I am a Pinterest Enthusiast and a Teacher

I am working with the local chamber and presenting a class on Marketing with Pinterest.
This has been a fun project.

I've "met" some really great people including Beth Hayden  who sent me a copy of her book

to review and I have to say, Well done! Beth has an amazing knack for distilling information down to its essence. Her advise is practical and easy to follow. She offers case studies and insights to help you succeed with Pinterest. Look for Beth's books at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple iBooks.
For my class I have developed a checklist and am going to include it here for you to print. Be sure and leave a comment if you download it and find it useful!

A 'bunch' of reviews

Rotters by Daniel Kraus

Joey’s mother unexpectedly dies, well I guess it isn’t exactly unexpected, Joey has been imagining her death for years. Trying to save her from it, and then one day, she is gone.  Joey is left with a friend until his social worker finds his long lost father.  His mother never even spoke about him now he is supposed to leave the only home in the only town he’s ever known and live in Iowa? Really, he has never been out of Chicago.

Welcome to the small town of Bloughton, Iowa where Joey’s dad, “The Garbage Man”, doesn’t even meet him at the bus station and leaves him home alone for days without food or a real bed.  School life quickly goes downhill and Joey decides to find out where his dad goes for days at a time and why he smells so bad. This is a very dark and unexpected story. I am really not sure who I would recommend this book to…

 The Bloggess presents "Let's pretend this never happened (A mostly true memoir) by Jenny Lawson aka The Bloggess

This book was recommended to me by the teen librarian and I have to say, I laughed so hard at the end of chapter two I had to reread it.
Ms. Lawson has a fowl mouth and is the funniest ever! Maybe I would not recommend this one to my mother but my BFF's will definitely be hearing about this one.
Plus, I SWEAR, I think I know her. Really!!!

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Calling all witch fiction lovers, this is a witch fiction well done, the magic is subtle even though the setting is Salem Mass. The family is well known in the community and own "Yellow Dog Island".  Yellow Dog Island is now a refuge for abused women and is the setting for "Towner" and her childhood. The women of Yellow Dog Island are lace makers and Towner's aunt is a lace reader. Like a fortune teller but by reading the patterns in lace.
This book has a murder, missing persons, witches, cults and an intricate history.
The story is told in both first and third person and will keep you guessing until the very end.
I really liked this book, almost as much as Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen.

Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d'Art by Christopher Moore

A hysterical art history fiction. In true Moore fashion he destroys art history while creating a cast of characters that are engaging and entertaining. The story covers a lot of art history, famous paintings, historical settings, and imaginary conversations. It holds love, romance, sex, politics, and war. A super fun charmer!

So,what are you reading?

Book Reviews: Thieves and Goons, oh, and Truffles too

Thieves of Manhattan

By Adam Langer

 I have to admit, I didn’t know what to expect when I started this one. I saw it on a “1001 books you must read before you die” website, the title caught my attention, the library had it AND it was checked in, so I read it.  I was delightfully surprised.

The story is narrated by one of the main characters as he recounts a series of events leading to a twist in the plot. The best part of this story is that you really get caught off guard by this twist.  There are several, maybe even tons, of literary references and the book is equipped with its own glossary.

Written from a male perspective with adventure, literary and publishing world criticism, a sprinkling of romance and sex, this is a book that will appeal to a variety of readers.

A visit from the goon squad

By Jennifer Egan

 This book was a Pulitzer Prize winner. The author does an incredible job of developing a wide cast of characters and interweaving their stories over a 3 decade period. The story is heavily situated in the music industry and offers glimpses into different areas of that industry from the garage band trying to make it big to the executive producers, aging musicians trying to make a comeback and, make-your-lifelong-dream-come-true performance.  I didn’t love the story until the very last chapter.

The last chapter brings the story to a final statement about music, technology, and community.

The Swan Thieves

By Elizabeth Kostova

This is a story about a psychologist, his patient, the patient’s lover and ex-wife, and a painting entitled “Lita”.  Kostova’s second novel, she does a wonderful job with the history and technique of painting. The book has some wonderful twists, exquisite details, and passion. I loved this book and would recommend it to any art lover.  Kostova spends quite a bit of time developing the scene and the characters, stick with it, the payoff is worth it.  

Blood Oath: The President’s Vampire

By Christopher Farnsworth

What do you do when bizarre murders occur and the normal channels cannot protect you? You call Nathaniel Cade, the President’s Vampire. 

