It's working

About a month ago I dropped my e-book reader in a tub full of water, accidentally of course. I was absolutely devestated as it was a gift from my brothers and I know how expensive it was. And also that my younger brother went out at 4am to pick it up from futureshop on boxing day because he had been going everyday for almost a week and they were always sold out.

But it is working again. It's a little worse for wear. Seriously it looks like I've had it for 5 years, instead of 3 months. But now I can use it again. In fact I downloaded I new book just this morning. More on that to come.

Want of the Week

I want an e-book reader. I was thinking about a kindle. But with all the upcoming flying and what not I'd love to have it now. However I'm waiting until after Christmas, just in case anyone actually paid attention to my Christmas list this year.

So as soon as Christmas is over I will be getting myself a Kobo.

God that feels good

Alright it's time to step out of sick mode now. Time to get back to real life. That means trying to find joy in all of the things that I used to or at least finding new activities that I enjoy doing.

I started yesterday by sitting down to watch some football. Due to a number of different reasons I haven't had nearly as much time to watch as I used to. Today I decided to check out some political blogs, which I haven't done in ages. It felt really good to reconnect with the that nerdy side of myself.

What are some of the things that you enjoy doing that you just haven't had time for lately?

An eye opening moment

I never thought I really cared what people thought of me. I just went along doing whatever I felt like doing and not really worrying about whether someone else would think it was right or not. For example I've been told that I might be more attractive if I lost some weight, but I like to eat and I hate to exercise. So if somebody thought I was fat that's their problem not mine.

Then I went to the library today. I love the library, I'm a read-aholic and they have FREE books! Lately I've been spending a lot of time up on the 4th floor where they house the non-fiction. I've read books about the Clinton impeachment, I've read books about how George Bush should have been impeached. I've read about how the Obama presidency so far resembles Tony Blair's leadership of England, and most recently how the American right has been hijacked by crazies. As you can see it's quite a complex mix.

Well today I was just wandering the stacks for no specific reason when I came across a book about Women and the KKK and I kind of want to read it. I want to read it because often when you see documentaries or movies about supremacists,the women are often portrayed as brain washed by their spouse, partner or male parent. That somehow this isn't their idea but an idea that has been implanted in them by someone else. Now I'm no feminist but I've got to wonder about the accuracy of this portrayal and I'm wondering if this book sheds some light on the issue, or if it's just more of the same.

But getting back to the point here, I didn't borrow it because I was worried what somebody looking at my library record might think of me. I know that's a little bit silly but frankly I've heard enough about conservatives being connected to these kinds of groups to know that someone just might try to make that connection here. And so I'm avoiding my pursuit of knowledge so that I don't look bad... for now.

The Birthday Weekend

This weekend was my birthday weekend. Normally I don't do birthdays they aren't a big deal but I had already made plans anyway so I thought I'd make a whole weekend of it.

It started out Friday with the baseball game and dinner, which I've already talked about. But before that I had a little time to do some shopping around the Forks. I didn't get to a lot but I went to Kite and Kaboodle and picked up the second book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Now some of you may be saying "but aren't those books written for teenagers?" To which I would reply, what's your point. Seriously they're good. You should check it out.

Then on Saturday I went to see Dinner for Schmucks with my brother and his girlfriend. Overall I would say it wasn't a good movie but it had funny moments. But I got to the mall early, so again I had shopping time. So I stopped in at Chapters and picked up a couple more books. The last book in that series and also the latest book in the Outlander series which I also recommend. I've been putting off buying this book because the paperback version is a different size from all of the other books in the series, but finally I broke down and picked it up.

So I spent Sunday reading, finished off the book I was reading at the time and then watched the Emmy's. Why oh why did I watch the Emmy's?

So that was birthday weekend.

The New Website Love of My Life

A few months ago someone recommended that I join Goodreads.com. I wasn't really convinced because usually when my friends recommend books to me I end up disappointed because I don't like them as much as they did. But after dealing with the creepy Amazon recommendation I've been struggling to find a new source for book reviews to recommend some books that I might not pick up otherwise.

