The Sunday Salon: Josh and Other Excitement!

Wow, it's been quite the weekend! Tons of excitement around here!

First off, I got the mail on Friday and found there a little surprise from Deanna (Ibeeeg) from Polishing Mud Balls. I knew she had something up her sleeve, but when I opened it I couldn't believe my eyes and nearly hyperventilated right on the spot! Inside was Josh Groban's new cd... and it was SIGNED BY HIM!! Personalized to ME! I guess Deanna's mom was lucky enough to see him at a signing in Chicago and so she asked her to get this for me. How well she knows me already!

Oh my. It's still freaking me out actually. If only I could have personally been there too. Maybe some day, huh. Anyway, thank you so much to Deanna... isn't she awesome though?

And then, Christmas came early when we all got new phones on Friday. I thought this day would never come. But come it did and now I'm in the process of learning what a "smart" phone can do and how to text on a touch screen. It may take some getting used to! But it will happen, and I'm going to have tons of fun with it!

Also on Friday (it was overload on Friday I'm telling you) we fit in Harry Potter. I enjoyed it. My brother said  there wasn't enough comic relief, but I thought there were quite a few cute and funny moments. Bummer we have to wait longer for the conclusion to the whole thing. I'd totally forgotten the book, but as I watched, it started coming back to me.

Finally on Friday we had a little mini family gathering with my side of the family. Ate more pie and played Catch Phrase a bit. And I showed my sister the above tidbit and we squealed like teenagers! Yeah, she gets it.

Saturday I got a much needed haircut, hung the outside Christmas lights and did just a teeny tiny bit of Christmas shopping, but at least I can say I've started. To those who can say they have finished, I say you are amazing.... or crazy... one of the two.

Oh then there was Thanksgiving of course. This was with my husband's family, the side of the family where we've had the recent and still raw loss. So for the most part, it was a fine Thanksgiving, but there were also moments where we just wished things were normal and we were ALL there, without that "someone is missing" feeling.

Earlier in the week there was the BIG BLIZZARD of 2010! Wow, I've never ever EVER seen the news and the weather guys get us all worked up about an approaching storm like they did this time. They sent everyone home early from nearly everything and we proceeded to batten things down and hunker down, prepared to light a fire and cozy up with the family all safe and sound. And we kept saying to the kids... "any minute it's going to get here!!" And then we waited, and waited and waited. We built the fire, watched a movie, told the teenager she was confined to home and waited, and waited and waited! Finally, we went to bed, and heard nothing all night long. We got up to absolutely no change. Yeah, for us, the blizzard never came! It was the most anticlimactic non-event we've ever experienced! Pretty funny. (Places just a bit north of us did get hit though, some harder than others. But still, I think we have had WAY worse than this in past years.)

Whew, like I said, it's been an exciting week!

And yes, I've been reading. in and through and amongst it all. For the last few days I've been totally loving North of Beautiful. Really loving it. I also finished Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld, which was very fun too. Ugh, I'm getting massively behind in reviews. But still, I had hoped to read much more than I did during this vacation weekend. Isn't that always the case? Oh, well.

Well, so I think that's all I had to report on. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, whether it was a holiday for you or not! Now, on to December!

Oh wait, a video... the song Josh signed on, and one of my favorites on the new album:

Music Stuck in My Head: Carol of the Bells

Yes, it's officially safe to break out the Christmas music now, right? And so today I thought I'd highlight one of my most favorites, Carol of the Bells.

I like my Carol of the Bells done up in many many ways.

There's the all guys a capella version, which I really really love:




The piano version, and there's many of these, but I picked the George Winston one:



The choir version, by the Mormon Tab of course!:



The ladies Celtic version,:



This awesome rock version by TSO:



And finally, a handbell choir:



Do you like Carol of the Bells? What's your favorite version?

Weekly Geeks 2010.38: Antique Books

I decided I better do a quick Weekly Geek since I posted the question, even if it was a day late! :)

So the question is what old books do you have? Where here old means like, old, like ancient, like antique. And I do have a few, most of them come from my grandparents. So I took some pictures of a few of them for you:

These books were my grandpa's favorites when he was a kid. (He's the one that turned 90 this summer.) One day, he just up and gave them to me. The dates on them are 1927 and 1928.

These Hardy Boy books are my father-in-law's. They are from the 1940's.

The green book is my mom's history book from 1958 or so. The blue book is my grandpa's English book from 1934. What I love about the English book is all the signatures of all the kids inside whose hands this book traveled through. It's like a time capsule.

The Bobbsey Twins book I just found at a thrift store and fell in love with it. It's date is 1929. The Pinocchio book is one I inherited from my grandma. It's from the 1960's. It's a flip book where this side is Pinocchio, but the other side is King Aurthur and the Round Table...but its cover is torn off sadly.

