Chelle's 75 in 2012 Challenge (take #8)

Books Read in 2012
January

1) Lord John and the Hellfire Club by Diana Gabaldon 3* (ebook, novella, 73 pages)
2) The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht 4.5* (338 pages)
3) Hurricane Story by Jennifer Shaw 3.5* (92 Pages) (ER book)
4) The Drop by Michael Connelly 3.5* (388 pages)
5) Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson 4* (364 pages)
6) Dead Cold by Louise Penny 4* (405 pages)
7) Eragon by Christopher Paolini 3.5* (ebook, 509 pages)
8) The Hangman by Louise Penny 3* (ebook, 99 pages)
9) Cannery Row by John Steinbeck 4* (ebook, 301 pages)
10) The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai 2* (324 pages)
11) The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny 4*(454 pages)
12) The Murder Stone by Louise Penny 4* (422 pages)
13) The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny 4.75* (384 pages)
14) Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny 5* (470 pages)
15) A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny 4.5* (339 pages)

February
16) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle 3.5* (232 pages)
17) Hells Angels: Into the Abyss by Yves Lavigne 3.5* (339 pages)
18) Bay of Fundy: A Natural Portrait by Scott Leslie 4* (167 pages)
19) The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck 4* (261 pages)
20) Blood Red Road by Moira Young 4* (459 pages)
21) Dissolution by CJ Sansom 3.5* (400 pages)
22) 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz 2.5* ( 451 pages)

March
23) Darkest Powers Bonus Pack by Kelley Armstrong 3* (eBook, 3 novellas 287 pages)
24) I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore 4* (440 pages)
25) The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley 4*(304 Pages)
26) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith 3* (319 Pages)
27) A Century of Policing: The Ontario Provincial Police 1909-2009 3.5* (128 Pages)
28) The Power of Six by Pitticus Lore 4*(406 Pages)
29) Night of the Living Dead by John Russo 4.5* (144 pages)
30) Return of the Living Dead by John Russo 3.5* (161 pages)
31) Dark Fire by CJ Sansom 3.5* (384 pages)
32) Cinder by Marissa Meyer 3.5* (387 pages)

April
33) If You Ask Me: (And of Course You Won't) by Betty White (audio: 2:17) 4*
34) Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (533 pages, 3.5*)
35) The Night Eternal by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan (371 pages, 4*)
36) The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck (188 pages, 4*)
37) I'm Starved for You by Margaret Atwood (74 pages ebook novella, 3*)
38) Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (4*, 348 pages)
39) We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (eBook (no page count), 5*)
40) Heat Wave by Richard Castle (Audio, 6 hours 23 minutes) 3*
41) The Calling by Kelley Armstrong (326 pages, 3.5*)
42) The 39 Clues: Cahills vs.Vespers Book One: The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman (Audio, 5 hours 22 minutes, 2*)
43) Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton (3.5*, audio 9 hours 46 minutes)
44) The Mask by Dean Koontz (140 pages novella 3.5)
45) The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King (Novella, audio 3 hours 57 minutes, 4*)

May
46) Stiff by Mary Roach (audio 8 hours even, 3*)
47) Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye (414 pages, 4*)
48) Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood (3.5*, 301 pages)
49) Calico Joe by John Grisham (3.5*, 198 pages)
50) Chaotic by Kelley Armstrong (3*, 95 pages novella)
51) Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (455 pages, 5*)
52) The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King (3.5*, 309 pages)
53) 11th Hour by James Patterson (3*, 391 pages)
54) The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz (3*, 366 pages)
55) Insurgent by Veronica Roth (525 pages, 4*)
56) Rabbit, Run by John Updike
57) Lover Reborn by JR Ward (4*, 572 pages)

June
58) The Color Purple by Alice Walker (288 pages, 4.5*)
59) Kat & Hunting Kat by Kelley Armstrong (novella)
60) Becoming by Kelley Armstrong (Graphic Novel)
61) Counterfeit Magic by Kelley Armstrong (novella)
62) Hidden by Kelley Armstrong (long novella, 216 pages ebook)
63) Gideon's Sword by Preston & Child (4*, 342 pages)
64) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (4*, ebook 152 pages)
65) Seizure by Kathy Reichs (3*, 491 pages)
66) The Coroner's Lunch (4.5*, 272 pages)
67) Red, White and Blood by Christopher Farnsworth (383 pages, 3.5*)
68) They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon (4*, 531 pages)
69) Gideon's Corpse by Preston & Child (3.5*, 355 pages)
70) The Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat (4.5*, 280 pages)
71) The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (4*, 163 pages)
72) Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (3.75*, 651 pages)
73) A Visit From the Goon Squad (4*, audio 10 hours 8 minutes)

Books I own and need to read!
Wolves of the Crescent Moon by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed
Tempting Evil by Keri Arthur
Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur
The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Flashback by Nevada Barr
No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
I am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
World War Z by Max Brooks
The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr
Echo Burning by Lee Childs
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Cold Moon by Jeffrey Deaver
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner
The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Ape House by Sarah Gruen
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
The Case of the Man who Died Laughing by Tarquin Hall
Horns by Joe hill
Cider House Rules by John Irving
The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Solar by Ian McEwan
The Shimmer by David Morrell
Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson
Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
1984 by George Orwell
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pirsig
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steg Larsson
The Girl who Played with Fire by Steg Larsson
Seizure by Kathy Reichs
Lasher by Anne Rice
Merrick by Anne Rice
New Tales of the Vampires by Anne Rice
Blackwood Farms by Anne Rice
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
Taltos by Anne Rice
The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice
Lost Boy Lost Girl by Peter Straub
Dead Watch by John Sanford
Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink
Circle of Fire by Michelle Zink
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

And as ebooks I own:
Little Women by Louissa May Alcott
Dead to Me by Kelley Armstrong
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Pay Me in Flesh by K. Bennett
The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill
Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon
Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon
Game of Thrones by George R Martin
The New World by Patrick Ness
Sovereign by CJ Sansom
The Hunter and the hunted by Kelley Armstrong
Angle of Investigation by Michael Connelly

Audio Books
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Series on the go...

Active Series

Anita Blake Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton (1/21): Finished Guilty Pleasures, next up The Laughing Corpse
Aunt Dimity by Nancy Atherton (2/17): Finished Aunt Dimity and the Duke, next up Aunt Dimity's Good Deed
Camp Half-Blood by Rick Riordan (5/10): Finished The Last Olympian, next up The Demigod Files
Christopher Snow by Dean Koontz (2/3): Finished Seize the Night, next up Ride the Storm
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (1/7): Finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, next up Prince Caspian
Dr. Siri Paiboun by Colin Cotterill (1/8): Finished The Coroner’s Lunch, next up Thirty-Three Teeth
Fallen Angels by J.R. Ward (1/3): Finished Covet, next up Crave
Flavia de Luce by Alan Bradley (1/4) : Finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, next up The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag
Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom by John Updike (1/4): Finished Rabbit, Run, Next up Rabbit, Redux
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini (1/4): Finished Eragon, Next up Eldest
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (1/2): Finished The Magicians, next up The Magician King
Matthew Shardlake by CJ Sansom (3/5): Finished Dark Fire, Next up Sovereign
Nick Lupo by W.D. Gagliani (2/3): Finished Wolf’s Gambit, next up Wolf’s Bluff
The Night Trilogy by Elie Wiesel (1/3): Finished Night, next up Dawn
Nikki Heat by Richard Castle (1/4): Finished Heat Wave, next up Naked Heat
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (5/7): Finished The Fiery Cross, next up A Breath of Snow and Ashes
Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink (1/3): Finished Prophecy of the Sisters, next up Guardian of the Gate
Riley Jenson Gaurdian Series by Keri Aurthor (2/9): Finished Kissing Sin, next up Tempting Evil
Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice (2/9): Finished The Vampire Lestat, next up The Queen of the Damned
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (0.5/2): Working on Wolf Hall, next up Bring up the Bodies

Series waiting for next installment to be written

Alex Cross by James Patterson (18/18)
All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness (1/1): New release July 10th Shadow of Night
Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward (10/10)
The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett (1/1): New release September 18th Winter of the World
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache by Louise Penny (7/7): New release August 28th The Beautiful Mystery
The Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong (5/5): New release April 2013 The Rising
Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth (2/2)
Dustlands by Moira Young (1/1): New release October 2012 Rebel Heart
Gideon Crew by Preston & Child (2/2)
Harry Bosch by Michael Connelly (17/17): New release November 2012 The Black Box
Kay Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell (19/19): New release October 2012 The Bone Bed
The Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore (2/2):New release August 2012 The Rise of Nine
Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (1/1): New release Scarlet (2013)
Michael Bennet Books by James Patterson (5/5):
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz (4/4): New release July 31 2012 Odd Apocalypse
The Passage by Justin Cronin (1/1): New release October 2012 The Twelve
Temperance Brennan by Kathy Reichs (14/14): New release August 2012 Bones are Forever
Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong (12/12): New release July 24 2012 Thirteen
Women’s Murder Club by James Patterson (11/11)

Series that I own a book and haven’t started yet:


Adam Dalgliesh by PD James(own #10 A Certain Justice)
Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
Anna Pigeon Mysteries by Nevada Barr (Own #11 flashback)
The Book of Art by Clive Barker Own The Great and Secret Show
Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness (Own #2 The Knife of Never Letting Go)
Lincoln Rhyme by Jeffery Deaver (Own #7 The Cold Moon)
Lives of the Mayfair Witches by Anne Rice (Own all 5)
Lord John by Diana Gabaldon (Own #1 & #2)
Mallory Caine, Zombie at Law by K Bennett (Own #1Pay me in Flesh)
The Maze Runner by James Dashner (Own #1 The Maze Runner)
MIllennium Trilogy by Steig Larsson (Own #1 & #2)
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (Own #1 Ship Breaker)
Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (Own #1 A Game of Thrones)
Vish Puri by Tarquin Hall (Own #2 Case of the Man Who died Laughing)

Am I the first on your new thread, Chelle?

I love the summer photos! What's summer without lobster, steamers, clams and the beach?

You win Caro!! :)
Exactly! I am learning to love lobster and who doesn't love the beach eh!

Hi Chelle! Happy new thread :)

Hi, Chelle! Aww, hooray for summer...it's freezing* here! :(

(*Yes, yes - by local standards!)

Hi Chelle- Nice new thread! Nice photos at the top. Perfect mood-setter. I like your lists. "Books I own and need to read!" is a daunting one though. I'm not sure I would want to tackle that one.

Chelle - Rustica is a grand name for the beach with the sand a rustic clay red. Congrats on your latest thread.

Nice new thread, Chelle. Congrats!

Hi Chelle, nice new thread and love the pics!

Hi Chelle, Beautiful pictures! I'd love to be walking on that beach.

Hi Chelle! I want to go camping with you...I love lobster!! And the beach is nice too.

Great summer photos, Chelle! And wow -- you're almost to 75 books already, even with everything you have going on. Well done! Is your summer as relaxing as the photos?

I haven't been to P.E.I. since I was a little girl, but your beach picture brought it all back to me. Your camping meals looked pretty gourmet - I love mussels and lobster - Yum.

Great opening pictures and you are braver than me in listing books you own and need to read. That series list looks pretty daunting as well.

Hope you have plenty of reading time:)

Look at this shiny new thread. And such a fun summery theme!

I'm afraid that I couldn't ever eat lobster while still resembling anything like its original form, but I have had it (cut into chunks and grilled at a Japanese steak house) and it was amazing. Sigh.

