Manic Monday? I think not!! I was definitely a little groggy throughout the work day from all of the reading I did over the weekend. Nothing a little coffee and a great historical novel on audio book couldn’t cure! I don’t know about you but I’ll take a book in any format! I have about a 22 minute commute to work every day (and the same to get back home), so an audio book is perfect for me! I can also listen to it while I work at times. For the last couple weeks I’d been making my way through Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan, and I’ve finally finished it today. Talk about an eye opener into World War II through the eyes of a young Italian man named Pino Lella who was so passionate about doing what was write and helping to save the innocent, that he ended up enlisted in the Organization Todt and then becoming the personal driver for Nazi General Leyers. All the while he was reporting events and upcoming moves to aide the Allied Forces. Pino was such a brave young man who repeatedly risked his life, and lost the lives of many loved ones, just to keep faith and protect the innocent. There were times where I had to pause and take a minute to process from the atrocities I had just read, but you never really know what it was like to experience something as horrible as war until you hear it straight from the mouth of a survivor. Or in this case, read the words of their life. I gave this a 5 star rating on Goodreads and Amazon, and will definitely be looking into more books written by Mark Sullivan.

I find that the perfect way to wind down a Monday evening is a glass of wine, a delicious meal (sorry I forgot to take a picture before I gobbled it down), and a good book! I devoured my dinner, finished my book, but I’m savoring my last few sips of wine. I’m using my favorite wine glass that two of my dearest friends got for me a few years ago for my birthday. It’s a stemless wine glass with handprinted sugar skull and lettering saying, “I ❤ vino” on it. Do you have a favorite wine glass, or a preference to stemmed or stemless? There are so many fun designs out there now! Well, Cheers my friends! I wish you all a good evening!

 

We are currently at the 32nd hour of the 36 hour Readathon, for my time zone of Eastern Standard Time. Please send back up, my brain is slowly rebelling against the words I’m trying to read!! I’m 50 pages into my third read, 2nd full book, and boy am I starting to slow down! I have a huge book hangover from The Color of Rain by Cori McCarthy. That story took me on a rollercoaster of emotions, which is probably why I was able to finish it in less than 24 hours! I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a great Dystopian/Sci-Fi read with a strong female protagonist who faces many difficult choices just to give her brother and herself the best chance at survival.

My current read is The Magician’s Nephew by C.S Lewis, which I actually found out is the prequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, even though it was published 5 years later. This piqued my interest, so I went through all seven books of The Chronicles of Narnia and realized that their publications were all out of order in my boxed set. I dug a little deeper and found my answer. According to an interview with C.S. Lewis in about 1958, he stated that the British publication order which is by chronological events in the stories not actual dates of publication, is the best way to read them. He did not plan to write anything more than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (which was his first book), and Prince Caspian which is the sequel (by publication date). However, the other books just took form in his mind and he wrote them all out of chronological order even though he never intended more than the original two books. You can still read them in order of publication and not miss anything. My mind is still blown by this! Or maybe I’m just in an extended food coma from brunch with the book club gals. Check out the skillet french toast I had!! It had a delicious gooey middle of cinnamon and cream cheese! *drooling* Well my friends, I’m off to read a little more before bed. I may or may not make it til 11:59PM, the exact end time of the Readathon, but I will try my darnedest! Tomorrow is a work day, you know. 🙂

Sunday Funday, and it’s raining!!! I could lay in bed all day and listen to the sound of the rain. Could you? But alas, Mr. Baxter was not so pleasantly reminding me that he needed to be taken out for his morning walk. Nothing like waking up to the dog inches away from your nose staring at you.

So Today finishes up the 36 Hour Readathon I’ve been participating in with the facebook group called Bookaholic Cafe. I did not manage to stay up reading all night, but did read until about 10pm. *reminder to self, do not stay up until 2am the night before you begin a readathon* LOL. I did however manage to read about 176 pages of The Color of Rain by Cori McCarthy, the sci-fi novel with a female protagonist written by a female author. This was a book that fulfilled a topic for the 2018 Read Harder Challenge present by BookRiot, for Book Club. We have our monthly Book Club meeting at a local swanky restaurant called TRATA which is downtown (Rochester, NY) at the Armory. We don’t meet until Noon, so I should have plenty of time to finish or get close to finishing. Not sure what to read after that, I’m thinking The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis, but my taste may change.

In parting I leave a throwback for you. Exactly 1 year ago Today I was snuggled on the couch, reading a book, and having coffee in my favorite mug. Low and behold, Baxter and I recreated this image (different book of course). Too funny! Enjoy your day and stay tuned for the final Readathon updates!

About Ghostland-

“An intellectual feast for fans of offbeat history, Ghostland takes readers on a road trip through some of the country’s most infamously haunted places–and deep into the dark side of our history.

Colin Dickey is on the trail of America’s ghosts. Crammed into old houses and hotels, abandoned prisons and empty hospitals, the spirits that linger continue to capture our collective imagination, but why? His own fascination piqued by a house hunt in Los Angeles that revealed derelict foreclosures and “zombie homes,” Dickey embarks on a journey across the continental United States to decode and unpack the American history repressed in our most famous haunted places. Some have established reputations as “the most haunted mansion in America,” or “the most haunted prison”; others, like the haunted Indian burial grounds in West Virginia, evoke memories from the past our collective nation tries to forget.
With boundless curiosity, Dickey conjures the dead by focusing on questions of the living–how do we, the living, deal with stories about ghosts, and how do we inhabit and move through spaces that have been deemed, for whatever reason, haunted? Paying attention not only to the true facts behind a ghost story, but also to the ways in which changes to those facts are made–and why those changes are made–Dickey paints a version of American history left out of the textbooks, one of things left undone, crimes left unsolved. Spellbinding, scary, and wickedly insightful, Ghostland discovers the past we’re most afraid to speak of aloud in the bright light of day is the same past that tends to linger in the ghost stories we whisper in the dark.” – From Goodreads bio.