This one also came from my grandma and is dated 1902. I have no idea why she had it. I wish I knew if there was a story behind it. The pictures inside are wonderful

 And my favorite is the husbandry book that was found in a pile of junk on my grandpa's farm. I'm not sure he ever used it, but perhaps his uncle, who he bought the farm from in 1948 or so, used it. It's date is 1899, and I find it a most fascinating, old thing! Inside is all sorts of knowledge about how to run a farm and deal with livestock, including cool fold out overlays of cows and horses like this:

Not that this will ever come in handy for me, but I'll always remember that day we were on the farm going through this junk and I latched onto this old book and my grandpa thought I was crazy!

What cool old books to you have around  your house?

Books I'm Thankful For

Well, I'm thankful for all books, but especially these:

The Box Car Children: because it sparked my imagination as a kid and made me forever fascinated with the idea of living in a box car

The Hiding Place and The Diary of Anne Frank: because they made the Holocaust real to me.

Anne of Green Gables: because I learned that books can just be fun and happy

Harry Potter: because it was so fun to be part of a world-wide book club!

Howard's End: because I will  remember it as the first book I read with an online community

Twilight: because it gets people talking about books with much emotion and passion, positively or negatively!

The Tale of Two Cities: because it was the first book I remember discussing with a class and therefore becoming extremely attached, invested and emotionally involved.

Good Night Moon: because it was my favorite book to read to my little kids

The Enchanted Cup: because it was the first book I remember just grabbing off the shelf and ending up loving. It also began my love for the Tristan and Isolde story.

The Book Thief: because it showed me that writing can be so much more than just.... writing. (NEWSFLASH!!! I'm hearing that Markus Zusak will be coming to the library in March!!! I'm still in shock over this news!!)

The Maze Runner: because it's the first New York Times bestseller where I can say "Hey, I know that author!"

Seabiscuit: because it proves to me that you never know what sort of book you'll love ( a non fiction book about horse racing? Who knew?)

The Kite Runner: because it taught me that I can love love love a book, while others can hate hate hate it!

Ender's Game: because it demonstrates the "blow you away" ending in a big way

Okay okay, I'll stop now! What books are you especially thankful for and why?

Guest Review: Marysvale by Jared Southwick

Book: Marysvale by Jared Southwick

Genre: It felt like a YA paranormal one to my husband, but I'm not sure exactly how it's being marketed.

Rating: A 

For: Review

From: The author

I accepted this review copy awhile back and promptly put it right there on the top of the stack with grand intentions of getting to it sooner than later. However when my husband, Mr. Stuey, recently finished a book and started rummaging through my stacks looking for the next great read, he happened upon this one, picked it up and once again beat me to it! This seems to be happening more and more these days. I'm reading all the read alongs I've committed to and all the library books I can't resist and the book club books, etc, while meanwhile he is enjoying all my review books. Many of them he hasn't written a review for quite yet, but this time he sat down and did one for me right away.

Here's what he has to say:

I just finished reading Marysvale, a young adult book by Jared Southwick. When I plopped the book back on the book shelf, my wife asked if I was done. When I said, “Yes”, she responded, “Wow, that was the fastest you have read anything lately.” Well, the reasons for that were, first, I really liked the book and, second, it is an easy read that lends itself to quickly turning the pages. It was just FUN.

The story is about John and his trusty horse Smoke. Both are thrown out into the back country and run headlong into the dreaded Brean, a race of vicious monsters that inhabit the forest. John has a special power that allows him glimpses into people's soul, and wicked people want to take advantage of this gift for evil purposes. Along the journey through the forest, and finally to the city of Marysvale, John meets new and old friends. It is a struggle to get into Marysvale and then even a larger struggle to get out again.

I felt very close to John, Smoke and the other characters that joined him, so when the Marysvale leaders treated them poorly I found myself really hating them. At times, I thought the evil men were actually scarier than the Brean monsters.

The book contained elements of mystery, action, cowboy western, magic, demons, Indiana Jones, and even a light romance. I am looking forward to the next installment of the Marysvale series, Alyth, which should be available in Fall of 2011.

I would recommend the book for children 9 and older. Younger kids may find it a bit too scary. I enjoyed the book at 45, so it would be great for young teenagers and really anyone who likes young adult fiction.

If you want a gift for a young teenager in your life, or if you are looking for a quick fun read, give Marysvale a try.


For more about the author, Jared Southwick, check out his website here.


I am really looking forward to my turn at this book and to perhaps discover yet another favorite Utah author!

Review and Book Club Report: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Book: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Genre: Classic
Rating: A
For: Book Club
From: The library (though I do have my own extremely beat up copy too)
Version: Abridged! Ugh.

