I thought it WAS the creepy little girl, until Carol confessed. I like your theory, and wonder how they will bring her back, too. It needs to hury up and come back on already. LOL

I love scented candles! I must have Cliffs of Insanity, Don't Panic, and Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey. :D

I read one book for winter, and that is enough for me. The books I've got in my stack now are travelogues in the Caribbean, or around the world. I have some from Japanese authors for the around-the-world challenge, but those aren't calling to me as much as the Caribbean books are. :lol: I could so easily fly south for the winter, if I had the money. I've gotten through Voyager, but I don't think I'm going to make it by the time the book comes out. I have so many other books I want to read that I've never read before, and they keep getting in the way of my re-read. In middle school, we had to do a poetry project where we looked for examples of different styles of poetry to put in a hand made collection with hand made illustrations. I still have mine, and will leaf through it every once in a while, remembering. There is one poem, by William Blake, I chose for my project that has never left me. It pops up randomly in my mind from time to time, and always makes me smile. Love to faults is always blind. Always is to joy inclined. Lawless, winged, and unconfined, And breaks all chains from every mind. I'm not a huge poetry fan, although I might could be if I knew more about it, but I do love e. e. cummings. My favorite poem by him is "somewhere i have never traveled, gladly beyond". Actually, thinking on poetry brings to mind probably my most favorite of all, "Sea Fever", by John Masefield. It sings to my soul. I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking. I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and sea-gulls crying. I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. I typed all that out just so I could hold the words in my hands. I love it.

This is good to hear. I'm so sorry to read this, Mergath. I do hope you won't have this problem with LEDs. If we do end up with problems, I guess we can always go back to kerosene lamps and candles. :lol: (But more like: :glare:)

I hate the bright and clean. I like the yellow and dingy. LOL. The compact florescent bulbs give me headaches, but I don't know if LEDs do. Guess I'll have to wait and see, as we stocked up on incandescents, too. :-)

Well, now there is no way I can't read it now. :lol: I don't generally write in my books. I don't break spines, either. I have books I've had for years, that I've read multiple times, that look like I just bought them. I'm weird like that. The only exception is my Bible. I buy a Bible with a lot of white space in the margins specifically for note taking. Thankfully, I don't buy new ones often, as I will sit and transcribe all my notes over to the new one. I do love my Kindle for underlining, though. I don't use the note function, but I underline a lot. I like to see what other's have underlined, and wonder what was going through their minds that made them decide that particular line needed to be highlighted. Speaking of underlining, I'm enjoying 360 Degrees Longitude so much, I wish I had my own copy so I could underline and take notes in it!

I rate books on whether I like them or not. I don't compare it to others, just a basic didn't like, liked it, really liked, couldn't put it down system. Dairy Queen ice-cream is my favorite. If I'm going to have ice-cream, I want soft-serve. I don't care to much for the kind you buy at the store. The girls love it so much, they got DQ gift cards in their stockings this year. LOL *sigh* Dean. :001_wub: [edited to remove picture]

I finished one book this week, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. I agree with everyone else. It wasn't the greatest. Here is my Goodreads review: [edited to remove picture] I liked it. I don't get it, but I liked it. Having read 1Q84 first, as in my first ever Murakami book, I knew going in this wasn't going to be a hugely plot driven book, but would definitely take its time meandering around one. I was right. For me, there are still way too many unanswered questions that I just wish I knew the answers to. I guess if I had a dry well I could climb down into to ponder them, I might come up with an answer or two on my own. Since I don't, I'm just stuck with them. Such is life. I have started a couple of books this week: 360 Degrees Longitude: One Family's Journey Around the World, by John Higham, In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson, and Ring, by Koju Suzuki. I am loving 360 Degrees. It is a dream of mine to take the family on a trip around the world, and as that will probably never happen, I am enjoying living vicariously through this family. It is inspiring me to try to plan some smaller excursions for our family, though. In a Sunburned Country is an audio I downloaded to listen to as I clean the house. I find I get a lot more accomplished when listening to a book. :D I really enjoy Bill Bryson, and this is no exception. His storytelling style is so fun and engaging. Ring is my next book for Japan for the Around the World challenge. I have never seen the movie adaptation, The Ring, that came out quite a few years back, but from what I understand, the book is more of a murder mystery and less a horror. Although, I don't know if I have much confidence in that description, as the author has been described as the "Stephen King of Japan." We'll see how it goes. I've got quite a few travelogue type books (mostly about living in the Caribbean, so sick of the cold!), and other Japanese authors in my TBR stack this week, so we'll see what the week brings.

All the dropped story lines was the biggest thing that I didn't like about the book. I think reading it has made me decide I really enjoyed 1Q84 after all. :lol: I was looking for a travel type book for Japan earlier today. Thanks for listing this! Better than Much Ado???? Sacrilege!! LOL Much Ado is my favorite, but I haven't read The Taming of the Shrew, so who knows. It could end up being my favorite. (No, not really. :D ) My only experience with Taming of the Shrew is a Moonlighting episode. Now that was funny. http://youtu.be/fL4UCQS4-Gs I am finding this to be a problem, too. I think I have about five going at once right now. I think it has a lot to do with it being a new year, and I'm all excited about the new challenge. As the year goes on, I'll settle down and stick to my one or two at a time pace.

My dh is 7 months older than me.

