Book Club Friday

I did it! I read the second Harry Potter book last week after watching the first movie (again) but this time with Kristen. She kept saying she didn't want to watch it, but she sat all the way through it and later admitted she really liked it. That is the reason I picked up the 2nd book last week, and I read it in just 3 days.

 

 So, this week for Book Club Friday, I'm reading book # 3, The Prisoner of Azkaban. Oh, and for the record, we watched the second movie (as soon as I'd finished reading the book) earlier this week!  I am loving the books. I forgot how great a read the first one was, how I couldn't put it down. And the second book was exactly the same, even though I had seen that movie a few years before - still a fantastic read.  I loved watching the second movie straight afterwards too, seeing little differences here and there, but again, still a great movie to watch. I've seen only the first 3 movies of Harry Potter, so after this 3rd book and re-watching the movie, everything will be a new experience for me! 

 

What can I say about this book? Most of you will probably have read it by now (more than once perhaps) but for those who haven't, well I'd have to say, "what are you waiting for?". These books are SO good, the three main characters so endearing. I don't know what else they all get up to in the coming books, but one thing I do know, I've got some good reads ahead of me ;-)

 

Next week is our last full week of Summer vacation! The kids here return to school on Monday, August 22nd. I'm always amazed at how quickly each season of the year passes. Not that we're moving in to a new season yet here in TX, it is still so very hot. Not one day in the 10 day forecast is below 103. We're all just praying for rain right now - surely it must come soon!

Monthly Book Club

 

Wow, doesn't a week go by quickly! It's time for Book Club Friday again :-) And this week I have a new book to share with you. Before I do that, I'd just like to say that I really enjoyed 'Loving Frank' in the end. It took a little time to get in to it, but in hindsight it was a really enjoyable read. Fascinating too, that it was based on real events. If any of you don't know the story of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick I would suggest you don't Google it first if you want to read this book - the ending was a complete SHOCKER to me!!!  We had our monthly Book Club meeting last night about it and as always it was fun and lively.I love my book club because it makes me read books I normally wouldn't bother picking up, and more often than not I'm surprised that I enjoy them, when at the beginning I think I'm not going to!

Whilst I still had a few chapters left of 'Loving Frank' I actually downloaded this book to my Ipad . . . 

 This is our book club read for September (we won't be reading in August, we've decided on a Movie night instead - more about that next month ;-) Here's the synopsis:

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.

If I'm honest, I'm not sure what to make of this book. I'm a  christian, I believe in God and Jesus, and I believe we WILL have eternal life if we accept Jesus Christ as our savior. I've heard of a few stories of someone that died and 'went to heaven' (have you read 90 minutes in Heaven?) The thing that got me was that I thought you had to 'die' to even experience anything like that (don't ask me why I thought that, I just did), but this little boy didn't die, he 'slipped from conciousnessl!!  What does that actually mean? Haven't you already 'slipped from conciousness' when you're on the operating table? Did he really go to heaven, or did he just dream he did?  The book mentions a young girl named Akiane who 'paints pictures of Jesus and heaven based on her visits too, but again when I read articles on her, she has never 'died' but says she sees heaven in her dreams! So, I don't really know what to make of it all, but does it really matter? I know what I believe, I know that when I die I'll have eternal life with my Maker, my Creator, and I will be reunited with those I have loved and lost. I am reminded of this verse:

However, as it is written:   No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

I will say, it was a quick and easy read, less than 200 pages.I'm sure it will make for an interesting meeting too!  Wanna know what others are reading? Head over to Heather's for more Book Club Friday posts.

Book Club Friday & Wanna Swap?!!

You all know how much I love books, so I thought I’d join in again with Heather’s Book Club Friday this week, even though I’m still reading the same book I mentioned last week - ‘Loving Frank’ by Nancy Huron.  Book club meeting is next Thursday so I should be finished with by then. In hindsight, I’m rather enjoying the book, and just out of curiosity I Googled Frank Lloyd Wright’s house which is talked about in the book – called Taliesin. Have you heard of it? Seen it? Wow, what an amazing looking structure! Google it if you’re curious ;-)

So this week I thought I’d review a book I read a few months ago for Book Club.