Wow! a Visual bonanza at the beginning of this thread!

Beautiful~

Hi Chelle - going to try and stay up to date on your new thread! Love the photo at the top - PE Island's always had a special place in my heart since I read the Anne books as a child.

HI Chelle, just stopping by I got a little behind. Real life is so busy I don't have a bunch of time to get on the threads. Summer is my favorite time of year and I spend so much time outside that I don't get on the computer as much as I would like to check in. I love the summer pics.. I wish I could have some of that lobster.. :-) Also loved the dog pic on the last thread. I wanna reach through the computer screen and give him hugs. Hope your allergies are doing better and it appears like you are having a descent summer. Happy Canadian Day a little belated. :)

Chelle--I used the feature you told me about (way back in your last thread) to figure out how many series I am reading...214!!! How is that possible? And when I looked at them, a lot are books that I thought were stand-alones. Sigh. Hopefully I have finished some of the series. I am afraid to look...

Just checking in and keeping current with your thread. Hope today is a good one.

well it's a beautiful day here in Nova Scotia, 26 degrees with a cool breeze! We have all the windows open and it's loverly. The dog is pooped and won't even lift his head up to mooch food. I guess 3 days of swimming in the ocean was a tad bit tiring!
Plan for today was to run some errands and read, read, read! Errands are finished and now I'm home. Plan to tidy up some of our camping stuff and tidy the house and bit and then Nate heads to work tonight and I am hoping to finish Sea of Poppies.
Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday!

HI to all my visitors! Thanks for popping by my new thread Katie, Liz, Mark, Paul, Mamie X2, Lori, Joanne, Kim X2, Anne, Judy, Calm, Morphy, Amber, Kath, Heather & Monica!

#8 Liz what are the temps where you are? (I'm not actually sure where in the world you are!:)

#9 Hi Mark! That's my attempt at trying to hold myself accountable for my spending. It's sad that I have so many great books on my shelves that are lonely and waiting to be read! July and August are going to be terrible for me though because there are at least 10 books being released that I want to buy.

#10 HI Paul! PEI is known for their red sand fields and beaches. It's quite beautiful!

#14 Kim the more the merrier! We were quite happy that we found a fish market that had the lobsters precooked in seawater and great prices. We are thinking of going camping in Cape Breton sometime later this summer. I'm really looking forward to that!

#15 Well Anne I can't complain about my summer at all! This is the first summer since high school that I haven't had a job so I'm quite enjoying it! I should be at 75 in a couple days :)

#16 Hi Judy! I skipped the mussels but I did enjoy the lobster!

#19 Amber I don't mind the lobster when it still looks like lobsters but I could see why it would both you. I don't think I could eat a cow after just seeing it alive and well but steaks from the grocery store don't bother me.

#22 Hi Monica! I think it's pretty common to be on LT less in the summer. When Nate is on days off I am on here less than I am when I'm home alone.

#23 haha Kim, 214 is quite a few eh! I think I narrowed mine down more by not including the ones that I didn't like or plan to finish.

Ah, the gorgeous bright, red mud of PEI, Chelle! Love your camping pics, Maritime styles! And I see you're into Sea of Poppies. That one's on my list, so I'll be anticipating your comments.

Just checking in on the new thread, Chelle. :)

Thanks Nancy! I finally finished Sea of Poppies. Turns out I had less to read than I thought. The last 15% of the eBook was notes and a glossary (Which I wish I had noticed earlier!)

Hi Micky! :)

Thoughts on A Visit From the Goon Squad added here finally :)

Hi chelle, love the photo and a belated happy canada day to you.

74) Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
Read for 75 books in 2012,
12 in 2012:Category #9) Chunky Monkeys: Books over 500 pages long
Booker Prize
5*

Set on the eve of the opium wars the story revolves around a former slave ship The Ibis and it's motley cast of characters that are traveling to Mauritius; coolies, convicts, and stowaways and the ship's crew. With many different lives involved the novel is long in the setting up the background of their stories and each person's reasons for ending up on the ship and their involvement in the opium trade and how it is changing their lives.

This has a very complex plot and with so many characters it is hard to summarize but it was quite an enchanting read and I can see why there has been so much hype on LT about this one and the second in the trilogy River of Smoke. I plan on continuing with the trilogy right away. I just hope Ghosh has started writing the third!

Nice - I loved that one, too.

Chelle- You gave SOP 5 stars! Yah! So did I! It really is a heck of a book and I'm glad you'll be jumping into ROS, which is also terrific!
I've been really enjoying your latest book choices.

>>#25 Hi, Chelle. I'm in Sydney - it's not really cold here by North American standards, I guess, but colder than we usually get: days between 4C - 16C (um, that's about 40F - 60F, I think!).

Of course, give it six months and we'll probably be complaining about the heat and worrying about bushfires.

I don't know when I've seen a bluer sky than that posted in #1 Chelle. Just beautiful. I loved Sea of Poppies too. Deeti was an unforgettable character.

Gidday, Chelle! Hope all is well. We're having a good time in Oz. Looks like you've been reading a lot of good 'uns. Mostly light fare for me on our rambles, although I liked Zoo Station in particular, and Becca found me Song of Achilles on sale.

Woot! Sea of Poppies is a 5* read. Thanks, Chelle - enjoyed your comments.

Yay on the 5 star read! (I wasnt quite so enamored....but like to see people enjoy a book)
Love your camping trip meal, looks flash to me....and like my kind of menu. I just hope there was the appropriate accompaniment. I mean wine of course!

Thanks Mamie. Have you started River of Smoke yet?

Aww thanks Mark! I guess I have been on a good roll! You probably won't like the one I'm about to finish as it's vampire fluff. But I have ROS sitting here from the library waiting to be read very soon

HI Liz. So I guess it's your winter eh? 4-16 isn't too cold, I wish our winter here in Canada didn't go below 4! lol It's only 18 here today but it should be in the 20's by this afternoon. It's been a pretty decent week weather wise.

I agree Bonnie, I quite liked Deeti! And Paulette too. I wish I had seen that the ebook had a glossary of terms as the ship talk was confusing.

HI Joe! Glad to see you are having a great time down under! I am jealous of you!

Thanks Nancy!

HI Megan! We didn't actually have any wine but we had lots of beer to go with it! My choice for the weekend was Keith's Red and I found it went with the lobster pretty good! :)

Happy 4th to all my American Friends! :)

#30 - Hi Chelle! Nice review of Sea of Poppies. I plan to get to these some day. I always miss the group reads though.

75) Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur
Read for 75 books in 2012,
12 in 2012:Category #11) Grape Vine: Books found from recommendations on LT
3.5*

Riley Jenson is part werewolf and part vampire and highly desired. Werewolves want her, vampires want her and evil organizations want to capture and breed her. When she wakes up naked beside a dead man and has no recollection on how she got there she knows she is in trouble. Riley must escape captivity and hunt down the mad man behind it all.

Morning, Chelle. Yep, reading River of Smoke - I'm about half way through it. It's very good, too.

Hi Chelle--Kissing Sin sounds like a perfect book for sitting poolside while my kids romp in the water. I'll have to get my hands on it! Thanks for the Fourth Of July wishes.

I can't get into a book today.. too many things popping up. Dan home, baseball ( urg) blasting on tv..
sigh. Maybe tomorrow ?

Hi Mamie! Glad to hear that one is good too! I should get to that soon!

Hi Kim! The series is pretty good so far. I personally think they should be read in order as there is a continuous story to them

Hi Kath! Sorry to hear you are having an annoying day. Nate is home too and watching the movie Bad Boys pretty loud. I've decided they way to combat that is to listen to music without vocals on through my headphones and that way I can read and still hangout in the livin room with him ;)

Well I completely forgot that it was July and that means adding some Orange July books into my reading this month!
My goal for the month is three Orange books and to finish the library books that I have out. Plus a bunch of my series have new instalments coming out this month that I have to buy :)

Goals for this month are:

Orange Books:
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Library Books:
Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh
Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Owned and lonely Books:
Pay Me in Flesh by K. Bennett

Books I plan to buy this month:
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness (July 10)
I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson (July 9)
Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz (July 31) (May read in August)
Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong (July 24) (May read in August)

Hi Chelle,
I've been thinking about making my own list like yours in #3 above --- books I own and need to read. It seems like a fun list to put together.

You have some good reading goals for this month. I've read all three of your Orange Prize books and enjoyed each of them. River of Smoke was a very fun read and I'm just now reading Wolf Hall, so I'll get to Bring Up the Bodies at some point in the future.

Congrats on hitting 75!

Hi Chelle and congratulations on reaching your first 75! Glad to see another lover of Sea of Poppies, that one is defiitely in the running for top book of the year for me.

Congrats on reaching the magic number, Chelle!

Hooray!
75!
Nice one.

And you July list looks impressive, good luck with what looks an ambitious lot...for the likes of me anyway :)

Hooray! 75! Well done!

Chelle- What a great reading month you have in store. As you know, I'm a huge fan of Case Histories & Ready Player One and most recently, ROS. Enjoy!

My Word! I completely missed that you reached 75 - congrats! We have four books in common that we have earmarked for this month - Bring Up the Bodies, River of Smoke, Half of a Yellow Sun, and Ready Player One. May the force be with us!

Hi Chelle! I'm making my way through the threads and my eyes popped when I see that you've reached 75 already! There are definitely some good books you have on the list that I hope to get to one day when I've popped my eyes back into my head. @.@

Congratulations on the 75 Chelle and some great sounding books planned for July as well.

Good morning *delurking* to say hello. Have been watching your thread for some time and noticed we have got a similar taste in books across all genres :)

I'm trying to respond using my iPhone and I'm finding it's not very easy!
Nate and I are Travelling to the resort forthr wedding today to talk to the coordinator and pay a bill. It's storming and gross today. Hope it's sunny and warm wherever you are!

47 Thanks Doc :)

48 thanks Judy! I would put it in my top 10 of this year so far.

49 Thanks Micky! We'll see if I can make it double this year

50 Thanks Megan! There are a few ambitious ones on the list but there is a good bit of fluff mixed in so that should help :)

51 thanks Kath!

52 Mark I saw how much you thought of Ready Player One and I randomly saw it at the library so I grabbed it. I grew up in the late 80's and 90's so I'll see how much I actually get!

53 Thanks Mamie! That's cool that we are sharing 4 books this month! Hopefully I get through them all

54 Yay Valerie! Nice to see you! I'll hve to pop by your thread when I get home tonight

55 Thanks Calm! Hopefully I actually read from my planned

56 welcome drachenbraut23! Thanks for delurking!

That's a nice list of planned July reads and purchases, Chelle. I didn't enjoy The Lacuna but I know many others who did, so I'll be interested in reading your review when you're done with it. You're in for a treat with Half a Yellow Sun and Case Histories ..those 2 I liked a lot.

I just hope Ghosh has started writing the third
That's why I didn't read ROS immediately after reading SOP ... I was afraid there'd be too much time lapsed before he released his third so I'm taking a breather from SOP and will read ROS later this year. With luck, I'll then only have to wait a couple of months before his third is released.

I think you are going to LOVE Ready Player One. I did!

Chelle, Congrats on hitting 75!!! Wish I could say that. I myself am not even 1/3 of the way there yet..

Hi Chelle, another beautiful scenery shot to start your new thread...and make us all a bit envious! I also loved the picture of Jax on your last thread proudly wearing the Canadian colors! Another bit of "unfinished business" (Post 180): I hear you on your frustration about getting "into" Wolf Hall. It was worth the effort but, yes, it took me several hundred pages as well. On the other hand, Bring Up the Bodies was much more reader-friendly imo.

