ten books that impacted me

There's a book related meme going around Facebook right now. My friend Steph tagged me, and I decided to post my answers here so I could expound on them more than I did on Facebook.

"I've been challenged to list 10 books that have stayed with me in some way and tag people to do the same. Rules (there are always rules): don't take more than a few minutes and do not think too hard. They don't have to be the "right" books or great works of literature, just ones that have affected you in some way. Then tag 10 friends including me so I can see your list. Don't make fun of me. No particular order."

1. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

When I was young, bedtime was one of the most special times of the day, as my mom would read a chapter or two of a book to my brother and me. She read the whole Little House series to us, and Big Woods is what kicked off that special journey.

2. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

I was an English major ... a really bad one. I hardly read anything that I was supposed to read (Shhh! Don't tell Dr. Sauders!), choosing instead to turn to SparkNotes. But, for whatever reason, when Dr. Lovelady assigned As I Lay Dying, I read it. It was so ... weird. And I loved it! More than 10 years later, I couldn't really tell you anything about it, except for this: "My mother is a fish."

3. Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

This was another childhood bedtime read. I had a boxed set of Roald Dahl books that Mom worked through—this book, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Charlie & the Great Glass Elevator, and James & the Giant Peach. This book has stuck with me, not because I loved it, but because I was horrified when Mom explained poaching to me. 

4. Romans (in the Bible)
I suppose I could have just said "The Bible," but Romans is my favorite book. It's my default book—the book I turn to if I don't have a specific passage in mind to read. It always encourages and challenges me.

5. Sophie's Heart by Lori Wick
I first read Sophie's Heart as a freshman in high school. I'd read other Christian romances before, but Sophie's Heart made me love the genre.

6. Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery
The Anne of Green Gables series is one of my all time favorites. Anne and Gilbert ... need I say more? So why would I pick Rilla out of all the books in this series? Two words: Walter dies. I remember nothing else about this book, but I vividly remember where I was when I read of his death: lying on my parents' bed on a lazy summer afternoon, tears streaming down my face. Then my sister walked in and caught me sobbing. It was the first time I cried while reading a book.

7. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
My previous Shakespeare experience consisted of reading Romeo & Juliet in high school, which I thought was just about the dumbest story ever. Then I read Hamlet in community college, and I realized that Shakespeare had some good stories to tell. In this class (which is the class that made me decide to major in English), we each had to find a song that went along with a particular scene in the play. I got Act 3, Scene 1 (Hamlet's soliloquy), and I used the MASH theme song,"Suicide Is Painless," which has a horrible message, by the way! (Shoutout to my mom's Sheet Music Magazine subscription, without which I never would have known that the MASH song had lyrics.)

8. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Another community college read (I did far more reading there than at Grace), Things Fall Apart marked the first time I realized that, while spreading the gospel is a good thing, the white man's methods weren't always good. Things Fall Apart caused me to think critically about what I read for one of the first times in my life.

9. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Sure, I read an abridged, illustrated version that someone gave me for Christmas, and I've never read the actual book, but The War of the Worlds was my first foray into science fiction. For that fact alone, it belongs on this list.

10. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
My mom read us the Narnia books, too, and The Horse and His Boy was never one of my favorites. It just didn't seem to fit with the other books. Then, I read it again a few years ago to one of my ESL classes. I. Loved. It. Maybe it's because my students were so intrigued that I saw it through new eyes. It has adventure, action, humor, and a glimpse at the Pevensies during their rule of Narnia. It's really fantastic!

look what i got!

As a book blogger, I get a lot of books in the mail. (Duh.) You might think that getting packages in the mail becomes old hat—that the thrill of seeing a package outside my door would diminish. You would be wrong. Each time I pull into my driveway and glimpse a package by the door, my heart leaps in anticipation!

Today, I saw three packages. The first two were books I've been looking forward to reading, as I've really enjoyed other books by these authors.

But the third package? The third package contained a book I've been greatly anticipating for nearly a year!

Do you see what that says? "Book Gift from Becky Wade." In February, I received a direct message from Becky Wade on Twitter. She said that as a thank you for my support of her book My Stubborn Heart (which I named my top book of 2012), she'd like to send me an influencer copy of her next book. Of course, I said yes! So while I won't be on an official tour for this book, I'll still be reviewing it ... and hopefully soon.

