How come they don't have Summer Reading Programs for Adults?

After I read for 20 minutes I totally think I deserve a sticker too!!!! Though if I did get a sticker every time I read 20 minutes I'd probably be covered from head to toe in stickers.

But still!

It's that time of year when all my favorite TV shows are on rerun mode and my nights are reserved for reading. Lots and Lots of reading!

So far this year I have read 23 books.

I want to double this by the end of the summer. I've read one so far. So um....I'm almost there...

Here is what's on my night stand:

Will Grayson Will Grayson (almost done with this one)
The Uglies
The Everafter
Handcuffs
Barry Trotter (The unauthorized Harry Potter Parody)(and actually this one somehow made it's way to the floor. Oops)
The Shack
Shadowed Summer

I also have a slew of research books for my next novel, but I'm not going to count them in. Since I'm mostly skimming through the parts I find important.

So I have these books On Hold at the Library:

Glass House
Insatiable
Tricks
Burned

I'm waiting for these books to come out:

Linger
Mockingjay
Torment
Paranormalcy
Fallout

AND Crescendo, but that doesn't come out till October, so I can't count it. Sigh....

On my to be read list are:

Holes
Catcher in the Rye
When you Reach Me

So that's only 19 Books. I need 4 More!!!

Any Suggestions? Do you wish they had a summer reading program for adults? What do you think they should give away as prizes? Wine? Chocolate? B&N Gift Cards? (swoon!)

What is on your summer reading list?

I almost lost count...

Then I looked back and found that it is day 14. Day 14 without Twitter and Facebook ... and it's going well. The Blackberry is kinda boring, as is the internet, but I love how much I've read.

I've already added two more books. One (Thirteen Reasons Why) I read today. I could not put it down. The ending fell a little flat for me, but other than that to book was great. Over the weekend I read Stephen King's "On Writing". I didn't learn as much as I had hoped while reading it, but I really enjoyed it regardless.

And I have to thank you all for all your suggestions. I am at the library right now picking up or placing on hold at least 75% of them already. I will let you know which one I like the best :) If anyone has any to add let me know. I've only got 26 more days to go!

In other news ... I want to apologize for my sporadic posting. We are moving at the end of the month!!! Unfortunately, the thing about moving is, it takes up a LOT of time! On top of packing I've had to clean and Clean and CLEAN for all the people coming through to look at the place. UGH! So if you don't see a post you can safely assume that I am on another cleaning spree and therefore probably NOT happy! LOL

How Fasting Made me Sick - Day 9

Ok, so really it was my husband. But I'd prefer to blame it on my twitter/facebook fasting! So not enjoying my soar throat and stuffy nose.

Must go spend the remainder of the day reading.

Speaking of Reading! Here are the books I've read so far this year...

The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Shiver
The Bell Jar
And I'm finishing A Wrinkle In Time right now

Plus I have The Catcher in the Rye and 13 Reasons Why sitting on my table waiting to be cracked open.

All in all I've had a pretty lame reading year so far. Well the books weren't lame, just the amount of books I've read has been lame.

So how many books have you read so far this year? Which ones?

Still on my list...

The Dark Divine
Hush Hush
Fallen

What else should I add to my list???

Words to be Thankful For!

Whilst everyone else writes about their awesome families and wonderful friends, the roofs over their heads and the food on their tables ... I am going to write about what I'm thankful for.

My favorite words!

Because although I am thankful for all of the above, I am also thankful for the wonderful world of reading, writing and arithma ... um well just reading and writing.

So here is a list of words that I am ever so thankful for, and of course WHY!

Totally - this is Totally the best word ever. If there is a sentence that can NOT incorporate the word Totally, it has never been spoken by me! Observe........

Awesome - (and/or Awesomeness) - Everyone is Totally made up of little pieces of awesome, so why not tell the world about it.

Fantabulous - What? That's not a word? Oh well it Totally is now cuz it's freaking Awesome!

Actually - Actually this is my favorite adverb. If you could get a penny for every Actually I cut out of my manuscripts ... um ... well you'd Totally have over a dollar! That's for sure.

Phantasmagoric - Also not a real word, but just saying it aloud Totally gets me all excited!

Seriously! - Exclamation point is necessary with this word, although sometimes a question mark can Totally take it's place. Seriously! I'm not sure if it was Gray's Anatomy's fault, but I've Totally been addicted to this word or at least the last 5 years.

Son of a Monkey - This is more of a saying or group of words, but they flow from my mouth on a frequent basis, so I Totally couldn't leave them out!

Now I know some of you may be Totally confused by my age after becoming aware of my favorite words but I am indeed nearing 30. The problem is that I Totally grew up in the 90's ... and it stuck. Lucky for you my dear friends I am Totally not saying, NOT! or Cowabunga, or Tubular. So I Totally think it's all good.

Oh yeah ...

It's all good! - I Totally say that a ton too!

So I Totally hope you all have an awesome Thanksgiving and don't forget to be thankful for all your Totally favorite words!

Because I LOVE to read!

I've recently found myself confused. I THOUGHT I was a writer, but as of late I am better known as a reader! That's all I do. Read, read, read, read, read!

This is how my day goes..

I wake up. (Ok that was a given...)

Drive the family taxi to drop off most of my family members to an area where they can not bother me while I'm reading (AKA School and Work)

I come home (You saw that one coming too didn't you!)

I Blog (Because it IS necessary!)

I read

I feed the last lingering family member lunch, fix myself lunch....(ok ok...then I play Bejeweled while I eat lunch...but that's not important. It's like a daily action necessary to function...kinda like going to the bathroom!)

I put the lingering family member (AKA the youngest child) down for "Quiet Time"/nap time so that I can....get this....READ

I read until he wakes up and/or starts begging to get out of bed so he can go play, which ever comes last....

