Thursday, June 21, 2012

Summer Reading



Hello friends.

Are you staying cool?
It is hot here in Pennsylvania. 
I took a picture of the temperature in my car which I will use to remind myself every time I complain its too cold this coming winter.
This heat is made worse by the fact that I am pretty sure I am pre menopausal because I have been having terrible hot flashes.
But thats not what I want to talk about because I do have at least one male loyal reader Andrew and I am certain he has no interest in talking about hot flashes. 

I have been keeping a list of books that I would like to read this summer.
Some of the books are books I meant to read in the winter but never got to.
I am a little disappointed in how short my list is.
Usually by this time I have a whole pile of books that I plan to read but sadly this year I have no pile and only a few titles written on a scrap of paper.
I thought I would maybe share with you my list and hopefully you can give me a few to add.




Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Barnes and Noble Overview:
 On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? 




Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand 
(she is my summer reading staple)

Barnes and Noble Overview:
 A warm June evening, a local tradition: the students of Nantucket High have gathered for a bonfire on the beach. But what begins as a graduation night celebration ends in tragedy after a horrible car crash leaves the driver of the car, Penny Alistair, dead, and her twin brother in a coma. The other passengers, Penny's boyfriend Jake and her friend Demeter, are physically unhurt - but the emotional damage is overwhelming, and questions linger about what happened before Penny took the wheel.
As summer unfolds, startling truths are revealed about the survivors and their parents - secrets kept, promises broken, hearts betrayed. Elin Hilderbrand explores the power of community, family, and honesty, and proves that even from the ashes of sorrow, new love can still take flight.



She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb 
(one of my hold overs from the winter)

Barnes and Noble Overview:
In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi that her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.


I also preordered Jennifer Hillier's new book 
Freak
which I am excited to read. It somes out 8/7

Barnes and Noble Overview: 

Sitting alone in a maximum-security prison cell, Abby Maddox is a celebrity. Her claim to fame is the envy of every freak on the outside: she’s the former lover of Ethan Wolfe, the killer who left more than a dozen dead women in his wake and nearly added Puget Sound State professor Sheila Tao to the tally. Now Abby, serving a nine-year sentence for slashing a police officer’s throat in a moment of rage, has little human contact—save for the letters that pour in from demented fans, lunatics, and creeps. But a new wave of murders has given Abby a possible chance for a plea bargain—because this killer has been sending her love letters, and carving a message on the bodies of the victims: Free Abby Maddox.



Odd Apocalypse by Dead Koontz comes out 7/30
I love the Odd Thomas series so I am very excited for this book.

Barnes and Noble Overview:

In advance of the much-buzzed Odd Thomas major motion picture, Odd Apocalypse chronicles Odd Thomas’s most riveting adventure to date, as his mysterious journey of suspense and discovery moves to a dangerous new level. The Odd Thomas series is kicked into overdrive as Odd confronts deadly adversaries in a decaying estate straight out of Sunset Boulevard.


And another preorder but it doesn't come out until 9/27 so its not really a summer read is the much anticipated JK Rowling release
The Casual Vacancy

Barnes and Noble Overview: 

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock
Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.
Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems.
And the empty seat left by Barry on the town's council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?


And that is it.
Not much of a long list this summer.

Do you have any you would like to recommend?


I am reading: The Breath of God by Jeffrey Small


Monday, June 18, 2012

Introducing Brayden



I have mentioned Brayden.

He is our newest family member.
Brayden is a French Bulldog.
He currently weighs 10 pounds and will weigh around 20 when he is full grown.
We bought him from the same breeder we bought Perry from.
When Christopher decided he was in need of a new friend he specified that he wanted to get him from the same breeder but he did not want to get another cream colored because it would be too hard if the new puppy looked exactly like Perry. 
He opted for the black/brindle.
Brayden is extra spoiled because we all want to hold him and pet him as we try to 
heal from the loss of Perry.

I took Brayden down the shore with me this weekend.
I went down to help my sister get her rental property ready for the season.
He had a great time.
I walked him down to the beach in the morning to show him the ocean.
He did not care for the sand.

Until he saw the seagulls.
But I would not let him chase them.
Because he wasn't really supposed to be on the beach.
And because seagulls are nasty suckers.
When I told him No! He made this face at me.........

it's his mad face.

We walked him down to the ocean.
He did not like getting his feet wet but we had to at least let him put his feet in.
It would have somehow been wrong not to.
Christopher quickly picked him up and the two looked out into the vastness of the ocean together.


I love how much comfort Christopher gets from having this new friend.
He is enjoying the responsibility of training Brayden and also teaching him all of the tricks he once taught Perry.

I enjoyed bugging my sister whenever I referred to Brayden as Christopher's brother or referred to her as Aunt Judy when I was speaking to Brayden.

My nieces Ashley and Miranda, who were at the shore with us,  took about a thousand pictures of him and posted them in instagram.  
And announced that they were stealing him because he is so cute.

But we would never let that happen.

So please join me in welcoming Brayden to my blog!

Stay tuned to find out how Charlotte is dealing with the loss of Perry and the introduction of Brayden.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

I am reading: The Breath of God by Jeffrey Small

Monday, June 11, 2012

Hi! Remember me?

So I have been absent from the blog world. 

But now I am back and I would like to catch you all up on what I have been doing while I was away.
Sadly its nothing really exciting but that is pretty much my life.

Amber left us for Disney World
She was excepted into the Disney College Program and she will be there until January 2nd which also happens to be her 21st Birthday.
She has been having a good time. She calls and complains and I tell her to shut her face.......she is living in the happiest place on earth!
Mostly she complains about her job but I think its more having a job that she is complaining about.
She has made some new friends which has never been a problem for her.
She recently was a "four keys" recipient.


Which is like Disney's version of what we call here where I work a "hole in one card" 
It's basically a recognition for doing something above and beyond your job or by doing your job well.
Not to sound too much like her friend Jason who tried to steal her thunder by saying he has received two......but I get a "hole in one card" all the time.
So......just sayin.



So life without Amber has been......quiet.
I miss her very much and I can't wait to see her when we visit in August!

Before Amber left we welcomed a new puppy into our home.


His name is Brayden.
He is a french bulldog.
We bought him from the same breeder as we did Perry so they are kind of brothers.
He was names after Philadelphia Flyers hockey player Brayden Schenn.
He is adorable and sweet.

He kind of looks like Edgar.....remember him? My Library Gargoyle.



Amber spent some time with her before she left and basically taught him everything she knows about sleeping, being lazy and laying in bed. 
She is practically an Olympic gold medalist at it so.......

 

So now that she is gone he is the laziest one in our house.


Christopher is taking excellent care of him and I think the two of them will be inseparable this summer.



Well folks thats about it. It has been a month of just nothing and everything.
But things have settled and so I am ready to join the blog world again.

One last thing...........At the end of each post I will tell you what I am reading. 
Just cause I plan to do a lot of reading this summer and I don't know if I will always post a review.

Have a fantastic day!


I am reading.........Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

 
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