I love books.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the public library is great in theory, but I never have time to get down there. Besides, I always end up having an anxiety attack in the library. The same for big bookstores. I can't do it. It's too cluttered. (As I guiltily glance at the clutter here on my desk. Apparently my own clutter isn't as bad as public clutter.)

Anyway, I haven't indulged my love of books recently, so I went on a mini-spree on Amazon today. Somehow I managed to keep it under $100, yay me!!!

So here's my reading for the summer, to be read in the order I receive them...



OK, so I ordered Breaking Dawn a while ago, but it's not due for release until August. One of the girls at work got me hooked on the series though, and since I don't get to look forward to any more Harry Potter books, this was a great substitute. It's about a girl that moves to Washington (*sigh, I miss those trees!*) to live with her dad. She meets an unusual family, and falls in love with one of the boys. Come to find out, he's not quite human. Adventures ensue, and now we're waiting on book four, the last one. Stephanie Meyer is an incredible writer, and has a knack of drawing you into the story so you feel like you're really in the forest.


It seems like the plot will be more of the same old feel good chick movie, but the reviews were great. The lead character wakes up one day and only remembers her past, not what's going on in her life now. It's been done so many times before, and so many of those attempts were worn out and trite, but hopefully this journey on the same path will be different. HOPEFULLY.


I read Baby Proof from Emily Griffin, and it was cute. Not too deep, but a different take on the eternal conundrum of the working woman, whether or not she really wants kids, and what she's willing to give up to stick to her guns. I like books that come from a vastly different point of view, even if they are a bit shallowly written. This one is taking the view of looking back on what could have been. Who out of all of us has never wondered what would have happened if we had stayed with that one person?



I loved The Devil Wears Prada. I was a vicarious New Yorker when I read it. That was enough to get me to read Chasing Harry Winston.

Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest To Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass LookBig, Or Why Pie is Not The Answer

Seriously, with such a fabulous title, why WOULDN'T a pretty, fat, narcissistic chick want to read it? Besides, the note that she's got on Amazon just speaks to me.

"To whom the fat rolls…I'm tired of books where a self-loathing heroine is teased to the point where she starves herself skinny in hopes of a fabulous new life. And I hate the message that women can't possibly be happy until we all fit into our skinny jeans. I don't find these stories uplifting; they make me want to hug these women and take them out for fizzy champagne drinks and cheesecake and explain to them that until they figure out their insides, their outsides don't matter. Unfortunately, being overweight isn't simply a societal issue that can be fixed with a dose healthy of positive self-esteem. It’s a health matter, and here on the eve of my fortieth year, I've learned I have to make changes so I don't, you know, die. Because what good if finally being able to afford a pedicure if I lose a foot to adult onset diabetes?"

I soooooooo can't wait to read this book!!!



Gossip of the Starlings is going to be my serious read for the summer. It's getting great reviews, and it hits in an area that's coming up in my life. Teenagers, drugs, peers...the joys I get to look forward to now that I have a pre-teen.



I try not to judge books by their covers, but I'll absolutely pick one up for a great title. (As evidenced above!) So when I saw the title on this one, I had to get it. Besides, Chelsea Handler has left me in fits of giggles before, I love her. I love what one of my other favorite writers has to say about Chelsea, "Chelsea Handler writes like Judy Blume, if Judy Blume were into vodka, Ecstasy, and sleeping with midgets and nineteen-year-olds." It's just so wrong in all the right ways!!!





I can't wait to come home and check the mail over the next few weeks!!!!

For James

I found all of these on one day out & about when we lived in Okinawa. I wish I had had my camera with me the other times I found butt-vacuums, I don't think any two are the same!



"The cigarette butts are always more noticeable when I'm walking my dog."


"Inhaled. Burned. Thrown away. If it were anything but a cigarette, it would surely be crying."


"Smoke is billowing from a stand ashtray. If it were my home, I wouldn't be so calm."


"My cigarette always points toward others, never toward myself."

I wonder if there's a deeper meaning here...

We were adopted by another cat this weekend, raising our familial feline count to the nice round number of THREE.

On Saturday I was on my way home from work, talking to Brian on my cell phone, and as he walked to the front door he said, "Hey, there's a dead cat on our porch! No....um....wait, it's resurrected, nevermind." The poor cat was just grabbing a nap wherever it could. He stepped outside and the cat started winding it's way around Brian's legs. Animal lover that Brian is, he gave the cat some food and said to the cat, "I shall call you SKELETOR!"

I got home a few minutes later and found the cat laying under the neighbor's truck. I sat down to check Skeletor out, and we visited for a few minutes. I got up to walk away, and the cat has been following me like the PuppyCat he really is ever since.

This cat is seriously the saddest, most pathetic animal I've ever come across while it was still alive. he had to have been loved in his life, because he's great with everybody. He even lets Matt dance with him. He's not afraid of dogs at all, and only hisses and backs away from my other cats, which tells me that they'll all warm up to each other in no time. But SO SKINNY. We could count the ribs, and see the vertebra poking out of his back, and his hipbones jutting out. It's just heartbreaking that somebody could love an animal like that and just abandon it, helpless.

As we were getting to know each other I gave the cat a good checkover to see if there were any injuries that needed immediate attention, and I realized, "wow, Skelator is a girl." Now, as cool a name as Skeletor is for a cat, it's just not a name for a GIRL cat. So I started thinking about what kind of name would suit this sweet little girl that was purring her way into our hearts. She's just so freakin' SKINNY. Sack of Bones just doesn't suit her, though. She looks anorexic. Hm...Annie-rexic. That's just kinda funny..."I shall call you ANNIE!" And Annie she is..

Now here's where the deeper meaning comes in...

Our boy cats are named after food. Queso and Carne. In essence, my boys are Cheese and Meat. Caitlin says that if you put them together you have a Cheeseburger.

I have just named my new cat after an eating disorder.


Um...Yeah...

And I'm overweight.



Dude, we've got issues.