I love that once you rate a book it gives you recommendations of books in similar categories. Like the "best books of 2007" or "best science fiction", however I have noticed that a) when you chose a category there seems to be a lot of books by the same author, so if you've tried some of their stuff and you don't like it well then the list is kind of a waste for you, and b)Many of the books end up in best and worst lists, take Twilight for example it appears in both "best books ever" and "worst books of all time".

I guess you just have to take the time to read the reviews to figure out if you think you'll like it.
Edit: Just took a look at the "Worst Books of all Time List", and while I'm not suprised there were A LOT of books by conservative authors. But being a conservative I've kind of gotten used to this sort of crap.

Amazon recommends...

Holy crap, you rate one shape shifter romance novel and Amazon thinks you're some sort of sexual deviant.

A while ago I bought some DVDs from Amazon.ca, since then I've been getting frequent e-mails about whatever they happen to have on sale this week. Sometimes I go back and check out what they recommended to me and I'll rate things if I've seen them or read them so that perhaps my recommendations are a little more accurate to what I actually like.

So a couple of months ago this book by Shelley Laurenston came up on the recommendations list. It was a romance novel, and you know every once in a while it doesn't hurt to do a little frivolous reading just to pass the time. So I read it, I liked it, I rated it.

Well today I go to check out my recommendations and a book comes up so I read the synopsis. And holy crap, they must think I'm some sort of freak over there because this books was just... I don't even know how to describe it. Essentially 3 brothers live in a hunting cabin, one of them finds this chick in the woods and brings her home. They then proceed (all 4 of them) to partake in romantic endeavors with each other. Now granted I haven't actually read the book, but holy shit. They're brothers for Christs sake! I don't know if I'm more disturbed that people have actually read this book and given it positive reviews or that someone actually wrote this.

What kind of world do we live in? And please Amazon just recommend nice normal books. Pretty please. Thanks.

Team Edward vs. Team Jacob

There is a debate within fans of the Twilight saga over which guy Bella should be with, Edward or Jacob. I've read the books and I have to say that I was leaning towards Team Jacob. Now that I've watched the first half of New Moon I'm going to say that I'm firmly planted on the Jacob side.

So readers what do you thing? Are you an Edward or a Jacob?

I may never buy another book again

I love to read. But I never understood why my brother would read e-books that he downloaded from the internet. Until today.

See a couple of weeks ago he bought an e-book reader. It cost a lot of money and he doesn't really read much anyway but today he let me borrow it and I've got to say it's growing on me. I have 3 book shelves full of books in my apartment and everytime I move I have to haul these books around with me. But the process would be so much more simplified if all I had to do was pack up a couple of flashdrives or an external hard drive.

So I may have to go out and buy myself one of these e-book readers. Is there any new technology out there that you want to try? The i-pad for example.

What I want this week

I have been known to be impulsive from time to time. I've also been known to become obsessed with things that I want but don't yet have. The sad this is that it's not that I can't afford these things but just that I know that I don't need them, so I try not to buy them until they are all I can think about.

Take my new purse for example. I went to visit it in the store on a Friday. Then spent the whole weekend stalking it via the Guess website until I couldn't take it anymore and broke down and bought it.

This week's new obsession is these earrings. I found them yesterday while I was digging around the NCAA store. It's not the greatest picture in that you can barely make out the Musketeer in the middle of them, but that's what it is. It's the mascot of the Xavier Musketeers. I have absolutely no connection to Xavier University, hell I don't even know anyone from the state of Ohio but I love these earrings. The closest I come to a connection with Xavier is picking them to go one round too far in the NCAA tournament every year and cheering for them simply because thier mascot is D'Artagnan. This makes so much more sense once you know that my favorite book is The Three Musketeers. There was a similar pair for Purdue, which would make so much more sense given that I still harbour a dream of going there for grad school but they didn't have the Musketeer awesomeness. They aren't terribly expensive either it's just a matter of convincing myself that it's okay to spend $12 on shipping for a pair of earrings that only coss $16.

What I'm Reading Now

Sometimes there's nothing better than sitting down with a hot cup of coffee and a good book. Sometimes I'll substitute hot chocolate or red wine for coffee if I feel like it. But there is a good chance that I'm in the middle of a book at any moment in time.

So I thought I'd share with you what I'm reading now. Don't worry this isn't going to be a book review type thing, though there are several wonderful book review blogs and when I come across some good ones again I'll add some linkage.

And now on to the main attraction of this post, what I'm reading now:
I just started Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie. It's not fiction about the end of the Romanov dynasty. I'm totally into history so I'm looking forward to reading more of it. I'm only on page 27 right now.

What about you dear reader, what type of books get you going? If you were on a deserted island what is the one book you would want to take with you?

The Mid Summer update.

I know it's been a while since my last post but a couple of things have been happening. First is the still unresolved computer issue. The second is that I've started a new treatment for my illness so I have to go to the hospital every day. Don't worry though it's just until things stabilize a little bit. But anyway that's why I haven't been around much.

I have been reading up a storm though. I've been thinking that maybe I should start a book club. It was be more of a social activity than I'm used to and I DO love to read. Anyone interested?

It's so boring at home

In case you've missed it the first several times I mentioned it I've been off work since the end of May. The first month flew by but July seems to be going on forever. I'm hopefully going to start a day program in August which will at least keep me busy and hopefully help me with some of the stress issues that I've been dealing with.

But for now I'm bored. I used to think that I wanted to work until I had enough money to retire and then just sit around and read books all day but even that has lost it's appeal. I've been doing alot of knitting lately but even that's boring. I guess I'm going to have to take up some other hobby.

The Update

Alright there has been a lot of stuff going on recently so I'm just going to try to throw everything into this one post.

• On the illness front I'm still off work. I'm hoping to return late this summer or early fall but we'll see what the doctor says.
• My laptop is broken. Well not completely broken but it's randomly shutting down for no reason and I haven't been able to get it down to the shop for repairs yet. It's only started doing this since we got back from our trip.
• I currently have 3 books on the go. That's reading not writing. One is the next Diana Gabaldon book from the Outlander series. One is a history of Scotland and one is a romance novel that I borrowed from the library.
• I got a new cat. and by new I mean new like I got him today new. The Humane Society had a sale on cats and since I wanted a new one anyway this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I've named him Davey Crockcat. Yes I'm just that geeky.

Goal of the Week

It's been a while since I've done one of these but this week's goal is to finish reading Trial by Fire by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. It's a pretty good book and I'm about 3/4 done so it shouldn't be hard but I guess it depends what else I do this weekend and the rest of the week.

Book of the day club

Some of the women in my department at work have been doing a book trade for as long as I have been working here. Recently they've included me in their regular rotation. But it takes me forever to read the books I'm given.

It's not that I'm a slow reader it's just that I don't commit myself to a book. First of all I have to be in the mood to read. I go through stretches where I read a lot and then others where I just won't even think about picking up a book.

I'm also often busy doing other things that aren't exactly conducive to reading. Watching NHL playoffs for example. Although I've developed a system for this now. I mute it during TV time outs and intermission and read rather than listen to Don Cherry gripe about how soft Europeans are.

I guess I'm just not a Cosmo Girl.

I have been known from time to time to buy random issues of Cosmo. It's never my intention when I walk into a store, but excellent product placement and a workforce of bored looking teenagers is sometimes enough to get me to buy.

Funny thing happened this time though. It was Saturday afternoon and I had spent most of my day catching up on the current season of Gossip Girl (hey don't judge me I was bored), so I thought I'd pick it up. But once I got home and started to read I realized that it just wasn't holding my attention. Even the Cosmo confessions seemed boring and uninteresting. Seriously the guy confessions were mostly about getting caught cheating. Super classy.

I think this experience was enough to convince me to avoid Cosmo from now on. Unless there is a really good celeb interview or something.