Goodreads Quote of the Day

As an avid supporter of Goodreads.com, I wanted to post the Goodreads quote of the day I received!

The past is a candle at great distance: too close to let you quit, too far to comfort you.

Amy Bloom

  Happy birthday, Amy Bloom! The American writer has tried it all, from practicing psychotherapy and teaching at Yale to creating a TV show for Lifetime and writing a children’s book about a determined young potato.

 If you have a Goodreads account, it is easy to sign up for "Quote of the Day e-mails" and I enjoy reading them.

My Current Book-list?

Empty! I have no idea what I will read next. After finishing Dunk and Egg and watching the finale to Game of Thrones on HBO last Sunday, I am buried in Game of Thrones theories and memes. I am seriously considering re-reading the entire series and making highlights and notes to things I might have missed. After watching the horrible and apparent death of Jon Snow on the show, I re-read the last Jon chapter in Dance twice. I don't think Jon will be killed off, because he is essential to Martin's story. That was actually proven in an article I read where GRRM's pitch for his series was displayed. After reading his pitch, it was easy to see that Arya, Jon, Tyrion, and Daenerys are critical to his story (even if it the plot of the series has deviated from his original pitch), but how will Jon be brought back? Melisandre is at the wall in the show and in the books, so I definitely think she will help with the Jon issue.

The article and pitch letter can be viewed here

Happy reading!

Serena by Ron Rash

Ron Rash really hit home with this novel. Serena follows the lives of Serena and her husband George Pemberton, king and queen of the timber empire in the Appalachians. George becomes infatuated with Serena and her strong-willed persona during a visit to Boston, MA after having spent months at his timber camp in North Carolina and fathering an illegitimate child on sixteen year old Rachel. Serena soon moves to North Carolina and makes herself at home, displaying her own expertise in the timber business and handling investments in a non-traditional way (I don't want to give it away!) After Serena discovers she cannot have children, she turns her eye on Sarah and her growing son, George's son.

The novel is absolutely thrilling. It was definitely a fast faced book, and I finished it with two days. The story is suspenseful, well-planned, and gives the reader an ending that is more satisfying than enjoying a glass of wine at the end of a hard day, at least for me it was. Sip, Sip.

The film adaptation to this book stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence as George and Serena Pemberton. I have not had the chance to watch the movie, but it has terrible reviews, signaling that the film does not live up to the book's standard (which is almost always the story).

While I love Bradley Cooper and JLaw, I imagined George a little rougher around the edges and Serena a bit older and not so fresh faced. 

Check out this Goodreads List!

If you enjoyed the setting of this novel, check out the above list of fiction novels set in Appalachia on Goodreads! I have mentioned Goodreads before, and I absolutely love the plethora of book lists on this site. Goodreads is an excellent tool for finding books to read, and I'm off to find my next one!

Count Down to the Wedding!

This is a complete 360 from my usual topic of books to focus on my upcoming nuptials. There are only five short weeks, and I am finding more and more things to do to get ready for the wedding! My fiance, Brian, and I are getting married on the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, one of my favorite places in the entire world. Since I was around 4, my family has traveled to Florida, Alabama, and/or Mississippi to vacation along the emerald green waters and sugar white sand beaches.

We are going with tans and whites for the color scheme (what other colors would you need when you have that gorgeous ocean behind you), and the photo above is actually very similar to what our ceremony will look like. We will be having burlap chair sashes, but the arbor will have white fabric. Our wedding planners have been absolutely amazing! Robert and Amy at Paradise Beach Weddings have been nothing but supportive and accommodating for our big day.

Before we make our trip down to the Emerald Coast in five short weeks, I have a few things to do. First, Brian and I actually have a wedding to attend this Saturday. One of my best friends is getting married, so I am really excited to see her tie the knot!

 (This isn't her exact wedding, but this is what I picture in my mind!)