Okay, I'm current now and can add my congrats for reading 75 books at this halfway point in the year. I imagine your reading time will be less when a certain something happens this fall. ;-)

popping in to make sure I am keeping up.. nothing to add. Too hot to think :PP

just popping in to say hi! feeling bad I can't keep up. :-( but love to see the books you're reading! :-)

Morning Chelle (or whatever is is where you are....its 720am here anyway)
Ready Player One has a hugely high star rating (4.5 on the book page), you dont see that too often. Hadnt heard of it til just now, but if I see it might grab it like you did.

Congratulations on reaching 75 books already, Chelle! Sea of Poppies is already on my TBR list but you just made it move up a few places in my head.

Hope you like Case Histories - I loved it (and don't know why I haven't read the second in the series yet...).

60 Hi Caro. I hope to enjoy The Lacuna but I'm not sure I will. I'm already off to a bad start with it as I borrowed the audio version from the library and spent an hour transfering the cd's to my ipod and then realized that the narrator's voice was irritating and I can't listen to it! I have it in print now so I'm going to give it a second chance lol
I didn't realize Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke was a trilogy originally. I grabbed ROS from the library for the group read and then realized that it was the second in a series so I quickly grabbed SOP to read first.

61 I hope so Morphy! I've heard such great things about it here on LT

62 Thanks Monica. My lack of a job has freed up some extra time to spend reading ;)

63 HI Donna! I agree, Bring up the bodies is much easier to read than Wolf Hall but that's probably because we already spent so much time trying to figure out who everyone was! :)

64 Hi hot Kath! Hope you find a way to cool down soon! It's be rainy here so the weather has stayed pretty cool. It got up to 26 this afternoon but it's starting to cool down now thankfully. Our house is starting to feel pretty hot and we don't have A/C

65 Hi Chéli! Thanks for popping by :)

66 HI Megan! When you wrote that it was 3:23 pm here lol
wow I didn't realize that Ready Played One got such a huge rating! I guess I better make sure that I get to it this month!

67 Thanks Cushla! I've heard some good things and some bad things about Case Histories but I am looking forward to getting to it. I'm waiting for my hold to come in at the library. I've heard a lot of people love the main character!

We spent the day wandering around Peggy's Cove and Halifax and it was awesome. It poured rain when we left the house but by the time we made it to Peggy's Cove the sun was out! Here are a few pics of today's adventure
First two are in Peggy's Cove



Halifax Harbour

76) The Hunter and the Hunted by Kelley Armstrong
2*

Ugh. I am tired of Kelley Armstrong's novellas. This one had no substance to it at all. I don't know why she is writing so many novellas but I don't plan on buying anymore of them. I think I have one or two more already purchased that I need to finish and then I will be sticking to her full novels from now on.

Congrats on reaching 75 and beyond! Hope your next read is better:)

Mmm...I miss living next to the ocean or at least next to a body of water that is larger than my bathtub..
I guess we have a river...but that doesn't count. :)
Congrats on exceeding 75!!

The water looks so blue and clear up there!

Your pictures area always so beautiful!

#69 - Beautiful scenery! Sorry to hear about your bad audiobook narrator experience with The Lacuna! I know that can be rough. I have it in print and hope to get to it at some point.

71 Thanks Anne! My next read was Bring up the Bodies and it was MUCH better!

72 Thanks Val! I am absolutely loving it! We don't know how long we will get to live here (since the military moves people frequently) so I am taking advantage of every opportunity to spend at the ocean!
Nate wants to do a taste test at our wedding resort so I think we are going to spend a night there at the end of the month, I am very excited to sit oceanside and have a campfire!
I would be happy if our next move took us to a lake too. Lakes are so beautiful and you can swim in them sooner, the ocean stays pretty cold

73 HI Lori! Yes the ocean is very blue here. I could sit outside beside it all day long :)

74 Thanks Kath! I'm practicing with my camera and my iPhone. I have really shaky hands so some come out really really blurry, but I did get a few goods one :)

75 Thanks Kerri! I have a problem with female voices that are high pitched. For some reason I can not listen to an audio book narrated by a female that sounds too girly-girl. The one I am currently listening to is a female but her voice is a tad deeper, but still feminine, and that seems to be working ok for me.

77) Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Read for 75 books in 2012,
12 in 2012:Category #11) Grape Vine: Books found from recommendations on LT


In Wolf Hall Henry VIII had fought to absolve his marriage to Katherine and after much work Thomas Cromwell and crew secured that and made the way for the King to marry Anne Boleyn. Now after less than three years of marriage and one living daughter and many miscarriages the King is disenchanted with Anne.
"What," he now wonders, "if there is some flaw in my marriage to Anne, some impediment, something displeasing to Almighty God?"
Anne has failed to give the King a son as promised and the King now has eyes for a new woman. Thomas Cromwell must make the King happy and bring down the Queen.

I found this second instalment much easier to fall into rhythm with. Since most of the characters were introduced in Wolf Hall the reader can spend less time trying to figure out the players and just enjoy the novel. Mantel has a unique style of writing and I found once I figured out her style it was quite enjoyable. While still a difficult read it was very much worth the effort.
4.5*

Chelle what an impressive list of planned reads this month. Hats off to you if you knock all of those off.
Congratulations on whizzing past 75 with some aplomb.
Great photos as usual which will herald a lovely weekend for you I hope.

78) Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Read for 75 books in 2012,
12 in 2012:Category #6) Who?: Authors I have not read before
2.5*

Vampire fluff without much substance and too much sex/romance. I won't be continuing this series.

I skipped your review of Bring up the Bodies since I've yet to read Wolf Hall and your second review just made me chuckle, which made it an easy decision to dodge the book bullet. :) Hope you are having a great weekend!

Hi Chelle- I'm with Valerie and have not read Wolf Hall. Very sad, I know. What do I do all day, anyway, huh?
Ooh, I like the vampire gal!

Great review of Bring Up the Bodies, Chelle. I'm presently reading Wolf Hall, but haven't yet fallen into Mantel's rhythm ... I pick it up, get rolling, and lose it again. Not giving up!

I own Wolf Hall but it just never seems to make it to the top of the pile. Probably because I know keeping all the names straight will give me a headache -- I am horrible with names! And I'll be skipping the Grave book. : ) I love being near water. When we toured the waterfalls on the Fourth, I made everyone stand still so we could listen to the water as it gurgled by on some of the slower streams. So pretty!

Prince Edward Island is beautiful! The color contrast in that picture is stunning, ditto what Kath said about you always having beautiful pictures on your thread :)
yum on the mussels and lobster!
I have Wolf Hall and plan to read it but I think I'm holding off until she puts out the third and last one.
congrats on reaching 75! I'm over half way at 50 :)
Spending the night at your wedding resort to taste test will be fun! Hope it passes inspection :) what will you do with the pup?

Today Nate and I are being lazy. I'll be making taco chili tonight and we are hanging out having a LOST marathon. We watched the first 3 seasons a few years ago but stopped when he went away for his military training. We are now starting over at the beginning again. Hope you all enjoy your Sunday!

Hi Val! I hope you love Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies when you get to them. WH is a wopper but worth it

Mark you really should stop working for a living, it will give you more time to read ;)

HI Nancy! Stick with it. It took me quite a while to get into her rhythm but once I did I found it was worth the trouble

HI Kim! There is a chart at the front of the book that helps with the names and the family tree. I used that quite a bit.

Thanks Kara! Thankfully the resort we picked is dog friendly so we will be bringing him with us. He is coming to the wedding too, but he won't be IN the wedding lol.

We are seriously addicted to LOST for awhile. Watched all the seasons before the monkey was born, otherwise I think we would have died waiting for the cliffhangers and mystery!

Nice review of Bring Up the Bodies - I am about one third of the way through it and really liking it. You're right that it takes less effort than Wolf Hall because you have already been introduced to the characters and gotten used to Mantel's unique writing style. I also thought the editor did a better job with correcting the pronoun usage so that it is not as confusing. Have fun with your LOST marathon.

I never got into LOST. Killer mist and giant polar bears was just too weird for me. I don't think even a younger Ian Somerhalder can convince me to give it a try. But I'm glad you and Nate are getting some down time. :)

Congratulations on blowing past the 75 book mark, Chelle, and lovely pictures!

Catching up here Chelle and want to add my congrats on passing the 75 mark!

Hi Chelle!!!

Congrats on 75!
So many are starting to hit that milestone lately that I have decided to ask each of you to read a couple for me to get to my goal of 75 for the year. Are you in???

I am so happy for you being in NS. I am chomping at the bit to get up there. But, I want to LIVE there! at least a few months of the year. If only.
I am enjoying it vicariously through you and your pictures. Thanks!

Well today I have hardly gotten anything done! Yesterday I went for a run/jog/walk thing. Only 3.5km, basically to the next road down from us and back, but I forgot how out of shape I am! Today my legs are screaming at me! I was supposed to do a ton of cleaning and organizing but I haven't even gotten out of my jammies yet. I feel today will be a write off. Maybe I'll make a list for tomorrow and try and get it all done then!
Hope everyone is having a more productive Monday!
***

Hi Val! I think all (or most) of the seasons are now on netflix. Nate and I have a bad habit of not watching shows while they are actually on the TV and then watching them in mass bunches after they have gone off the air. I don't know if it's because we are (were in my case) shift workers or maybe we just can't commit to a TV schedule. Either way we are now most of the way through season 1 and it's all starting to come back to me ;)

Hi Mamie! I had a really hard time trying to get into Wolf Hall even though I ended up loving it, I wanted to chuck it in the beginning. I guess that's where LT is great as if I hadnt' seem a million amazing reviews on it then I probably would have chucked it. As it is right now I want to chuck The Lacuna out a window but I'm 200 pages in an feel like there must be something to it.

HI Micky! Ian Somerhalder is a pretty little fello eh! I am partial to Jack in the show though.

Thanks Roni & Lori!

Hi Cee! How about I share my next two books with you? You are well on your way to hitting 75 this year.
I still think you should be a Canadian Snowbird! Find a cottage here on the ocean for the summer and then go back home for the winter. That way you will never have to deal with the 100 degree temps that I've been hearing about on the threads! I can't imagine it being that hot here ever!
Today it's barely 23 and with the wind it's right chilly. I've shut all my windows and put on a light sweater. I'm actually wishing the hot days would come back!

I'm the same way and not because I have work as a reason, but rather, I have absolutely no patience so I hate waiting week to week for shows. We do the same thing with other shows and will just wait till the season is over before we do an all out binge. :)
I would like to trade weather with you today. All curtains are closed and fans are on full blast. It is going to be a scorcher for us today!

Chelle, I have The Lacuna here and was thinking I might try to read if next (after Wolf Hall) for Orange July. But I'm not so sure ... is it just the narrator's voice you don't like, or is the book a slog, too?

HI Val! I would trade you in a heart beat! I hate feeling cold and I've had to *gasp* put on socks in the summer! The wind has picked up a notch from the normal nice breeze and it blew some of my planters over and blew a couple patio chairs across the deck. Not cool man!

HI Nancy. I have it in book form now because when I had it on audio I found the narrator annoying. Now I'm just not getting into it at all. It could be that I have wedding stuff on my mind again and I maybe it's not a good fit for my mood right now. I'm going to take today off and read something else and then I'm going to come back to it. Maybe I just something more plot driven today.

Hmm, thanks Chelle. I picked up Small Island at my library today, another Orange choice. May go with that one instead.

