History Buff

Our hot water heater went out the other day. It is located in an interior closet in the back bedroom with no outside access. While cleaning out the closet, I found a box of my husband's books that had been stored there the year that lil man was born.

They are "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare" published by Columbia House in 1967 in 20 volumes.

Lil man, in 2nd grade, is fascinated. He finds an interesting picture, asks about it, we read about it and we all learn. Granted, this is not state of the art weaponry, but the pictures from D-Day are exceptional.

His favorite thing to do is to find a "cool" picture and make a tracing of it. That would explain the lamp (yes, it is askew and no, it is not usually positioned there) over the bar separating our kitchen and living room (dining room to the left). It is such a joy to see him so interested.

Fall into Reading 2007 - Update 1

A little over a month into it and with a little over a month left, these were my original choices:


Playing for Pizza..........................John Grisham
Play Dirty....................................Sandra Brown
Free Fall ....................................Fern Michaels
High Noon...................................Nora Roberts
Shoot Him if He Runs....................Stuart Woods
Justice Denied............................. J.A. Jance
Double Take............................... Catherine Coulter
Knit Together.............................. Debbie Macomber
Mad Dash.................................... Patricia Gaffney
What Matters Most........................ Luanne Rice
Lean Mean 13............................... Janet Evanovich
6th Target.................................... James Patterson
Wuthering Heights........................ Emily Bronte
Rebels of Ireland:
The Dublin Saga........................... Edward Rutherfurd
Lord John and the Brotherhood
of the Blade............................Diana Gabaldon


Out of these, so far, in no particular order, I have finished; Rebels of Ireland by Rutherfurd (and corrrected the spelling of his last name), Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Gabaldon, Lean Mean 13 by Evanovich, Shoot Him if He Runs by Woods, Free Fall by Michaels, and Playing for Pizza by Grisham.


I have learned that; potatoes are not native to Ireland, that as long as there is one person living who depends on your for their safety, you are not free, that I do not want to be a bounty hunter, that quite possibly the CIA/NSA/FBI is as scary as it is funny (at least in fiction), that I read books I do not remember a month later, and that Grisham is as good at writing American ex-pats in Italy as he is at writing lawyers.


I have also read Miss Julia Strikes Back by Ann. B. Ross, Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson, and The Quilter's Homecoming by Jennifer Chiaverini. The first two of these books are the latest in series that I have been reading for years. The last is also part of a series - one about which I have read great reviews.

Wuthering Heights is next but today I am dealing with a broken hot water heater line (read no water) and 40 mph winds out of the north!

Fall into Reading

FALL INTO READING

I found this wonderful idea when I was reading one of the Anglophile Football Fanatic's blogs. I have always been a reader. I truly cannot remember when I did not read.

Nowadays, it seems as though all I read are blogs and while I love y'all, I do love a good book, also. As a matter of fact, hardback books are what I get my kids and grandkids for Christmas every year. It was a great idea when I started but with 17 grandkids now, it's getting just a wee bit on the pricy side. Oh well, it is hard to think of money better spent.

Anyway, here is my list of books that I hope (no, intend) to have read by December 21st. A couple of classics and a whole lot of mind candy. Some days I just read to escape rather than to learn, you know.

Happy reading, everyone.

Playing for Pizza..........................John Grisham

Play Dirty....................................Sandra Brown

Free Fall ....................................Fern Michaels

High Noon...................................Nora Roberts

Shoot Him if He Runs....................Stuart Woods

Justice Denied............................. J.A. Jance

Double Take............................... Catherine Coulter

Knit Together.............................. Debbie Macomber

Mad Dash.................................... Patricia Gaffney

What Matters Most........................ Luanne Rice

Lean Mean 13............................... Janet Evanovich

6th Target.................................... James Patterson

Wuthering Heights........................ Emily Bronte

Rebels of Ireland:

The Dublin Saga........................... Edward Rutherford

Lord John and the Brotherhood

of the Blade............................Diana Gabaldon