10 Young Adult Book Series To Binge Read

Okay, I'll readily admit that I am not a young adult, but I do enjoy reading a well written and engaging young adult novel every now and again now that I am adult. 

So, when I came across an article The News & Observer website titled Books: 10 best book series to binge-read with your teen by Sandie Angulo Chen, I couldn't help but want to sneak a peek at the book series that made the list.

I've personally read the 'His Fair Assassin' trilogy by Robin LaFevers mentioned in Sandie Angulo Chen's article and loved this series!! I can't recommend it highly enough if you haven't already read this series yet.

Click on the top link to see which other young adult series have made the list as well.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Audiobooks to Enjoy During Your Marathon Training!

I'm not a runner myself, but have family members who do run and train for marathons. So, when I came across an article on Bustle's website titled 7 Audiobooks That Will Fuel Your Marathon Training by Crystal Paul, I looked forward to taking a peek at the audiobook titles listed in the article!! Click on the link above to take a peek at the list of audiobooks to help fuel your marathon training!!

Coffee Table Books Great Gifts

With the Christmas holiday swiftly approaching, there are always one or two people on one's shopping list that are difficult to buy things for... Coffee table books can make a great gift to give these particular people. 

I came across an article online through The New York Post titled 
Cats, Chinese food, cabin porn: The year’s best coffee table books by Susannah Cahalan. There is a wide and varied list of coffee table books to fit most interests.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

An Interview With Margaret Atwood!!

Margaret Atwood has been a long time favorite author of mine. I think she has interesting things to share with readers. So, when I came across The New York Times article Margaret Atwood: By The Book, I looked forward to reading it... And, of course, I learned new things about Ms. Atwood!!

Five New Books for Wine Lovers!!

Are you a wine lover? Or do you know someone who is?? Then check our the following article I discovered through the Seattle Times website titled Five great books for the wine lovers on your shopping list by Andy Perdue. Click on the above link to check out these new book titles about wine.

Small Business Saturday!! Visit a Indie Bookstore today!!

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen

My husband read Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen back in 2004 or 2005 and has been implementing the techniques's outlined in David Allen's book. My husband has found the techniques to be beneficial for him in getting things done.

I use to be an organized person, who would get things done with no problems! Now I can't seem to get out of my own way these days. So, I decided I'd better see what ideas David Allen offered readers to help them get things done, because I could personally use some surefire techniques for stress free productivity. I recently listened to the abridged audio version of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen for myself. 

The following is the publisher's summary, which I found on Audible's website:

In today's world of exponentially increased communication and responsibility, yesterday's methods for staying on top just don't work. Veteran management consultant and trainer David Allen recognizes that "time management" is useless the minute your schedule is interrupted; "setting priorities" isn't relevant when your e-mail is down; "procrastination solutions" won't help if your goals aren't clear. 

Allen's premise is simple: our ability to be productive is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve stress-free productivity and unleash our creative potential. He teaches us how to:

+ Apply the "do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it" rule to get your in-box empty.  

+ Reassess goals and stay focused in changing situations.

+ Overcome feelings of confusion, anxiety, and being overwhelmed. 

+Feel fine about what you're not doing. 

From core principles to proven tricks, Getting Things Done has the potential to transform the way you work - and the way you experience work. At any level of implementation, David Allen's entertaining and thought-provoking advice shows you how to pick up the pace without wearing yourself down.

 After listening to the abridged audio version of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen, I feel inspired to test his techniques on getting things done as the ideas presented seem like awesome ways to move forward.

At this time, I am not giving Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen a rating... Basically, I liked what I heard in this audiobook. But, until I actually implement the techniques themselves to see if they help me get things done, it's difficult for me to give this book a rating.

Until my next post, happy reading!! 

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

Top Ten Tuesday --- Top Ten Bookish/Bloggish Events that I am grateful for this year!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!


Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Here are the Top Ten Bookish/Bloggish Events that I am grateful for this year:

1. Visiting the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California in January 2015... I am a huge fan of John Steinbeck's writing, so visiting this museum with my hubby was extra special.