I cant bear the ads on TV, so I basically dont watch it as we dont get Sky (pay TV).
The Lost marathon sounded great Chelle, good for you, the list can wait!

Nancy Don't let me talk you out of giving The Lacuna as chance. I have wedding brain again so I am not the best choice to go to for book reviews right now ;)

Megan I hardly turn out TV on when Nate isn't home and when he is home the TV is usually playing in the background while we play on our laptops (or I read)
I did manage to get a few things knocked of my list, but not many. I really need to finish the unpacking of the stray boxes in the basement but I DON'T WANNA! (whiney rant over ;)

**

In other news, 50 days until the wedding and my brain shall be mush for a while! I am halfway through Case Histories and really enjoying it. I am glad that I put down The Lacuna and took a rest from it for a couple days.

Yesterday I spent a large portion of the day trying to hunt down stray response cards that hadn't made their way back to us. I need our final numbers by this weekend so I can order the favours and get the ball rolling on seating charts and menu plans.
Today I need to find a hairstylist as the one I wanted to book is already booked! So now I am in a mad rush to find a mobile hair service that will come out to the resort :(

Hope everyone is having a stress free day!

79) Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Read for 75 books in 2012,
12 in 2012:Category #6) Who?: Authors I have not read before
Orange January/July
4*

I found this novel hard to put down, which was what I desperately needed right now!
Jackson Brody is a private investigator that has been approached by three different people looking for his help to bring to a close three quite old events. Two sisters are looking to Brody helplessly to solve the thirty-four year old disappearance of their baby sister; a father is in need of closure after the ten year past murder of his favorite daughter; a woman wants help finding a missing person twenty-five years after her sister murdered her husband.
I loved the way Atkinson wove these very different families and stories and brought Brody's own history into the story. I ended up guessing the ending in only one of the three stories and I was quite intrigued by the ending. I will be picking up the rest of this series at some point

Hi Chelle- See, if you lived closer we can take you on a bike ride, it sure beats the "run/jog/walk thing". Glad you liked Case Histories. The good news is, the next couple books are just as good.

I still have to read an Atkinson book. Everyone seems to be in love with Mr. Brody so I really need to find out for myself what makes him so swoon worthy!

What Valerie said!

Ha, welcome aboard the Jackson Brodie caravan, Chelle! Enjoy : ).

>99 ChelleBearss:: another Jackson Brodie convert ... yay! I really enjoyed this series, especially books 1 & 3.

Hi Mark! I would love to learn to love biking but unfortunately we live on a mountain so it's all up and down hill. I figure I'd probably end up hurting myself, it happens.

HI Val! I don't know about swoon worthy but I did enjoy immersing myself in Mr Brody's world!

Thanks Nancy, I guess you are already on Mr Brody's caravan then? ;)

HI Laura! I'm trying to get my hands on a library copy of book 2 now. I'll keep in mind that you liked #3!
***

Today the dog and I went for a walk from home to the water. It's a 6km walk to the water and after Nate did his run he drove down and we played at the water with the pooch and then he drove us home. I don't think I would have made it home as it's all uphill on the way back!
This is our view on our walk to the water


Happy Hump Day!

Nice local pic.
Your area in #1 on my "move-to" list outside of NZ.

Wow. Beautiful view! My abodes have always been land-locked, so that looks so exotic and exciting to me!
Good luck with all the wedding business coming up - crossing fingers that you find a stylist that you really like!

Chelle, I admire your energy and athletic ability!

Thanks Megan! Wanna trade spots? I'd love to live in NZ for a while!

Amber I find there is nothing better than living near water. My old place was in the centre of a large city and now I don't think I could ever go back to that. I always thought I would hate living in the country but I've surprised myself by loving it. Except for the ticks, I still hate those!

Thanks Judy. I can claim the energy but unfortunately there is no athletic ability here! lol I am paying for my long walk today! Sore muscles and a blister on me and 3 ticks on the dog. Love the view but I'm not sure we will take that walk again any time soon!

80) The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Read for 75 books in 2012,
12 in 2012:Category #9) Chunky Monkeys: Books over 500 pages long.
Orange January/July
3.5*

I am amazed that there are so many awesome books out there that start terribly. Award winning books that are an absolute bore for far too long before turning into something worth reading. The Lacuna was this way in my opinion. Terribly slow to begin and had me wondering what the story could possibly be about that was worth reading. At least one hundred pages went by before I actually cared about the story line but thankfully by page 300 or so it became a book I didn't want to put down.

I find this novel extremely hard to summarize without giving away much of the plot. It's a complex and complicated book with quite a point to make. I found that it took most of the book for some of the points from the beginning to make sense.

One quote stuck with me after I closed the book.
"Why does a person spend money on a stamp, to spout bile at a stranger?"

Recommended to those that have a lot of patience for slow moving books.

I find her books tend to be slow in that it's not action packed or anything, but rather a gentle, and slow methodical exploration of the world and its people. I think I felt the same way towards The Poisonwood Bible. So now when I pick up one of her books, I go into it fully prepared and that way I think I am able to enjoy her books more.

Excellent, honest review of The Lacuna, Chelle. Thanks! Still not sure whether I will start this next or put it off for a bit ...

81) Angle of Investigation by Michael Connelly
Read for 75 books in 2012,
12 in 2012:Category #5) Oooh something shiny!: Books I randomly pick up

Guilty pleasure. Three novellas by one of my favorite authors. Short and sweet.

I'd say your mushy wedding brain is doing just fine. Nice reviews! And Cee I'll give you a book if you talk Chelle into doing a run for me!!

Chelle- Good thoughts on the Lacuna. That is one of hers that has gotten such mixed reviews. I think I will read a few others of hers before giving this one a try.

I really like Kingsolver's books.. but she does take some sit-to-it-iveness in some of them, I think?

Wow, you've had a good reading spate, Chelle. Congrats on reaching 75!

Thumbs to your review of Wolf Hall and I'm very glad for you that you enjoyed The Lacuna. You're right, it started out really slow and I just lost patience with it.

I love the pictures you posted of Peggy's Cove.... I really must try and visit Halifax one day. It looks so beautiful.

My ankle is finally feeling much better and I may attempt a run tomorrow morning. But of course if it's not one thing, it's another and I suspect I may have a tear in my left meniscus. I'm trying to talk myself into scheduling an MRI before the end of July.

That view would spur on my walking too Chelle - and what better way of exercising than have the car there to bring you back home when it gets tough. Trust that you will have a lovely weekend.

Oh, beautiful view! Thanks for sharing the photo. Hope you're having a great weekend!

*waves*
hope things are well and you found a some one to do your hair for the wedding :)

Beautiful view for a walk, and I agree that your brain doesn't seem to have gone mushy just yet! I started The Lacuna on a train ride to Colmar last year (about an hour from Basel) and it wasn't long enough to get into it - good to know that it starts reaaaallly slowly. I might give it another try.

Hi Chelle! I'm glad The Lacuna paid off in the end. I have it sitting on my shelf, but I'm not sure when I'll get to it. I really did enjoy The Poisonwood Bible and have several others by her as well.

I hope you're having a lovely weekend!

Hi chelle, hope you are having a nice weekend and only 6 and a half weeks till you get married. Hope everything is progressing ok with the preparations. It only seems two minutes since i got married and on the 28th of July we celebrate our 28th anniversary, and i would do it again tomorrow.

HI Everyone! Thanks for visiting in my absence! It's down to 45 days until the wedding and things are starting to get busy. I fear my reading is going to be slowing down now until September.

We have most of our response cards back so now I'm starting to work on the seating chart and trying to find DIY ideas online to make a pretty one myself. I am going tomorrow with Nate to go shopping for a nice black picture frame to put the chart in (The hall has a pretty easel we can put it on) and I bought a pretty silver starfish to attach to a ribbon and put on it. Not sure if I'm explaining it well here so I'll post some pics once I figure it out.

I've started to plan out our cake and I would love to make a practice one very soon but I'm hoping the weather will cool down first. We don't have A/C here (as we don't need it often) but this week our temps have hit over 30 celsius so I don't much want to have the oven on. Hopefully I can find a nice 20 degree day soon to start a practice cake.

And I did manage to find a hairdresser to come to the resort so that's one minor issue fixed :)

I'm reading easy and enjoyable books right now but I plan to try and tackle my planned reads soon too. Right now I'm reading Pay me in Flesh on ebook, fluffy zombie type book, and a nizy cozy mystery Aunt Dimity and the Duke. Hopefully I'll start River of Smoke next week.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

111 Valerie I read The Poisonwood Bible a long time ago and I don't remember it being quite as slow as this one, but perhaps I'm not remembering correctly. Either way I'm glad to have stuck with it

112 Thanks Nancy. I guess just make sure you are in the mood for a slow moving book when you start it

114 haha Kim, no more running for me. It's way too hot now. Me and the dog are chilling with our cold water and staying out of the sun! (Although I probably should try and work on my tan a bit soon!)

115 HI Mark! I did enjoy it in the long run but I found it frustrating at the beginning. I might try some more of her books and give her another chance

116 haha Kath, sit-to-it-iveness is a good way to put it! I'm not often in the mood for a slow moving plot though

117 Hi Caro! I agree that you MUST visit NS some day!
Did you go back to running this weekend? Should you be trying to run if you have a tear? I'm not the best judge of exercise as my idea of an arm workout if holding a heavy book ...

118 Paul I feel that you may be making fun of me for taking the easy ride home ... but I'm ok with that ;) 6km uphill doesn't sound like fun to me at all but the walk to the beach was pretty good.

119 Thanks Anne! It has been busy but good :) Hope yours was great too

120 Hi Kara! I did find a hair dresser so I am happy now :)

121 Hi Cushla! My brain is starting to feel mushier every day now. Too many things floating in it. I am resting it with some fun easy reads for this week and hopefully get back into a little heavier stuff next week

122 Hi Kerri! Hope you are having a good weekend too! I've read The Poisonwood Bible many years ago but I've not tried anything else of hers. I should try some more someday. So many books and not enough time!

123 HI John! 28 years eh! That's great! I hope you guys have a great anniversary!

Just stopping in and keeping up with you. Glad you found someone to come to the resort to do your hair! And your seating chart sounds like a lovely idea - and a fun keepsake. Crossing my fingers for cooler weather for you so that you can practice your cake.

Eeeek...your wedding will be here soon! You must be excited if you didn't so many things to do right?? :) At least that's how I felt whenever people asked me that question in the weeks leading up to the big day.
Are you planning on baking your own cake? That would be amazing and impressive. Glad you found a hairdresser to come to the resort. And not much reading till September makes sense since you are planning your WEDDING! :D

Hi Mamie! Thanks for crossing your fingers for me! It's lovely right now but I don't really want to be baking in the middle of the night! The forcas looks like next weekend might be cooler so I'll probably wait until then to practice.

Hi Valerie! I am getting excited but I'm also getting busy! I am planning on doing my own cake. I hope it ends up looking great. My mom will be here to help me. I'll post pictures afterwards :)

82) Pay Me in Flesh by K. Bennett
Read for 75 books in 2012,
12 in 2012:Category #2) They Won't Stay Dead: Zombies
3*

Mallory Caine is a lawyer in L.A. and she also happens to be a highly functioning zombie. Not stumbling around randomly eating anyone who gets in her way, but a fully functioning lawyer who happens to eat brains after work to survive.
Mallory takes a case of a young vampire that has been accused of killing a cop, but Mallory knows she is innocent as it was Mallory that ate his brains. Now she has to prove the vampire is innocent without getting herself caught.
This was a fun easy read with some decent characters. Not what I would have expected from a zombie book.

