From the Stacks Challenge '08

Rules:
- If you are anything like me your stack of purchased to-be-read books is teetering over.

- So for this challenge we would be reading 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand and haven't read before.

- No going out and buying new books. No getting sidetracked by the lure of the holiday bookstore displays.

- The bonus would be that we would finally get to some of those titles (you know you picked them for a reason!) and we wouldn't be spending any extra money over the holidays.

- The time frame would be Nov. 1st, 2008 until Jan. 30, 2009 and there will be some small, fun prizes awarded to random participants and/or those with clever review posts.

My List:
- Loved Walked In - Marisa De Los Santos (completed - 11/19/08)
- Belong to Me - Marisa De Los Santos (completed - 11/24/08)
- From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris (completed 11/09/08)

- Coraline - Neil Gaiman (completed - 11/10/08)
- The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (completed- 11/16/08)

- The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Ann Brashares (completed - 11/13/08)
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz (completed - 11/06/08)

- Grace - Richard Paul Evans (completed - 11/11/08)

What's in a Name Challenge 2009

Rules:

*Dates: January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009

*The Challenge: Choose one book from each of the following categories.

1. A book with a "profession" in its title. Examples might include: The Book Thief, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Historian

2. A book with a "time of day" in its title. Examples might include: Twilight, Four Past Midnight, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

3. A book with a "relative" in its title. Examples might include: Eight Cousins, My Father's Dragon, The Daughter of Time

4. A book with a "body part" in its title. Examples might include: The Bluest Eye, Bag of Bones, The Heart of Darkness

5. A book with a "building" in its title. Examples might include: Uncle Tom's Cabin, Little House on the Prairie, The Looming Tower

6. A book with a "medical condition" in its title. Examples might include: Insomnia, Coma, The Plague.

*You may overlap books with other challenges, but please don't use the same book for more than one category.

*Again, there will be some small prizes scattered throughout. No set schedule, so just be sure to check in once a while. There will also be a prize awarded at the conclusion to one participant who completes the challenge.

*You don't need to decide exactly which books you will be reading ahead of time, though you're certainly welcome to. Either way, I'd love to see your lists of possibilities, and I'll bet everyone else would love to read them as well. To join in, simply leave a link here. Or, if you don't have a blog, simply leave your name (and feel free to share your list in the comments if you'd like).

Winter Holiday Reading Challenge

Rules:

1. The Winter Holiday Reading Challenge will last from November 1, 2008 to January 31, 2009.

2. The theme for this challenge is Winter Holidays. The books that you choose to read must have a storyline that includes celebrating a winter holiday, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's, etc. (However, the holidays are not limited to just these examples.)You choose the number of books you wish to read.

3. Leave a comment at the end of this post if you want to join in on the fun.Each month, leave a comment at the end of the Winter Holiday Reading Challenge Update post that includes the book (title and author) that you read for that month and the link to your review (if you have one).

4. And finally... Enjoy your holiday reading!

My List:
1 The Gift of the Magi and Other Short Stories by O.Henry (completed - 11/25/08)
2 Grace - Richard Paul Evans (completed - 11/11/08)
3 The Christmas Box - Richard Paul Evans (completed - 11/22/08)

4 On Strike for Christmas - Sheila Roberts (completed - 12/3/08)

All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

Sookie’s adventures continue within the vampire realm in this book. As always, she is at the core of all of the danger and somehow comes out [mostly] unscathed. I can’t express how much I continue to love this series. Sookie is an unexpected hero. She is holding her own against the vamps that would use her -- a great example of how to survive and thrive when life gives you lemons. I’m a bit saddened that this is already the 7th book - meaning one more to go ‘till I have to wait for April ‘09 to get the next installment. Still rooting for Eric!

Monday

I had such a good weekend. Between Halloween and the NKOTB concert on Saturday - I didn't have much time for reading - but it was sooo fun.

I'm back on the bandwagon as of this morning. I'm reading the 7th Sookie book (All Together Dead) - and I also started reading The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao over the weekend (maybe it's because I'm latin and I actually undertand some of his little Spanglish comments - but I think it's hilarious). So that's what I'm working on at the moment.

I bought a couple of books over the weekend too - so I think I'm held over for the next couple of weeks with reading material.

This time change is kicking my butt - I'm a mess - I feel jet-lagged. ugh

Tootles.

Current book-in-progress: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and All Together Dead

Current movie/tv obsession: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

iTunes Loop: Wicked Soundtrack

NKOTB Concert!

Can I just tell you what a BLAST I had at the New Kids on the Block concert last night. They are no longer boys I will tell you that. They were my first concert when I was 12 years old and now that I'm 30 I can say that I enjoyed this concert immensely. Jennifer and I headed out of the house around 4pm. We went to dinner at Stir Crazy, went by the book store (of course), then went to IKEA (I love that place!) and then made our way over to the stadium. There were so many people there. Mostly women. A lot of people had 80's outfits on. They looked so funny with their leg warmers and hot pink pschedelic shirts and tights. It was amazing to see everyone so excited to see these men do their THANG and let me tell you they rocked. What a great show. Natasha Beddingfield opened for them and she was fantastic too - although she didn't do my fave song (Soulmate). There was always some lady called Lady Gaga (horrible) who performed - but I spent most of the time she was on stage in line to use the restroom.

Here are some pics of Jen and I (total groupies) along with the pics we took of the "Boys" for your viewing pleasure:

This is what the stadium looked like. This is just the area directly in front of us. Imagine that all the way around. And I guarantee that about 75% were all women!

Yes, the show was about to begin!

Yes, if you're a fan, you'll recognize that little dance. You've Got the Right Stuff!














Please Don't Go Girl














TonighT - la la la la la la TonighT !









































































Step by Step














This is what we looked like the whole night!

and of course, there was, HANGIN' TOUGH!

and a good night to all!

And what a good night it was. Jen and I basically had no voices and our ears were ringing by the end of the night - but it was so worth it.

Current book-in-progress: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and All Together Dead
Current movie/tv obsession: Journey to the Center of the Earth
iTunes Loop: Pocket Full of Sunshine - Natasha Beddingfield