Next on my list, is the wedding shower! I am actually having my shower at a restaurant here in Tennessee, and I am excited to eat snacks and socialize with all my favorite girls. Getting this together is probably a huge check off my list. The only thing Brian and I have left to complete our wedding is to book our getaway car/ limo. Not sure exactly what we are going to do as of today, but I think we are leaning toward a limo. One thing I am excited for is to eat at the reception venue we booked for after the wedding! Initially, we had decided not to do any type of reception, only a small dinner for immediate family, but since our guest list mainly involves family except for a few friends, we decided to book a place for dinner after wards.

Louisiana Lagniappe has an excellent menu, and they have a nice deck that we reserved for our party (Let's start praying it doesn't rain today shall we). The staff there was friendly and easy to work with. They are printing custom menus for our dinner free of charge.

(Just look at that view of the harbor)

So, while most of the big things are taken care of, I still have a hundred tiny things to do and prepare for like remember to steamer for my dress; buy sunscreen, literally jugs of it to prevent sunburn before the wedding; practice hairstyles; get my hair highlighted (this was demanded by my mother, good thing she's a beautician); find shoes to wear to the dinner (barefoot wedding on the beach, possible I might forget shoes); figure out flowers (I am just going to make my own bouquet, but I need to plan the type of flowers); pick a shirt for Brian, unless he finally decided what to wear with his sear-sucker suit; and the list goes on with meticulous things.

So, with only 5 weeks left, excited is not even the right word to explain how I feel right now. Not to get all sappy, but Brian is my best-friend and our wedding will be the start of the rest of my life with him. After almost five years of long-distance, I can't wait to FINALLY live in the same state, let alone zip code.

Game of Thrones

My favorite favorite favorite book series! I would not recommend this series for middle school students, and I would not have this series on my classroom shelves. But I absolutely love this series. I read A Game of Thrones about two years ago after watching the first season of the show on HBO. After I read the first book, I finished the books published thus far in about two months. Recently, (last week actually) I finished the Dunk and Egg trilogy. If you are interested in more information about the vast and complex history of Westeros, then I would suggest diving into these books. You get a much better look at royalty from House Targaryen, a house that is all but extinct except for one or two individuals in Dance of Dragons. Daenerys is probably one of my favorite characters in the series (a tie with Tyrion Lannister), so I loved reading about her ancestors.

The show on HBO has recieved a tremendous amount of attention recently for its graphic and horrendous scenes in recent episodes (like the rape of Sansa Stark, which never even happened in the books). Some fans are crying out that many of these events are unprecedented and should never have been on the TV show, but if you think Martin is not putting some form of stamp of approval on this show, you're crazy. He has been involved with the show from its inception, and he has even written episodes. I just hope he finishes Winds of Winter soon, because I am ready to see how he fixes a few of those cliff-hangers.

Phillipa Gregory

Well, I quit Outlander for the third time. I just cannot focus on the story. So, I have moved on to one of my favorite authors, Philippa Gregory. I have already posted about Historical Fiction, and I consider Gregory the queen of the genre.

My fiance and I went to the Dominican Republic recently, so I needed a few books to occupy my time while on the plane. I absolutely hate to fly, and I am a really nervous traveler. So, having a book really calms me down during turbulence (which was minimal during our flights thank goodness!). On the way down, I read The Boleyn Inheritance.

This book is third in the Tudor Court series, and I was anxious to read it after my great experience reading The Other Boleyn Girl. Inheritance was awesome! I could not put this book down. I actually read this book while sitting on the beach in the Dominican, and finished the book before our three day trip was over. Jane Boleyn, known as Lady Rochford, was the person you wanted to see fall in The Other Boleyn Girl, and you finally see her get what she deserves in this novel. After I finished this, I started on The White Queen, and I am actually still working on it. I am about two-thirds of the way through, and it does align with the mini-series that aired on Starz (loved that series!).

While I have not enjoyed this novel as much as Inheritance, it is still a nice read. The main focus of this novel is the large number of wars King Edward finds himself fighting to retain the claim on his throne. I am hoping after finally finishing the 6th battle in this novel, that it will die down, and I will actually get a little more character development. Overall, it's an interesting book, and true to Gregory's historical fiction style.