Chelle - mockery? No way my dear - there is not a snowballs chance in hell of my walking 6kms uphill.

Ah, Chelle! You're cranking up my excitement for your wedding ;-) Your seating chart sounds lovely and I can't wait to see the cake :)

I would love a 20 degree day myself - and I'm NOT talking C.
Of course I would love to be a Canadian snowbird - if only *sigh*
Ah yes - the wind kicking up and throwing things around the deck! Perfect.

Chelle, Poking my head in to say hello and catch up on your thread. I was on Vacation for a week basically at home but do you think I had much time to get on LT. LOL Nope. So alas I am at work checking in.. I love your pics. I am sure your head is wedding mush right now, but that is okay, as you need to be excited right now. It is coming down to the wire. I love the pics you post of your area it looks so beautiful there. I wish to visit some day.. :)

Chelle, I'm a million posts behind. I love your view of the water as you walk down to it. And congrats on getting out there and doing a short run/walk. I'm still only getting in a couple a week and I have no excuse other than lack of commitment and discipline. I feel better when I'm getting in at least four runs a week..... And don't be too hard on yourself about being out of shape; you are where you are, and it will come back if you want it to.

I'm glad to hear you echo what others have said about Bring Up the Bodies being somewhat easier to stay with than Wolf Hall. I'm still enjoying the first installment, but there are times when it feels harder than it needs to be..... And you've been reading some other faves of mine: Kate Atkinson, Michael Connelly, Barbara Kingsolver..... good stuff.

I may have to do some re-reads of Barbara Kingsolver; she is one of the authors coming to Portland for the Literary Arts series I attend. Should be interesting! Continued best wishes on all the wedding details. Sounds very lovely. : )

Hi LT Friends! Thanks for visiting in my absence again! I finally got a few colder days as it's been 20 and raining lately so I did some baking. Nate and I figured out our plan for the cake and I need to practice my fondant again as it's coming out pockmarked (which apparently means I need to knead it more...)
I managed to get all the supplies for the seating chart and have got that plan finished. We made a mock one since we still are missing a few replies. The real one will be pinned down better as the mock one is a tad crooked in spots.


haha Paul that's what I was thinking when I planned the walk! I thought it would be a lovely walk TO the water ... but how the heck was I supposed to get home! Thankfully Nate decided to do his own run and meet us there later.

HI Cee! I know it's getting exciting eh! 42 days until the wedding! (don't worry, only 42 more days of me counting down days to the wedding ;)

HI Monica! Thanks great that your vacation was fun but too bad you didn't find more down time. At least you have for LT at work eh ;)

HI Ellen! I've always wanted to love running but alas I don't. I find it too hard to breathe while jogging and then I get frustrated and stop. Nate loves to run but gets pretty bad shin splints so he has to run sparingly, but with all the practice wedding cake he has been eating this week I imagine he will go for a run today!
We tried jogging together a few years ago but I wanted to hurt him by the end so we figured it would be better for our relationship to NOT run together hehe

HI Kim! I imagine Kingsolver would be quite interesting in person! Have fun at the Literary Arts series!

Awww, that looks really beautiful and elegant! I am constantly in awe of how much you are doing for your own wedding and the fact that you are even capable of baking a cake of that size..is beyond me. Can't wait to see pictures of your trial cake since the last one I saw that you posted made my mouth hang for a bit. :)

Beautiful presentation of your seating plan, Chelle!

Thanks Valerie! If I was working full time I wouldn't be doing as much for the wedding but as it is I have tons of free time. I wasn't planning on posting pics of the trial cake as it's not really like the real one would be ... but I'll post it if you all keep an open mind and use your imagination on what it "could" look like...

Thanks Nancy!

Yah...before and after pic would be awesome! Either way, anything you can whip up will be WAY better than anything I can do so regardless, I will be impressed. :)

Please use your imagination when you look at the picture!

OK this is our trial cake and it didn't really work out as planned but I did get a chance to figure out what I was doing wrong ahead of time! The picture we worked from looked like the bottom tier and the middle tier were the same size but apparently it was an optical illusion as when I baked it that way it looks weird! The real cake won't look so lopsided.
Plus the first cake I made the icing was all pockmarked and looked stupid. I did a little research and figured out that I'm not kneading it enough or letting it sit long enough. So I will practice another day next month when I can give the cake away as there is way too much cake in my house right now! I tried the predone fondant from Michael's as well, from Duff bakery line and it tastes like candy - way too sweet. So I will be making my own and attempting to make it smoother than this time.

The real cake will have three tiers: 12in, 10in, and 8in. (the 8 is portrayed with a silver cake pan in the pic lol)

Our cake topper is on order so I used my angel beanie baby in it's place for now.

LOL, I love the beanie baby on top! :)

Okay, yeah well you just confirmed to me that you are pretty awesome. The picture looks amazing to me so I have no doubt that your real cake will be mind blowing, especially because this isn't something you do for a living! You aren't a professional baker, but you could totally fake it!

Thanks Valerie!! I give credit to Nate too as he washes a mean dish and helps dispose of the cake for me ;)

I wish I could do this for a living but because I haven't taken any real courses I don't think any bakeries would hire me. I would love to open my own shop someday but with Nate being in the military and us maybe moving a bit it wouldn't be a good idea to try until he leaves for a municipal job someday.
I guess it could be a future plan :)

83) Aunt Dimity and the Duke by Nancy Atherton
Read for 75 books in 2012,
12 in 2012:Category #5) Oooh something shiny!: Books I randomly pick up
3.5*

A great cozy mystery for lazy summer afternoon reading!

Emma is a 40 something computer geek and avid gardener that has recently been dumped by her longtime boyfriend Richard. He has now gotten married to a girl half his age and Emma is feeling all of her age and more. She had a trip to England planned with Richard and decides to take the trip anyway.
When she arrives she meets elderly twin sisters in a garden and they recommend that she take a trip to see the gardens of a Duke. When she arrives she gets much more than a garden viewing! Before long she finds herself with a beautiful room, a new job that she had not planned for and isn't sure that she wants, a gorgeous new man to drool over and a murder to solve. Add in the delightful cast of characters and of course a visit from Aunt Dimity and it makes for fun, easy reading.

Ohmygosh, beautiful seating chart - so creative!! And I love the cake, too. I'm getting so excited for you!!

ETA this: http://www.weddingcountdownwidget.com/

Thanks Amber!!

Love the seating chart and the cake. Maybe you should keep the beanie baby?!
And what a cool ticker.

Chelle, I apologize if you've said before and I missed it, but what flavors will your cake be? And I could only dream of creating a cake even half as beautiful as your "practice" cake!

>109 ChelleBearss: Wanna trade spots? I'd love to live in NZ for a while!
Now there's something to think about for the future. House swap holiday!

Amazing cake, fantastic work!

You are some woman! Making your own cake???
wow.. and good on you!!

Hi Chelle- I can feel the excitement over it! It's brimming over. 41 days, huh? It'll go quick.

145> Woo Hoo!!

Chelle, you should definitely stay away from the running if you don't enjoy it. My college BF taught me "how to breathe" while running and, while I thank my lucky stars for the day I sent him packing, I am ever grateful that he taught me the art of rhythm in breathing and running --- and pacing!

The house swap idea might just catch on here..... there are so many LTers living in interesting places..... we could do house and book exchanges!

Love the seating selection and WOW on the cake idea! Sorry to learn the predone fondant tastes like candy - so much for that help! - and I do love what you are planning as your wedding cake!

I wish I could do this for a living but because I haven't taken any real courses I don't think any bakeries would hire me.

Actually, you might be pleasantly surprised if you did the rounds of the local bakeries/etc that offer cakes/pastries - it doesn't have to be just wedding cakes does it? - with your portfolio in hand. Just a thought. Pictures are worth more than thousand words and in some cases are better than a piece of paper claiming credentials. ;-)

WoW! You just continue to amaze me with your creativity and talent. Your wedding is sure to be a beautiful and joyous occasion. And I can only enjoy running when it is after a soccer ball!

Don't know about everyone else but I'm getting excited already 39 days to go now right?
Maybe Morphy can organise transport across the border for the US chapter of the 75ers to gatecrash proceedings.

Well, for the whole wedding-traveling thing, we have the limo-RV!

I must admit, that is something I have not seen before...LOL.

Hah! A convenient place to relax after the party.

Hi Everyone! Thanks for visiting me! Today Nate is working and I'm cleaning, well puttering really.
Yesterday I finished unpacking all our moving boxes YAY! Now we just have a stack of boxes that are for storage. I've found a home for them under our stairs and I just need to find a curtain or hanging beads or something to hide them from view. Now I need to find a way to decorate a two rec-room basement that has almost no furniture other than a rocking chair, coffee table and three book shelves :-0 I am going to leave at least one room basically empty as we have so many people staying with us next month that we will need lots of room for 5 air mattresses.

My dad emailed me recently to tell me that he had finished the gift envelope holder that he made for us. Because our wedding is beach themed we had asked him if he could make a small lobster trap for the gift table. This is what he and my mom put together and stained for us. After the wedding I will be putting it in my garden (When I eventually get a garden...)

There is extra netting that we will drape over the front and I have some starfish and shells to stick in the netting.

Meanwhile I am 1/3 way into Gone Girl on audio. I'm really happy with this audio version, it's very easy to listen to but their voices and the story actually make me pay attention. I have a bad habit with some audiobooks that I tune out and forget what I just heard, but thankfully that is not an issue with this book.

I've also started River of Smoke but I'm not far into it at all.

146 Thanks Laura! I agree that the beanie baby does look cute. Nate and I actually agreed on the same cake topper, I was very surprised!

147 Thanks Julia! I was trying to pick a style that was simple enough that I wouldn't be spending a whole day decorating. The flower arrangement is put together and store in a box so that once the icing is on the cake then I can just take it out and tweak it a bit.
The flavours are chocolate fudge with layers of chocolate butter cream and raspberry jam, french vanilla with layers of buttercream and cherry jam w/ cherry chunks (Nate's fave) and the top tier is yet to be decided. I found a recipe for chocolate nutella cake so I might try that.

148 Megan that would be awesome! Swap houses for a week or two. Don't they have a reality tv show like that where people swap lives for a bit or something like that?

149 Hi Kath! Nate thinks I am crazy and I should have just bought a cake but I've made so many for my friends over the years that I would be sad to have to pay someone else to do mine. My mom and my bridesmaids will be at my house that day so they can help me with everything (aka dishes!) so it will go faster than working on my own.

150 40 days now Mark and so much to do! I've got Gone Girl to keep my company though so it's good

151 Ellen it's funny though, I wish I could be a runner. Runners always seem so healthy and happy to me. I think my main problem (other than being lazy) is my allergies make it harder for me to breath while jogging and then I get frustrated and start to walk. A few of my friends just joined a local running club and asked me to join. I might go with them next week to try it out. My diet has basically stopped losing and now maintaining so if I want to lose the last 10lbs then I'm going to have to start working out or running.
Any tips you can give me for the breathing?

I agree an LT house and book swap would go over pretty well here! I wonder who I would swap with for their books?

152 Thanks Lori! I thought I could just use the predone fondant because it's so much smoother than mine but I don't want all my guests to go into sugar shock. That was some seriously sweet icing! It looked quite nice though but the white was more cream coloured than my own white is. I make my fondant out of marshmallow so it's stil pretty sweet, just not as much

There is only one bakery in my small town and it's owned by a local family. It looks like most of the family works there. Maybe I'll ask next time I stop in if they need more help. My big problem right now is the wages in this province are much lower than where I was and I'm actually making more on unemployment than I would taking a job at these low wages. Come winter if I haven't found anything in my own field I'll have to bite the bullet and take something else.

