Library Challenge

     I've always been a big reader. So far, I've read about 106 books so far this year. I've very recently started to get involved in the book blogging world, and good lord it makes me feel so tiny !! I love it ! I've been doing the Winter Reading Challenge and have so far done pretty well ! I'm proud. I started to read Book Journey and Sheila just mentioned a Library challenge for 2015. Heck yes I'll do that. Sounds fun and it helps the library, so why not !?
    
     The challenge is to get to know your library a little more during the new year. You can utilize them however you see fit, checking out books, digital books, or audio books. I normally use the overdrive digital copies, and its freaking brilliant. However, I promise to go in and borrow a couple of actual books as well this coming year. Just get to know what your library does for the community ! I recently went in to mine just to renew my card and learned several things just in the few minutes I was inside. I also recently became a Friend of the Library ! If I had known that such a thing was around I would have joined much sooner. I initially joined just to get early access for their book sale, but the proceeds go to a good cause. My local library has the 4th floor which is a public laboratory and educational facility with a focus on information, design, technology, and the applied arts. Super cool. They also provide internet access, clubs for kids, classes (like sewing and zumba), and even dungeons and dragons meet ups. My local libary's website is chattlibrary.com. Check it out !

     Anyways, there are some fun levels of committment

           1-5 check outs in 2015 – NOVICE
           6-11 check outs in 2015 – ROOKIE
           12- 16 check outs in 2015 – INTERMEDIATE
           17 – 22 check outs in 2015 – SEASONED
           23 – 27 check outs in 2015 – EXPERIENCED
           28 + check outs in 2015 – GOING PRO

     So ! There's that !

P.S. If you're wondering how many times I said the word library in this post, it was 6894730549 times :)
    

Of Noble Birth

     This book was in the "Genre you wouldn't normally read" catagory in the Winter reading challenge. I chose it because I'm not a big fan of historic fiction, but the cover of it looked like something Fabio had done in his prime. I'm easily entertained. The story is about a pirate captain who, in trying to thwart his evil father, kidnaps who he believes is his half sister. They end up having intense feelings for each other and end up on the same side.

    This isn't a book I'd write home about or suggest a friend to read. It was entertaining, at least. I like pirates :) I honestly don't  have all that much to say about the book. I gave it 2 out of 5 stars.

Odd Thomas: Deeply Odd

    Dean Koontz is really one of the quirkiest authors I've read, making his Odd Thomas series one of my favorites. The premise is that Odd Thomas is just your regular ol' short order cook with just a few extra senses. He can see the dead, and can use psychic magnetism to find the bad guys. This is the 6th book in what is supposed to be a 7 book series, so absolutely don't read this first :). I'll be honest, I was a little disappointed in the 5th book, but this one has really gone above and beyond to win me back.

     Odd is tasked this time with saving children from a rhinestone cowboy turning them into sacrifices and really keeps you on your toes. His optimistic perspective is always on point, and his random thought trails still make me smile. He meets a new favorite character of mine called Edie Fischer with a limosine built like a tank.

     I really enjoyed this one. It kept me on my toes, and it had Odd acting like the badass we all know he is. I can't really tell a whole lot without spoilers (Doctor Who, anyone ?), but I will say it gave Odd a little more direction than the past couple books in the series did. I'm thrilled that Dean Koontz is planning on wrapping up the series as solid as it was in the beginning. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Neil, I love you

      I honestly couldn't sing Neil Patrick Harris' praises any more. His autobiography, Choose Your Autobiography, was just awesome. I've always been a fan of him, and this just made it even more so. It really does cover pretty much everything. He tells all the good (hanging out with Elton John) and even some bad (moody, difficult to work with costars), no holds barred.
   
     He really opened up the floodgates allowing me to actually learn a lot about him. By far this might be my second favorite celebrity memoir. Second only to Julie Andrews, because, well, duh. My favorite parts were learning about his amazing childhood, his relationship with David, his partner, and his children. Just beautifully and hilariously written. My one and only complaint would be the format in which it was written. I thought the choose your own adventure idea sounded awesome, however once I got into the book, I found myself back tracking a lot just in case I missed something. I ended up just reading the book start to finish because sometimes rules are meant to be broken :)

     I give you 4 stars out of 5 !!

