Lucy Loves Relaxing!

OMG! This cat can chill out anywhere...



This book is so good I can't stand it...the three of us took a drive today and I could not put it down! English, a small village, a disappearance...tea...Yorkshire puddings!


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Gotta Have...Gotta Make...Gotta Read...Gotta Love!

I love this peasant dress from Velvet. A throw on kind of outfit!


I have to make this/these. OMG! Homemade ice cream sandwiches from the Kitchn.



I have to read this book this summer! It's the next book after Discovery Of Witches!



My fur kid...she is so sweet when she just wakes up...she looks at me as though she hasn't seen me in a long time.



What is going on with you today?

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The Newlyweds...A Review...

In a nutshell...

George and Amina meet through an online dating service. George is a rather stiff American. Amina comes from Bangladesh. They meet. They marry. Confusion reigns.

My thoughts after reading...

I felt immersed in George and Amina's issues as I read this lovely book. The book is about how they came together and their efforts to stay together when Amina discovers that George has kept something from her. It is an insight into what it is like for someone from a totally different culture to come to grips with life in America. Amina's discoveries and trials are sweet and funny. I loved her relationship with her parents as she tries to earn money and get George to understand that her parents will eventually come to live with them. She does not want children until her mother is there to help her raise them. Amina is sweet, funny, likable and naive. She tries to make everyone happy. George is sort of dry and does not seem to have a sense of humor. I have a mental picture of Amina being petite and pretty while George is pale and rather dull. I had doubts about their relationship from the beginning...it seemed sort of sparkless and odd.

What I loved about this book...

Oh my gosh...I loved Amina and her parents...her father seemed like an aging juvenile delinquent. He was forever scheming get rich plans and his life and finances were always on the edge of disaster...thus making life difficult for Amina and her mom. I loved reading about the "Desh" traditions...bathing in a pond, scrubbing with clay, living in one room or with relatives. I loved getting to know the many and varied family members and all of their opinions about everything! This includes George's family, too.

What I did not love...

Not a huge fan of George...he seemed too dispassionate. I hated his secrets from Amina.
He just seemed so dull! Not a huge fan of his cousin, either...she was too dishonest and weird!

Final thoughts about this book...

This book was a total lovely surprise for me...loved the writing, loved the clash of cultures,
loved the gentle humor. Loved the ending. Loved Amina's strength, humor, and growth. Loved pretty much the entire tidy fun little book package called The Newlyweds!

Either reading this next...



Or this...



Not sure what my reading mood is...

Lucy and I are off to sit on the deck...before it rains again...if we are both really quiet...a squirrel, a bluejay, and a cardinal will eat the peanuts that we put on the railing...Lucy loves when they eat right next to her...lol...




Have you read anything really amazing this week?

Why I Love Summer...By Patty

I love summer because of these...Gentle Souls sandals...so comfy...so walk able...when you buy 7 pairs of shoes...you get the 8th pair free!!!
I am on my way...



I love summer days for reading in this by the pond...


I love summer because of these from the garden...tomatoes on toast...good crusty bread and a juicy slab of fresh tomato!!! A swipe of good mayo and salt and pepper...oh me oh my!


I love summer because of these...a slightly tanned wrist...loaded with bracelets...any combo of your choice!


I love summer for tons more reasons...I could go on forever...but mostly I love it because as a teacher...whether you are teaching or not...that last day of school...is such a joy...such a feeling of "school's out for the summer" ...I can't even describe it...the staff at my school...custodians, secretaries, cafeteria ladies...all of us would stand outside and wave goodbye to the kids in the buses...it was such a fun ending...so bittersweet...and then we would go inside and dance!!! I have not taught for three years now but I still am programmed to love the start of summer!



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A Review And A Different Choice...

Finished this, reviewed this, deleted this...feels so good...


In a teeny nutshell...

Lacey...detective...is mysteriously sent to work undercover at Cambridge University...circumstances are odd and secretive. She has issues from her past...not sure but I think this might have been in another book.

My thoughts after reading...

Students at Cambridge...idyllic lovely university...over a period of years...are committing suicide in strange and horrific ways. They appear to be drugged, confused, and violated. They disappear for a few days and upon their return...attempt to kill themselves in horrible ways...no two ways are the same.
Lacey has one person who knows her identity...Evi...other than that she is on her own. She quickly becomes one of the tortured ones. Her identity and role are very secretive and she is not aware that she is a part of a deeper investigation. At any given point she has no clue whom to trust other than Evi...and perhaps Sniffy-Dog...the lovely sweet dog she found!
The evil presence that hovers everywhere is frightening. I had no clue until the last thirty pages who the really bad guys were. At any given point I suspected everyone...and rightly so...I suspected the lovely bread baking Dr. Nick Bell and Evi...poor pain ridden Evi...and Lacey's detective friend/boyfriend who put her in this spot. As I said...I suspected them all!

What I loved about this book...

I loved the writing, the suspense, the chills, the evil...but it's easy to love the evil when you are not a part of it. I loved when Lacey found Sniffy-Dog...I could almost feel her soft buttery nose and the way she fit in right away.

What I did not love...

Nick's falcons killing the partridges...double ick on that when they get to eat the heads. I ate when animals get hurt in books. And Lacey's roommate...weird...very weird. And the rugby players...big old ruffians...mean spirited, too.

Final thoughts...

This book had a riveting plot, memorable characters and provided me with yet one more nail biting and chilling reading experience!



In spite of what I thought I would be reading...I am reading this...and really loving it!
So far it's funny, sweet, and a bit quirky.

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It's All About The Books!!!

This English mystery is fast paced and intense and just really good...it has the short chapters that I sometimes love in a book...a series of horrific suicides is occurring at Cambridge...too many to be normal...so an under cover detective is sent in. She has her own issues to deal with while she gets deeper and deeper into these suicides. I will be finished later today.


I have a few choices to make this week...I want to work on my NetGalley books and I am in the mood for suspense and otherworldliness and fantasy.

So I am thinking about these...


Underworld and afterlife...oh me oh my...


The suspense I crave...


Children disappearing...


A three in one massive fantasy?




Or something Italian and more normal?

What to do...what to do...

What are you in the mood to read today?

I Totally Forgot About My Blog Today!!!

It was so lovely here today. Windows were open, the sky was bright blue, and birds were singing.

We savored coffee while reading newspapers. I love reading Sunday's New York Times...the book section, the travel section, the yummy style section.

We zipped to Whole Foods. We had pizza for lunch. We grilled hot dogs for dinner. We had a lovely salad with Thousand Island Dressing...because a Sunday morning show was all about islands including the origin of that dressing. Are we influenced by tv?

Oh yes we are...and I don't think I have ever had that pinkish dressing ever until today...but this dressing was made from yogurt and didn't have the relishy bits in it...so I am not sure it really was actually real Thousand Island...oh well!!!



Any way...


Happy Sunday!!!



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