Here But Not Here

The title of this long overdue blog post summarizes my life fairly well.  As I mentioned back in November, my husband was hospitalized and since then he has been hospitalized two more times.  I mention this not to elicit sympathy, rather in an effort to explain that for now, my life has changed in so very many ways.

These past three months have taught me so very much, often in the form of painful lessons, yet necessary ones.  In one day, my world and that of my family changed completely, and looking back now, I know it has made us stronger.  We have learned to take nothing for granted, and maybe that is the lesson, nothing is guaranteed or permanent.  I have learned that time is precious and life is so very fragile.  I look forward to each sunrise with eager anticipation and find the majestic beauty in each sunset.  As a family we have grown even closer, learned to do more with less, and to appreciate what we have and not wish for what we cannot have.  My family and I have a long road ahead, but I do not fear it anymore, rather I am learning to live in the present ( which has not come easy to me, as a natural worrier, but I am changing).

But what about books, one may be wondering at this point.  An excellent question and I am more than happy to report my reading is coming along quite nicely, averaging over a book a day. :)   So where are my reviews?  Another excellent question.  Some may think this is rather silly, but I honestly have neither had the time nor the energy to post my reviews here.  However, my reviews may be read on GoodReads or LibraryThing, some are posted on Amazon as well, and as always what I am currently reading or have read may be found here.  I am beginning my 33rd book of 2013, which I think is fairly good considering January is not yet over.  ;)   Will I begin posting my reviews back here soon?  I cannot say, so I shall not even pretend to know.  I am quite literally taking each day as it comes.

Stay warm my fellow bibliophiles and thank you for sticking with me through the good and bad times.  It all balances out in the end.

Happy Reading!


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Finally an Update!

As Christmas rapidly approaches it suddenly dawned on me that I have neither read nor listened to a book in at least 8 weeks. This may not seem too strange, except I typically read at least one book a day. Life took quite an extremely abrupt turn, which is affecting my entire household and even my beloved reading was placed so far on the backburner that I gave it no thought beyond always making certain I had a book in my “go bag”. Beyond that, I have read nothing. While our family is struggling with a very serious and unexpected illness (not mine), we are still all very affected and I am trying to keep things as “normal” as possible for my twins who will be graduating this year and my college age son, who blessedly is now home for Christmas break. The halls are decked (thanks to my SIL who came out for a week and was kind enough to try and help us get into the Christmas mood), the presents are few (there may be a few books in the mix as gifts), but from the heart and under the tree, and Christmas dinner has been planned. I have hope the New Year will be so much better for my family and I look forward to the time when I am able to focus and read again. However, for now, family comes first and foremost. The following books are currently lying about my house begging to be read.

CityofWomenTitle: City of Women
Author: David R. Gillham
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam
Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Hardcover: 400 pages
ISBN: 978-0399157769
Genre: Literature, Hist0rical Fiction

 

InvisibleMurderTitle: Invisible Murder
Author: Lene Kaaberbøl
Publisher: Soho Crime; Reprint edition
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Paperback: 339 pages
ISBN: 978-1616951702
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

 

15840027Title: House of Evidence
Author: Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson
Publisher: AmazonCrossing; Reprint edition
Publication Date: December 11, 2012
Paperback: 224 pages
ISBN:
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

 

15815356Title: Above All Things
Author: Tanis Rideout
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam
Publication Date: February 12, 2013
Hardcover: 400 pages
ISBN: 978-0399160585
Genre: Fiction, Literature

 

Happy Reading!


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What I am Currently Reading

Happy October to all!  The weather has finally turned towards temperatures more reasonable, the leaves are gorgeous and my youngest sons are selecting colleges.  Life is moving at a rather fast pace and before I knew it September passed me by with little notice.  Even with this time of my life being so full, I have made time to read and thought I would share a few titles worth picking up and reading, titles perfectly designed for the colder nights that comes with October.

Title: Phantom
Author: Jo Nesbø
Publisher: Knopf
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Hardcover: 400 pages
ISBN: 978-0307960474
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Check out Jo Nesbø’s site for some brilliant trailers to this fantastic book.

 

Title: The Museum of Abandoned Secrets
Author: Oksana Zabuzhko
Publisher: AmazonCrossing
Publication Date: October 9, 2012
Paperback: 760 pages
ISBN: 978-1611090116
Genre: Ukrainian Literature

 

 

Title: Creole Belle
Author: James Lee Burke
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: July 17, 2012
Hardcover: 544 pages
ISBN: 978-1451648133
Genre: Fiction, Detective Series, Mystery

 

 

Happy Reading!


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Being Plagiarized…

…. has made me rethink book reviewing, blogging, and humanity.

There are many wonderful things about blogging book reviews and I was happily starting to get settled back into reviewing when I was alerted this morning to the fact that one of my 2010 reviews had been plagiarized.  I do not know the person who alerted me to this act of intellectual theft (but I do thank her) nor was I aware of the book review website which took my review as their own.  I suppose I should be angry at learning my review (which honestly was not my best) was plagiarized, but I am left confused and I have no idea why this person chose that review to use; yet it has brought my faith in humanity down a notch (however, the owner took prompt action-there are good people in the world!) After a 10-month break I had forgotten about the ugliness that can lie just under the blogging world and honestly I do not have the time or inclination to play these sorts of games.

I want to believe people are honest, trustworthy, and decent and do not want to become paranoid about whether or not someone has used a review of mine as their own.  I believe in karma, and I do not plan to waste another moment on this because the earth continues to rotate, the sun continues to rise, and life is good.   What I will do is give deeper thought into my return to reviewing and whether or not it is good for me.  When I began blogging it was neither for fame nor fortune, rather my passion for books and sharing great books with others.  My mission is still the same as it was when I began blogging years ago, however times have changed and there are many aspects of the changing times for which I am too old to want to deal with and frankly should not have to deal with.

As for the immediate future (aka now), I plan to finish my coffee, practice yoga, meditate and go about my day away from the computer.


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I Am Back, Sort of…

As I sit reflecting about what to write the first thing to come to mind is the fact I have not blogged a single word in almost 10 months.   While 10 months may sound like a long time, it has gone by in the blink of an eye; to me it seems as only yesterday I suspended my blog for medical reasons.  Many things have happened over these past months, but one thing has remained constant, my passion for books.  Admittedly I have not missed the stress of trying to get reviews posted by a deadline; this forced break has shown me just how much I missed reading for the sake of reading.

I have kept a running list of everything I have read over these past 10 months and the books I read have been quite diverse and may be found under the “books read” tabs.  Some of the books I did choose to review, albeit briefly, on LibraryThing and Goodreads, but mostly I have read for the pure enjoyment of reading.  As I type this I have not formed a plan in my mind as to what exactly my next steps may be for this blog or myself.  Most likely I shall begin to sporadically post reviews, however, I do not envision posting near the volume I have in the past, especially not at first, after all I am rather rusty at blogging.

These past few months have taught me that time away from the computer is a very good thing.  This year my babies are graduating and I honestly do not plan to miss a moment I have with my guys.  All too soon my house will be empty and quite possibly this blog will help fill some void I will have when the time comes.  In the meantime if I am not posting reviews, know I am around and when I am not reading, I am enjoying time with my family.  After all, life is precious and time goes by far too quickly.


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