Here’s the synopsis:  It's the beginning of a lazy summer in 1950 at the sleepy English village of Bishop's Lacey. Up at the great house of Buckshaw, aspiring chemist Flavia de Luce passes the time tinkering in the laboratory she's inherited from her deceased mother and an eccentric great uncle. When Flavia discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside her bedroom window early one morning, she decides to leave aside her flasks and Bunsen burners to solve the crime herself, much to the chagrin of the local authorities. But who can blame her? What else does an eleven-year-old science prodigy have to do when left to her own devices? 

This is the first book in a series of 4 (so far, actually the 4th book is due for release this November!).  Not one of my favorite books! To me, reading about a ‘kid sleuth’ as Flavia is labeled, seems rather disconcerting.  I mean seriously, who lets an 11 year old kid go off to solve a murder on her own?!  And the fact that she is only 11 made me feel like this should be more like a novel for younger readers, yet it obviously wasn’t.

Still, in saying all that I did find myself not wanting to put the book down (like all mysteries, I can’t wait to get to the end to see ‘whodunnit’!) and the meeting we had about it was fun (as always). That’s what I love about being in a bookclub. You get to hear other opinions about the characters and plot, which sometimes lets me see the book in a whole different light.

SO, who’s up for a SWAP? I would like to send this book on to someone else that would like to read it, in exchange for another book that I would like to read ;-)

Top of my list is:

 

OR

 OR

OR

 Or, if you have a book you think I might like to read, and you would like the Flavia de Luce Mystery, then just send me an email: denise at deniseschulz dot com

Also for anyone that is on GoodReads.com you can find me under that email address and I would love to be added to your ‘friends’.

I was going to add ‘Wine’ to the title of this post (Cheryl and I will be trying two new wines tonight ;-) one is a ‘chocolate dipped strawberry wine!!!) but I’ll leave that for the next post.

Strange, I couldn't post this using Live Writer, so went to Blogger to post, but Blogger won't let me leave spaces between the paragraphs? I hope it's not too hard to read!

Have a great weekend!

Book Club Friday!

I didn’t get a chance to join in with Heather last week for her Book Club Friday, but I have the time today to post so here we go . . .

This week I’m reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.

 

This is our book club read for July. To be honest I didn’t think I’d enjoy reading this book, the storyline just didn’t interest me at all, but half way through the book the characters are developing and I’m being drawn in to the ‘drama’ so to speak and liking it better than I thought I would.

Here’s the synopsis:

Horan's ambitious first novel is a fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage. Despite the title, this is not a romance, but a portrayal of an independent, educated woman at odds with the restrictions of the early 20th century. Frank and Mamah, both married and with children, met when Mamah's husband, Edwin, commissioned Frank to design a house. Their affair became the stuff of headlines when they left their families to live and travel together, going first to Germany, where Mamah found rewarding work doing scholarly translations of Swedish feminist Ellen Key's books. Frank and Mamah eventually settled in Wisconsin, where they were hounded by a scandal-hungry press, with tragic repercussions.

Our meeting is not until July 21st, so I may still be reading this next week – after that we’ll be reading Heaven is for Real, which I’m really looking forward to, and might actually buy it for the Kindle on my Ipad, it will be the first time I’ve read a book on there! I still like the idea of reading a ‘real’ book, but want to give the Kindle a try.

Kristen on the other hand has no problem reading on my Ipad, she’s already read the first book in the Warrior series. As soon as she finished it she asked if I could download the sample of the second book, to which I replied, “I might as well just buy it"!” – and just like that, within seconds she had it in her lap to start reading! Gotta love technology!!!  ;-)

 

It’s another super hot day here in TX, I think I’ll be over in Cheryl’s pool later tonight, and joining her for a margarita . . . or two ;-)  Have a great weekend!

Friday Fun, Cocktails & Books

Yay, it’s Friday :-)  Even when we’re off school and every day feels like the weekend, I still love Fridays! It means hubby will be home with us for two lovely days AND I get to hang out with my girlfriend too because she’s not working for two whole days ;-) And we usually try a new cocktail (or make up one of our favorites!

Last weekend I tried another of Val’s cocktails. The one she featured on her blog was a Lemon Drop Martini.

