Coffee...to go please

My husband asked me to post this request.

Our local new cafe/coffee shop/ wine bar just opened up. He wrote an e-mail petitioning them to sell travel mugs to cut down on the paper waste and to use a local neighbor who designs neighborhood T-shirts to do the mug design.

Because I think it's a great idea and I want to support a local artist....send an e-mail to this address: info@indianroadcafe.com

Please write "I second the coffee mug."

If we succeed I will definitely post photos and maybe give away a mug or two.

Thanks!!!!

1001 Book Update - Summer

I took some great advice from some fellow bloggers and instead of reading Charles Dickens this summer I read a book called Summer by Edith Wharton. What a perfect title for a summer selection. It is a short book and is on the 1001 To Read List.

But I am torn over this book. I've only read one other Wharton book, The Age of Innocence, and should have realized that Summer wasn't going to be a happily ever after type of book. Yes, there's first love, summer-time romance, and even a marriage at the end. But Wharton is way too realistic for just that. There are also fallen women, abortion clinics, poverty, death, and indecent proposals.

So I'll give a brief synopsis without trying to give away the whole story. The main character is 18 year-old Charity. She was "brought down from the mountains" and adopted by a wealthy couple when she was small. She is employed during the summer as the librarian at the local town library when she meets a young and handsome man. The book takes place during this summer of her life.

Since the book is so short that is all I am going to write about it. Did I like the book? Well...Edith Wharton's writing is always very good. I love her writing actually. And the story was very good. I wasn't too sympathetic with Charity to begin with and thought she was quite spoilt and bratty...but then I felt sorry for her. And in the end...well...I was just a little sad. So take that all how you will...

Here's a section in the book which just epitomizes summer-time romance:

"The haze of the morning had become a sort of clear tremor over everything, like the colourless vibration about a flame; and the opulent landscape seemed to droop under it. But to Charity the heat was a stimulant: it enveloped the whole world in the same glow that burned at her heart. Now and then a lurch of the train flung her against Harney, and through her thin muslin she felt the touch of his sleeve. She steadied herself, their eyes met, and the flaming breath of the day seemed to enclose them."

P.S. My brother just got a job at Barnes & Nobles so my links to books will now be linking Barnes & Nobles and not Amazon.

Also Reviewed by:

The Zen Leaf

Book Update - The Lace Reader

I received The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry from The Book Club Girl and immensely enjoyed the book. I think I finished it in about two days. It is the perfect summer read in that it deals with family, friendship, mystery, love...the classic themes.

I have to say I loved the opening lines to the book:

"My name is Towner Whitney. No, that’s not exactly true. My real first name is Sophya. Never believe me. I lie all the time. I am a crazy woman. That last part is true."

Great, huh? Even my husband laughed and agreed that was pretty good...and he's pretty hard to impress.

Anyway, so I will try and summarize the plot which was just imaginative...dashed with a mystery, plot twists, and a bit of magic.

Towner Whitney has come back to Salem, Massachusetts after being in self-imposed exile in California for many years. She comes back due to the disappearance of her Great Aunt Eva. The Whitney women are all lace readers....meaning they not only create lace but can "read" the future for people in the pieces as well. Towner does not do this anymore. --Remember that the setting is in Salem...town of the famous 1600's Witch Trials. The author notes that while there were no actual witches back during those infamous trials...today Salem has become a hub for witches.

While Salem, the witches, and the lace reading all give the story a great magical backdrop...the real story is of Towner Whitney and her family. Towner Whitney has never been the same since her twin sister Lindley committed suicide when they were 17 years old. Towner went off the deep-end after it happened and is missing much of her memory. May, Towner's mother but not her sister's mother (confusing right?), has become a recluse in her island home and has dedicated her life to helping abused women. Other characters include Towner's Aunt Emma (Lindley's mom), her brother Beezer, her old flame Jack, Salem's Detective Rafferty, and Cal (estranged and abusive father of Lindley).

I was quite confused at the beginning (and for a while after) about Towner's family tree. Who was who's mother, sister, aunt, brother...it all got convoluted. But that's the point...keep reading. What I loved was the author's depiction of Salem and the almost normality of the magical-ness of it all. And I loved going along with Towner's memories while her damaged mind tries to figure everything out. It was a great and unusual perspective.

You might out-guess the twists and turns in the book...but that is ok. The book is about waiting for the characters to figure it all out.

Check out the author's website here and you can enter a contest to try and win a trip to Salem.

Since I like book covers, here's an alternate cover...I like my version's cover better though:

For those of you who've read the book: do you remember anyone actually reading lace during the story? Hmmm...

Also reviewed by (if I've missed yours let me know!):
In the Shadow of Mt TBR
Ticket to Anywhere
So Many Book, So Little Time...
Devourer of Books
A Girl Walks Into A Bookstore
Booking Mama
Adventures in Reading
Fizzy Thoughts
Book-a-rama
A Bookish Way of Life

Can I Read That?

