Footnotes 9/5/15 (AmberBug)

Footnotes - September 5th 2015

Hello Everyone! Long time no "pour my life all over this blog"! So Linus, the dog we finally ended up with is fitting in perfectly at the house. He is so lovable... I can't get over it. PLUS he's the perfect "reader" dog - he even listens to you when you read out loud. I've finished a (cookbook-esque) book recently that has changed my way of thinking about my food. I've always had problems with my gut, and lately it's just been 10x worse. I decided I needed to do something, and remembered I had purchased this book with all intentions of "trying" it out. I picked it up and knew it was the perfect time. It's very hard cutting sugar, gluten, whole grains, coffee and dairy out of my life... and I don't even know if this is sustainable (probably not for me) BUT I do know that there is truth to cutting out all that processed junk that was hurting my insides. I have a few tests down the road to understand why my tummy is in such pain, and hopefully I'll find an answer. In the meantime though, I've cooked some delicious recipes from this book, homemade granola (MUST), turkey meatloaf and coconut chicken soup. I've learned about many substitutions, such as coconut oil, flax seeds, milk substitute, etc... and I think I'm learning healthier ways to cook overall. So enough about that... what have I been reading? Well... I did get this hunk of tasty reading material in the mail, "The Familiar Volume 2". This one is a doorstop, just like the first one. I'm enjoying Volume 2 much more though. I wish I was being a little more crazy with it - tracking the characters, etc... especially since this will ultimately be over 20 volumes, I can't imagine keeping everything straight. Maybe that'll be a project of mine... but I'm not sure if I'm sold completely yet... I might still drop these books if after 3-4, things don't pick up a bit.     What else? I'm slowing down a little with my reading/reviewing on here... maybe it's the stomach pain or maybe it's just "holidays are coming" nerves... but I'm hoping to get a nudge with some fantastic book to spark my reading fire once again. Sometimes you just get in that funk but I always know I'll get out of it.  Happy Reading, AmberBug

Footnotes 7/23 (AmberBug)

Footnotes - July 23rd

Hello Readers! Remember that time I said I was adopting two dogs? Yeah, that happened then a fight broke out. Unfortunately for the safety of the submissive dog, we had to return the dog that attacked. It was terribly sad and I had a hard time feeling "okay" after that one. Now, we have the challenge of a dog that has been trying to gain "alpha" status and testing us at every turn. He has NO bite inhibition so that when he does "mouth" it HURTS! So far, dog ownership hasn't been great. I think we just need more time with him to get there. We shall see. The last thing we want is a dog attack on us or the cats. Ryder (his name) has had one session with the trainer (and us), so we might have to give it some time. Enough dog talk though... let's talk about books "baby", let's talk about words "sexy", let's talk about all the good ones and the bad ones that I've seen. Let's talk about BOOKS, let's talk about bookssss. Did I really just do that? Yes, yes I did. I'm leaving it... deal. I've been audiobooking Neal Stephenson's "Seveneves" and really enjoying it... although it's LONG (32 hours I think). Anyways, I have a signed copy from BEA but I decided to use an audible credit with this one because I don't want to ruin my signed copy!!!  I'm also reading (or maybe finished by the time this posts) "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I've been hearing excellent things about this one and I have a feeling it has a good chance to be a contender in the Tournament of Books next year. I've been picking what to read next this year based halfway on the belief that they might be Tournament books. I'm curious to see how many I've read by the time the final list comes out. I've been wanting to read more classics this year but it might not be in the cards this year - my obsession with the TOB has me devouring all the latest releases and ignoring blacklists and classics galore. Maybe I just need to get this out of my system... I tend to focus on something entirely (obsessed much?) and drop it like a hat after awhile. I'm sure this will be the same thing.    Can we just talk about Harper Lee a bit? Those numbers?!? I want to say "I'm not surprised" but I kinda am! I guess it's nice to know that a book like that can gain as much momentum as 50 Shades can. Wouldn't you agree?    Happy Reading, AmberBug P.S. - I have these books waiting on my Kindle... which one would you recommend? The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood (ARC) In the Country by Mia Alvar The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra (ARC) In the Woods by Tana French Twain's End by Lynn Cullen (ARC) City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg (ARC) Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald Dark Places by Gillian Flynn Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Footnotes 7/13 (AmberBug)

Footnotes - July 13th

Hello Readers! I've been inspired to start a reading life journal from Katie at Bookish Tendencies. I know this is pretty common around the bookternet, and I've decided that I'm ready to join in. So digging right in.... Have you noticed a change to our site within the past year? We added a goodreads widget that shows what we're currently reading. Just thought I should point that out. -Oh, you noticed I'm reading a book from Cesar Millan, the famous dog trainer?  -Yes, I am. -Why? -Why else?!!?!?!?! I'm getting a dog! Okay, two dogs... crazy, I know.  Just look at these two goofballs! Here's the thing... they aren't very well behaved... YET. They've been cooped up in kennels with less exercise than needed. They need to learn their P's & Q's (sitting, not jumping and no puppy mouthing) and I decided the best thing to do was RESEARCH! It's in our nature... us readers. I'm also trying to come up with some fantastic names for these two... something that goes together. I love Holmes and Watson (for example) but don't think these boys fit for such distinguished names. What do you think?  On another note, I've been in a reading slump lately (BookRiot did an article recently about this that really spoke to me). I just can't seem to find the book "I want" to read... and mostly this seems to drift me away from the stack of ARC's I picked up to read/review from #BEA15. I've taken down countless of books off my amazing bookshelves and flipped through them to only sigh and place them back. Maybe it's the stress of adding two new family members that has me overly anxious with my book selection. I'm handing off my feelings from picking a Furrever friend (as Marsha would say) to picking the next book to commit too. Please... slap me, I need to quit being overly dramatic.  So, looks like that's all folks. That was kind of fun... I'm looking forward to sharing my "feeeelingsss" with you again, haha.   Happy Reading, AmberBug