The Beginning of Wednesday: Top Ten Tuesday: Good Reads

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Top Ten Tuesday: Good Reads

I have been boycotting technology lately. Well, just television. Also, I have drastically decreased the time I spend on the Internet (as evidenced by my lack of blog or facebook updates.)

What I have been doing (aside from working, traveling, teaching and spending time with my family) is reading. A lot. One of my New Year's resolutions was to read 12 books in 2010 (one per month.) I'm proud to say I've surpassed that goal already.

Below are 10 of the books I've read so far (at the end of the year I'll include a full list :)

Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Kathryn Stockett: The Help (Probably my favorite on this list)
Mary Beth Crain: A Widow, a Chihuahua, and Harry Truman: A Story of Love, Loss, and Love Again
Jean Kwok: Girl in Translation
Robert Goolrick: The Reliable Wife (My least favorite on the list- I had a hard time getting through this one, I tell ya.)
Elizabeth George-Speare: The Sign of the Beaver
Stephanie Meyer: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (Twilight Saga)
Laura Munson: This Is Not The Story You Think It Is... A Season of Unlikely Happiness- A Memoir
Elizabeth Strout: Amy & Isabelle
Alice Sebold: The Lovely Bones

Yesterday I stayed home from work. I was feeling under the weather and, although I could have gone in anyway, (which I *almost* did) I decided to be good to myself and stay home. One thing that made my day a little brighter was the box of books which arrived from Barnes & Noble; very exciting. I also have Friday off (and it's supposed to rain) so I can see myself curled up with one of these books enjoying the day to myself.

1 comment:

Amy said...: The Lovely Bones is one of my favorites .. horrible story, but so well written (if that makes sense)

And I read this quote today:

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ~ Dr. Seuss; September 14, 2010 at 9:58 AM

Quotes that define my life:

"Now this is the Law of the Jungle -- as old and as true as the sky; And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back -- For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack." -- Rudyard Kipling
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." -- Dr. Seuss
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." -- Unknown
"Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it." -- E. Lutzer
“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, There is rapture on the lonely shore, There is society where none intrudes, By the deep sea and the music in its roar; I love not man the less, but Nature more.” -- Lord Byron
"There are times when explanations, no matter how reasonable, just don't seem to help." -- Mr. Rogers
"If you don't crack the shell, you can't eat the nut." -- Persian Proverb
"Real peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mountains we climb

+ Currently: Life
+ Magalloway Mountain: Pittsburg, NH: 3,350 ft. Fire tower @ summit
+ Uncanoonuc Mountains: Goffstown, NH; Elevation: North Peak 1,324 ft. South Peak, 1,321 ft. *Indian Translation: "woman lying down" or "breasts"*
+ Mt. Major: Alton Bay, NH: Approx 4 mi. round trip; 1,100 ft. @ summit.
+ Monument Mt., Berkshire Area, MA: Approx 3 mi. round trip; *Beautiful waterfall* 1,735 ft @ summit.
+ Welch-Dickey- Loop Trail, Waterville Valley Area: 4.4 mi. round trip; 2,605 ft. @ Welch summit, 2,734 ft. @ Dickey summit.
+ Mt. Kearsarge- Barlow Trail, Winslow State Park, Wilmot: 2.8 mi. round trip; 2,937 ft @ summit.
+ Mt. Monadnock- White Dot Trail, Jaffrey: 4.2 mi. round trip, 3,165 ft. @ summit
+ Mt. Layafette- Old Bridle Path, Franconia Notch State Park: 8 mi. round trip, 5,260 ft @ summit.
+ Mt. Cardigan- East Side Loop, Alexandria: 5.3 mi. round trip, 3,121 ft @ summit. * some of the mountain was left bare from a fire in 1855
+ Mt. Morgan & Mt. Percival- Squaw Mountains, Holderness & Center Sandwich: 5.1 mi. round trip; 2,220 & 2,212 ft. @ summit
+ Mt. Osceola- White Mountain National Forest: 6.4 mi. round trip, 4,340 ft. @ summit

Mission Statement

This blog is much like my home. When you click on my blog you cross a boundary into my world; what I would like to be a judgment free world. You’re in my house now. Don’t come in if you want to pollute my environment with negativity.

As a guest in my home would you pick apart my style, critique my furniture, or want me to spend your entire visit complaining about my life's trials and tribulations? No. The same goes for my blog. You’re a guest here. The virtual world is a "boundary" between what I am going to post here, and what goes on in my “real life.”

This is my forum. Much like if you were a guest in my house, I would scurry around cleaning up, presenting to you my best self. I do the same with my writing. You come here for a smile, an anecdote, a laugh, or a oui. You don't come here to hear about the bad parts of my life. Just because I don't post about them, doesn't mean they don't exist. That part of me just happens to be none of your business.

I choose to blog about things that make me happy, things I want to look back on and relish. I am constantly recovering (on a daily basis) from things that are unpleasant, I need no reminders via written word. That is what my diary is for. If that omission makes it appear as though my life is easy, then you are more than welcome to turn back now, don't waste your time. I have an amazing group of people who I can vent to and get feedback in regards to those matters, I don’t have an overwhelming urge to hang my dirty laundry out to dry in front of strangers.

My greatest fear about blogging is that someone, anyone, would rob me of this right. To instill in me a need to gauge my every word, for me to feel intimidated to speak, to share, or to write. I would never take that privilege, liberty, or luxury from any one person. It’s not mine to take. If you're here for the taking, I hope you come up empty.