I know the blog has been quiet this week. I was having a bit of difficulty earlier in the week with my creative muse (she hates it when my stamp room is messy, but a good clean-up and she was back to her old self.)
I have been creating, but it isn't anything that I can share yet so I thought that I would do a blog post about what I have been reading lately.
I have a confession...my latest obsession is amazon.com. Once you buy a book there, the site starts to build a recommendation list for you. I LOVE THAT although my budget really does not...lol!
When Ben is gone, books are my refuge. I read when I go to bed and to escape the challenges of being a "temporary" single parent. I thought that you might enjoy some of the books that I can recommend...
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
I know that I am in the minority, but even though I read TONS of chick lit, I have never really read Nora Roberts. This book is the second of four of the Bride Quartet. It's a series about a group of four friends that run a wedding consulting business out of the family home (i.e. mansion) of one of the girls. The first was about the photographer. This second one is about the floral designer.
I LOVE these books! The setting of the business is gorgeous and if a book can have good ambience (which I definitely think that they can,) this series is perfect! So elegant and gorgeous with well-written storylines and characters. I highly recommend this series (although the final 2 books have not been released yet.) They definitely provide a soothing, beautiful escape from the everyday life.
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The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz
This is a book that I discovered by using the amazon.com recommendations list. I am about halfway through it and am thoroughly enjoying it. It's filled with short stories and recipes from a chef that has transplanted his life to Paris. A lot of the book deals with the difficulties/challenges with dealing with Parisian/French customs that are so different from our own and is always told with a sense of humor while at the same time, schooling you on how to act in Paris/France. Having been to the country a couple of times, I love it! The stories are highly entertaining and I am looking forward to trying some of the French recipes! It's a great book to carry around and read 15-20 minutes at a time (while waiting for teens in parking lots, etc.)
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Scrapbookers All-in-One Memory Logbook by Kristen Rutten
I saw mention of this book on a blog and had to go check it out. I bought it totally blind, not sure if it would be a good purchase or not. I don't think that I am going to be disappointed. It's a 390 page planner for 2010 that incorporates scrapbooking into your life planning. The link above is for a bound issue, but you can buy the spiral bound from Kristen's website. The book includes weekly challenges along with alternative ideas working off the original challenge, spaces to create sketches/idea brainstorming, as well as journaling prompts throughout the book. It is also a life-planner with a good -sized space for planning your daily life throughout the year. Kristen has a design team and a well-done website to provide added inspiration as you go throughout the year. I think that it is going to be an amazing asset to my scrapbooking for 2010.
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The next two books are my latest inspirational obsessions. I carry them with me everywhere!
Let me preface my review of the next two books by saying that I am a book/magazine junkie. I buy LOTS of them, but because I have been crafting for 15+ years, I usually feel pretty good if I can only find a handful of ideas that I find truly inspirational. For me to find things inspirational, they have to incorporate design using a different style or a different use for the same items that we all use, but just have that extra pizzazz.
A Card a Day by the Papercrafts Team
BOTH of these books are amazing!!! Quite honestly, there are probably only a handful of ideas in each that I DON'T find inspiring. There is just so much beauty and eye-candy in each. I literally carry them around with me all day long and am CONSTANTLY finding new ideas/inspiration each and every time that I look through them.
52 More Scrapbooking Challenges by Elizabeth Kartchner
I hope that you are having a good week!!!
Now go pick up a new good book today...you deserve the special treat for yourself!
4 comments:
Christi - if you like to read try the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon - I am on the 3rd book in the series right now and LOVE them. I love Nora Roberts too, but these are so much different. Epic Adventure, amazing love story, historical fiction and just good books all around.
Hi Christi,
Thankyou for these recommendations!
I think I will be getting the Bride series and the card a day!
I just finished a good book with the book club that i belong to
it is "Velva Jean learns to drive"
can't remember the author off the top of my head but I bought it from amazon and only needed the title.
great book! makes you laugh and cry.a special relationship between a sister and brother.
have a great weekend!
My recent inspirational read that I loved is a book called Decoding The Spiritual Messages of Everyday Life by Dr. Paul DeBell. All books on spirituality have very overlapping interests. They are all interested in helping people live happier and more fulfilling lives. None, however, aims to teach people to decode the spiritual feedback in their own life and use those insights make the approaches of modern psychology to everyday problems more effective. Instead they base their practices in one or another religious or spiritual tradition. This is the main reason why I love this book.
I'm loving the new NR Bride series as well..was wondering if that card a day book was a good purchase..think I 'll have to get it now! I need to get my book blog going again...one of my resolutions..LOL..so have you read Hush,Hush yet? I'm also reading the new book by Audrey Niffenegger..(time traveler's wife) Her Fearful Symmetry..liking it so far..!
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