153 Thanks Kim! Most of our guests are either Nate's family or our friends (I have a small anti-social family that won't travel). The majority of Nate's family are a riot and his friends are pretty wild (military people ;) so I imagine it will be a pretty good time!

154 Paul it looks like Morphy has quite the ride set up for you party crashers! Better bring some sleeping bags to sleep on the beach after ;)

155 Morphy that is awesome and hilarious at the same time! I think that would be perfect for Paul's family trip across the US. His wife and girls can ride in the limo portion and Paul and his son can ride in peace and quite in the RV portion. Perfect!

156 Me either Kim!

157 I agree Joe, but where would you park it? It's kind of huge...

Gone Girl is already being cast for the movie version!

Wow! This is going to be one of the most unique and filled with family love weddings ever.

Love the lobster trap, Chelle! How special that your dad made it. #159 I'm delighted to know that Gone Girl is headed for the big screen. Will definitely be watching!

Very, very cool lobster trap and that is before you even add all the extra trimmings that will make it a unique reflection of you and Nate!
I hope you have a great weekend, Chelle. :)

Hi Chelle - You're so talented - The cake will be lovely!

Zombie lawyers. Hmm.

Looks like the wedding will be beautiful. There are some very talented and artistic things going on - love the cake, the lobster pot and the seating plan:)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend:)

38 days and my brain is starting to feel mushy!
I have decided to give it a break and skip reading River of Smoke right now. I DO want to read it so I think I'll try again in September when I have regenerated some brain cells.

159 Richard I think I would watch that movie! I'm nearing the end of the book and loving it!

160 Thanks Kath! Nate are I very lucky to have generous parents and skilled parents!

161 Thanks Nancy! My dad is awesome ;)

162 Thanks Valerie! Hope you have a great weekend too! I was happy to find all that extra stuff at Michaels finally so I hope to make the trip look cute!

163 Thanks Kerri! Nate is mad that he had to eat so much cake this week though ;)
I was surprised that the Zombie lawyer book wasn't as cheesy as I expected. It's not exactly literary fiction by any means but it was fun

164 Thanks Calm! Hope you have a great weekend too!

38 days!! Yowch! That's like tomorrow in wedding-days. *smooch*

>158 ChelleBearss: house swaps sound great to me, Wife Swap might be the reality show you are thinking of, I think its safe to say i am definitely not interested in that! No offense to Nate, Im sure he's a wonderful guy, its just that technically Im not married so I wouldnt qualify....and hang on...neither are you two yet! Not for 38 more days :)

Have you got photos of other cakes you have decorated? Im sure you cold present a portfolio to bakeries and dazzle them.

yes Richard, it will fly by!! xo

haha Megan, I don't think Nate would be up for a wife swap either! House swap I bet he would go for though!
I have a gallery on facebook of my cakes I think anyone should be able to open that link, even people who don't have a facebook account...
I would have to start practicing with real cake recipes instead of working with cake mixes. I should start practicing anyway I guess

84) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Read for 75 books in 2012,
12 in 2012:Category #11) Grape Vine: Books found from recommendations on LT
5*

It is the morning of Nick and Amy Dunne's five year wedding anniversary and Amy has gone missing. Their home shows signs of a struggle and there has been blood shed. Has Nick harmed Amy or has someone else come in to their home and taken her?
This roller coaster of a psychological thriller is told in alternating perspectives between husband and wife and it's hard to tell which narrator is reliable, if either of them really are. Flynn throws in so many twists that just when I thought I had the story figured out she took another turn and showed me how wrong I was.

It's best not to sample too much of this book ahead of reading it. Skip the reviews and don't bother with the book jacket, just pick this "amazing" book up and start reading! I don't think you will regret it.

wo-ow
The cakes are pretty impressive. I loved the penguin one with the igloo at the top, the star wars cup cakes and the spotty ones :) I dont think you'd have a problem getting into a bakery job.

Chelle - another hot plug for Gone Girl - I must find that book!
Morphy - why oh why didn't you suggest that one in the first place for my US trip?

Uh oh, I'm with Paul.... I must find that book!

Chelle, here are a couple of things I learned about breathing and running. First, it's all about rhythm. Start breathing right away, at your very first step, and find a rhythm that feels comfortable. If you get out of breath, slow down a bit. Sometimes when I'm struggling, i say to myself "find a pace at which you feel like you could run forever." It may feel slow but that does. not. matter. You want to run at a pace that feels comfortable, truly a jog. The next thing to think about is your exhale. It's more important than your inhale. Most of us think, when we feel out of breath, that we need more oxygen. Actually, we feel "out of breath" when too much carbon dioxide is building up in our system, so when I feel that way, I slow down a bit and, without changing the rhythm of my breathing, I focus on two or three (or four) good strong exhales. The inhale will come automatically.

Trying a running group is a great idea. Also, if you can stand the tracking, I recommend starting with a walk-run regimen. It may sound weird, but it's incredibly effective: run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute, repeat. After a couple of weeks, you can add minutes to the run interval, until you're up to run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute, repeat. I know lots of people who do this and they complete Half Marathons and Marathons faster than a lot of strict "runners." They laughingly say "the only difference between a walk-runner and a runner is that a walk-runner knows when they are going to walk."

What are you going to read instead of River of Smoke?

Glad you enjoyed Gone Girl, Chelle! 5* woot!!

>172 EBT1002:: I was just reading something about walk-run the other day ... now where was that? Anyway I was intrigued. I agree with you about the importance of breathing properly. And I love "the only difference between ..." -- that's funny!

#169: I added that book to the BlackHole the other day based on Suz's recommendation. Glad to see it has another fan! One of these days I will get my hands on a copy.

Morning Chelle- Lots of activity over here: lobster traps, RV/limos, (Paul should pay attention to that one!), more Gone Girl love, (Yah!) and 37, now 36 days until...what's happening again?

Stasia, I put a hold on Gone Girl at the library a few weeks ago when rave reviews started popping up on the threads I follow. I just checked, and I am up to #145 out of 424 on the waiting list!

Hahaha...you posted a review to tell people not to read reviews. :)
Anyways, the book is on my list of to read, but can't decide if I'm going the library or buy a copy route. I guess I will see if I ever see a really cheap copy at the stores, then I'll have my answer.

Ellen's suggestions for running are so great. I will have to incorporate some of those tips for myself!

Thanks Megan! I might put together a little photo album of my cakes after the wedding and pop into some of the bakeries around here. At least it would get me out of the house even if it doesn't pay well.

Yes Paul, you should find it!! I listened to it on audio and found it actually pretty great to listen to.

Thanks so much Ellen! Those running tips are great! I might go out tomorrow before it gets hot. I would like to lose a few more pounds before the wedding and jogging would probably help me a lot!
I actually haven't figured out what to read yet. Nate and I started an audiobook today when we went into Halifax (Hidden Prey by John Sandford) but we only got 1/3 of it finished and who knows when we will take a drive again to finish it. Since I have to read that with Nate and he is horrible at finishing books it might sit for a while unfinished.
I have a few books that I had put aside to read but I've been thinking about wedding speeches so I haven't started anything.

Thanks Nancy! I thought it was a pretty decent read!

Hi Laura. Nate tried to talk me into doing a "walk-run" a while back but I hate running with him because he pushes too hard. I like to go at my pace and not hear "come on, you can do it!".

Hi Stasia! I hope you love it when you get to reading it

Hi Mark. Nothing much going on here, how about you? ;)

Wow Julia, that is one long waiting list!

haha Valerie, I guess I did! I just would hate someone to read something that had spoilers in it and ruin it. The book has enough twists that many minor plot details would give important things away

Lots to catch up on here - not sure how I got so far behind. LOVE the seating chart - so elegant. Looks like the cake will be fabulous. The lobster trap is a genius idea and looks marvelous. What great creativity you have going on with your wedding plans - I am amazed!

I have Gone Girl in my TBR and am hoping to get to it in August - guess I need to make that happen.

5 stars, huh? Gone Girl is one that I will have to read....

Hi Mamie! Sell your house yet? Any bites at all?
You should get to Gone Girl, I don't think you will regret it!

Yes Kath, you should read it!


86) I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson
Read for 75 books in 2012
3.5*

For years now I've been saying I won't read anymore James Patterson books because he isn't the only one writing them. Seems like a gimmick that recently all his books have been co-authored with a few different authors. I picked up this one because I have read the rest of his Michael Bennett series and enjoyed them and thought maybe this one would be decent.
While I did enjoy the read and got caught up in the drama, I thought the ending was pretty terrible. Not only did he end on a horrible note, but he left it as a cliffhanger. I very much dislike when authors need to ensure people will buy their next book by copping out on the ending.

Thanks for reading the Michael Bennett for me, Chelle. Pass. I'm with you on I very much dislike when authors need to ensure people will buy their next book by copping out on the ending. Well said.

87) The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Read for 75 books in 2012
12 in 2012:Category #10) It's a whole new world: Apocalyptic/ Post Apocalyptic/ Dystopian
4.5*

A man and his son are trekking across the remnants of America towards the coast in a post-apocalyptic world. "The Road" they walk is miserable, savage and highly dangerous. As they walk they encounter scorched ruins from the old world; homes that have been searched for any useful items or food, stores that have been scavenged of everything including the shopping carts and charred and frozen corpses that have been exposed for years.
As "the man" and "the boy" walk they encounter many hazards and dangers; they are exposed to the elements and must find ways to stay warm, they are constantly on the brink of starvation and they must hide from people who would steal from them and cannibals that would steal their lives.

This is a dreary, haunting read but surprisingly beautiful. McCarthy uses his austere prose to describe the details of their miserable existence with undertones of love and hope within all the despair. The love of father and son keeps them walking longer than they might have if they had been alone. The father's desperation to protect his son at all costs will affect your emotions.

While The Stand by Stephen King is still my favorite post-apocalyptic novel, The Road is an easy second.
Highly recommended!

I hope you will be back! I'd like to hear your opinion on the crazy ride that was my reading of The Road. (It was one of my best books ever......and so very challenging).

Honestly I am still trying to figure out what I thought of it! It was so .... something ... I can't quite figure out what ... I'll come back!

Yup, I agree with Megan on that one. So disturbing, so dark, but also one of my best reads ever as well. It will be hard one to review, but I'm sure you're up for the challenge, Chelle. :)

I am also awaiting your review - I have that one in my stack, and I am wondering when the best time to get to it is.

gah, the pressure!! ;)

For me, McCarthy's use of language is what makes his books. No Country for Old Men is another bleak but beautiful book.

I need to read The Road. I have been a sucker for post-apocalyptic books ever since the first one I read in high school, Alas, Babylon. I recently read The Postman — have you read that one? It was the basis for a pretty universally panned Kevin Costner movie that I never saw, but the book was pretty good.

I keep hearing such good things about The Road, but I read All the Pretty Horses and absolutely despise his writing style, so I don't think I could manage another of his...

I am in the minority... Did not like The Road...not a bit. A friend had sent me an audio book of
All The Pretty Horses, but I never got through it. That might well be due as much to my dislike of audio
as anything, though.. so no judgement from me there.

Chelle, I see you read The Road, If you ever get a chance to watch the movie that ehy made based off of that book, a portion of that was filmed in my hometown at Conneaut Lake Park in Conneaut Lake, PA. They used to have a ballroom in the park and just prior to this movie being made it burned to the ground and they decided to utlized a portion of the reminates and the park to film that movie.