Nathaniel Cade came to America on a ship from Africa in the early 1800’s and was charged with murdering the ship. Instead of being put to death a creole witch bound him to the President of the United States with a blood oath to serve and protect…and he has been ever since.

This is the first in a series. Great trash read with vampires, hit men, a little espionage, and even some zombies.

White Truffles in Winter

By N.M. Kelby

The story is set in the early 1900’s the main characters are a famous French chef and a Poetess. This is a love story containing a love triangle, the way only the French can provide, with The “Divine” Sarah Bernhardt as an integral part in this story.

White Truffles offers beautiful prose, historical references, and serves as an amazing introduction to French cooking.

I really loved this story. It was a fantastic escape and like “The Swan Thieves” it offered a chance for me to learn some new information while enjoying a wonderful story.

Art for the additions.

 I love Pinterest.  I am not completely obsessed...Pinterest doesn't seem to have an app for androids so I don't look at when I am away from the phone. 
That is were I got the grrrrrreat idea to do homemade art work for each of their bedrooms based on the theme they (with guidance) chose. 
Here is a link to my pinterest page: Pinterest

Here we go:
P's room: Sports
We started with Baseball

Big D painted this by looking at a picture and sketching then painting.

Amazing right!?!

Here's What P and I did together:

Cute right!?! Now we need to add Football and sounds like Soccer is coming soon too!!!!!

Here's what we did in H's Room.

She wanted "Horses" I really detest the 70's brown and green version or the pretty pretty princess version of this theme.  I found this on Pinterest (of course)

This is our version: 

Do you see the princess chandelier...still a little princess... :)

Each family member made one for her room.

We used paint and fabric with modpodge, buttons, bits of trim and lace. Our herd isn't as well populated but I am hoping we will continue to add to the family (of horses, only horses).

For J's room we went with Super Hero. Big D did some amazing painting for this room too. We also had some help from M and Big J's (now ex) girlfriend.

This is a city scape and below the super hero's are shining on the walls...get it?

So that's the project. What do you think?

Holiday Book Review

A Quick Holiday Book Review

When Elves Attack: A Joyous Christmas Greeting from the Criminal Nutbars of the Sunshine State
By Tim Dorsey
William Morrow 2011
Checked out from the Public Library
What do you get when you mix an elf suite, a big-hearted psychopath Serge Storms, his side kick Coleman, and three elderly ladies from the Bayshore Manors called the G-Unit in Florida at Christmas?
You get a hysterical Holiday treat.
This is definitely an adult book...the languages is veerrry colorful but the story is funny and heartwarming. Serge has a big heart, a true love of Christmas, and very crazy methods.
I literally read this one in a day.
Best quote from the book, "Those are the Big Three: clipboards, orange cones, elf suits. People don't question..."

I hope you will enjoy this Holiday Read as much as I did.

RIP Challenge Book Reviews

Here is a reminder of the Challenge:

Peril the First:
Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (my very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature.
The purpose of the R.I.P. Challenge is to enjoy books that could be classified as:
Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

The emphasis is never on the word challenge, instead it is about coming together as a community and embracing the autumnal mood, whether the weather is cooperative where you live or not.

R.I.P link

Here is my list:

Suspense: Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir
Supernatural: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
Gothic: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Thriller: The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber  I didn't get to this one.

The Replacement

Brenna Yovanoff

Brilliance Audio 2010

Read by Kevin T. Collins

10 hours 37 minutes

From the book: "In the story, Emma's four years old.  She gets ot of bed and pads across the floor in her footie pajamas. When she reaches her hand between the bars, the thing in the crib moves closer. It tries to bite her and she takes her hand out again but doesn't back away. They spend all night looking at each other in the dark.  In the morning, the thing is still crounched on the

lamb-and-duckling mattress pad, staring at her.

It isn't her brother.

It's Me."

This chilling teen audio is read by Kevin Collins. Kevin does a great job and sounds a little bit like Christian Slater. The story is told in first person by Mackie Doyle. A Replacement.

Mackie is in high school. He has friends, a crush, and a family who loves him.

He just doesn't quite. fit. in.

Great story telling, interesting characters, different plot line.

A recommended read.