2. Meeting Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train, at an author reading/book signing at a local bookstore in February 2015. I was able to have her sign a copy of her novel The Girl on the Train!!

3. Meeting author, Garth Stein, at an author reading and book signing event at a local bookstore in March 2015. I had listed him as one of my top ten authors I'd like to meet in one of my Top Ten Posts earlier this year. So, I was excitedto meet him in person and have him sign a copy of his new book, A Sudden Light, for me. I was even able to have my picture taken with him.

4. Attending the 2015 Bay Area Book Festival with my hubby in Berkeley, California in June. This book event was a blast and we look forward to attending it again next year.

5. Hearing Judy Blume speak live at the Bay Area Book Festival and being able to have her sign a copy of her new book, In The Unlikely Event, after the event ended.

6. Meeting/hearing author, Amy Stewart, speak twice this year... The first time was at the 2015 Bay Area Book Festival, where Ms. Stewart signed a copy of her nonfiction book, The Drunken Botanist, for me. The second time was at a local bookstore, where Ms. Stewart talked about her newly released novel, Girl Waits With Gun, and of course, I had her sign my copy of Girl Waits With Gun. Amy Stewart was also on my top ten list of authors that I'd like to meet.

7. Winning several free books through Goodreads Giveaways this year is another reason I am grateful... I've received more free books this year from the Goodreads Giveaways than I can recall. I am always grateful to receive free books. My favorite book read this year (that I received from Goodreads Giveaways) is Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert.

8. Having so many wonderful followers on my blog that I do, along with all the positive comments left by readers like YOU!! I enjoy reading relevant comments pertaining to blog posts I make, so have fun and leave comments for me to read.

9. I delighted that I have read 92 books so far this year... It looks like I'll be able to reach my goal of reading 100 books by the end of this year. Keep your fingers crossed for me that I reach my goal of reading 100 books by the end of the 2015 as things will be busy between now and the end of the year due to the holidays.

10. I've been a member of Bookcrossing for 7+ years now and have enjoyed exchanging several books with other readers/Bookcrossers around the world. I look forward to remaining an active member of the Bookcrossing community in the years to come.

So what are you grateful/thankful for?

Racy Books From A Century Ago...

It's really interesting (to me anyway) to discover which book related articles one comes across while surfing the internet these days. 

Earlier today, I did a search on the Google News site using the search term 'books'. One of the first few articles to pop up was titled Your Great-Grandma’s Dirty Books, which is published on The Daily Beast website. In the article, I read the following bit of information about dirty/racy novels from a century ago:

A hundred years ago, there was only one way to explain a woman having sex outside of marriage: she must have been drugged, defiled, and sold into prostitution. This tended to happen, we were warned, when girls left home and went to the big city, where the dangers of liquor and dance halls were all too well-known.

This turned out to be mostly nonsense. By the time the Roaring Twenties came along, moral crusaders had basically abandoned the idea—but in their heyday, they managed to crank out some spectacularly lurid fiction about innocent girls led astray. Imagine your great-grandmother, sitting primly in her mother’s parlor, breathlessly paging through these so-called “white slave dramas” in search of forbidden thrills. It always ends badly for these girls—as it had to, given the conventions of the genre—but there was plenty of champagne and seduction to be had along the way.

Let me add that I can't even imagine my great-grandmas reading any naughty books back in the day!! It seems like erotica novels are in abundance today and cover a wide range of topics... So, needless to say, I wanted to know what kinds of topics were written about in dirty/racy novels a century ago.

Click on the link above to see which dirty/racy book titles made the list along with a synopsis of each novel.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Sesame Street's Best Literary Moments!

Nostalgia alert! Calling all literary lovers and fans of Sesame Street!! Check out the following article on Bustle (with accompanying videos) titled 11 of 'Sesame Street's Best Literary Moments by Caitlin White.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

Friday Finds #102

Friday Finds is a book meme hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm. Friday Finds is a chance to share and show off the books you discovered during the week and would like to add to your reading list... 

Or a place to simply feature the books you've actually purchased throughout the week and have added to your to be read pile!