Trust me, it took just about all the willpower I possess to keep from devouring the book as soon as I took it out of the envelope. But I have three other books that have to be reviewed by next week, so Undeniably Yours will have to wait ... for now. As I sit here at my dining room table, I can practically hear the book calling to me from the living room bookshelf—something tells me I'll be reading it sooner rather than later. And when I do, I'll be sure to tell you all about it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the aforementioned books free for review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

need something to read or watch?

I love books. I love movies. I love TV.

This should come as a surprise to exactly ... no one.

What may surprise you is that I've recently been getting rid of some of my books, movies, and TV seasons. I decided to do this because recently I felt like God was asking me to. I don't want to overspiritualize anything here—it's not like I heard the voice of God say, "Becky, sell your stuff!" But one day while I was reading my Bible, I suddenly had the thought that I should go through my DVD collection and get rid of some things.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if the thought came from God or just randomly popped into my brain; weeding things out of my collection is a good thing. When I started my blog Cinematic Survey in 2009, I had 162 movies and 39 television seasons on DVD. That number has risen substantially since then. And don't even get me started on my shelves and shelves of books!

About a year ago, I decided to go through my bookshelves and give the books I no longer wanted to the Nebraska Christian library. While it was hard to part with my books at first, each time I look through my shelves, I have an easier time getting rid of a book or ten. And I give away almost all of the review books I read, keeping only the ones I really really love.

While I've been quite happily giving away books, I've found it quite difficult to get rid of any movies. (My Cinematic Survey journey is proof of that—of the 85 movies I've reviewed, I initially decided to keep 72.) But when I had the prompting to go through my collection, I immediately pulled 10 or 12 things off the shelf. Comparatively, that's not very many, but it's a start.

I gave Blendy first pick, and she took several things. The remaining movies and TV seasons were listed on half.com, and I've already sold two things (Bones seasons one and three—for much less than I paid for them, but for more than I'd have made if they remained on my shelf!). I have 13 things listed right now—if you're looking for a really good deal on Edward Scissorhands, I can totally hook you up!

Hopefully, I'll have the same experience with DVDs that I did with books and find that the more I go over the shelves, the easier it will be to weed out the things I don't need to keep. And maybe I'll even make a little money in the process!

what's in the mail? 5-31-12 edition

I got several things in the mail these past two weeks—more cereal, a movie, and lots of books!

Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Cinnamon
Apparently Vine has discovered I like cinnamon ... I've gotten cinnamon-flavored cereals two newsletters in a row! This one doesn't hold a candle to the other. It's bland and not very cinnamony. Don't get me wrong—I'll eat it for breakfast ... but I definitely won't be buying it in the future! Here's my review.

Coriolanus
I thought this adaptation of a Shakespeare play would be my cup of tea. I was wrong. So, so wrong. I haven't posted my Vine review yet (because I'm a bit afraid of getting my review voted down—all the less-than-glowing reviews are getting voted down like crazy!), but I did post about it on Cinematic Survey, where I can be completely candid. You can see the post here.

Tarnished by Daniel & Christina Morrison
Earlier this week, the Morrisons did a guest post about their fantasy novel and the Kickstarter project to fund the audio book. My book arrived yesterday; I'm looking forward to reading it as soon as I finish the one I'm currently reading.

The Anniversary Waltz by Darrel Nelson
When this book arrived earlier this week, I had no idea where it came from. I'm not so in demand as a reviewer that I have unsolicited books arriving at my door, so I knew I must have requested it. And I did—a mere 18 days ago! How quickly we forget ... Anyway, it appears to be mainly set around WWII, which is my favorite historical era to read about, thus explaining why I requested it from Glass Road!

After All: A Hanover Falls Novel by Deborah Raney
This is the book that I mentioned last time—the one that got sent to the wrong mailing list. I loved After All and finished it in one afternoon. Here's the review.

Prize of My Heart by Lisa Norato
Some of you may have picked up the Kindle edition of this book for free a couple weeks ago. I did! I requested this from Bethany House in March. I never got a confirmation e-mail, so I assumed I didn't make the cut. Then this showed up last week ...

Legacy Road by Graham Garrison
I'll be reviewing this for Kregel in July ... which means I probably won't read it for another five weeks! It's about a journalist, and that's all I know. I signed up for this tour because I really like working with Kregel.

