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Sunday, July 31, 2011

100+ Photos

Here is a list of 100+ items I want to photograph over the coming 2.75 years!

The wonderful thing about a list like this is that is is up for interpretation.  For this list, I will take a picture specifically for this project...not use some random photo that I had already taken.  Then, I will note on this list when I took the photo.  At the end of this project, I will create a photo book to have printed.  I am very excited about this Project!

Click "Read More" below to see the list!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

ff #2







 Q. Name 3 authors that you would love to sit down and spend an hour or a meal with just talking about either their books or get advice on writing from?


My A:  Three authors that I would love to sit down and talk with about their books or writing advice would be (and I would like to think that they would get along very well!):


Jane Austen, Jennifer Becton and Lauren Willig.  

Question from 'We Love Books' website was a bit differently than on Parajunkee's site.  

Here it is:
Do you have a book BFF? Someone that you can pass a book on to and you know they'll just love it if you loved it?   Unfortunately, no I don't!  I can suggest books to family members, but we all like such different types of books.   One day...I will have a Book BFF!

Emily and Einstein


Title by Author: Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee
Series (if applicable): none
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Page Count: 356
Source: Library
Review:
For some reason, I have been putting off reviewing this book that I have given 5 stars!  I actually would love to be able to sit down and read it again, it was so good, with a good message, too (see favorite quotes below).  However, writing a review for this story would give it away, I think.  If you have read any of the other reviews, you will know what happens (but I won’t be the one to tell you!).

I loved Linda Francis Lee’s ‘Devil in the Junior League’ and found it hilarious!  This story, however, is a little bit different.  It is more poignant, a little sadder, but with a happy ending.  Emily is widowed only after four years of marriage.  She is devastated, as she thought she had the perfect marriage.  However, it turned out the night that her husband was killed in a freak accident on the streets of New York, that he was on his way to divorce her.  Emily had no idea that the situation was at this point…the separation. 

In her grief, she rescues a dog whom she calls Einstein.  There are some very funny antics with Einstein (like the box of Lucky Charms), plus Einstein has issues of his own.  He is trying to make sure that Emily moves on in her life, but it is rather difficult for him to do as he is in a dog’s body.

Emily works in publishing and has an immediate supervisor who is out only for herself, to include taking credit for Emily’s latest find in the book world.  Throw on top of this Emily’s younger, and flighty, sister who comes to stay with Emily after her husband dies.  Her sister needs money, so she tries to convince Emily to buy her book that she is writing on their ‘famous’ mother, Lillian Barlow, a feminist.

Emily is doing all she can to hold her life together.  She is trying not to get sacked at work when they bring in a new president who is known for turning failing businesses around.  She is trying to keep her apartment that her husband promised her, but has to fit his mother and lawyer to try to keep it.  Emily is also trying to figure out what to do with her younger sister, who seems to want to do anything but write the book she proposed in the first place.  Did I mention the hot Navy SEAL who lives upstairs?

This is a story of loss, finding oneself, helping others, a snobbish dog with weird tastes in music, and running a marathon.  It was very well written and beautifully paced.  There are several twists to the story, as it is written alternately from Emily’s and Einstein’s view point.  Read it, before it’s too late!  Read it, and learn their story!

Favorite Quote:
It is regret that kills, the ‘if onlys’ that leave the mortal wounds.
In order to live a life truly worth living you had to have strength in the face of adversity, patience when confronted with challenge, and bravery in the face of fear.

Rating: 5stars!
Tag: contemporary, loss, forgiveness, marathon, dog


Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Top Ten - Teens

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and theBookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists.


Top Ten Books You Believe Should Be Required Reading For Teens (contemporary, YA, adult fic, whatever you fancy)
This took a bit of thought!  I thought about all of the horrible books I was forced to read in high school... and a few good ones that I did enjoy.  Then I thought about some of the YA books I have read in recent years, and if they had any merit to them!  Next, I asked my teenagers...but didn't get too good of a response...it was mostly, "That was a good book, but I didn't learn anything from it."  Some of the ones below I gave reasons for my choosing them... and I added a few more than 10...I couldn't narrow it down any further.

Ender’s Game  by Orson Scott Card– (Sci Fi) This one got four out of five (only because the 5th didn’t read it) votes in our family.  Hard to describe why it made our list, but it did.  The writing isn’t the best, but it’s the story that gets you!

Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank – (Non Fiction/History) I felt that this was such an optimistic and realistic account of the Holocaust.

1984 by George Orwell – (Sci-Fi/Futuristic) It is one of those classic books that looked towards the future and what it might be like to live in a society of “Big Brother.”

Fahrenheit 451  by Ray Bradbury– (Sci-Fi/Censorship) The burning of books and what kind of society it would create. 

Persuasion by Jane Austen – Classic – I think that out of all of Jane Austen’s books, this one would be most accessible to teenagers, boys and girls.  I think we need to throw out Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, and get some Jane Austen into students.  Especially with so many mash-ups of her books, it would be good for students to read this classic author.

The Giver by Lois Lowry(though I have never read the book) – (Dystopia)

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger– (Banned Book) Typical teenage angst

The Hobbit  by J.R.R. Tolkien– (Fantasy, great literature) I think that this is a little more ‘accessible’ than the LOTR triology… and a beginning to it all.

The Great Gatsby  by F. Scott Fitzgerald– (Portrait of 1920’s)  Decadence and excess.  Asking my 18yo, she mentioned that most of her friends had marked this as a favorite book.

The Little Prince  by Antoine de Saint-Exupery- (Philosophical) To see the world with the wonderment of a child.

True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi – (Fiction) – “An ocean voyage of unimaginable consequences... Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty. But I was just such a girl, and my story is worth relating even if it did happen years ago. Be warned, however: If strong ideas and action offend you, read no more. Find another companion to share your idle hours. For my part I intend to tell the truth as I lived it.”

I found this book fascinating and after reading it, I felt that all young teenagers should read it!

Jonathan Livingston Seagull  by Richard Bach- (Philosophical) You don’t know until you try… and why not try… you need to find out for yourself if you can do it!

A Break with Charity  by Ann Rinaldi– (Historical Fiction) about the Salem Witch Trials – would be great pairing with an American History class

A Tale of Two Cities  by Charles Dickens– (Classic)  If students must read Dickens, I think this would be better than Great Expectations.

I am looking forward to seeing your list!  What do you think about this one?!

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