Here's a list of books I've added to my ever growing 'to be read pile' this week:

1. Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman
2. Seeing God Everywhere: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Living by Swami Shraddhananda

So, which books have added to your 'to be read' pile this week?

Fabulous Wedding Venues For Book Lovers!!

I was on the BuzzFeed website last night and noticed an interesting article titled 19 Jaw-Dropping Wedding Venues For Book Lovers by Ali Velez. 

All of the locations looked like wonderful places to wed one's beloved... I would have loved to be married at The Library Hotel in New York, The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, or even Ernest Hemingway's Home and Museum in Key West, Florida. 

Until my next post, happy reading!!

14 Books About Food That You May Not Have Read Yet!!

Paste Magazine posted an article on their website titled The 14 Best Books About Food That You (Probably) Haven’t Read by John Burdick. In his article, Burdick writes the following:

From blogs to many popular books, food writing is now among America’s favorite forms of leisure reading. Gaining usage as a term in the early 1990s, food writing is now composed of a range of genres—non-fiction, literature, recipes, journalism, memoir, and travelogues among them—that explore the fundamental relationship between people, culture and food. In the past decade alone, the number of books that touch on food in some form have rapidly proliferated, not only in quantity and but also in quality, as many of our nation’s most skilled writers are now taking food as their topic of choice.

Plenty of food enthusiasts can reiterate the arguments of Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, have been delighted by the hyper-witty, alcohol-fueled global musings of Anthony Bourdain, or are aware that Eddie Huang’s hip hop-themed culinary memoir Fresh Off the Boat was adapted into a sitcom on ABC. Despite the importance and popularity of these books and subsequent media empires, much of the best writing on food goes unnoticed by the likes of television producers and Oprah’s Book Club. What about the great food texts that do not reach a widespread audience, but truly give us a new way to examine our basic relationship with food in the broadest sense?

I haven't read any of the books listed in the above mentioned article. However, I do have own a copy of Jennifer 8's book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, in my 'to be read' pile. I am hoping to read it book before 2015 ends.

Can we guess how old you are based on your favorite books?

I came across an article on the Independent's website titled Can we guess how old you are based on your favourite books? Take our quiz by Mollie Goodfellow. I admit that I was curious to see if their quiz could accurately guess my age, so I took the quiz immediately... Well, the quiz results guessed that I was in my 50s. I'm in my 40s, so they were incorrect in guessing my age range by a decade!

Take the quiz yourself by clicking on the above link. I dare you to share with me your results. By taking the quiz, were they able to guess your age correctly or were they off??

Books Inc.

Periodicals Galore @ Books Inc

Last week, my husband and I visited Alameda, California for the afternoon and evening. During our visit to Alameda, California, one of the many places we visited was a bookstore called Books Inc.

Books Inc is a beautiful bookstore! It's nice in size, friendly staff, and I love the layout of the displays. They carry a large number of newly releases books and bestsellers. Plus, there is a periodical section, sale section, and other book related knick knacks located throughout the store. 

Plenty of Books for Children, Tweens, & Young Adults @ Books Inc

Somehow or another, we escaped Books Inc without buying a single item during our visit. I'm not quire sure how that happened as I saw many books and magazines that are on my reading wishlist inside their store for purchase. 

Even More Books on Display @ Books Inc

Which bookstores have you recently visited? Have you found any new favorite bookstores to shop at or do you tend to shop at tried and true books you've been going to for years?

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Live Your Truth by Sandy Cooper

This past week, I finished reading a nonfiction book titled Live Your Truth by Sandy Cooper. This book is a memoir approximately 128 pages in length. 

I received my copy of Live Your Truth by Sandy Cooper for FREE from Goodreads Giveaways. Below is my honest, unbiased review of Live Your Truth by Sandy Cooper.

I think the entire concept of living one's truth is a powerful one. I also believe that there may come a time in one's life when things spiral out of control and we stop living our own personal truth as one struggles to gain some semblance of control of their life. 

Live Your Truth by Sandy Cooper is a book in which the author shares her personal experience dealing with life events that were beyond her control and how she finally came to terms with her situation in order to start living her own truth once again.