Morning Chelle! Just checking back to see if you had posted your thoughts for The Road And you have! You have! I will probably read that at some point in time, but probably not in the immediate future. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it!

Chelle, enjoyed your comments on The Road. 4.5* Woot!

I've started reading Ready Player One and I can already tell this is a book I will probably love!
Although I'm more a child of the late 80's and 90's I am getting a few of the references, but I've also had to google a few. I imagine stopping to google references will slow me down a tad!

Today my friend is coming over to help me try on my wedding dress and see which shoes looks best with it! (I bought 4 pairs to try on ;) Also I need to try on my new jewelry with it! Nate bought me a gorgeous necklace and earring set to wear with it, diamonds and opals! So hopefully by tonight I'll have all the primping and trying on done until the wedding!

190 Hi Doc! The Road was the first that I have read by McCarthy but I'll add No Country for Old Men to my wishlist!

191 HI Julia! I have not read The Postman yet, and I actually have not heard of it or the movie. I'll have to add that to my list too! I've been reading a lot of post-apocalypse type book since I first read The Stand and I'm always up for some good recommendations! Thanks!

192 Hi Amber! I've not read All the Pretty Horses but now I know to skip it!

193 Hi Kath! If I remember correctly you don't really like super dark books, do you? I thought The Road was pretty dark for a long time before there was any hope or light to it.

194 Hi Monica! That's cool that the movie was made there! If I ever watch the movie I will think of you now!

195 Hi Mamie! Glad you have added it to your wishlist! I would recommend reading it when you are in a super good mood as it's pretty dark. I'm in a good mood lately (for obvious reasons) so a dark read can't really bring me down any

196 Thanks Nancy! :)

I'm going to finish Ready Player One tonight! I literally had to pry it out of my own hands last night so I could get some sleep. It's so hard to put a finger on why it is amazing, but it is!

Have fun trying on your dress! Just remember - don't eat or drink anything bright colored or stain-y. This is not a sit-com.

Ooooooh shoes! Will we get pics of the final shoe pick??? (Sorry totally love all things footwear :D).

Oh Nora, glad to see you loved it that much! I plan on reading it tonight while Nate is working! It seems like one I won't want to put down.
I made it through the fitting with no dress related catastrophes :)

Hi Micky! Here are some shoe shots just for you!

These were my choices and the winner

I love getting caught up in wedding fever over here, Chelle. Don't trip in those very elegant - and lethal - shoes! After drooling over the album of cakes you've made, I have no doubt that your wedding cake will be beautiful. You are so organized...and calm. My goodness, you're even able to read and write coherent reviews. Amazing!

Beautiful shoes, Chelle. I love reading about your wedding plans, too!

Cute shoes! I'm not used to such high heels, I'd definitely have to practice walking!

I recieved Ready Player One from Santathing last year and it's one I definitely want to read sooner than later. I'm hopeful the hubby might even want to give it a try. :)

Love, love the shoes! Have you decided which one you like best?

I had to return the one I just bought because it didn't fit like the one I tried in store. Hopefully the replacement will work! 1.5 weeks left. Worse case scenario, I walk down barefoot. ;P

Visiting your thread Chelle, brings back memories of last summer when we were getting ready for my daughter's October wedding. Such fun and excitement and the, in a heartbeat, it's over. That's why the pictures are so important. Then you can relive the wedding anytime you want. I absolutely love the lobster trap. You are going to have so much of "you" in the wedding. I love that. I can't believe you are making your own cake. That's absolutely astounding but the FB cake gallery demonstrates how good you are at cake decorating so I'm sure it will be breathtakingly beautiful. So exciting.

Another Gone Girl fan here. And The Road too.

Love the shoes, Chelle. I'd kill myself if I wore those super-high heels. It's hard to tell how high are the ones you chose, but the front view is quite nice.

I've wanted to read The Road for a very long time but never gotten around to it (among others).

How many days now? ;-)

Hi Chelle - Nice review of The Road! I rated it highly as well, but haven't read anything else by him yet, although I have a couple on my shelves.

I'm also interested in Ready Player One and may listen to it as an audiobook at some point soon. Glad to hear you're enjoying it.

Ooooh, lovely shoes!!

Monica... I didn't know that about the Road.. I live in Pa too.. love your area. That said, if they filmed the movie in my back yard, I wouldn't watch it. Just the name of it drops a pall of bleak over me :PPPPP lol.

Chelle. Beautiful shoes..! but will you have some comfy ones to change into for the reception?
Those look mighty challenging.

We finally found a contractor to do our lawn!! Yay! I never thought that I would be so happy over landscaping! After fighting with the contractor that built our house since March we finally won the holdback money back from the lawyer. The contractor never came back to backfill, grade or lay seed. Since he had said he was coming we didn't mow the weeds (there is no grass, just weed).
He was supposed to be here by the end of April and kept making excuses. Finally in May we started contacting our lawyer to get the money back. We finally got the money back last week and have a landscaping company booked in for the first week of August! I will be so happy to see all those weeds cut down and Jackson will finally be able to play on the whole acre instead of just a small portion.

Thanks Donna! I think the days of me writing coherent reviews are quickly coming to a close! My list of stuff to do has doubled in the past couple days and the stress is starting to crash in. I'm trying to stay zen though

Thanks Nancy!! Thankfully most of my planning is finished but I should have photos to post of the final results at some point (Or at least after the wedding ;)

HI Laura! I haven't worn heels since I left my job so I will have to practice in them for sure!
I got heel protectors for the ceremony since it's on grass and the heels would sink.
They are these little plastic things that go on the bottom of the heel and make the heel wider for walking on grass..

HI Valerie! I think you would like Ready Player One! I got it half finished last night and was falling asleep reading so I made myself put the book down and try to sleep.
For the shoes I really liked the comfort of the wedge (second from the left) but the platform was a bit too tall for my dress so I went with the shoe with the little yellow star under it.


This is a better picture, closer up. They are a bit taller than I am used to but I'll be practicing!


Haha I don't think the bride would be too impressed if were barefoot, unless it's a beach wedding lol!
Hopefully the next pair work better for you!

Thanks Bonnie! I really like cake decorating but Nate gets upset with having so much cake in the house all the time! We both have no willpower, so when I was baking a lot we gained a ton of weight!
Did you get a photo album from your daughter's wedding?

Thanks Ellen! The heels are a tad tall for me but I will practice and make it work! I'll probably take them off after dinner anyway
I randomly picked up The Road on my library website when I was looking for an audiobook. I was glad I grabbed it!
33 days!! Eek

Hi Kerri! I really am enjoying Ready Player One. I've decided that today is a no wedding stuff day and I plan to relax and read today so I might finish RPO tonight.

Thanks Amber!

HI Kath! I probably should buy a pair of ballet shoes or something for the reception. I originally planned on wearing some comfy wedges that I wouldn't need to change out of. Maybe I'll keep the wedge heels just in case

I finished Ready Player One last night! It was awesome! I can't wait for you to finish!

I like the shoes you picked a lot. The straps are very elegant.

Oh, those two pics together make it clearer. High heels, yes, but they are truly gorgeous shoes. You have good taste.

I assume that in something more than 33 days, we'll get to see a pic or two with the whole look.....you know pics of the actual wedding.... ?? :-)
I guess you might take a day or two off from LT right after you get married....

Not that i am an expert but nice shoes.

LOVE the shoes!

88) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Read for 75 books in 2012
12 in 2012:Category #11) Grape Vine: Books found from recommendations on LT
5*

All I have to say is Amaze-balls! That was a great read and totally helped me take my mind of my wedding stressing! I have 50 million things to do but instead I spent my day finishing this book because I didn't want to put it down!
Highly recommended!

212 Nora you are absolutely correct, it was awesome!! Why didn't I read this one sooner?

213 Don't worry Ellen, I will for sure post some wedding pay photos! My photographer said it would be about 8 weeks before I get the official package of photos back because she is going to edit them, but I'm sure there will be a ton of people taking pictures that can share some with me!
I'll even post some of the trash the dress session, if they turn out well!

214 & 215 Thanks John and Mamie! I am happy to have the shoes bought, it took me forever to find a pair that I loved

Chelle- I'm so glad you loved RPO! It really is a fun read and very inventive. "Amaze-balls"? Is this a Canadian expression?

haha Mark, no I think it's an american term used by some celebrity (can't remember who). I heard it somewhere and it stuck in my head.

Um..."trash the dress session"??

Oh, you're reading some of my favorites, Chelle! I'm another one who really liked The Road and Ready Player One - and it's hard to think of two books more disparate than those two!

I'll second (or third) No Country for Old Men. I understand Amber's dislike for All the Pretty Horses - my daughter feels the same way. But I loved it. It's a beautifully written book, and quite a story. If you liked The Road, there's a good chance you'd also enjoy All the Pretty Horses.

Love the shoes Chelle! I am totally a high heels kind of gal and the straps on those shoes are perfect IMO for a summer wedding. I hate shoes that have thin spaghetti straps that feel as though they are going to break at the slightest bit of stretching. The shoes you chose do look like they have stability to them.... always a good thing with heels, to minimize any heel wobble!

Hummm.... do you plan on walking on any sandy/grassy areas while wearing them?

Chelle, I tried to put Ready Player One on hold at the library and {shocked!!} I have too many on hold! The limit is 25, so I canceled another and put this one on hold. I figure if it can distract you from wedding thoughts, I'm just sayin', it's a good read. :-)

>219 ChelleBearss: Perez Hilton

Hi friends!
Well the wedding crap stress may have caught up to me. I've had a headache for a couple days now and last night and today I've had no desire to start a new book. I actually laid on the couch and turned on the tv! The tv is hardly ever turned on when Nate is not home but I put in the first season of Gilmore Girls and just relaxed.

I saw on the news that there were some pretty bad storms in the US last night. I hope all our LT friends in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania are ok!!

220 haha Mamie I guess you haven't seen me mention that before! The day after the wedding Nate and I will be getting dressed up again in our wedding attire and splashing around in the ocean for a photo op.

221 Hi Joe! I have been on a bit of a good book roll but I fear that may be coming to a quick end with all the wedding stuff. After I finished my book last night I didn't even start a new one! gasp!
I'll keep in mind your thought on McCarthy's other works. I did quite enjoy the road so perhaps I will like most of his other books too. I don't normally mind dark and dismal books, actually I usually enjoy those ones better than cheerful books.

222 Hi Lori! I used to love wearing heels when I first start my old job many years back. I have a few pairs of heels that I just love. I stopped wearing them when I quit my job because I really have no where to go now. I only wear them to fancy events. I will really need to walk around in these ones before the wedding and let my feet get used to them and work them in a bit
I do plan on walking on grass and sand in them, but my MiL works in a wedding supply store and bought me these little plastic heel protector thing for walking on grass in heels. Makes the heel wider and sturdier and then they come off for when I'm back on stable ground.

223 Hi Ellen! I think you will like it! I loved it! I found it extremely creative and interesting, but at the same time it wasn't incredibly difficult to read. The last few "amazing" books that I have read have mostly been literary fiction and while they were great books, they were hard reads. This one wasn't a hard read at all (except for stopping to look up references) but very creative and different than other books I've read

I wish I had enough brain power to do a real review but my brain is tapped out I think,

224 Hmm really ... I don't know why that would stick in my head because I usually ignore all things "celebrity".

Just dropping by to say I love your shoes.

Okay, so now I get it!! Fun! Wishing for you a stress free weekend.