One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow by Scot McKnight
This is the lone book on the list that I purchased myself. I bought it because it was quoted in an article I recently read, and I was intrigued. Now that I've flipped through a few pages, I think I will be challenged by what I read. I haven't read a book that I really have to think critically about in a long time, and I'm looking forward to it!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received some of these products free in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review and received no monetary compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

what's in the mail? 4-26-12 edition

A few weeks ago, I saw a "What's in the mail?" post on another blog. (If I could remember where I saw it, I'd give the blogger credit ...) The idea behind this blogger's post is that she receives so many books to review that she can't possibly get to all of them, so each week she creates a post on everything that came in the mail that week. Now, I don't have her problem of being inundated by books, and I've never received unsolicited review copies, so I review everything I get. However, I don't post all my reviews on this blog—Amazon's Vine program doesn't require reviewers to post on their own blogs, just on Amazon, so there are some books/products you'll never see unless you go to my Amazon profile.

Thus, the debut of this feature. I'm going to try to do one of these posts every other Thursday because I sometimes go a few weeks without receiving any review products. I've also decided not to limit this to products I've received in exchange for a review; I also want to include any books I purchase. (Believe it or not, I actually do still buy books!)

So here we go: "What's in the Mail?" 4-26-12

Finally & Forever by Robin Jones Gunn
This is the fourth book in Gunn's Katie Weldon series. I didn't even know there was a fourth book (I thought the third wrapped things up nicely) until I saw something on Twitter about it. No question—I had to buy it. Not often do I cry from joy when I read, but that's exactly what happened as I finished up Coming Attractions. I even listed the Katie series on my "Books to Read" recommendation page. I have high hopes for this book, and I may have squealed in delight as I opened the package from Amazon!

(I just discovered the first three books in the series—Peculiar Treasures, On a Whim, and Coming Attractions—are each currently $1.99 for Kindle. You need to read these books!)

The Chase by DiAnn Mills
The Chase is one of my Vine books. On the last Vine newsletter, I was offered several Christian books, and The Chase is one of the few I hadn't already read and reviewed! I knew I'd heard of DiAnn Mills before, but I couldn't quite place her until I looked up her author page on Amazon. She wrote Nebraska Legacy, a collection of novellas that I bought a few years ago solely because the stories took place in my beloved home state. (I don't think I ever actually read the book. I wonder if I still have it somewhere?) Anyway, The Chase appears to be about as far removed from a historical romance on the Nebraska plains as you can get. I've lately really been enjoying reading suspense, so I'm looking forward to this book!

Crazy Dangerous by Andrew Klavan
When I got the review invite e-mail from Litfuse for this one, I practically fell over myself in my rush to sign up. Why? Because it's suspense and YA. In the last 18 months or so, I've gone crazy for young adult fiction. Kinda funny, since I never read YA as an actual teenager—I thought I was "too adult" for it. Ha! When I got the book, I found out that Crazy Dangerous's author Klavan also wrote Don't Say a Word. I haven't read that novel, but I'll never forget Brittany Murphy's line from the movie: "I'll never tell!" Now I'm even more anxious to read Crazy Dangerous ... and I think I need to watch Don't Say a Word again! (Success! I just remembered that my cousin/former roommate left her movies behind when she moved—and Don't Say a Word is one of them. I know what I'm doing this weekend!)

The Ishbane Conspiracy by Angela, Karina & Randy Alcorn
Recently, longtime blog reader Cari recommended the Alcorns' Ishbane Conspiracy. Cari and I have a similar enough taste in books that I knew if she recommended it, I'd probably like it. So I went to Amazon and found a dirt cheap used copy, which arrived today. It will probably sit on my shelf for a while—I seem to have a backlog of non-review books!

T-fal FZ700251 ActiFry Low-Fat Healthy Dishwasher Safe Multi-Cooker, Black This is my big Vine "get" of the year (so far). It arrived yesterday, so today I took it for a test spin. I used it to make potato wedges, and they turned out pretty well. The ActiFry's advantage is that it cooks with minimal oil. I followed one of the recipes in the booklet that came with the appliance, and I honestly wasn't too impressed—but I think that's more the recipe's fault than the ActiFry's. Supposedly you can cook plenty of things besides potatoes—meat, veggies, even fruit compote. I'll be trying out several things in the weeks to come, and I look forward to the delicious research!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received some of these products free in exchange for my honest review. Other products I purchased myself. Regardless, I was not required to write a positive review and received no monetary compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

"city of prophecy" giveaway

I read and reviewed Peter Dudek's City of Prophecy last summer, and it made it onto my "Best Books of 2011" list. Peter just announced that he's giving away one copy (or two if there's enough interest) and a $10 Amazon gift card through a giveaway on his website. All you have to do to enter is "like" his post and leave a comment about a book you'd like to read. Simple!

Go here to enter by April 1. I'm sure you'll like the book! (And if you don't win, you can still buy the book—the Kindle version is only $2.99!)

"mornings with jesus" giveaway winner!

With the help of random.org, I've selected a winner in the Mornings with Jesus giveaway. The winner is the author of comment #6, Ja-La-Sta! I'll be contacting her for her mailing address and will get the book sent next week.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

reading is fun! (part 2)

Here's my current stack of books awaiting review. And that doesn't show the four Kindle files I have. (And, yes, I do still have one book in the pile that was in the picture of books to be reviewed that I posted in May ...)

And here's my whiteboard where I list books and their due dates (or, in the case of Litfuse, the date the blog tour begins). I'm so thankful that some companies don't have deadlines! The black dots to the right indicate which books I don't have in my possession yet. Um, yeah ... I think I might be nuts!

november kindle book deals

Amazon has started offering monthly Kindle book deals (similar to the $5 mp3 deals that I'm such a sucker for!). This month, they have 100 books for $3.99 or less. I just glanced through the list, and there are many Christian books there—including The Art of Romance (which I loved) for $1.99, A Heart Most Worthy (which I liked) for $2.99, and Learning and Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury for $2.99 each. Also, several other books by Kingsbury are on sale for $2.99, but they're not on the monthly list, so I don't know how long the prices will last. You can see those books here. (Can you go wrong with Kingsbury? I don't think so! Though if you're caught up in the Bailey Flanigan saga—of which Learning is book two—you're probably ready to bash some heads together by now!)

You can check out the full list of discounted titles here. Happy reading!

almost thirty

A few things I'm thinking about the night before my big birthday (perhaps my thoughts should be more introspective, but this is me we're talking about, after all!):

• I'm several months late on this, but you should definitely check out Donald Miller's review of Love Wins. It's awesome! (The Stuff Christians Like post that led me to the review is pretty good, too.)
• Thomas Nelson (the company behind BookSneeze) is conducting a fiction survey, and if you complete it, you'll get a free ebook. You'll also be entered in a $10,000 sweepstakes. Go here to fill out the survey.
• While I often thought about it, I never got around to making a "30 Things Before I'm 30" list--so maybe I should do "35 Things Before I'm 35"?
• I wish my kitties would come home. They've only been missing for about two hours, so my fears are a bit premature ... but as far as I can tell, they'd never ventured out of the yard before tonight. (I know, it's been proven that cats wander all over the place, but I'm still nervous--they're little cats!) 
• Looking forward to Women of Faith in Omaha with my mom tomorrow night and Saturday. We splurged on a nicer hotel really close to the Qwest Center, and I can't wait to relax there after the evening session.
• Blue Skies Tomorrow is a fantastic book (seriously fantastic), and I can't stop thinking about it--I was even thinking about it during the sermon on Sunday. And at work. And I'm still thinking about it even though I've finished it. I'll review it later this month, so keep an eye out. If you like WWII era fiction, you'll love this one!

kindle freebies!

As you may know, publishers often offer ebooks for free through Amazon and other sites. (Since I have a Kindle, I just use Amazon--check out bn.com if you have a Nook.) I check out the top 100 free Kindle books here a few times a week. I also signed up through ereaderiq.com to be alerted whenever new free ebooks are added (Thanks, Karen!). You have to wade through a lot of junk, but sometimes you'll find a real treasure. (Did you hear me? A.LOT.OF.JUNK. Don't say I didn't warn you!) When I'm going through ereaderiq emails, I usually just scan through the publishers; if I'm on Amazon, I click on the books that look like they come from Christian publishers. (I can almost always spot a Christian book by its cover. Strange, maybe, but when you've read as many books as I have ...) I've noticed that many of the Christian publishers will add new free ebooks around the first of the month ... and today was no exception! Here are a few that especially interested me:

Miss Match by Erynn Mangum is the first ebook I ever read ... and I read it in one sitting! I'd just downloaded Kindle for PC, and Miss Match was one of the freebies available. It has a bit of an Emma vibe to it, and it's witty and fun with lots of pop culture references. As soon as I finished Miss Match, I ordered books two and three in the series. Also, Mangum surprised me with where things ended up, something that's difficult to do when you've read as many Christian romances as I have! If you like chick lit, you should give this one a chance.