Winter 2014 Book Challenge

    I've been following a lot of book bloggers recently. I'm always trying to find something to push the boundaries a little bit. I came across Semi-Charmed's Book Challenge. I'm so in !
    The rules are pretty simple. The challenge will last from November 1, 2014 through February 28, 2015. Each book must be at least 200 pages, and a book can only be used in one catagory. There can only be 3 rereads, so most of these books will be new.
    Without further ado, here are the books I'll be reading in the coming months:

Freebie ~ I'm thinking its going to be Neil Patrick Harris's new book, Choose your own Autobiography. He cracks me up to no end !

Read a book written by an author that has published at least 10 books ~ Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz

Read a book of short stories ~ How They Met, and Other Stories by David Levithan

Read a book with food in the title ~ Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray

Read the first book in a series that is new to you ~ The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

 Read a book that was originally written in a language that is not your native language ~ The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (originally printed in French)

Read a book written by a local author ~ The Road by Cormac McCarthy (He went to school in Knoxville, TN)

 Read a "bookish book" ~ What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund (This actually came in my Quarterly box which I LOVE btdubs)

 Read a book with a direction in the title ~ Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

 Read a book from a genre you don't usually read ~ The only genre I really don't like is historic fiction, so it will be something from that. I might get my grandma's help on this one.

Read a book with a song lyric in the title ~ Dear John by Nicholas Sparks (Dear John by Taylor Swift

Read two books with a different meal in each title ~ The Girls Guide to Love and Supper Clubs by Dana Bate and .... Gah ! I don't know yet ! I'll end up going to the book store and just looking at titles until I find something :)

    I'm super excited ! I haven't read any of these yet, so I'll try to post a couple reviews.

My red bookshelf

Hello all ! I'm not gonna lie, this project took much longer than I thought it would. It all started last week. I hate just sitting around the house because I get bored really easily so I was trying to figure out what I could work on without spending a lot of money. I up and decided that all the furniture in the living/dining room is too dark and something needed to be changed. I nominated the book shelf.

Yep, its messy I know. Also, boring, I've had this thing for like 4 years almost, and its from Walmart. I figured, if I mess it up, I'll just hunt for another one at a thrift store. No harm in that. I cleared it off and man, I have a lot of books !! I took what shelves I could out and carried everything outside to my little patio area and started sanding. This shelf is pressed wood and laminate, so I did a bunch of research on what to do for prep work.

One blog told me I would have to sand every surface until white specks showed up like so.

A lot of surfaces to sand. I'm pretty sure my neighbors hate me.

I bought Kilz spray paint and went to town ! I didn't buy enough for sure, but I"m lazy so I figured it would all work out in the end. Here's what it looked like after I had run out of primer.

Not enough, I know. I'm lazy !!

Before trying this project, I had decided to try using just spray paint. There are so many bloggers out there that exclusively use spray paint for all their furniture and I honestly hated it. It was splotchy and if the wind blew it would get all over me. Back to the story though. I painted one side, noticed it was super spotted, so I figured it was from lack of primer. I grabbed some white paint and went ahead and painted everything white, then painted red over it. Some spots are still kinda spotted, but I was so sick of painting, I announced that I was done.

Honestly, It doesn't look so bad. I'll probably touch up just the red later, just not now. I had googled a red and white bookshelf and didn't find anything that looked quite like this, so I'm pretty proud of it.

*Sigh* I just love books.

(I'm currently looking for another shelf, same size to put on the other side of the window. Shhhhh)

How it looks in the room. Fabulous !!!

Some notes: If i was to do something like this again, I would just skip the sanding part and just buy some heavy duty primer made for glossy surfaces, and then of course not use spray paint. I like spray paint, just for smaller pieces.



My June to do list

I've been thinking with all the extra time I have that I need to make a list of stuff I want to accomplish. I have so many things I want to do and things I've pinned that I never know where to start. I wanted to make a list and put it out there for everyone to see so it would keep me accountable. I need stuff to do so I don't sit on the couch and waste away beautiful weather. No lie, there is a butt print on my couch. Anywho, here is my list for June :)

1. Get to the YMCA and get my membership started. (I get a free one because of the military, holla !)
2. Lose 5 lbs.
3. Find a tall dresser for the bedroom
4. Rearrange the living room
5. Go through all our stuff and make a pile for a yard sale
6. Go to the flea market
7. Clean !!!! I've been so lazy since my man left.
8. Find a few more vintage books and work on making a lamp with them.

I may add to this, but for now that's good enough. I'll let you know how I do !