My kids all have a blog and I thought it might be fun to have one and just write down thoughts. I thought I would start with reviewing books I've read, movies I've seen, restaurants I've tried, recipes and just see what happens. I love to read and always have. There was a time that I wasn't able to read. I couldn't focus long enough to get through a book. I could read a magazine article or the newspaper but not a whole book. I'm glad that time has passed because reading has become my passion even though I usually only read fiction. Last year I read 37 books and this year as of today, I've already read 37 books. I belong to several online sites where I can get book reviews and list the books I've read and it keeps track of them. The two sites I visit are www.shelfari.com and www.goodreads.com. I have also belonged to www.paperbackswap.com for about 3 years. You can request books and send books. All you have to pay is the postage to mail them out. For each book you get one credit and each book costs you one credit. I'm not much on keeping books or movies that I know I'll never read or watch again and I love that I can provide someone else the pleasure of reading a book I don't want anymore. I know books are becoming obsolete since Kindle but I still love books. I have an IPad but haven't downloaded a book yet. This site has been good. The only drawback is that a really popular/new book takes forever to get. I have started going to thrift stores looking for books that I know are popular and I can trade. I've gotten some really good books for $1.oo. I like to go to shelfari and click on Most Popular Books and see what everyone is reading. Then I click on the book and get a review. If it gets 4-5 stars and it sounds good, I go request it on Paperback swap. My daughters also call and say "Mom, can you get this book for me" so it's fun and it's my new obsession. I do have a tendency to obsess about things. When my youngest was little, it was "Beanie babies" and I scouted all over town trying to find the bears. It's so crazy now when I think about all the time I wasted and the money but it was something for us to do together. She made clothes for them and furniture and I still have most of it and probably 50 beanies that I'm hoping to share with my grandchildren. I've already shown them to "Sweet Pea" but she's 2 and not quite into them yet. Back to books...I am a Home Health nurse and travel a lot so I've started listening to books on tape. I finally got a library card and figured out how to request them online. Today I finished "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and really liked it. It was about a young boy who lost his dad in 911 and a quest he goes on to stay close to his dad. It also involves a relationship between his dad's parents. Even though it was fiction, it made me so sad to think of all the people who really did lose their dads, moms, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, etc. and what a horrible thing happens when countries are at war. I gave it a 4. Mostly I save 5's for books that I absolutely loved and think about for days and days and would read over and over again. There aren't many like that but I'm embarrassed to say they are usually fantasy books about different worlds like: Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight and Eragon. There are some other books I have given a 5 like: Secret Life of Bees, Same Kind of Different as Me, Sarah's Key, The Book Thief ,Water for Elephants, Left to Tell or anything by Bodie Thoene or Mitch Albom. I have been known to be reading several at one time. I love to read!!
