It's here!

My Mockingjay wine glass arrived in the mail today

This is the Etsy seller I bought it from ...

Book Club finds

Had a fun evening last night when I went with Nyla to her monthly "book club" meeting.   I had the opportunity to meet a lot of lovely ladies, enjoy some fabulous food and partake of some mighty-fine Merlot.

Thank you for a great time, Nyla!!!

Although NO stimulating book discussion actually takes place, :(  they do have a really nice book exchange. I picked out these treasures that I've been wanting to read for a while ~

** I've read quite a few of John Grisham's attorney books, and really liked his "A Painted House" which I think may be autobiographical. I have no idea of what the story line is with this one, but how can you go wrong with Pizza in the title??

** "Lethal Legacy" is one of the few Linda Fairstein books that I haven't yet read. I like the way she builds up the suspense in all of her crime novels. http://www.lindafairstein.com/

** Ever since I first heard about "Edgar Sawtelle" through the Oprah book club a couple of years ago, it's been on my reader radar. I just hope I can get through it without going into the ugly cry!

I got to meet Kathryn Stockett!!!

This is a little photo album I made with the photos I took Thursday night at a book signing with Kathryn Stockett.  It was so awesome to meet her in person!  She spoke for about half an hour, then did a Q&A session, and then the book signing.

I love, love, love her incredible book "The Help" and it's now up high on my list of all-time favorites.  I read the majority of this 500+ page book in one sitting.....reading it overnight on a red-eye, coming home from Hawaii.  I just couldn't put it down.  Thanks for passing it on to me, Jere!!

Photo album generated with Smilebox

The Help ~ LOVED IT!!!

I just read a great book over the weekend, "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.  It's a very powerful novel about life in the South (specifically Jackson, Mississippi) during the '50's and '60's.  It follows the lives of three strong women, two black/one white, and how they came together, and how their lives were changed by their courage, strength and determination.  It was a real eye-opener for me to see the injustices some people endured at that time. It made me realize that the protective high-school life I lead in southern California during the turbulent events of the 1960's was so removed from theirs in so many ways -- we may as well have been a million miles away in a completely foreign country.  It shames me to admit that I knew so little of what was really going on with civil rights in our country at that time, and therefore, I did nothing to contribute to making things better for other people.

I grew to love some of the ladies in this book, and was so drawn into their lives, that I just didn't want the book to end ...... I really wanted to see what happens next with all of them!

Only 5 more letters to go.....

I just finished reading Sue Grafton's latest book, "U is for Undertow".  It's the 21st installment of Grafton's ongoing "alphabet mysteries" series of novels with female private investigator Kinsey Millhone as the protagonist.  I've read all of them so far, and am always anxious for the next one to come out. 

I really like Kinsey, even though we have almost nothing in common.  I guess that's what makes her so interesting to me. 

There actually are two random things that we have in common:

*  1st car-VW bug; 2nd car-Mustang

*  A weakness for McD's QP burgers!

This is the alphabet list:
"A" Is for Alibi • "B" Is for Burglar • "C" Is for Corpse • "D" Is for Deadbeat • "E" Is for Evidence • "F" Is for Fugitive • "G" Is for Gumshoe • "H" Is for Homicide • "I" Is for Innocent • "J" Is for Judgment • "K" Is for Killer • "L" Is for Lawless • "M" Is for Malice • "N" Is for Noose • "O" Is for Outlaw • "P" Is for Peril • "Q" Is for Quarry • "R" Is for Ricochet • "S" Is for Silence • "T" Is for Trespass • "U" Is for Undertow