Last Rituals: An Icelandic Novel of Secret Symbols, Medieval Witchcraft, and Modern Murder

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir

Published by William Morrow 2007

314 pages

If you like the writing style of The Girl With... trilogy, you will like this author. The story is about a murder mystery set in Iceland. The author does a great job of weaving history, mystery and a little romance. The writing is not as dark and graphic as the The Girl With... trilogy but the mood and pacing is very similar. Another recommeded read.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

first published in 1891
213 pages

Favorite quote, "People like you, wilful sunbeams of life,.."

The Picture of Dorian Gray embodies the struggle with wisdom gained with age and the beauty of youth. Do the rules of society keep us from living life to the fullest or allow every one a full life? Read this beautiful blend of philosphy and horror and let me know what you think.

This set of reviews was a long time coming. I enjoyed the challenge and the reads but got busy with life and couldn't make myself sit down and write the reviews. Let me know what you think.

Book and Blog Review: Fashion

The Secret of Chanel No. 5: The Intimate History of the World's Most Famous Perfume. By Tilar J. Mazzeo

Publisher Harper (November 9, 2010)

Pages 304

My Take If you love fashion you will love this read. It is an interesting in-depth history of this famous perfume, Coco Chanel, and the Chanel empire. There are a few allusions to the fashion house but the main focus of this non-fiction tale. I really enjoyed the history and science of perfume making and only wished the book included a scratch and sniff sticker :)

House of Versace; The untold story of Genius, Murder, and Survival By Deborah Ball

Publisher Three Rivers Press (January 4, 2011)

Pages 352

My Take Another amazing glimpse into the world of fashion. Ball's investigation into a family where business and family life blur is written like a novel and leads the reader through many decades of their life, recounting how the Versace brand began, when/why/how Donatella got into the business. I really liked this book and their story. It has a sort of E! Hollywood Story quality...

DVD : Coco Before Chanel
Staring: Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde  
Subtitled
Time: 105 minutes
My Take: This wonderfully written and directed movie follows Coco Chanel from childhood to her success as a designer. Filmed in French the movie has subtitles, it is fast passed for a biography and extremely interesting. definitely not a movie you can clean house to, unless you speak french. 

Blog: 

The guys at TLO are hysterical and have a trained eye on fashion and the fashion industry. Their witty comments and understanding of fashion sprinkled with the right blend of sarcasm and those "I was thinking the same thing too" moments. TLO post opinions on red carpets, premiers, Glee, The Fashion Show, and Project Run Way. I love their sassy style and generally agree with their assessments. Check out 

Tom and Lorenzo; Opinionated & Fabulous

What "Fashion" reads (and peeks) have you discovered lately?

Noticed there was a pattern emerging...Book Reviews



 Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
Publisher: Voice; First Edition edition (June 9, 2009)
Pages 384
My take: Connie, a PhD candidate at Harvard is sent to clean out her Granna's house. The house has been empty for years and has not been updated since the early 1900's. While dusting and sorting Connie finds a key and slip of paper with the words "Deliverance Dane" written in old script in the large family Bible. As a History major Connie is compelled to search the significance of this possible message.
Katherine Howe does an excellent job in her research of early America, Salem and the witch trials, as well as her development of the story line and characters. An enjoyable read with exciting twists and a look into history.


Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Publisher Bantam Discovery (April 29, 2008)
Pages 320
My take: I love the combination of cooking and magic. SAA does a wonderful job of hinting to magic and weaving a beautiful story of family and triumph...the apple throwing tree is priceless!







The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston
Publisher Thomas Dunne Books  (January 18, 2011)
Pages 320
My take: I love the story, Ms. Brackston did a grand job of character development. The story flows through time with ease and congruency. There is just enough magic and villainy (is that a word?It is now) to keep the book interesting.  My only complaint is that the publisher smashed the tiniest font on the page making it very tiresome to read.






Chime by Fanny Billingsley
Publisher Dial (March 17, 2011)
Pages 368
My take: This Young Adult book is an interesting twist on witches and the paranormal. Set in the early 1900's near the Swampsea Briony Larkins, daughter of the local minister and twin sister to Rose, is sure she is a wicked. She is keeping this information a secret so the Chime Child does not expose her to the town folk. The real excitment starts when an enginer comes into town ready to drain the swamp and put in a railroad, Briony is convinced the Boggy Man will send the swamp cough and wipe out the town, including her sister. This story contains, mystery, murder, paranormal activity, and love. Billingsley does a wonderful job of weaving several story lines through out this book. Her writing is beautiful in construction and solid is story.

Okay...What's the theme?