of it POURING.  Not the most enjoyable drive, but I made it.  (ps-- I love love love my car!!  It gives me the weather on the screen and the GPS is fantastic!  Every day, I learn some cool new thing it does.  :)  If you're in the market for a new car, I highly recommend the Hyundai!)

 Donny FINALLY got on a plane to come home!  (Isn't he sweet...  :))

And I made good use of my time waiting at the mall in Charlotte by using a gift card from my lovely friend Lyn to get some of the Dior Addict Gloss that I've been reading and hearing about for so long!  I ordinarily would not buy myself $29 lipgloss, but somehow I always feel justified splurging when there's a gift card involved.  I got the 227 Ambre Lumière color that's a "peach copper shimmer."  I'm wearing it today and love it.

After I picked Donny up at the airport, we grabbed some dinner since it was so late and high-tailed it home to watch some of The Office before going to sleep.  Neither of us had watched any episodes while he was gone so that we wouldn't get ahead of the other person.  So not only was I glad to have Donny back, but also The Office.  :)  

This weekend, we're supposed to be selling stuff at my parents' neighborhood yard sale, and I'm hoping that it doesn't get rained out!  We've got quite a bit of stuff to get rid of that I'm ready to get out of the house!  Other than that, our weekend is pretty low key-- no movies to go see this weekend or anything.  I'm hoping to get in some quality time with my book!  

I'll leave you with one of my current favorite youtube videos.  I love Dwight and Jim so much.  :)