Keeping up with the challenge

So my husband and I have been in Maui for over a week. Lots of sun (yes we have missed the frigid cold back in CT) and lying on the beach, hiking. And reading. I have been trying to keep to the challenge of 52 books in 52 weeks. So here is what I have read since we got here 1. The House I Loved 2. Crossing on the Paris 3. Unusual Uses for Olive Oil 4. The House at Sugar Beach 5. Currently The Dovekeepers which is my book club's February selection. My favorite so far has been The House at Sugar Beach. I learned about Liberia and I loved Helene Cooper's style of writing and learning about her childhood and growing up in Liberia and then the US. The other books I brought with me are Wolf Hall, The House at Riverton and The Art of Hearing Heartbeats. All three are relatively long books. My husband and I also went to the movies last week and had a choice between Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook. Well we went to see SLP thinking we could see Lincoln this week but now Lincoln is not showing at either of the movie theaters! Who knew? Oh well. Perhaps we will see Les Mis.

Have not posted for several days. It has been a long four weeks.My dad who was 94 yrs old had Alzheimers disease and Macular degeneration. His quality of life was greatly diminished. After Christmas he developed type A flu and pneumonia. Very quickly he succumbed to pneumonia. I am grateful that my mom, one of my brothers and I were able to be by his side when he died. So very surreal. ALZ is terrible-you basically watch your parent fade away. My dad, when he died, was not the man I grew up with but he was still gentle, polite and loving to the end. And he still wanted to please my mom. They had been married for over 65 years.

Love you and miss you dad.

Another book!

Finished I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron last night. Whoo-hoo! I picked a book out of the pile next to my bed for its length as I leave on vacation Friday and would like to finish a book before leaving. I selected I Never Promised You A Rose Garden.

Yes I know it is an older book, but surprisingly I have never read it. The book cover displayed is clearly more up to date than my book cover! And the font size is really tiny (well at least to my older eyes). So, in between packing, finishing one or two projects, book club Monday night, seeing my parents Tuesday, getting the Christmas letter written (I know it is after the fact but it takes me a while to get the news just right) etc I hope to read and finish INPYRG so I don't have to pack it.

This afternoon I finished The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D which has a bit of a twist at the end. Enjoyed it. Not sure what I"ll start next. I borrowed Nora Ephron's I Remember Nothing which is short and would be humorous.

Ready, Set, Go!

I am not terribly good at making and keeping resolutions. However I like the idea of a challenge for 2013. I believe I read about this on the Goodreads site. The challenge is 52 Books in 52 Weeks. I think I can do this. A big problem will be record keeping but between my reading journal and the Goodreads site I hope to accomplish a list of my books. So far here is what I have read in January: 1. Some Hats, Some Girls and Hitler

2. The Mysterious Benedict Society

3. Dolly Parton - Dream

Currently reading The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D- good so far.

So I am on my fourth book and it is only the second week of the year! Plus we leave for a lengthy stay in Hawaii and I will bring lots of books and my iPad. Book club next week. I read The Boy in the Suitcase back in the fall but I made notes so I will review those and check out book reviews to jog my memory.

Welcome 2013!

Happy New Year to everyone! Here is to good health, good friends, good times and lots of great books to read!