Book Club Friday-- The Night Circus.

GoodReads Synopsis:  The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. 

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. 

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

My Thoughts: I finished this book on Sunday, and I still don't know exactly how I felt about it.  It was beautifully written, the story was incredible and imaginative, and the characters were so colorful and interesting.  But somehow, I just didn't LOVE it.  It was good, and it's definitely worth reading.  But the story got a overly complicated at the end and lost me a little.  There was a LOT of mystery surrounding the story, which I usually love, but it was a bit much here to the point where I'm not 100% sure what even happened.  

All in all, I'd recommend it.  If nothing else, then you can read it and help me figure it out!  :)

You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover.

Well maybe not, but I certainly can have my attention grabbed by one.  Definitely the quickest way for someone to get me to read their book (if I don't already know the author) is to have a pretty or interesting cover.  I like walking through the bookstores and discovering new reads and authors, but I'm not likely to pick up a book by an author I don't know unless it is visually interesting.  Today's topic at The Broke and the Bookish is top ten covers of books you've read.  But I'm cheating a little and doing five that I've read and five that I picked up and want to read thanks to the cover!

READ BOOKS

Sammy's Hill and Sammy's House by Kristin Gore-- These are the best book covers!  So cute and actually give you a really good feel for the tone of the story.  

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger-- yes, I know this is the movie cover, which violates all my long-held beliefs.  But it's just SO perfect for this story.

11/22/63 by Stephen King-- I really think this book would be at the top of my list in every book category ever.  It's just that perfect.  And the cover is what kept me coming back to this book.  Every time I went to the store, I was drawn to it until I finally gave in to my fear of Stephen King and an 800+ page book and picked it up.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon-- Already from the cover of the book, you know it's going to be a mysterious, dark story.  This was one that I knew nothing about but looked at because of the cover.  And I was well rewarded with a phenomenal story which became one of my favorite books ever.

TO-READ BOOKS

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter-- I have zero idea what this is about.  But I want to go to wherever this cover picture is taken, so I obviously must read the book now.

The Fame Game, Starstruck, and Infamous by Lauren Conrad-- I love how her series book covers are different depictions of the same thing.  The LA Candy books were candy hearts, and these are stars.  It's very clever.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie-- Again, I have no idea what this book is about, but I'm so intrigued.  Whose shoes are they?  Why aren't they wearing them?  Are they hurt?  Dead?  Kidnapped??  They look small-- do they belong to a child or a woman?  So many questions just from the cover that make me want to read the book to discover the answers.

Sad Desk Salad by Jessica Grose-- This one makes me laugh, so I imagine the book will be funny.  A face made out of vegetables... Hehehe...

Paris: The Novel by Edward Rutherford-- This book really didn't have anything exciting going on other than a picture of the Eiffel Tower and the word "Paris" on it.  But considering my burning desire to go there, that's really all it takes to get me to want to read it.

What are some of your favorite book covers??  Anything amazing you discovered thanks to a pretty cover?

Oh, and before I finish, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that two years ago today, I walked up to the rodeo at the Fort Worth Stockyards to meet this guy in the Brooklyn Dodgers hat.  I had no idea that two years later I'd be married to him.  Love you, Donny!  :)

This Weekend I...

... celebrated Donny's new job!! I took him to his fave place, Buffalo Wild Wings, on Thursday (the day he got the offer), and on Friday I got myself a manicure/pedicure (that I didn't want to spend the money on while we only had one income)! He's been out of work this time for three weeks, but got a call last week from one of his millions of resumes sent out. Initially they couldn't match his salary ask, but after calling his references and last employer in Texas, they decided they HAD to have him and offered MORE than he asked for! I'm so proud of him and I'm so thankful that God provided this opportunity for him. He starts the new job today!
We also went to see Pain and Gain on Friday (even though I still think it should be called "Muscle Beach," but whatever...).  I wasn't too excited to see it, but it actually ended up being really funny and better than I had anticipated.  Definitely worth a redbox rental if you can't catch it in theaters.

... went to the Greek Festival!  We had plans to play tennis on Saturday, but the rain quickly dashed that idea.  So instead, we had a delicious lunch of souvlaki and loukoumades (two of my favorite things ever).  The Greek Festival is held every year at our local Greek Orthodox church, which is absolutely beautiful.  These pictures can't do it justice.

... did some shopping.  First was at our local library's book sale, where we got a dozen books, two CDs, and one vinyl album all for $14!  Next was A.C. Moore, where Donny had to drag me away from the Sharpie aisle...

We also went to Best Buy, where they had The Lincoln Lawyer for super cheap. So of course, I had to get it and watch it immediately upon arriving at home.  This movie is definitely one of my favorite book adaptations-- it stuck EXACTLY to the book and really captured the feel of it.  When an author writes an article raving about the movie adaptation of his book, you know it's good.

... had a lazy Sunday.  We slept through church (oops), had a nice lunch at my grandma's house, got some yard stuff at Walmart, then were back at home where I spent the afternoon reading while Donny watched the early seasons of The Office.  I came SO close to finishing The Night Circus yesterday, but the closer it got to bedtime, the more I knew I would dream about it, so I put it down with about 50 pages to go.  I'm desperate to find out what happens from here!