CHEERS!

Hmmm, I thought I would love it cos I love lemons, and anything ‘tart’, but both Cheryl and I agreed it wasn’t really to our liking. SO, I mixed up another ‘Ice Blue, which I really DO like (you can get the recipe here at Val’s Blog)

This week, I’m not sure if we’ll be trying a cocktail or just having wine. The trouble with cocktails is they can be very high in calories (and carbs) whereas a glass of wine is only about 100 cals.  Although I’m still tempted to mix up just one to try and then have a couple of glasses of wine the rest of the night – what would you do?  ;-)

Last night at book club our host greeted us with leis and served us a Mai Tai as we arrived! The book we had read was The Aloha Quilt so of course she was going with an Hawaiian theme.  The Mai Tai was DELICIOUS, so I’m wondering if I should make that tonight. Val says she has a great one to share this week, but it’s not up on her blog yet! I’ll have to check what the ingredients are for a Mai Tai and get what we need. Slowly but surely I’m stocking my ‘cocktail cabinet’ so I might not need much for it.

Speaking of books, I thought I would join in with the lovely Heather this week, over at Blonde . . . Undercover Blonde, for her

As I mentioned we just finished reading The Aloha Quilt for book club, but I’m not going to talk about that one, (honestly it wasn’t that good a read! imo) I’m going to talk about this one that I’m currently reading on my own (meaning it’s not a book club pick)

Who Is My Shelter by Neta Jackson – this is the 4th book in the ‘House of Hope’ Series. I first read Neta Jackson’s novels in her Yada Yada Prayer Group Series (loved those too) and some of the characters spill over in to this new series.

Here’s the description: Gabby Fairbanks is now settled in her new apartment at the House of Hope. But she is being pulled in several directions at once and has some hard decisions to make. Philip, her estranged husband, is in a lot of trouble with a rogue cop from whom he borrowed money and also with his partner at the commercial development firm after he takes company money to cover his gambling losses. Lee Boyer, the Legal Aid lawyer who has become a friend to Gabby, now wants to be more. Gabby must decide whether to give Philip another chance, as their sons, Paul and PJ, hope, and she turns to the folks at Manna House, where she works, and the Yada Yada Prayer Group to help her discern God’s plan for her.

I don’t know why I love these books so much, but I do! They’re an easy read, and you seem to get to know the characters really quickly. Some books take a few chapters to really get in to, but I find with this series (and the Yada Yada ones) I’m sucked in after just a few pages. I’m only half way through this one but am enjoying it as much as the other 3. I’ll be sad to come to the end of it as it seems to be the last in the series. But I was happy to read on Neta’s website that she’s working on a new series called ‘SouledOut Sister’s, again, using some of the characters from her previous books, and bringing in some new ‘annoying’ ones (as she puts it) too :-)

Ok, before this post gets waaaaaaay tooooooo loooooooong, I’ll jump off here and go clean house ready for the weekend!

Weight Watchers – Cookbook Review

Some time last year, as a way to encourage myself to eat healthy I decided to ‘splurge’ and buy the Weight Watchers At Home Kit. I didn’t want/need to go to meetings and at the time I didn’t want to join the online program either. The At Home Kit was perfect for me. I received lots of motivational books, along with the WW food calculator, cookbook  AND a free subscription to their magazine (which I love).  I stuck with the plan for just a few months though, then kinda fell off the wagon during the Summer and Winter months.

When I decided I needed to get back on track with better eating and exercise I was a little sad to find out that Weight Watchers had revamped their whole program! It was now called Weight Watchers Points Plus. It meant all the material I’d just invested in was rather obsolete, even the calculator wouldn’t calculate the food points correctly (all that had changed too). But still, I was sort of excited too. A new year was approaching and I really wanted to get back to eating healthy (I’d really let me myself over-indulge during Christmas!).  So, this time I DID join on line, and 5 months later I am still following the plan (most of the time) AND still feel motivated because I check in with a group of girls at the forums every day. Accountability is the key.

I bought a new WW calculator but I didn’t buy a new cookbook. I had to recalculate the points of a recipe when I made it using my new calculator. . . . .  that is, until now.