So then I force myself to pick up the house until I have to get back in the momobile and pick up my reading distractions (AKA the older children)

At this point I make them do their chores and homework while I do one of the three following things....help clean (rare), play Bejeweled again (because remember, it's like going pee, it's necessary to function!) or well...I read

So then I pile everyone back into the Poppins Portal Device (AKA the Family Taxi and/or the Momobile) and pick up the last reading distraction....the husband

BUT I always leave early enough so that I can bring a book and read in the car while I'm waiting for him :)

Then I come home again (Again....kinda obvious)

I feed the slave drivers...cuz I guess that's my job....sigh

I attempt to pay attention to the family...I really do, but usually I'm thinking about the book I'm reading (Shhhhh don't tell them)

Then I put all my distractions to bed and the husband and I curl up in bed with our books and proceed to ignore each other with a good book until we fall asleep.

NOW if only I could put that much time and dedication into cleaning or writing I'd be quite accomplished...BUT right now, I'd rather read :)

(So um yes, if you need my address for the "Worst Mom/Wife of the Year" award you are planning on sending me....it can be found on google...just type in "Mary Smith" and um....good luck with that!)

For a list of the books I've read in the last two months (which is quite impressive I might add) visit my Web Site

Also, don't forget to visit If You Give a Girl a Pen today!!!

I've been sucked in ... again ...

So I've been sucked in again. If you've been reading my blog for awhile you may have noticed that I kinda like the Harry Potter and Twilight series.

It's no big deal ... it's not like I am obsessed with them or anything. Reading a book series 4 or 5 times is perfectly natural. People do it all the time.

And who wouldn't want to carry around an action figure of their favorite book character?


However -yet again - I have found a new series that I have been unable to put down. The characters are fantastic and the story is wonderful. Now I realize that this story is meant for a slightly younger audience (middle grade) I am absolutely in love with it.

Let me introduce to you Percy Jackson and the Olympians.


The story is about a young boy who discovers he is half god half mortal. He battles all sorts of mythical creatures (Greek Mythology types) and has to prove himself as a hero.

So I'm going to have to cut this post short so I can go finish reading.

Waking up to Happiness

I woke up this morning and thought it was still night. My room was dark and the sky dreary. I leaned over to look at my clock and saw that the time was indeed 7am.

Then it occurred to me...

Happiness!!!

It's raining!!!

So I've opened the windows and (in attempts to unsuccessfully drown out the kid's arguing that started at 8am this morning) I am listening to the gentle pitter pattering of little drops making contact with the leaves, house and street.

So welcome to my lazy day friends. I'm gonna plop down on the couch or bed with a good book and the windows open. I'll probably put a muzzle on the children in a movie for the kids. Maybe we'll do a picnic for lunch in front of the TV. I think I'll put together and extra long quiet time today. Maybe break out some coloring books. It's going to be a lovely day!

Seriously...is there anything more relaxing than the sounds and smells of gentle rain?

Reading, Writing and......Harry Potter?

I don't think those would pass as the core classes at a school ... although they SHOULD!

No, this is what my weekend consisted of, in no particular order....

Aside from the usual grocery shopping (pay day Friday and all), errand running, finally having my daughter come back home and all the other completely boring things we accomplished over the weekend, I couldn't help but treat myself to a few of my favorite things. (Why yes...I did just sing that as I wrote the words. Don't lie, you know you did too!!!)

So I read 1 & 1/4 books. The first one I adored!!! Couldn't put it down. It was a murder mystery - and since I am incredibly impatient and can't stand NOT knowing who done it - I could not put down until the mystery had been solved. (Name of book to come later...how is THAT for a mystery!!!) The second one, the one I am having a hard time getting into, is the first in the "Sookie Stackhouse" series by Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark. (It's the series they based the show True Blood upon) I'm only 1/4 of the way into it, so I am sure I just haven't given it enough time, but I am having a rough time getting it to hold my attention. Has anyone else read this book? Did you have the same problem at first? Does it get better?

After an incredibly entertaining dream about parallel realities and the house I grew up in, (which incidentally my father posted the link to it that afternoon because it is now for rent! OMG WHAT did they do to my bedroom!!!) my mind once again began to swarm with ideas about a novel I had previously thought up. After spending two hours in bed writing the entire back story and then another hour or so online coming up with names to every character, then editing the prologue a bit AND writing the first page of the first chapter I am super excited to say I have a new novel in progress!!! Which is really good actually considering a really need a break from the first one.

And of course...on opening weekend...who could leave out Harry Potter! I knew my husband wanted to kinda see it, and I assumed my kids would enjoy it too. (Why I assumed a 4, 6, and 8 year old would enjoy a 2 1/2 hour movie is beyond me!) So I had this ingenious thought to go to the 11:25 showing on Sunday morning. It would be before noon -aka CHEEPER - and I figured who is going to want to go to an 11:25 am showing on a Sunday...that's Church time!! (um yeah....I just confessed to not going to Church didn't I....CRAP!) So at 11:10am we loaded the car up and hurried our butts to the theater. Shouldn't be a problem...right!?!? WRONG. We ended up sitting in the VERY FIRST row. The only one available with 5 seats. So as we craned our necks to watch the 2 1/2 hour movie I also took the time to make sure everyone's popcorn was refilled, drinks were shared properly, and each child stopped squirming in annoying ways as my husband enjoyed the movie. So with one squiggly/bored 4 year old in my lap, I was able to watch about 2/3rds of the entire movie, surprisingly without a neck ache! (Thank Goodness I saw the opening show a few days prior!)

And that was my weekend! How was yours? Exciting I hope!

***Read MORE about my new Story HERE!!!***