Per someone's request, I made the Pioneer Woman's mac and cheese, which is always a fan favorite in our house.  It's super easy (if you don't have old milk like me that requires you to make a second roux with fresh milk that your husband had to go get when the first batch started to separate...) and so delicious!

How was everyone else's weekend??

 

Husband Takeover.

Katie asked that I write her blog post today because she didn't have a prompt and, well, I've got nothing but time. She turned my attention to a few posts written by the husbands of bloggers she follows. In said posts they described/talked about what she likes to do or what she doesn't like to do or her quirks or why he loves her... But I'm going to take a little bit of a different approach and talk about the things we do together. 

Katie and I have an awful lot in common. It's obviously why we were attracted to each other (actually I think she was only attracted to my tattoos and thought I was some sort of bad boy --I'm not, sorry honey). To begin with, we love going to the movies. While most of the movies were because we were both interested, she has gone with me to see movies that I'm sure she had no interest in watching, for that I'm grateful. Likewise, I have gone to see movies I really had no interest in. One was Les Misérables, and I actually really enjoyed it (look at me, enjoying movies that don't star Will Ferrell)! Another movie was that Nicholas Sparks book-turned-movie with the hunky guy and blonde girl --definitely needed more Will Ferrell and maybe some cowbell. 

We love our Saturdays with no plans. While we don't have places to be and scheduled things to do, we have a sort of routine. I usually end up at Waffle House (alone, because Katie claims she doesn't like it). After eating, I get a to-go order for Katie (who still claims she doesn't like it) and head home for a day of watching/listening to baseball and reading as much as possible. We may not leave the house again until sometime in the evening when hunger starts to set in-- then we wander out into the urban wilderness and forage through the vast restaurant parking lots in search of a short waiting list to be seated. 

One of my favorite things about Katie is that she supports the things that matter most to me --one of these is the Texas Rangers. While it's been tough for me, I reciprocate my love by rooting for the Yankees (as long as they're not playing the Rangers). For the record, this is my first public admission of rooting for the Yankees--that's true love.  (I've never loved you more, Donny!!  :)) Katie doesn't sport it too often, but she has a Rangers shirt that looks absolutely fabulous on her and I believe she should wear it more! Baseball will be our child's first word. Or maybe it'll be Rangers... 

Proof of my love.  Thank God he's not a Red Sox fan...

We love to travel and see new things and learn new things. Between the two of us, we have a perfect traveling pair --she loves making lists of things to do and I love to go do stuff! We especially love it when we can incorporate baseball into our traveling schedule like we did a few weekends ago on our trip to Durham and Chapel Hill. In the midst of our summer plans are places I've wanted to see most of my life and I think Katie is at least as excited as I am about going. 

Honestly speaking, one of the things that Katie liked about me when we met was that I was preparing to go on a mission trip to Africa. Serving God is important in my life, and He is important in Katie's life as well. All the things mentioned above pale in comparison to the importance of sharing my life with someone who will join me in making Christ the center of our lives and wants our relationship built on the model God prepared for us.  

 All in all, I'm a pretty lucky guy.

And I'm definitely one lucky lady.  Thanks for taking over my blog today, honey!!  :)

This Weekend I...

... went to see The Great Gatsby!!  I loved it.  I was terrified that Baz Luhrmann would ruin my favorite classic book.  But he absolutely did not.  The Atlantic Monthly's review stated that "Luhrmann seems to want us to feel more or less what Fitzgerald wanted us to feel, only more loudly... To this end, Luhrmann turns every dial at his disposal up to 11."  And boy is that true.  The colors are bright, the music is brash, the cinematography is constantly moving.  It's very Baz Luhrmann and very, very good.  It has nothing at all in common with the original Robert Redford/Mia Farrow version, which I also loved, other than the story.  Two very different takes on the book but both fantastic.  

The movie really sold itself to me when they started playing my favorite piece of music ever during the fireworks show at Gatsby's party-- George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.  That scene was perfection.  Absolute perfection.

... had my first Sam Adams Summer Ale of the season.  This is by far my favorite beer, and I love when spring/summer rolls around so that restaurants start carrying it!

... worked on some blog design. I made a new header for Donny's blog and changed some of the settings so he's got a bit of a fresher look.

And I'm also working on my own!  The beauty of doing your own blog design is that you can change it whenever you want without having to spend any money.  :)

... played tennis!  Saturday afternoon, Donny finally agreed to go with me to hit some tennis balls.  He had never played before but we had a blast.  He's even looking forward to going back out there again.  Win!

Ignore the baseball stance... ;)

... started Night Circus.  I'm only about 40 pages in, but it's already very intriguing.  I wish I had had more time to read it this weekend!

... spent Mother's Day with my family.  We had a great afternoon with some delicious food and a lot of fun.

Tulips we got my mom...

Some flowers she had on the dining table...

Chocolate covered strawberries!!

The spread...

We also celebrated my brother's birthday from a few weeks ago with some pineapple cake

Happy birthday, Drew!

And we all went shopping among some DVDs Drew brought for my parents' yard sale

Drew, mom, me

Donny, me, mom

mom, aunt Karen, both grandmas, and me

It was a wonderful weekend!  How was everyone else's weekend??