I finally finished The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato. It took me awhile because I wasn’t able to read much this month.

About the book:  Venice, 1681. Glassblowing is the lifeblood of the Republic and Venetian mirrors are more precious then gold. Jealousy guarded by the murderous Council of Ten, the glassblowers of Murano are virtually imprisoned on their island in the lagoon.

But the greatest artist of their number, Corradino Manin, sells his methods and his soul to the Sun King, Louis XIV of France, to protect his secret daughter… See more about ‘The Glassblower of Murano’

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this dual tale and although it took me awhile to finish it, it kept me intrigued. I actually had to start over after putting it down for awhile because I lost track with the similar names throughout the generations. Once I started from the beginning it was smooth sailing and I identified with the characters and was anxious to continue reading the entwining stories.

Rating 4/5

Counts towards: Library Challenge, 100 Book Challenge,

Having a husband with Celiac’s Disease, I’m always interested in books about living a Gluten Free lifestyle. I picked up The G Free Diet by Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

About the book:  Elizabeth Hasslebeck For years Elisabeth Hasselbeck couldn’t figure out what was making her sick. She asked doctors and consulted nutritionists but no one seemed to have any answers. It wasn’t until spending time in the Australian Outback living off the land on the grueling Survivor TV show that ironically her symptoms vanished. Returning home she pinpointed the food that made her sick — gluten the binding element in wheat. By simply eliminating it from her diet she was able to enjoy a completely normal healthy life. But that wasn’t all. Hasselbeck discovered the myriad benefits that anyone can enjoy from a gluten-free diet: from weight loss and increased energy to even the alleviation of the conditions of autism. In this all-inclusive book Hasselbeck shares her hard-earned wisdom on living life without gluten and loving it. She gives you everything you need to know to start living a gluten-free life from defining gluten – where to find it how to read food labels – to targeting gluten-free products creating G-Free shopping lists sharing recipes and managing G-Free living with family and friends.
My thoughts: Since we have been living this lifestyle for quite a few years now, the information about Celiacs and food was not new to me but good just the same. For someone new into the journey, the information is useful.  I personally was interested in her story of  discovery of her disease.  Also, because the G-Free person in my home is a male, I never paid much attention to Gluten in beauty products. In fact, I never realized that some cosmetics could contain gluten and should be avoided. There is also a chapter on eating G-Free for good health even if one does not have Celiacs.

Rating 4/5

Counts towards: Library Challenge, 100 Book Challenge,

My little “purse book” was Twitter Wit: Brilliance in 140 Character or Less by Nick Douglas.

About the book:

Product Description:

New York Magazine proclaims, “Twitter is the hot web company right now…the Next Big Thing;” the New York Times calls it “one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet;” Time magazine claims “Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app;” and Newsweek notes that “Suddenly, it seems as though all the world?s a-twitter.”

Since its creation in March 2006, Twitter has unleashed a torrent of self-expression from its six million members around the world, who send and read each others? “tweets,” messages up to 140 characters in length. Friends use the site to make plans; relatives use it to stay connected; politicians use it to lobby for votes; and humorists use it to perfect their craft. In fact, Twitter users have reinvented the classic medium of the witticism in a site where anyone can be a Dorothy Parker or an Oscar Wilde.

Twitter Wit is the first compilation of Twitter aphorisms, with submissions ranging from quotidian vignettes like “I bet in Sweden the Ikea instructions are in English” to bumper sticker-type quips like “I think the bird of love is the dove. My husband thinks it?s the swallow,” and contributors ranging from celebrities like Shaquille O?Neal, Jimmy Fallon, Penn Jillette, John Cleese, and Steven Fry to regular people with previously unappreciated sharp tongues. Featuring a foreword by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, this authorized anthology of the thousand most most clever and memorable “tweets” relates the diversity of human experience in hilarious bite-sized pieces.

My thoughts: I like little books like this to fill a few minutes here and there and I’m an early Twitter adopter but I just didn’t find many of the tweets all that funny.  Humor is something individualized.  I like the premise of this book, but for me, it just didn’t deliver.