As soon as I learned Ransome's Honor by Kaye Dacus was free, I hit "buy." Dacus is an author I've just discovered, and so far, I love what I've read! (According to Dacus, this one's only free through the 15th, so get it now!)



Full disclosure: I've never read anything by Stephanie Grace Whitson. However, I have heard her speak--she put on a writing workshop at the school I work at a few years ago. Plus, she's from Nebraska (you know I'm all about the Husker connection!), so I'm very excited to read Sixteen Brides!

In addition to these three, there are many other quality books for free right now. You just have to know where to look. And remember, you can read ebooks without a Kindle, Nook, or other ereader ... you can download Kindle for PC here (for free, of course).

something new

It's been a long time in the making, but I finally have two new pages added to my blog.

I'm often asked what books I'd recommend, so I decided to make it easy on both you and me by adding a page of recommended books. These are all books I've personally read and can vouch for, and I'm sure the contents of the page will change as I read more books.

I also decided to add a recommended movies tab just for fun. I watch a ton of movies (and I own a ton ... it's a problem I'm working on!), and I love talking about them. So if you're looking for a movie to watch, click on over to my movies tab and take a look ... and feel free to leave a comment, too!

short weekend, short week!

• My school had its annual benefit auction on Saturday night; as a result, I worked for seven hours Saturday afternoon and evening! (Fortunately, my job was fun, fairly stress-free, and with great people, so it didn't actually feel like seven hours.) That left me with a shorter weekend than usual ... however, one of the benefits of working at a Christian school is that we take time off for Easter, so I have a four-day weekend coming up!
• Once again, I seem to be in the business of killing plants. Stacey gave me an aloe vera plant around Christmas. It looked great for a long time, but recently it's been looking a little peaked. It's probably because it hasn't gotten much light ...
• I finally got some data pulled off the hard drive of my fried computer. I bought this external hard drive enclosure from Newegg.com, and it works really well. I was concerned it might not be compatible with Windows 7, but I had no problems at all ... even though the installation instructions were quite obviously not written by a native English speaker and I had to fill in the blanks! (Example: After plug the external box into, the system will remind you there is a new hardware of USB Storage Adapter adds into. After for a while, click "My Computer", USB HDD will appear the relativity on the PC.) I pulled off the things I needed (my 2008 tax return) or wanted (my iTunes download of Dr. Horrible) and left everything else alone--it seems to be working well, so why fill the hard drive of my laptop if I don't need to?
• Blendy and I cleaned my apartment because one of my students will be staying with me over Easter. She then actually updated her blog, so you can read about our weekend here!
• I am totally caught up on my reading! I have two reviews due the week of April 5 and another due the next week--and I've read all the books and written one of the reviews already! So what am I doing with my spare time? Reading! I just got the newest Karen Kingsbury book, Take Three, and I had a really difficult time putting it down last night.
• Speaking of my book review books, I have a whole bunch of giveaways coming up, so keep checking the blog! 
• I got my free copy of Emma today. Perfect timing, as the last movie I reviewed on my other blog was the Gwyneth Paltrow version of Emma. If you click over there, you'll notice the blog has a new look ... one that's much more "me"!
• Spring has finally come to central Nebraska! As I dove home from work today, I noticed the other drivers; nearly every one had the driver's window open. I immediately opened the windows in my apartment once I got home, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the warm breeze.
• The weddings are coming up! I bought my dress for Jen's wedding last Sunday, and Melissa's aunt is altering my dress for Melissa's wedding ... which is now less than two weeks away!
• Right now, I'm watching the new season of Dancing with the Stars. Missed it last week because of a work thing, so I'm seeing the changes--the new opening, new co-host, new dancers--for the first time. So far, I don't have a favorite ... but I do have someone I'm hoping gets kicked off first: Jake Pavelka, the Bachelor himself. Does ABC really think America still loves him? And if Vienna's sitting in the audience looking all googly-eyed, I may just have to hurl.

thoughts from the couch

We're a week into the new year, and I haven't posted anything but book reviews for about two weeks. I have another book review finished, but I thought I'd give you a different kind of post first!