My Review- 5/5 Stars

Ghostland provides a brilliant new take on a book about ghost stories. Even though it is a historical book, it still has that tone to certain chapters that sent chills down my spine. It created a need in me to visit all of the places mentioned, and gave me a new prospective on ghosts and the after life. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes to read about things that go bump in the night, especially when it’s related to real life places!

Well we’re just about at the 4 hour mark of the 36 hour Readathon! So far I’ve taken Baxter for a walk, had lunch, and finished the remaining 126 pages of The Queen and The Cure (#2 in The Bird and The Sword Chronicles) by Amy Harmon. Yet again another 5 star read by Amy Harmon. The unique characters and exotic lands she creates are just breathtaking, and her stories just sweep you up and melt away reality! I love when you take a chance on a new to you author and it turns out better than expected.

Next up on the TBR list is The Color of Rain by Cori McCarthy. I’ve picked this book to fulfill one of the June topics for my Book Club. We follow the BookRiot’s Read Harder Challenge every year, so the two topics we had picked for June (yes I’m a little behind) were a sci-fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author and an assigned book you hated (or never finished). Still trying to decide on the one that I hated (or never finished), as I rarely hate or DNF a book. Seeing as sci-fi isn’t a genre I’ve read a lot of I turned to a Dystopian book group on Facebook that I’ve recently joined, thanks to a invite from a new bookish friend Jill, and was overwhelmingly surprised with all of the fantastic suggestions I received. Of course I picked the one Jill recommended, but that didn’t really surprise me as I’m always adding to my ever growing gigantic TBR list every time she shares her new book hauls. Jill it’s all your fault and I love you for it! ❤

I’m off to adventure into a new story! Thanks for following my Readathon adventures, I’ll see you in a few more hours for another update. 🙂

 

Happy Saturday everyone, I hope y’all are having a wonderful morning! I’m lounging on my couch with Baxter sound asleep next to me, a cup of coffee, and the sounds of cicadas and other creatures outside. It’s going to be a beautiful day here in Rochester, NY with sun and temps in the mid 80s!

So I’ve been patiently, or not so patiently, waiting for this weekend all month! Why, you ask? One of my favorite groups on Facebook, called BookAholic Cafe, is hosting a 36 hour readathon!!! What is a readathon? Well it is a timeframe where book obsessed people, like me, do absolutely nothing but read for the whole event! I’ve done 24 hour readathons before, and I had a blast! There are moderators who post what they are reading, how they are liking their choices, encouragements and fun challenges! All of the readers are encouraged to post as well!  I find that for events such as these, it’s best to prepare snacks ahead of time! I have turkey meatballs and spaghetti squash ready to go for lunch, as well as celery and my favorite hummus from Ithaca, NY all prepped to make it easy for me to eat while reading for the optimum amount of time. I’ve also prepared my TBR (To Be Read) list for this event, where I have pre-decided what books I think I want to read during the event. Now, I’m not stuck reading these books and I can always change my mind if I decide I want to read something else. You also don’t have to just stick to one book all the way through, and can hop between a few books if that tickles your fancy. I’ve used my new letter board (I’m obsessed!!) to spiffy up my TBR pile, check it out!

My TBR

• The Color of Rain by Cori McCarthy (a bookclub read)
• The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (a re-read)
• Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
• Happy People Read and Drink Coffee by Agnes Martin-Lugand
• The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert (loaned by my mother)
• The Shape of Water by Guillermo Del Toro & Daniel Kraus (on loan from my local Library)

I’ll be posting my updates as the Readathon progresses, we have just about an hour and a half until it starts! I can’t wait and will most likely be playing either the Harry Potter movies or Disney movies in the background, as those are my go-to choices for background noise when I read. 🙂

 

Hi there! I’m Lauren and it’s so nice to meet you. Thanks for joining me at BooksnBites, where we’ll get to discover great reads and delicious food together! I honestly have two of the most enjoyable but hardest hobbies to manage while still leading a healthy life. There is nothing I love more than to neglect the chores of adulthood and let reality melt away as I transport into another land through the pages of a good book. There is also something about amazing food that just soothes my soul. Am I just crazy or do you feel that way too? I mean, you have to have some food or dish that immediately takes you to your happy place right? It’s all about balance though!

One of my dearest friends said to me once, “Why don’t you start a food blog and post all the dishes you make, or all the amazing food you go out and eat? Or even better, why don’t you combine the food and book aspects of your life?”. At the time I laughed and agreed in the way that really means, “yeah, like I have time for that! HAH”, but then it nagged at me in the corner of my mind. So here we are! I’m all about sharing what makes me happy in hopes it makes others happy too, so I can’t wait to connect with you or introduce you to something new that you’ll love too! There will definitely be no lack of variety, of the paper and edible kind. 🙂

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton