Happy Fall Y'All!

I realize that I live in Florida, but I was kind of hoping that the temperature would at least drop some since today is the first day of Fall.  Unfortunately, it was in the 90s.  Oh well, so much for cooler weather.  The good news is that we are supposed to be getting some rain from the Tropical Storms/Hurricanes, so maybe that will cool things off around here.

Since it is the first day of Fall, that also means it's time for our Fall Into Reading 2010 challenge hosted by Katrina over at Callapidder Days.  Do you have your reading list created yet?

I always have more books on my list than I can possibly read and this year is no exception.  Since it's a new school year, I have the new Florida Teens Read books to go through, I also have several book tours to do, our school's teacher book club selections, and then I still have books that I've started and haven't had a chance to finish.  Needless to say, I have a HUGE list.  here are just a few of the books I'll be working on reading this Fall:















































                                                                                                 




































































It's Your Call by Gary Barkalow
The Baby Bible Christmas Storybook by Robin Currie
The Perfect Blend by Trish Perry

I'll probably add to this list, but this is where I'm starting.  What are you reading this Fall?  I'm always looking for suggestions add to my TBR pile.  Hit me up in the comments section and Happy Reading!!

Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009 Wrap-Up

It's hard to believe that Fall has flown by and Winter is now here. It's times like these that I'm very grateful to live in Florida, especially when I see the snow storms hitting up north. (Thank you Lord for the sunshine and humidity.)

In any case, when the Fall Into Reading Challenge began this year, I made a short list of books I wanted to read, which you can find at this posting. Needless to say, I was able to read all three of the books, as well as several others during the reading challenge. Now I know you're thinking, three books, really? But truly, with all of the craziness in my life lately, three books is a BIG deal.

In any case, I'm glad I didn't over plan my list because I always feel terrible when I'm not able to read all of the books on my list. Call me an overachiever, but when I set out to do something, I always want to go above and beyond what is expected--even if it is a challenge I issue to myself.

I hope everyone else had the same feeling of success that I did after this challenge was over. Thank you to Katrina at Callapidder Days for hosting this event each year. (If you've never participated in one of her reading challenges, they're great fun and she usually holds giveaways each week from various publishing houses.)

Until the next challenge--Happy Reading!

Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009

Can you believe that it's already Fall? I know that's what it says on the calendar, but aside from the much-needed rain, the temperatures have been relentless in Florida. It makes me pine for the cooler weather of when I lived in the northern states. But it lasts a short while when I start to remember my runny nose and the never-ending days of not being able to stay warm. Yuck!

The first day of Fall also means that it's the first day of the Fall Reading Challenge that's sponsored by Katrina at Callapidder Days. I must admit, I "failed miserably" in the Spring Challenge because I ended up missing the ending of the challenge and then not even posting a wrap-up of the books I did manage to finish reading. I had planned on posting a wrap-up over Summer, but time flew by and here we are already at the Fall Challenge--good grief! (Is anyone else experiencing this time warp too?)

While Fall is going to be especially busy with having to work Howl-O-Scream (HOS) again at Busch Gardens, participating in NanoWriMo for the first time, visiting New Orleans for the first time, and planning our school's Poetry Jam amidst all of the "other" school functions, I do plan on taking some time for myself to read a few books between today and December 22, when the Reading Challenge ends.

My list will probably change a bit--depending upon the books I choose to review and the books our teacher book club chooses, but here is my starter list:

Double Cross by James David Jordan--I read Forsaken last year and this is the sequel. I can't wait to find out what happens to Taylor next.

Perfect Piece by Rebeca Seitz--Book 4 in the Sister's Ink series. If you like scrapbooking or know someone who does--this is the series for them. I have my suspicions about what is going to happen in this book based on "incidents" in the other books, so this will be a fun read to find out if I'm right.

No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty--He's the founder of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), so I figure he's got to know what he's talking about, right? I was also hoping for some writing inspiration since the creativity fairy has moved on with her knapsack of playful ideas and 50,000 words is colossal! (I haven't written anything even remotely resembling a story since my creative writing class my first semester of college. Even then, the teacher "assigned" us topics, so it wasn't like I came up with the idea from scratch.) In any case, I'm hoping that this book will at least make me feel better about attempting to write something--even if Madison is the only one who ever reads it.


This is my list so far. If you're participating in the Reading Challenge, or even in NaNoWriMo, let me know! I always love to read book lists because there are always wonderful new books to discover and enjoy AND I could always use a writing buddy! Happy Reading!