It's Monday!

Happy New Year!

I have had the most amazing two weeks.  Taking time off from life to enjoy my family.  During one of our day adventures we were stuck in traffic for three hours.  At one point we sat for almost an hour without moving... my son jumped out of the car to buy pretzels for everyone from the street vendor.  Only in NYC - HA!

Mostly we watched movies, played video games, worked out, put puzzles together, simply said we enjoyed each others company.  Christmas Day was the most amazing day, my husband and son joined me on a run in the woods.  Love!

Let's talk Books!

What I'm reading (hosted by Book Journey): I haven't been posting reviews but I have been reading, on my new iPad.  Yep, the World Traveler bought me an iPad! 

I have five reviews to write/post.  I hope to post most of them in the next few weeks.

Hmmmm.... I was listening to a Slate podcast over the weekend... and heard them ask, when you listened to an audio book, did you read the book?

Another question they discussed was... how much of a book do you have to read to say you read the book? Do you have to finish a book to say you read it or can you read half of a book, stop reading and if you are able to discuss it... is that good enough?

I found the second question interesting since I 'read' a few books in 2011 that I didn't finish but feel I could participate in a book discussion.  I don't count them as read though, and in GoodReads... I don't flag them at all.  How do you mark books you didn't finish... for your personal record keeping?

On the iPad: I'm starting reading The Odds: a love story today.  I'm just three chapters in but I'm interested! 

Valentine's weekend, Art and Marion Fowler flee their Cleveland suburb for Niagara Falls, desperate to recoup their losses. Jobless, with their home approaching foreclosure and their marriage on the brink of collapse, Art and Marion liquidate their savings account and book a bridal suite at the Falls' ritziest casino for a second honeymoon. While they sight see like tourists during the day, at night they risk it all at the roulette wheel to fix their finances-and save their marriage.

Listening to: A few weeks ago I mentioned starting The Story of Beautiful Girl.  I haven't had a minute to listen to a book all month, but I'm still planning to listen to this one next.

It is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution. Deeply in love, they escape, and find refuge in the farmhouse of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. But the couple is not alone-Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them that same night, Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. But before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers two words to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the 40-year epic journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia-lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.

Do you have any exciting plans this week?  My family is still in town.  Our time is wrapping up, I will be shedding tears soon.  Then it's time to start planning for my trip to Paris... it's next week!