#22 Domino: The Book of Decorating

I reserved this book when I found out we were moving. I was excited to transform the mid-century ranch into something amazing. I reserved it before the sellers completely screwed us over and we were approaching homelessness. People who live in their in-laws' basement don't need decorating books. We close on our house next week and are still in the searching process for a new one. Yikes. 

So, the book: I'd say more inspirational than aspirational. Beautiful photos and textiles and furniture, but nothing really looks livable. It had great tips and technical info though. I would definately check it out again when home decorating is imminent.  


As far as determining your style I wish it was more helpful.  I can never succinctly describe my "style:" I just know it when I see it.  I like clean lines, unfussy, but bold colors.  I lean more modern than shabby chic, but things are described as contemporary don't seem homey to me.  This would be a great coffee table book because I'd flip through it over and over again admiring things.

I would also say that this book affirmed our plan of taking any new house on a room by room basis. Up to this point our decorating plan (with the exception of our 90% kitchen renno) was a combo of hand me down/ just get by furniture with whatever light fixture we liked best at Home Depot when the hideous one we just couldn't stand anymore drove us to change it. Next time around I'd like to do things more deliberately, even if it means our house is a little undone for a few years.


One thing this book did not teach me was how to decorate around the world's ugliest (and most comfortable) couch.  The Stetson.  Here's hoping our future house has more than one living area so I can leave Tim to decorate a "man cave" with the monster.

#21 The Virgin of the Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

This was the second Nancy Pickard book I've read. I read Scent of Rain and Lightning when it first came out and didn't love, love it, but The Virgin of the Small Plains came highly recommended. I definitely preferred VOTSP; I feel like it was more plausible and had more believable characters. I finished it in about 24 hours because I couldn't.put.it.down. Plus I had a solid two hours at the DMV to read, and no tags to show for it (G couldnt wait any longer). Whoever is responsible for that cluster disguised as modernization should be on high alert come November.

 The low down: it's a murder mystery set in small town Kansas. It's the best kind of mystery where you think you have it all figured out, but you're missing just a couple pieces of the puzzle. I did have to consult my friend who actually lives on a ranch in the Flint Hills on some factual things, and it holds up.

 While we're headed in the opposite direction of the Flint Hills this Memorial Day weekend, I will be on high alert through small towns for unsolved murder mysteries I can solve on the way to GB.

 Yes, I still need to blog about books #19 and #20. This week maybe!

Absence

I'm still here, still reading. Slowly. But I can't blame the little munch for my turtle pace. Is it just me or does it look like he's making a wildcat claw?

A couple weeks ago Tim and I found a house, a good house. We hadn't been looking. (Well, that's not entirely true. Browsing MLS listings is a hobby of mine comparable to blog stalking.)It is another fixer upper, but a great neighborhood, good bones and loads of potential. To make a short story short, we negotiated our purchase contract over the weekend, listed our house Tuesday, had our first offer in six hours and accepted a full asking price contract in less than a day. And in about 20 days we'll be in our new house- heavy lace drapes and teal tile included. It is truly Providence that we only had to show the house once. What would I have done if our house had been on the market for weeks or months with a newborn? My reading took a backseat for a few days in the rush of paint touch ups and document gathering. And I'm two blog posts behind because I want to watch the movie versions of the books before I post. I'm still here though and adding on to my recommendation list. Packing will be taking over my life in the short term, but it will be worth it because next month I'll be able to read from my sun porch!

#18 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Finished Potter 2 (a.k.a. Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets) yesterday. The amount of time it took me to finish is not indictitive of how much I enjoyed it. It was really good, maybe better than Potter 1. And not just because there is a character named Ginny. I think the ending was more exciting and it was more suspensful throughout. I bet this movie version is especially terrifying. Reading has slowed down because reading/watching tv/interneting during night time nursing (4x from 11p-8a) was not allowing me to fall back asleep easily. So, for my sanity I gave up middle of the night stimulation. Unless he feeds during the 3 a.m. hour. Then I turn on the rerun of the fourth hour of the Today Show. The entertainment value provided by KL & Hoda is worth missing a couple zzzz's. I've got another book nearly finished, Potter 3 on the e-reader and a few new books on the list thanks to Nicky Sparks on Anderson (more on that to come). Happy weekend.