Rainy and lazy where we are, Chelle. Hope you're getting set up for a good weekend. Getting married is a good reason to get distracted a bit from reading, so no worries there. Although you may want to take an e-reader down the aisle, in case things get slow at any point. :-)

Gorgeous shoes that you've picked Chelle. One of my really good friends is getting married in September and we were looking at wedding photos her photographer posted on Facebook. One of the brides had gorgeous royal blue shoes which I thought was really cool. :)

Chelle - They wouldn't suit me but I'm sure you'll look a pretty picture in those lovely shoes! I have seen Ready Player One in the shops and remember Morphy being a strong advocate of it - will be buying it soon by the looks of it.

Is anyone else watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games?
Nate and I watched part of it (turned it on late) and we thought it was pretty good! Love the music they used

We've decided to take a little trip to Shelbourne tomorrow to see the Tall Ships that are docked there. It's a big festival in NS and we missed the edition that was in Halifax. Should be a fun day and we get to see a new location in the province.
***

Hi Rhian! Thanks :)

Thanks Mamie! Hope you have a good weekend too!

Hi Joe! It's was raining here this morning and now it's just over cast. The rain brought them temperature down though so it's nice!
I think Nate would run in the other direction if I brought anything book related down the aisle with me!

HI Micky! I've seen some people do blue shoes and I think it's so cute! I wanted to do pink shoes to match the bridesmaid's dresses but I couldn't find a pair that I liked

HI Paul! I think you would like Ready Player One! Actually most people would probably really enjoy it.

You've hit me with quite a few blue bullets, Chelle .. my obese wish list is groaning under the weight of all the books i've had to add since reading your reviews.

Love the shoes you picked. I'm getting caught up in your wedding fever too. Ha! Hey, have you thought of streaming your wedding so we LTers can 'attend' your ceremony and throw confetti and rice over our laptop when you're walking down as Mr & Mrs?

I've been watching it too and must admit that all the places where I have LT friends, Canada included, caused me to prick up my eyes and ears and turn from my computer screen to the TV screen. Looked quite a spectacle and a wee bit of national pride tweaked at my heart strings watching the ceremony do my country proud.

First season of Gilmore Girls! Sigh. Contains my absolute favorite line from the entire show: "What's the opposite of ennui? Offui. Ha! I'm cured!" I love Suki so much.

Ooohh... I had no idea there existed little plastic heel protector thing for walking on grass in heels. Brilliant!

#235 I thought that was brilliant, too!

I did watch some of the Opening Ceremonies, Chelle. Impressive! Go, Canada! Enjoy the tall ships. My sister and BIL went a couple of summers ago and sent pictures. So beautiful! I've only seen the Bluenose in NS, have missed the tall ships, at least so far.

We've been watching the Olympic Ceremony too - we really loved it. Bit tired this morning as it finished about 1am UK time.

Stopping by to wish you all good things amid the chaos of planning for a very special date in your life.

Oh I love tall ships! I wish I could work out a trip to Annapolis.. almost went this year, ut it's so hard with the hrs Dan works.. and Duncan. I hope there will b pics? ( I say this so often, clearly I live vicariously through others.. )

>235 lkernagh:: I just learned about those too! They were behind the counter when I went wedding dress shopping for my sister who's recently engaged. I was amazed... I think I will go back and get some...

HI everyone! We just got home from a great day at the shore and are now having some friends over for a campfire and some drinks. I'll respond to everyone individually tomorrow!
To tide you over here are a few photos from today

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Chelle, you are talking like a Maritimer already, "a great day at the shore." : ) The ship is beautiful. Enjoy your campfire.

100% into campfire and drinks. Sounds great.
Catching up after a few days off (feeling off :|). Great shoes, with my horrendous brick-like feet, Id need to wear gumboots if I ever got married! But your shoes look lovely.

Go Canada, I saw them walk in to the opening ceremony and loved the uniform, I saw all the A's, all the Bs and most of the Cs walk in, before i popped off to the markets yesterday morning.

Love the ships Chelle and the campfire sounds very romantic and collectively enjoyable. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as the days count down to your wedding.

I watched and enjoyed the opening ceremonies. We have to figure out if we can get a Canadian broadcast (we were able to do so two years ago) because the US announcers are going to keep me from watching much..... they never stop talking!!

Whenever you post pics, it just seems to me that when you moved, you landed in heaven...sigh

Hi Chelle - I agree with Ms. McKait that you appear to live in paradise! I always enjoy the lovely photos of beautiful scenery, even if I don't always comment.

89) Hidden Prey by John Sandford
Read for 75 books in 2012
12 in 2012:Category #6) Who?: Authors I have not read before
3*

*smooch* cool shoes BTW

Hi Chelle, i have been watching the Olympics over the last two days and am really pleased for Lizzie Armitstead getting a silver medal in the women's road race this afternoon, hope the Canadians get off the mark soon.

Hi Everyone! One month today!!! My bridesmaids threw me a bridal shower today from 2000 km away (which I may have known about in advance by accident...) They got Nate to help them set up decorations in our house and he bought hors d'oeuvres and cupcakes for me and they set it up over Skype! It was hillarious to have 20 people in the background of the computer and each person opened the present that they bought me. My parents are driving to the wedding and will bring the presents with them next month
It was the coolest, weirdest shower ever!

232 Caro I told Nate that you requested we stream the wedding and he looked at me like I have three heads! He just doesn't get LT ;-0

233 Paul it's so great to see all the other countries compete. I like to watch Canada but I also love to watch all the countries too! Right now we are watching the USA vs Argentina women's beach volleyball. Nate's enjoying it but I think that might have something to do with the swimsuits ...

234 Oh Amber that's a great quote! I love Suki and Michel! I just love how fast they talk and how much energy they have. Watching that show never fails to make me smile and I think Nate secretly likes it but won't admit it

235 Lori they are truly a great invention! If it weren't for them I would have picked the wedge shoes instead. Nate's mom works in a wedding supply store and got me a pair of the heel things for free. Very handy to have

236 HI Nancy! The tall ships were really cool to see. Some of them are quite old and I find it amazing that any boat could be a 100 years old and still float. Obviously they've done repairs to them but the original structure is still there.

237 Hi Rhian! I think we are about 5 hours earlier than you so we watch the ceremony at 7pm I think. Much easier to stay up and watch but if we want to get up and watch some of the morning competitions we need to be up around 5am. I really wish we had a PVR!

238 Thanks so much Linda! Hope you are having some pain free days!

239 Hi Kath! You could always bring your puppy with you! We love to take Jackson places with us. I was actually surprised to see so many dogs on the wharf yesterday. I wish we would have brought Jax with us but we didn't he would be allowed

240 Hi Faith! I think every woman should have a pair of those, just in case!

242 haha Nancy I guess I am turning into a maritimer! Didn't take long eh!
The campfire was great! I wish we had a few less bugs but I'll buy some citronella for next time

243 Thanks Megan! I actually had to google "gumboots"! We call them rubber boots or rain boots here. I imagine that they probably wouldn't be perfect wear for a wedding though ... unless you added gems or something ;-0

244 Thanks Paul! Hope you and your family are having a great weekend ... or I guess it's probably Monday morning now where you are ...

245 Ellen we usually watch CTV here. I really like the commentary on that channel. I find some channels try to hard and become annoying.

246 I agree Kath, some of the scenery here does appear heavenly! Although I might not be as impressed come winter when I get snowed in!

247 Thanks Keri! I try to post some new pictures when we do some new exploring

249 Thanks Richard! Smooch to you sir

250 Hi John! Canada got on the boards today with a bronze in synchro diving. Jennifer Abel and Emilie Heymans did quite well and Heymans set a record by being the first summer olympian to win a medal a four consecutive olympics and the first female diver to do so as well.
China is doing amazing with 12 medals already!

How great is that Skype shower! Wonderful!

I'm just a dopey, insensitive guy, but I'm still with Caro on your streaming the wedding. Maybe Nate will relent?

A Skye shower. That is totally awesome!

That shower is the coolest thing ever.

>253 ChelleBearss: gumboots is a term foreign to you? wow lol
Love that your mates did a shower for you from afar. What thoughtful friends you have, they must miss you, and vice versa

OMG, that is so cool! The technology these days. Glad you guys had fun. 30 days, huh? Very exciting.

That long distance shower is the sweetest thing - how cool of them to think of that!

Love the Skype shower idea, great friends you have:)

Chelle... what fun, great friends you have!

A Skype Shower. How cool is that. I know you are feeling loved by a whole group of folks and it's so true!

A Skype Shower. How cool is that. I know you are feeling loved by a whole group of folks and it's so true! Gotta love technology sometimes.

Ack, sorry about the double post. Gotta hate technology sometimes, too.

Sorry for not visiting everyone's threads right now, but I've been finding that there are not enough hours in the day. I'm pooped!
We spent the weekend doing wedding stuff (had a taste test at the resort and the food was amazing!, met our officiant and had a mini photo shoot with our photographer)

I'm working on the seating chart and it's actually the hardest part of the wedding so far! Even all the things I've made and worked on have been easier than trying to figure out where people need to sit.
So-and-so can't sit near So-and-so because of divorce. So-and-so needs to sit with So-and-so because they want to help with taking care of the kids, etc. It's actually kind of annoying.

I will visit everyone properly in September, but I will try and visit a few people every time I sit down for a break. My goal today is to clean my house and relax a bit.
Not too much reading going on here. I've been working on Wild: from lost to found at night and it's really quite good

254 haha Joe I don't think Nate will give in. Everyone will have to settle for a few photos after the wedding.

255, 256 Thanks Lori & Laura, I thought it was pretty creative

257 Yep Megan, totally foreign to me! I asked Nate if he knew that gumboots were and he guessed rainboots but he wasn't sure.

258 Mark Isn't technology great!

259 Thanks Mamie, my girls are pretty awesome and I can't wait to see them in 3 weeks!

260 Thanks Calm, they are great friends! My sister is awesome and my two best girls are wonderful. I couldn't imagine not having them in my life

261 Hi Kath! They are awesome people and they all will look so hot in their dresses!

262 haha Ellen I love that you said you loved and hated technology in two different posts!

July 2012 Reading Statistics

74) Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (5*, 528 pages)
75) Kissing Sin by Kerri Arthur (3.5, 355 pages)
76) The Hunter and the Hunted by Kelley Armstrong (2*, novellas)
77) Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (4*, 407 pages)
78) Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost (2.5*, 11 hours 18 minutes)
79) Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (4*, 304 pages)
80) The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (3.5*, 507 pages)
81) Angle of Investigation: Three Harry Bosch Stories by Michael Connelly (3 novellas)
82) Pay Me in Flesh by K. Bennett (3*, 280 pages)
83) Aunt Dimity and the Duke by Nancy Atherton (290 pages, 3.5*)
84) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (19 hours, 11 minutes, 5*)
85) Dead to Me by Kelley Armstrong (ebook, 3 novellas)
86) I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson (3.5*, 383 pages)
87) The Road by Cormac McCarthy (4.5*, audio 5 hours 8 minutes)
88) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (5*, 372 pages)
89) Hidden Prey by John Sandford (3*, Audio 5 hours 59 minutes)

Number of books read: 16
Average rating: 3.4
Number of pages: 3426
Audio time: 41 hours 36 minutes

Fiction/Non-Fiction:
• Fiction: 16
• Non-Fiction: 0

Owned/borrowed (from human)/library:
• Owned: 8
• Borrowed: 0
• Library: 8

Format:
• Print book: 6
• Ebook: 6
• Audiobook: 4

Length:
• Short Story/Novella: 3
• Full Length: 13