The following is a summary of Live Your Truth by Sandy Cooper from Amazon's website:

Sandy’s story is familiar, yet extraordinary. Her experience will resonate with many readers who will see themselves in her. They will recognize parts of their own life in Sandy’s struggles to find herself in the midst of crushing family obligations, professional concerns, and personal obstacles. Sandy’s strong-willed and fiercely independent nature is the driving force behind her personal reinvention and serves as an inspiration for those who join her on this journey. You may not know Sandy personally but after reading her story, you’ll soon consider her a trusted friend. Live Your Truth is precisely that: honest and true.

I personally didn't consider Sandy Cooper to be 'a trusted friend' after reading Live Your Truth as suggested in the summary above. Yes, I found reading Sandy Cooper's experience to be touching and heartfelt... But for me, reading Live Your Truth, is just another HUGE reminder for those who have left their own life's path, to do what they must to right their life and live their own personal truth.

I wish the ending of Live Your Truth had been different. I would have enjoyed learning from Ms. Cooper through her book that she actually did take her life back, how she did so, and what she's doing with her life now... Instead of reading that she simply made the decision to live her own personal truth.

I also think the summary of Ms. Cooper's book could have been written differently to incorporate more of what readers would be reading about in her book.

I am giving Live Your Truth by Sandy Cooper a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars. 

Until my next post, happy reading!

Friday Finds #101

Friday Finds is a book meme hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm. Friday Finds is a chance to share and show off the books you discovered during the week and would like to add to your reading list... 

Or a place to simply feature the books you've actually purchased throughout the week and have added to your to be read pile!

Here's a list of books I've added to my ever growing 'to be read pile' this week:

1. Amazon Ink by Lori Devoti
2. White Heat by Cherry Adair
3. Fatal Attraction by Alicia Fields

I purchased the above books for a dollar each at a local used book store in their sale section. I don't need any more books, but how could I pass up new to me authors and books when they are a dollar each! 

4. The Adventures of Captain Patty: Captain Patty and the Nameless Navigator by Erin Cruey

I received this book for free from Goodreads Giveaway program.

So, which books have added to your 'to be read' pile this week?

Top Ten Tuesday --- Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I Still Need To Watch

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Here's my list of book to movie adaptations that I still need to watch:

The Giver

The Fault in Our Stars

To Kill A Mockingbird

Wild

Winter's Tale

Gone Girl

The Maze Runner

If I Stay

Ender's Game

Twelve Years A Slave

Which book to movie adaptations do you still need to watch?

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

Vedanta: A Simple Introduction by Pravrajika Vrajaprana

I read Vedanta: A Simple Introduction by Pravrajika Vrajaprana earlier this week. This is a short paperback book that is 90 pages in length. 

I purchased Vedanta: A Simple Introduction by Pravrajika Vrajaprana at the Vedanta Bookstore at the Vedanta Temple in Santa Barbara, California a couple of years ago now. I'm wasn't all that familiar with the Vedanta Philosophy and wanted to learn more about it, so I purchased the above book. 

I figured that Vedanta: A Simple Introduction by Pravrajika Vrajaprana would give me a good overview/introduction to the Vedanta Philosophy... And I was correct, I did enjoy the wonderful overview and simple introduction to the Vedanta Philosophy in this book. I may just decide to explore the other books listed at the end for further exploration of the Vedanta Philosophy in the future.

I'm giving Vedanta: A Simple Introduction by Pravrajika Vrajaprana a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Friday Finds #100

Friday Finds is a book meme hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm. Friday Finds is a chance to share and show off the books you discovered during the week and would like to add to your reading list... 

Or a place to simply feature the books you've actually purchased throughout the week and have added to your to be read pile!

Here's a list of books I've added to my ever growing 'to be read pile' this week:

1. Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi
2. Live Your Truth by Sandy Cooper

What did you add to your reading stack this week?

Book Festivals For Literary Lovers Across the USA

After attending the phenomenal Bay Area Book Festival earlier this year, I decided to check out which other literary festivals around the United States would be worthy of a visit. 