Rating 2/5

Counts towards: Library Challenge, 100 Book Challenge,

I finally was able to get to  The Time of My Life by Patrick Swayze & Lisa Niemi. I had it on request as soon as I saw her on Oprah and she mentioned it.

About the book:

In a career spanning more than thirty years, Patrick Swayze has made a name for himself on the stage, the screen, and television. Known for his versatility, passion and fearlessness, he’s become one of our most beloved actors.

But in February 2008, Patrick announced he had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. Always a fighter, he refused to let the disease bring him to his knees, and his bravery has inspired both his legion of fans and cancer patients everywhere. Yet this memoir, written with wisdom and heart, recounts much more than his bout with cancer. In vivid detail, Patrick describes his Texas upbringing, his personal struggles, his rise to fame with North and South, his commercial breakthroughs in Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and the soul mate who’s stood by his side through it all: his wife, writer and director Lisa Niemi.

A behind-the-scenes look at a Hollywood life and a remarkable love, this memoir is both entertainment and inspiration. Patrick and Lisa’s marriage is a journey of two lives intertwined and lived as one–throughout their years in Hollywood and at home on their working ranch outside Los Angeles, and culminating in the hope and wisdom they’ve imparted to all who know them. This book will open the door for families, individuals, and husbands and wives to grow, bond and discover entirely new levels of love and sharing, proving that life shouldn’t be lived as a series of endings, but rather as the beginning of greater strength and love.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this autobiography and it was a quick read. It really was about his life, marriage  and career and didn’t focus on his illness. There is a mention of it in the last chapter and that ultimately was the reason to write the book in the first place but the story was definitely about his life and career not his death. Of course we all know how it ended but when this book was written he was still looking forward.

Rating 3.5/5

Counts towards: Library Challenge, 100 Book Challenge

Jumping right in to the next Stephanie Plum installment, Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich.

About the book:   Fugitive Apprehension Agent Stephanie Plum has a big problem on her hands: Seven-year-old Annie Soder and her mother, Evelyn, have disappeared.

Evelyn’s estranged husband, Steven, a shady owner of a seedy bar, is not at all happy. During the divorce proceedings, he and Evelyn signed a child custody bond, and Steven is demanding the money guaranteed by the bond to find Annie. The money was secured by a mortgage on Evelyn’s grandmother’s house, and the True Blue Bonds Bail Agency wants to take possession of the house. MORE HERE

My thoughts: I listened to this one while getting things done around the house today. I need to move away from my wish that the reader was Lori Petty and just accept that it isn’t. I did have some LOL moments as I usually do reading this series. Sister Valerie took a bigger role and things heat up with the love triangle.

Rating 3.5/5

Counts towards: Library Challenge, 100 Book Challenge, Audio Book Challenge, Finish that Series Challenge,, Stephanie Plum Challenge

Continuing on my Stephanie Plum series reading, Seven Up, by Janet Evanovich finally came in at the library. It was on hold for quite awhile and as soon as I got it, it moved to the top of my queue.

About the book: Semi-retired mob guy, Eddie DeChooch, is caught trafficking contraband cigarettes through Trenton, New Jersey. When DeChooch fails to show for a court appearance, bond enforcement agent Stephanie Plum is assigned the task of finding DeChooch and dragging his decrepit ass back to jail. Not such an easy job, it turns out, since DeChooch has learned a lot of tricks over the years and isn’t afraid to use his gun. He’s already shot Loretta Ricci and left her for worm food in his shed. He wouldn’t mind shooting Stephanie next. MORE HERE.

My thoughts:  I love the comical Stephanie and my favorite character, Grandma Mazur. This book introduces Steph’s sister Valerie and stoner, Moonie into the mix.  Once again, I was not happy that the “reader” changed.  Of all of them, this one was really off for me, (actually resulting in a lower rating of the book because it was annoying.)  It never sold me as being Stephanie… no Jersey accent and sounding too old. (My favorite was by far Lori Petty.  Next was  Debbie Mazur.)  I just looked ahead and I guess I’ll need to get used to this reader, Lorelei King though,  since she’s reading the remainder of the series.. Either that or just read them via paper book and still hear Lori Petty’s voice in my head.

