Leaving On a Jet Plane

California Girls with their cousins in God's Country

We are off for 10 days on our annual trip to God’s Country (my husband’s description of his beloved Pennsylvania) where we’ll be visiting friends and family, grilling hot dogs, drinking beer, attending our niece’s graduation party, and hanging out at a beautiful, remote lake in a cabin with spotty cell phone reception.  Yes, we’ll be unplugged!

 I’ll be taking a few books with me, of course!  I hope to finish at least 3 books, including The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein for Jennifer at Literate Housewife Review’s Dog Days of Summer, The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama that I

Will it ever be MY turn?

agreed to review, and Two Years, No Rain by Shawn Klomparens for our Summer Reading Series discussion here on the 18th.  I may also take Lottery by Patricia Wood, my book club’s pick for September, and Who by Fire by Diana Spechler, a book that has languished on my TBR pile for way too long.  

But realistically I don’t think I’ll be able to read 5 books in 10 days at the lake, unless I just ignore my mother in law, my husband’s sisters, the kids and their cousins.  However there will be a 5 hour flight and a 1 hour drive each way, and long afternoons on the beach, so I guess it’s possible!

I hope you are all enjoying your summer!

Added to the TBR

New books added to the TBR this week: 

 

The Middle Place:  Stephanie’s review is so personal, because the subject matter hit home for her.  Another mother/daughter book I need to read.

Tallgrass:  Any review that starts out “Wowie zowie, this novel is great!” gets my attention.  And when Char uses a fancy word like bildungsroman, I sit up and take notice.  

 

Drood was everywhere this week!  I didn’t get to all the reviews, but this one was great.  Amy got a special treat when she asked the author to sign her copy.  Check out the picture in her post- so cool!

 

 

What did you add to your TBR pile this week?

2008 TBR Challenge

Mizbooks at tbrchallenge.blogspot.com is hosting the 2008 TBR Challenge. You can’t officially sign up until December 15, 2007, but I’m getting ready!

The whole point of this challenge is to choose books you’ve been wanting to read and/or books you’ve had on your list or shelf for too many months. I have a lot to choose from!

I’ve read about lots of great books on the many book blogs I’ve visited recently; so many that I have a rather lengthy list of books I want to read, and a lot sitting on the table waiting their turn. I NEED this challenge to force me to shop less and read more! Now I have to figure out how to narrow it down to just 12 books.

The rules say you can make a list of 12, then an alternate, or “extra credit” list of additional books. If I understand this correctly, I can replace a book on my original list with a book from my alternate list, should I decide I’m no longer interested in reading one of the books on my original list.

So, with that in mind.. here’s my list:

1. The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander

2. Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans

3. Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

4. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

5. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

6. Summer People by Brian Groh

7. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

8. Flying Changes by Sara Gruen

9. A Line Between Friends by Michelle Van Ort Cozzens

10. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

11. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

12. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

I’m still working on my alternate list.. I’ll be sure to update this post with that soon.

The books do not need to be read in any particular order, which is good because that will allow me to pick whatever I feel like on any given month.

I hope it’s not cheating to include my next two book club picks in my list of 12! Just trying to multi-task 🙂

I’ve never done a challenge before. I hope it doesn’t seem too much like homework or assigned reading! I’ll keep track of how I’m doing HERE.

Won’t you read along with me?? Join the challenge!