I was sitting on the subway on my way to work this morning, listening to my iPod and reading as usual. I like to balance my iPod, purse, book, mug-o-coffee, and sometimes other odds and ends all on my lap. It's a talent I'm perfecting. Anyway...a nice lady sat down next to me, balancing her backpack on her lap and started writing in her journal.

After a while I noticed that she had stopped writing and was reading my book along with me. I actually don't mind people reading "over my shoulder" so to speak. After about five pages and getting close to my stop to get off, I took off my earphones and let her see the cover. She was all smiles, wrote down the title in her journal, said, "Thank you, I'll have to read that book". That kind of made my day.

In case you're curious, the book was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and I had just started reading it this morning.

Question: Where do you get ideas of books you want to read?

Umm..yeah

So I recently got a request from a lovely blogger named Bree at The Things We Read to post more photos, etc. from when I lived in Alaska. And I guess more of NYC. I've definitely enjoyed and am enjoying living in both these places.

So I was busy scanning some photos from back in the day when I waded in the Arctic Ocean...and then it happened. My computer got drunk. Ok. That's sort of a lie. Amanda being the lovely klutz that she is decided to pour a whole glass of wine over her computer. The computer still has a hang-over. So hopefully soon the computer will recover from this head-ache...possibly with a little help from AA (or Best Buy) and will be back on its feet in no time.

Until then, please enjoy this photo of me and The Bear (a.k.a. Anna Bear) in Chugach State Park near Anchorage, Alaska.

Book Update - The Last Summer (of You and Me)

A little while ago I won a contest held by The Book Club Girl. Her blog is a great resource for all things book. I won a copy of the book The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares. It's the perfect summer "beach" read and it even came with a beach towel :)

I've been quite tired in the mornings for some reason so I've been needing a light read to keep me awake on my subway commute to work. So I picked up this book. I would have never have read this book if I hadn't won it but I am so glad I did. What a perfect touching summer read.

The plot is simple and sweet but what really draws you into the story is the writing. I really like how Ann Brashares describes people and the setting. The story is set on Fire Island near New York City. Fire Island is a long thin strip piece of land off Long Island. Every summer since they can remember, sisters Riley and Alice have spent their summers on Fire Island with their next door neighbor Paul. Riley and Paul are the same age and are best friends. Alice is three years younger and has always tagged behind Riley and Paul.

Now the three friends are in their early twenties, back on the island for summer and in that perfect "in-between" stage of growing up. Of course this is a story about families, about sisters, of tragedy, and about first love. While not too original themes, the way the authors depict the characters, the emotion, and the setting is what makes this book. I also have to admit that I liked this book too because I liked the sisters. Since I have an older sister I totally related to the relationship between Riley and Alice. Riley reminded me of my sister and of course I identified with the younger sister Alice.

The author Ann Brashares is the author of the popular teen series, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which was also made into a movie. This is Ann Brashares first adult book. While it's not a huge literary piece of work, it is the perfect light summer book.

Also reviewed by:
The Book Club Girl
Muse Book Reviews
The Written Word

Completed - 1% Well-Read Challenge

I finally finished the 1% Well-Read Challenge.

The challenge was to read 10 books on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list in 10 months. I completed the challenge in just a little over two months. Yay!

You can check out my list of the books I chose to read below and they are linked to my reviews of the books.


Amanda's 1% Well-Read List

1. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood (Finished May 20, 2008)

2. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (Finished May 22, 2008)

3. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (Finished May 30, 2008)

4. The Light of Day - Graham Swift (Finished June 01, 2008)

5. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins (Finished June 10, 2008)

6. The Colour - Rose Tremain (Finished June 20, 2008)

7. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks (Finished July 09, 2008)

8. Sexing the Cherry - Jeanette Winterson (Finished July 12, 2008)

9. Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston (Finished July 15, 2008)

10. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (Finished July 24, 2008)

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11. Summer - Edith Wharton (Finished July 31, 2008)

12. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (Finished August 5, 2008)

13. The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje (Finished August 21, 2008)

14. Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel (Finished September 14, 2008)

15. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen (Finished September 19, 2008)

16. The Turn of the Screw - Henry James (Finished October 06, 2008)

17. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (Finished October 21, 2008)

18. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut (Finished February 06, 2009)

19. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote (Finished March 04, 2009)

20. Rabbit, Run - John Updike (Finished March 12, 2009)

21. If on a winter's night a traveler - Italo Calvino (Finished March 25, 2009)

22. 1984 - George Orwell (Finished April 15, 2009)

23. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (Finished June 07, 2009)

24. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Finished October 11, 2009)

25. The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Charles Dickens (Finished October 20, 2009)

26. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys (Finished October 23, 2009)

27. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway (Finished October 30, 2009)

28. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (Finished December 4, 2009)

29. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (Finished December 10, 2009)

30. Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll (Finished December 22, 2009)

31. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Path (Finished December 23, 2009)

32. Persuasion - Jane Austen (Finished December 28, 2009)

33. Eugénie Grandet – Honoré de Balzac (Finished December 31, 2009)

34. Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf (Finished February 08, 2010)

35. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (re-read) (Finshed February 17, 2010)