Rating 3/5

Counts towards: Library Challenge, 100 Book Challenge, Audio Book Challenge, Finish that Series Challenge,, Stephanie Plum Challenge

I finished the final book (so far),  in the Wimpy Kid series,  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney.

About the book:

Product Description

It’s summer vacation, the weather’s great, and all the kids are having fun outside. So where’s Greg Heffley? Inside his house, playing video games with the shades drawn.

Greg, a self-confessed “indoor person,” is living out his ultimate summer fantasy: no responsibilities and no rules. But Greg’s mom has a different vision for an ideal summer . . . one packed with outdoor activities and “family togetherness.”

Whose vision will win out? Or will a new addition to the Heffley family change everything?

My thoughts: Once again, I LOVE these books. I giggle like a silly kid while reading them. I love all of the characters and the cartoons as well. These books don’t translate well as a read aloud.. you really need to see the pictures with the expressions and situations to really enjoy them.  I wish there was another one out already. I  read this one as a “purse book” and used it as a filler when I had a few spare minutes.

Rating 4.5/5

Counts towards:  100 Book Challenge, Finish that Series

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini has been on my TBR list for a long, long time. i finally got to it.

About the book: Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. MORE HERE.

My thoughts:  I had planned on reading the book before seeing the movie, as I always like to do but it didn’t work out that way.  I loved this book, read by the author and I must say the movie was very much like the book (although the book was more detailed and extended beyond the movie. I usually  like to read books set in different countries via audio book because I feel that the accents and dialect add to it. I’m glad to see that the movie version did the book justice and didn’t change the plot like some other book/movie adaptations that I’ve seen.

Rating 5/5

Counts towards: Library Challenge, 100 Book Challenge, Audio Book Challenge, Finish that Series Challenge

As always, I’m always ready for the next in the Cedar Cove series and read the fifth one,  50 Harbor Street by Debbie Macomber via audio book.

About the book: Roy McAfee, Cedar Cove’s resident private investigator, and his wife, Corrie, have been receiving anonymous postcards and messages, asking if they regret the past, and what they mean is a mystery to them! On a more positive note, Roy and Corrie are delighted that their daughter, Linette, has moved back to Cedar Cove to work at the new medical clinic. Linette isn’t too enthusiastic that her mom has set her up with Cal Washburn, who works at Cliff Harding’s horse farm. Corrie bought Linette a date with Cal at the humane society’s “Dog and Bachelor Auction.” The romance between Cliff and Grace Sherman is back, but that’s just one of the many interesting stories you’ll read about in 50 Harbor Street. More here.

My thoughts: I’m really enjoying this series and the characters are like old friends. I’m so glad that I’m reading it in order because of the relationships of the characters. I don’t think I would enjoy it as much if I didn’t because the characters’ stories carry through from book to book.  As all of her books are,  Cedar Cove novels are rated PG.

Rating 3.5/5

Counts towards: Library Challenge, 100 Book Challenge, Audio Book Challenge, Finish that Series Challenge,

I picked up The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook  by Murdoch because the colors of the photos really grabbed me and screamed  Buy Me!

About the book:

Product Description

Offering handy tips and advice to help get the most out of vegetables, this volume features double-page spreads on particular ingredients and recipes.

My thoughts: This was a different kind of cookbook as it grouped foods together by occasions rather than ingredients. The pictures were beautiful and made me hungry!  It wasn’t written in American English so the spellings of words were the European way.  I read the sidebar sections completely and scanned recipes that I found interesting. While I haven’t cooked any yet, they seem easy enough and I’m looking forward to trying them.

Rating 3/5

Counts towards: 100 Book Challenge,