Now I have :

Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, 4th Edition. And it calculates the PointsPlus for every meal :-) 

The WW New Complete Cookbook has been completely revised and updated to reflect the way Americans are eating today. Packed with 500 delicious and nutritional-conscious recipes, this new edition of the cookbook helps people stay on track and achieve their weight management goals, including information and values for those following the new PointsPlus program.

When I first received the book I spent most of the evening just browsing through it slowly. Turning every page and almost drooling at some of the wonderful photos!

Really? Nachos Grandes!!  That’s what I love about Weight Watchers – NOTHING is off limits :-) The book is filled with great recipes from Breakfasts and Brunches to Slow Cooker Classics and everything in between. My only problem?   . . . deciding what to cook first!

I decided to make this Chicken and Rice dish. It looks so savory, AND I had all the ingredients in.

To be honest looking at the recipe photo, I thought the dish might be rather complicated, but I was happy to see there was only 4 steps to it, and step #1 was preheat the oven to 350!  This was going to be easier than I thought.

I didn’t have ‘chicken parts’ (breast, drumstick and thighs') just skinned chicken thighs, so I used those….. sautéed in a pan til browned (then remove)

then cook bell pepper, celery, garlic and onion for about 5 minutes. I added some small diced patty pan squash that I just picked from the garden too :-)  Next I stirred in a can of tomatoes and some chicken broth, once it was boiling I added rice and oregano (I didn’t have any saffron that it called for).

Transfer everything (including the browned chicken) to a casserole dish and cook covered for about 25 minutes until chicken is cooked, then add some frozen peas and cook covered again for 15 minutes.  I took this picture before I’d added the peas!

   

Just as I expected, this was a really savory tasting dish. I loved the veggies in it and the thighs were really nice and moist. I had more of this the next day for lunch and the flavors were even more intense.

I can’t say enough good things about Weight Watchers, I love that I can eat all of the things I like, nothing is off limits. It’s teaching me to watch my portion sizes and to eat lots more fruit and veg (all free points) :-)  I can’t wait to try more recipes from the book.

 

** I received a review copy of this book from Wiley publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts are 100% mine **

Top ‘O’ The Mornin To Ya!

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

I don’t have a drop of Irish in me (at least I don’t think I do) and being English we have never celebrated St Patty’s Day, but I know many of you do, so I wanted to wish you a wonderful day. And even though we don’t celebrate it, I still love to see all the decor and fun ‘green’ things around. If Kristen was in school no doubt she’d wear green too ;-) I have a few ‘green’ things I thought I’d share with you today, and I’m joining in with Ginny for this week’s YARN ALONG!

Ginny, like me (and many others, as you will see from her Mr. Linky) loves to knit AND read! I don’t think there’s ever a time I don’t have something on my needles and a book on my side table . . . this week I’ve been reading The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie! It’s for our monthly book club pick, and our meeting is tonight. I’ve got about 10 pages left to read today!

The story is about an 11 yr old ‘detective’! An aspiring ‘chemist’ at that! When Flavia discovers a murdered stranger in the cucumber patch outside her bedroom window early one morning, she decides to leave aside her flasks and Bunsen burners to solve the crime herself. . . . it was an ‘ok’ read (when it comes to reviews I can never quite find the right words!) not something I would have picked off the shelf myself. There are other books in the series but I don’t think I will be reading them. The only thing I kept thinking is ‘how does an 11 yr old know SO much!’ The way she acted, and the things she said were more in keeping with a much older person.

Usually I would take a picture of the book with my knitting but as usual one item was upstairs while I was downstiars with the other, and I’m lazy, so I just snapped a shot of my knitting ;-)

And the knitting is this . . .

This is the beautiful ‘Spring Garden Tee’ from the lovely Alana at Never Not Knitting. She has some gorgeous patterns, and I just bought this one last week while she was having a ‘spring sale’. There is also a little girl top that matches this (actually she did the little size first and got such rave reviews she designed an adult version too).

The pattern is modeled by the beautiful Julie from Knitted Bliss. You can see full size modeled shots HERE. The pictures are gorgeous! I can’t imagine mine looking so nice, but I hope it does! As you can see I’ve picked a pretty soft green bamboo yarn, perfect for Spring.

