You know it's not good news when...

...you hear the x-ray technician say 'Oh, that's gonna need work." That's what we were told when my oldest son had to go to the ER after a fall on the ice. He had just arrived at work Tuesday morning, was crossing the parking lot and slipped on a small puddle of ice. The temperature has been so mild here for December that it was probably the first day we even had ice! Since it was a small puddle his foot slipped and then hit the edge of the dirt and stopped instantly. Having no where else to go, his ankle turned under and he folded to the ground. He had a broken fibula (smaller leg bone) so a fiberglass splint was put on in the ER, he was given crutches, pain pills and instructions for calling an orthopedist.

Later than afternoon an orthopedist called us after noticing the x-rays at the hospital. He told us there was  more damage than we knew about and my son needed to have surgery to repair it. The ligaments were torn on both sides of his ankle and that's why there was no support. (Thus, the flop to one side.) So we made the arrangements and he had surgery first thing Thursday morning, spent the day in the hospital and was able to go home after dinner. He's been in a lot of pain and it's hard to get comfortable but the surgery went well and the doctor said that because he's young he has a good chance of healing completely.

So that was our excitement this week. Christmas day was very nice and kind of quiet but it was wonderful to have little children here again. I'd almost forgotten how fun the season is when you have kids around! They are truly a blessing. I hope your Christmas was also filled with many blessings and you will have the happiest New Year.

My favorite gift this year!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at Let Them Read Books this month and is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Only one book arrived in the mail this week but I can't seem to stop when it comes to ebooks and library books. There are just so many good ones! I really should be shopping and wrapping (and cleaning and baking and cleaning and shopping some more) but reading is so much more fun. Especially when the house is quiet and peaceful and the Christmas lights are lit. I wish you all happy reading this holiday season!

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
From Paperback Swap

Cherie Priest's much-anticipated steampunk debut has finally arrived in the form of a paperback original. Its plot features the sort of calibrated suspense that readers of her Four and Twenty Blackbirds would expect. Boneshaker derives its title from the Bone-Shaking Drill Engine, a device designed to give Russian prospectors a leg up in the race for Klondike gold. Unfortunately, there was one hitch: On its trial run, the Boneshaker went haywire and, long story short, turned much of Seattle into a city of the dead. Now, 16 years later, a teenage boy decides to find out what is behind that mysterious wall. Can his mother save him in time? Zombie lit of the first order.

Review: Orignial Sin by Beth McMullen

 Wife. Mother. Spy.

On the surface, Lucy Hamilton looks just like all the other stay-at-home San Francisco moms. She takes her three-year-old son, Theo, to the beach, to the playground and to the zoo. She feeds him organic applesauce and free-range chicken. She folds laundry and plays on the floor with Matchbox cars until her knees ache. What no one knows about Lucy, not even her adoring husband, is that for nine years Lucy was Sally Sin, a spy for the United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction. And that's just the way she wants to keep it - a secret. But when Lucy's nemesis Ian Blackford, a notorious illegal arms dealer, hits the USAWMD's radar, the Agency calls Sally Sin back to action to lure Blackford out into the open. Racing against time, Lucy must fight to save herself, her loving family - and, oh right - the world. Hilarious and resonant, ORIGINAL SIN is the story of one woman’s quest to find that most elusive work-life balance in the face of danger, intrigue, and proper recycling habits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Review
  When I read the description it seemed to have all the elements I enjoy in a book  - interesting story, lots of action, good writing and a large dose of humor. Jackpot! And it's done well here, especially for a debut novel. Lucy Hamilton was Sally Sin in her former life. As if being a spy wasn't hard enough, but she gave it all up to start a family. (I've never been a spy but I would still bet my money that the mom thing is much harder. You definitely get less sleep!) but Lucy has done both, although she never wanted to combine them into one lifetime. Unfortunately that decision was made for her.

I was drawn in from the first page. Lucy is crawling around in her backyard looking for evidence of an intruder - paranoid mom? Old habits of a spy? She was making fun of herself as she was doing it so that endeared me to her right away. I thought all of the characters were quite interesting and a good combination of Lucy's past and present. The story unfolded nicely with plenty of action. I eagerly anticipated every little nugget of her life as a spy and how it all led to her now being a wife and mother. There were a few bumps in the road for me that didn't seem logical but the humor helped me to occasionally suspend disbelief. There was plenty of mystery at the end of this book but it sets up for the next one in the series. I will be waiting for it!
Book 2, See Sally Spy, coming May 29, 2012!

Thank you to Hyperion for sending me an arc to review.

Read the first chapter
www.bethmcmullen.com
www.hyperionbooks.com


Publisher: Hyperion
Release date: 7/12/11
Pages: 304
Price/format: $23.99/hardcover
Type: fiction, thriller, humor

More ways to repurpose books for the holidays!

I know the thought of harming a book is nauseating! These ideas aren't encouraging the destruction of books but repurposing and recycling copies that are already old or ruined. Some ideas are simple ways to decorate with books without changing them at all.

Wreath made from repurposed sheet music

More ideas -
Book tree & more ideas from Real Simple
Adorable book ornaments based on books & reading from Sheryl Rainfeld

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at Let Them Read Books this month and is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Another slow week for "real" books but that's a good thing because I've been adding ebooks to the Nook like crazy! And almost all of them are free!! I certainly have plenty to keep me occupied when I snuggle up by the fireplace. Hope you have lots of goodies to snuggle with as well!
 

Modern Sorcery by Gary Jonas

Won from author 

Magic can be deadly...
When Private Investigator Jonathan Shade's ex-lover walks into his Denver office asking him to prove her father didn't commit the murder that dozens of witnesses saw and security cameras captured, Shade finds himself in the thick of magical intrigue. In a world where evil warlocks refuse to die, magically engineered assassins deal merciless death and ancient myths aren't quite so mythical, only Shade and his sexy partner, Kelly, can stop a power-hungry sorcerer from taking over the world.
Too bad Shade doesn't have any magic.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
From Paperback Swap

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.
This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

Christmas decorations made from (old) books

Repurposing Christmas Book Tree

~~~~~

(With tutorial)

Christmas wreaths from book pages

~~~~~

Fun Christmas trees!

These great ideas float around every year and I love checking them out, especially the ones that involve books. So clever!  Click the link below to see trees made from other interesting recycled products. 

Postcard, Magazine, Book and Shredded Paper Trees

(image credits: sparklette, MetalRiot)
These Christmas trees have been created from postcards, magazines, books and even shredded paper. The top gift tree was created by cutting and folding postcards into gift boxes and then layered to form a tree. Too many magazines on your hands? The middle tree was constructed from hundreds of magazine face cutouts, folded and then arranged in a tree shape. If you like white Christmas trees, make use of your shredded papers. Another way to use magazines and books when you are done is to fold them into Christmas tree shapes like on the bottom right.