So, as I've been mentioning quite a bit lately, this was a re-read for me for book club this month. I read it the first time during high school and LOVED it. This time around, I loved it... meaning, it didn't seem to be quite as awesome as I remembered it the first time around. Not sure why. Maybe because it felt like I was missing something by not reading the unabridged version. I don't know. It could also be because this was the book I was reading during all the emotional upheaval our family has been experiencing this month, which made it very hard to really enjoy reading at all.

Again, a quick summary of the plot: Edmond Dantes, a very nice boy, has it all. That is, until his "friends" plot against him and he ends up at a very ruthless prison for life. Luckily, he happens upon a real friend there in the prison who teaches him all sorts of things and then actually tells him about the existence of a buried treasure. When he escapes, was we all know he does, he finds the treasure, reinvents himself as the Count of Monte Cristo, and plans his revenge against all those who sent him to jail in the first place. The plot gets quite complicated from there and you won't believe all the stuff that's happening!

And that's what I love about this book. The fun and crazy plot. The interweaving of all the people and stories. The bottom line theme of revenge and is it justified? And do the kids have to pay for their sins of their parents? And how far does one go for revenge? Ah, it's all fabulous stuff. And a timeless story. Definitely fits the description of  "classic."

Bottom line: I loved it... again.


What the book club thought:

It was interesting that the only people who actually finished this book where the ones that chose to read the big unabridged version. Out of the rest of us, several were almost done, or not quite done but planned to finish. Then there were a few who just didn't get into it and gave up after a couple hundred pages.

We spent a lot of time comparing the book and the movie, the 2002 version that I've been talking up too much lately. I know there are many versions of the movie, and I think some of them were made as a series, so they are probably much more true to the book, but this movie (that I still really enjoy,) is nothing like the book and we decided that we must think of them as completely different things and not related at all.  Then we can just be happy and forget it! However, I've decided that I really do need to watch some of those other versions and see what I think.

Differences are (SPOILER WARNING):

* there's no second generation for the Count to manipulate, except Albert, so all the secondary plots are discarded
* Fernand and Edmond are best friends
* Mercedes marries Fernand shortly after Edmond is arrested because she is pregnant
* Albert is his kid! WHAT?
* He gets back together with Mercedes. Ah, I like this ending, really I do.
* All the people that help the count with his revenge plans are melded into one character, Jacopo.

We talked a lot about the differences in the two book versions also, and what we may have perhaps missed in our abridged version. I think we missed much of the detailed back story, and some description of places they go, and I'm really afraid we may have missed some writing style too. That's the part that really bugs me the most. We also talked about the differences in translations, which can be quite an interesting comparison.

Some people felt like there needed to be more time to get invested in the character of Edmond before he was arrested and hauled off in order to care about what happens to him in the remainder of the book. We discussed this for awhile, trying to decide if we felt for him and whether or not his plans were justified or not. Also, if he changed is mind about what he was doing, and at what point. Like I said before, I really think he a fascinating character, no matter where you stand on this whole issue.

Anyway, I really think everyone enjoyed the experience for the most part, and were happy we chose this book.

The Sunday Salon: Reading Updates

It's snowing today! I think I'm ready to break out the Christmas music!

Here's what I've been reading this past week:

I started White Cat by Holly Black on Friday evening and finished it this morning. Awesome book. Very unique take on that supernatural thing everyone is so obsessed with. Review to come this week.

I also finished the first book in the Obernewtyn series by Isobelle Carmody. This first book is a very small tiny thing, but for some reason it still took me what felt like forever to read it. The first half anyway. The second half went much quicker and I become much more engaged and I think that yes, I will try more of this series.

Today, I started and have now read half of Wake by Lisa McMann. Wow, I've heard a lot about this book and it's nice to finally be reading it. I'm gripped. I'm hooked. I'm swallowing it whole!

Meanwhile, I need to start The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope for the Classics Circuit for which I'm on the schedule later in December. I've a feeling it might take me awhile to read that one. And I don't want it to be nagging at me when I start the next Wheel of Time book shortly either. Can't wait to start that one. And I always forget the name of that next one... (looking it up now)...... The Fires of Heaven! Yes, that's it! :)

Oh, and then there's The Riddle, which I'm meant to be reading for a read along. But, I'm only a few chapters in and have already missed the deadline. I will continue with the series, but I may have to read them at a bit slower pace then the read along is suggesting. Know what I mean?

This past week we had our Count of Monte Cristo book club. I'm hoping to do a report on that tomorrow for those interested. I've also been assigned my day for the Virtual Advent Tour (Dec. 22) and my blogger for the  Blogger Holiday Swap (ha not sayin'!) This will be my fourth year, I think, participating in both of these super fun bloggish holiday events! Thanks guys for keeping them up.

Yesterday it was my day to post a Weekly Geek assignment and do you know, I completely forgot! And I totally even had an idea! So, that went up today, a day late, and so if you participate in that lovely meme, do head on over and see what my question is!