And finally, this little guy is on my needles, just about finished. (picture above taken from the magazine cover) Just one of the many Christmas gifts I’m knitting this year, so I won’t say who it’s for (actually I’m not sure who it is for just yet)! The yarn is Lion Brand ‘Homespun’, readily available at Michaels and Hobby Lobby.

So, that’s my ‘green’ day. What’s yours looking like?

End of Spring Reading

I can't believe it's been 3 months already since I posted about Karina's Spring Reading Challenge. It ended this week, Monday to be exact - the first day of Summer. I thought I'd recap and tell you how I did. You can see my original post on it HERE. I listed 6 books in total and a few I hoped to read with Kristen, they were:

Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
Made From Scratch by Sandra Lee
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Magic Tree House series (to read with Kristen)

I must admit as much as I love reading, I don't do it half as much as I'd like to ... it always seems to take a back seat to my knitting and I only seem to pick up a book at bedtime, but I did read the first 3 books on my list (mainly because they were book club picks - ok, not totally true, I couldn't get in to Atonement so I only read 1/4 of it and then rented the movie!)

I still haven't finished Sandra Lee's Memoir nor have I got very far with reading Pride and Prejudice (this could take me months but I'm determined to finish it). I did start reading Redeeming Love but had to take it back to the library and couldn't renew it because it had a hold on it, so I hope to get it back out next week and finish it.

I also read one other book which was The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love. It was a sweet and easy read about 3 elderly ladies who start life again in a small town. There are a few books in this series which I may read also. It reminds me of the Jan Karon series in Mitford :-) Now that Spring Reading is over it doesn't mean reading is over. I have just started reading Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for July's book club meeting.

Kristen and I read a few Magic Tree House books together, and I'm happy to say she is in to reading more right now too. She's picked quite a large chapter book called Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism! She reads it at bed time too and keeps telling me it's rather funny.

I've ordered Julie of the Wolves from Amazon that we should get this week, I'm going to read that with her this summer. I'm not sure if there is an actual 'Summer Challenge' in blogland, I think Karina only does Spring and Fall, but I think I'll make myself a list and see what I can get read while school is out.

What are you reading this Summer? One book? Two? I'd love to know!

Spring Thing

Today not only marks the start of Spring, but also the Spring Reading Thing over at Callapidder Days. I joined in with the last reading challenge back in the Fall last year and thought I would join in again, more for my own enjoyment than anything else, I love books but sometimes don't get to read as many as I would like. This challenge helps me to at least try! And I also like to visit other blogs and see what everyone else is reading.

Because I'm in a Book Club I know for certain I will be reading 3 books between now and June (that is when the challenge ends).I've thought about what other books I might like to read over the next few months and I've made a list for myself which I'm sharing here. I haven't gone crazy, as much as I would love to read more I am being realistic here.... Spring marks the start of longer days, lighter nights, garden work, growing veggies, and well to be honest, less time wanting to even open up the pages of a book, but here's my list anyway. If you love to read, hop on over to Katrina's blog and join in the fun. And leave a comment here so I can come visit you and read about what you're reading ;-)



Atonement by Ian McEwan - this is book club pick for April. I know there's a movie out too which I was told recently was very depressing! Not sure how I will like the book.










The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein - sounds like a much lighter read. May's book club pick










The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry - Book club pick for June.












Made From Scratch, A Memoir by Sandra Lee - I started reading this a few weeks ago before I went home to England. It has since taken a back seat to other things, but I would really like to finish it off.









Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - seen the movie many times, and wanted to read the book. I won this in a bloggy giveaway and have started reading a little each night. Hope to finish it for the challenge too.










Magic Tree House series - hoping to read a few of these with Kristen over the next few weeks. We are trying to read them in order and #9 is next 'Dolphins at Daybreak'.





and finally... I've heard so much about Francine Rivers but never read one of her books. I've heard this one in particular is REALLY good, so I'm going to challenge myself to read it before the end of June.









Today hardly feels like the first day of Spring. We had a thunderstorm during the night, the yard looks like it has a pond in it, we had so much rain, it's still very windy out there and cold. Much different to the lovely weather we had all week, but a great day to stay in and, yes you guessed it . . . READ :-)