To my surprise, I discovered an article on Bustle's website titled 10 Book Festivals For Literary-Lovers Across The United States by Stephanie Topacio Long... And to my delight, the Bay Area Book Festival made the list of 10 book festivals for literary lovers across the USA!! I also discovered 9 other book festival that I would love to attend as well, especially the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Have you been to any book festivals here in the United States? If so, share your experience! As I mentioned above, I attended the Bay Area Book Festival in June of this year. I blogged about my experience at this book festival. Click on the following link to read about my visit to the 2015 Bay Area Book Festival.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

I recently listened to the unabridged audio version of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and narrated by Richard Poe. Listening time is 21 hours, 39 minutes.

I've had The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski in my collection for quite awhile and am finally glad that I listened to it. I thought that this audiobook was really well narrated by Richard Poe. 

I enjoyed David Wroblewski's prose and writing style quite a bit. I also enjoyed reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle quite a bit in and of itself... Although, I'll readily admit that I wasn't completely in love with The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. For starters, I didn't like the ending of this novel as the ending just kinda happened... On the other hand, I can't imagine it ending any other way. I just have a couple of questions, I'd like to ask the author about the ending of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle that I didn't quite understand. Also, about halfway through The Story of Edgar Sawtelle I became frustrated with the main character of Edgar Sawtelle as he doesn't tell his mother what's really going on and runs away from home. His time spent away from home seemed pointless to me. Also, I didn't pick up the Hamlet references in this novel and only learned about them after the fact when I was reading online reviews of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.

The following is the plot summary for The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski from Amazon's website:

The extraordinary debut novel that became a modern classic. 

Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose remarkable gift for companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. 

Edgar seems poised to carry on his family's traditions, but when catastrophe strikes, he finds his once-peaceful home engulfed in turmoil. 

Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the Sawtelle farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who accompany him, until the day he is forced to choose between leaving forever or returning home to confront the mysteries he has left unsolved. 

Filled with breathtaking scenes, the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a meditation on the limits of language and what lies beyond, a brilliantly inventive retelling of an ancient story, and an epic tale of devotion, betrayal, and courage in the American heartland.

My favorite character in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is Almondine. Gar Sawtelle is my second favorite character in this novel followed by Henry. I didn't like the the character of Claude... And sometimes I found Edgar's character a bit annoying, but otherwise likable. I also liked learning about the Sawtelle dogs.

I am giving The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Do You Buy Used Books At Garage Sales, Thrift Stores, Etc?

I can't say as I've ever purchased any used books at a garage sale. mainly because I don't go to them... And, I've only purchased a few used books at a thrift store once as thrift stores aren't places I shop at either. However, I love purchasing books at  Friends of the Library book sales. 

In fact, when my husband and I lived in Carpinteria, California, there was a Friends of Library Used Bookstore next door to the Carpinteria Library and I use to shop there frequently for used books as it was my favorite place to buy used books.

So, do you buy used books at garage sales, thrift stores, fol bookstores, etc?

As a side note, I did come across an interesting article on the Huffington Post titled The 10 Books At Garage Sales You Should Never Pass Up by Ann Brenoff... It's always intriguing to read which books others think would be great books to purchase at discounted prices.

Amazon Opens It's Very First Brick & Mortar Bookstore in Seattle, Washington

Last night, I came across an article on the Huffington Post titled 
'Amazon Books' Debuts In Seattle, The Company's First Actual Bookstore and learned that Amazon will be opening its first brick and mortar bookstore today in Seattle, Washington. In the article, I read the following:

"Amazon Books is a physical extension of Amazon.com," company vice president Jennifer Cast wrote in a statement published Monday. "We’ve applied 20 years of online bookselling experience to build a store that integrates the benefits of offline and online book shopping. The books in our store are selected based on Amazon.com customer ratings, pre-orders, sales, popularity on Goodreads, and our curators’ assessments."

I remember reading a few years ago that Amazon had intended to open a brick and mortar store at some point. I'd be interested in visiting Amazon's new brick and mortar bookstore in Seattle, just for the experience alone.

Until my next post, happy reading!!