#17 Bloom by Kelle Hampton

Yesterday afternoon the UPS man rang the doorbell while my baby was napping. I was simultaneously annoyed and elated. Bloom was here! A big fat box of ten copies so that a hodge podged book club could Skype with Kelle herself. So excited.

Graham naps better/longer skin to skin on my chest on "the Stetson" (the very couch that was my bed for the last 14 weeks of my pregnancy). I know I should be working on a schedule and having him nap on his own, but in just 1.5 wonderfully cuddly naps I finished Bloom. The diapers waiting to be stuffed and dinner needing prepped can wait. Snuggles and a good book; Good Friday indeed.

If you don't read Enjoying the Small Things, well, start. Kelle posts about her life as a mom, wife and friend (and holiday celebrate-or extraordinaire). She started blogging around her first daughter's first birthday, but her blog made it big after her second daughter was unexpectedly born with Down Syndrome. And her photos are as beautiful as her words. You just know after reading a post where she has pictures of her messy living room that this is a woman who is not here to put on a show. There's no pretense. She's a woman you'd want in your circle of friends. And after the book you add her to your shortlist of ideal happy hour companions.

Bloom reads just as candidly as any post. It's two hundred seventy-two pages of the same wit and real talk you get on the blog. For those of you who read the blog and think you already know her story, the book is deeper and definitely worth the read. For those of you who don't blog stalk Kelle, you can start with the book and not miss a beat.

Some details:

Bloom starts with Nella's birth story, covers Kelle's life story and continues on through Nella's first year. It is about special needs and motherhood, but more than that. Dreams and family and making ends meet and celebrations and love.

The entire book is full color, jammed with familiar and new photos to enjoy.

You'll cry. It can't just be me and my raging hormones that ugly cried in every chapter. Happy tears, sad tears, fearful tears, all cathartic tears.

This is a book for mothers, some day mothers, sisters, friends, women, anyone who's ever experienced loss, anyone who's ever chosen joy. It is a story of skinny dipping and friendship and living life. And limes.

Honestly, there was no way I wasn't going to love it. But, trust me, it lives up to the hype.

#16 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Admission: I'd never read Harry Potter. I don't really have a reason. I'm not anti-wizard. I know plenty of people who recommended HP. I love me a good YA series. I just never got around to it (same excuse I'm using for War & Peace).

Last week I was annoyed by how bulky the book book Game of Thrones was, making it unreadable while nursing. It made me think that for the same reason this was not the year I'd finally read Harry Potter. But then, the very next day, the Today Show ticker (my a.m. adult companions are all faux-journalists on NBC) told me J.K. finally released the series in e-book form. That night the hubs and I discussed the investment involved(more than I've spent on books in the last 3-4 years combined) but decided we'd both read them so I went for it and bought the e-books! And even though it cost me three phone calls with the bank because the foreign Pottermore purchases triggered the fraud protection auto-shut off feature on my debit card I'm glad I bought them.

No synopsis because I'm quite certain I'm the last person in the world to read this. One book down, six books and eight movies (right?) to go!

#15 When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

I find the weirdest fiction. When She Woke is a contemporary Scarlet Letter. Set in the future, the United States no longer incarcerates any but the very worst criminals. Instead they "melanchrome" people by coloring their skin according to their crime and release them back into society to face scorn, discrimination, and sometimes vigilantism.

Our main character Hannah is a "red" after aborting her baby, fathered by head pastor of a Texas mega church and newly named U.S. Secretary of Faith. She refuses to name the father or her abortionist, is excommunicated from her family and gets tangled up with two dangerous groups- The Fist (vigilantes) and The Novemberists (feminists). Plus the whole star-crossed lovers thing. Oh, and throw in a weird out-of-nowhere sexual awakening too.

Not my favorite thing I've read lately.