We are headed into our third snow day in a row. While we still call them "snow days," these days have been more like "wind and extreme cold days." I am so excited to be able to sleep in again tomorrow, and I'm hoping for Saturday's speech meet to be canceled, too!

Other things that have happened recently:

• I hosted a Holiday Bowl party where we watched the Huskers obliterate the Arizona Wildcats 33-0.

Janet shows off the easy chocolate cookies we made. She said she never bakes because it's too hard, and she was quite fascinated by my cake mix cook book.

Scott & Levi "throw the bones" ... or something like that! I believe it had to do with the defense.

• We finally made it to Kansas (minus Dad, who had to stay behind to make sure sidewalks were cleared for the beginning of school on Monday). We celebrated Christmas with Grandma, and she was feeling well and was in a great mood. 

Grandma inspects the family calendar we made for her. She loved looking at the pictures of her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids.

We had a great dinner and then watched a dvd of an interview done with my great-grandparents in the '90s.

Grandma & I pose with the yule log my uncle buys every year to go with our Christmas dinner. Because of our Christmas blizzard, he had to return to California before we could get to Kansas, so we had to eat the dessert without him.

In the evening, we went to Wichita--to Target (yay!), Panera (double yay!), and the Warren (triple yay!). We'd planned to see Avatar in 3-D, but it was sold out, so we saw Sherlock Holmes instead. It was okay, but I would have appreciated knowing that magic played so heavily into the plot before we went.

Mom savors her broccoli cheese soup. Why don't we have a Panera around here???

• Engagements abound! My cousin Jon just announced his engagement to Lauren. Not that he needs or wants my approval, but I give it completely :-) Lauren will be a great addition to our family!!! Also, dear friend and college roomie Jen just got engaged, and she's giving me the honor of being part of her special day! I couldn't be happier for her!

Jen and I were last together in October--I can't wait to see her again!

• I've done a lot of reading recently, and I've started reading my first Blogging for Books selection--Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris!!! You may recall that a few months ago I mentioned how excited I was about this book. I got so excited when I saw it was available through Blogging for Books! I started reading it in earnest today, and so far, it's excellent. I'm looking forward to reading more; look for the review the week of Jan. 18.
  

speak before the silence

NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow. During the month of November, you probably won't be hearing from me too much--unless I'm procrastinating. Then you might be hearing from me a lot!

Some things to say before I go silent:

• My incredible cousin Nate, who joined us on our awesome road trip to Oregon, has been selected to the All State band for the second year in a row. Last year he played 3rd trumpet; this year he's playing 1st! I gave him a check for my concert ticket the other day (so Aunty M, if you're reading this and haven't seen a check, go shake your boy down!)--I'm excited for November 20!

• I've been doing so much reading lately! (I'm sure that's about to stop, what with NaNoWriMo and all ... ) A few books I highly recommend (and may review at a later date): Coming Attractions (Katie Weldon Series) by Robin Jones Gunn, Get Married: What Women Can Do to Help It Happen by Candice Watters, Anathema by Colleen Coble, and Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury. I'm pretty sure I'll be writing about Coming Attractions and Get Married sometime ... maybe after November 30!

• I made the best hot fudge sauce the other day. It's my great-grandma's recipe. I have fond memories of eating this sauce on vanilla ice cream at her house. Muy delicioso!

• I'm beginning to seriously think about church membership. I grew up in a church where membership wasn't stressed, and I'd honestly never really thought about officially joining a church before. Some of you will remember that just over a year ago, I decided to switch churches. I wouldn't say that membership is pushed in my new church, but it's definitely encouraged. I'll be writing more about this later, I'm sure!

• I had the greatest thought last week as I was watching the tail end of an episode of LOST on some cable channel late at night: When LOST comes back in January, I won't have to watch it alone and then bore/confuse my mom with the details at work the next morning. Why? Because Val and her roommate will be able to watch it with me!

• Watch this video. (Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to embed it here, so you'll have to click through to the website.) Now be jealous of me and my mom--we're going to a Straight No Chaser concert in December!!! Merry Christmas, Mom!