I was able to finish two books for the first week of the new year. Yay! I finished up reading The Last Unicorn that I had started at the end of December. It was wonderful. The story was simple enough, and very familiar since I have seen the cartoon movie an upteen number of times. However, the writing, or lanuage, of the story was beautiful. I'll share some quotes, but it is hard to pick as I could underline almost the whole book. The need to clean up all the Christmas stuff allowed me to be able to get the second book in. I downloaded the audio of The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse, and listened to it all day as I put my house back together. I really didn't know anything about it as I started listening, and, overall, it was a little on the boring side for me. I did enjoy the story of coming to grips with loss, and the story of how that happened, but the book was just OK for me. If I were reading it, and not listening to it while working, I would have probably put it aside. I do still want to read her book Labyrinth, though. I have started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and I am loving it! I'm 35% in according to my Kindle, and I am getting to a point where I don't want to put it down. I've started sneaking in reading while my dc are doing school work...

As someone who has never read Hawthorne at all, this is a great introduction. Thank you, Violet Crown! :iagree:

http://www.myfoxny.com/Story/24356855/texas-library-offers-glimpse-of-bookless-future This just seems like a novelty to me, but then, that's what they called TVs when they first came out, too. I have a Kindle, and love it, but it doesn't take the place of an actual book in my affections. I would not be comfortable in this "library", but maybe that's my age talking? Thoughts?

Yes, thank you! Yes, very dandy-ish. :hat: Is a tall hat considered dandy? I don't care very much for the movies Saturday Night Fever and Staying Alive, but their soundtracks are great. Now I'll be singing "Staying Alive" for the rest of the night! :lol:

Stacia, just letting you know that my dd10 has left her MP3 player hooked up to her radio, and Ordinary World is on right now. LOL No way these kids will get through life without a proper education in all the greatest music. :lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDLiVwpv89s ETA: How come my youtube links don't put the video in the post? What am I doing wrong? #sadpanda

This is our reaction to the Bee Gees pic: [edited to remove picture] We need this: [edited to remove picture] And in book related news, I have finished book number 2 for the year. I'll wait for tomorrow's thread to post more about it. :D

Never! But the books... [edited to remove picture] When Helping Hurts looks intriguing. I have been wanting to begin, or join in with, missions for a long time now, but can't seem to find anything. I'd like to be local right now, and involve the girls. Many things available seem to not want younger children involved, though. I look forward to hearing how you liked it, and if it helped.

I put Snow Country on my list while browsing Goodreads for more books for Japan. If you get to it before me, let me know what you think of it. I don't usually read more than one book at a time, but since joining this thread, I have gotten in the habit of starting quite a few. If one grabs me, I'll read it till it's done then move to another.

Aw, I can't see the puppy. :( Rod the Bod!!! I remember my mom and her BF calling him that now that you have said it. Bwahaha!!! Stacia, I do remember you posting those graphics about Murakami's books, and I do think it is apropos for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. LOL

I have no idea about the cats, either, but cats were mentioned in 1Q84 as well. I just thought he had a thing for cats. LOL I like the idea of them being lucky. My mom and her BF love Rod Stewart. They used to say he was so sexy! :ack2: I do like a lot of his songs, though. LOL

Oh, I love America! The girls love their song You Can do Magic. I remember my dad watching Planet of the Apes on tv, and hating it. I wanted to watch cartoons! LOL OK, y'all have talked me into it. I've put this on my TBR list. Knitting... Did someone say knitting? :bigear: I love facial hair, but only full beards and mustaches. I don't like one without the other, sole patches, goatees, or crazy long beards, though. Apparently, I'm very picky. :D I never thought to keep a list on Pinterest. Neat! I'll be sure and follow your board. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one to not have a clue where Wind-Up Bird is going. I'm 13% in, and am clueless, but I know that I'm enjoying this one more than 1Q84. I think it's because I know what to expect with his style now, and can just sit back and enjoy the ride.

There is a lot of Jamie in it. Some of the scenes with him in them are heartbreaking. I'm only about half way through, and John isn't married yet. I don't know if it will end with that, or not. I think one of the reasons I don't care for the Lord John books, is because they don't read like the Outlander series. They don't feel the same. I know that they are more along the line of mysteries, but it just seems that when she is in John's head, the tone of writing changes. Which would be appropriate, I guess, since he is a different character. But, I don't feel that way when she changes perspectives in the main series. Does that make any sense?

Good night all! I'm going to go on to bed, and maybe get a little more into The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. So far, I'm really enjoying it. Yay! One last thing, though before I head to bed. [edited to remove picture]

I keep thinking this, myself. LOL I didn't realize that Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries were that old. I may have to start reading them to walk down memory lane. I've been having flashbacks while watching The X Files on Netflix. I didn't watch it while it was on tv, and seeing their computers, cell phones, and doing research with mimeograph is hilarious. Scully said she did research on the internet, and her computer screen was the black-with-green-letters screen of DOS! I did it, I did it! Oh. My. Gosh. Can you believe the things people used to think was so stylish. LOL!!!

Ah!! The hounds tooth is burning my eyes!!!! :smilielol5: Yeah, and we don't live too far away, either. :thumbup1: To bring it back around to books, though, three of my favorite books are from the 70s: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Princess Bride, and The Trumpet of the Swan.