Tuesday Tunes - 1/26/16

A good lyric is like a great book...

I Wonder What Would Happen To This World
Harry Chapin, Artist & Writer

Oh well, I wonder, yes, I wonder
What would happen
What would happen to this world?
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?

Now if a man tried to take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?

And if a woman, she used a lifeline
As something more than
Some man's servant mother wife time
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?

Oh well, I wonder, yes, I wonder
'Bout what would happen
What would happen to this world?
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?

As I look around us there's such strange things
There's muggers and there's jugglers and we are led by clowns
If an answer ever found us, would we change things?
Or are we just a people rotten ready for the ground

And if our future lies on the final line
Are we brave enough
To see the signals and the signs
I wonder what would happen to this world?

We see the people, we see them marchin' down
Do we join the parade
Or do we try and turn around
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?

Oh well, I wonder, yes, I wonder
'Bout what would happen
What would happen to this world?
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?

Disciple children walk the streets, selling books and flowers
Can they be last ones with a semblance of a dream?
If we say that no one's out there and we say we're goin' nowhere
And we avoid the question, is this all that it means?

Oh, if a man tried to take his time on earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
And I wonder what would happen to this world

Oh well, I wonder, yes, I wonder
'Bout what would happen
What would happen to this world?
Well, I wonder what would happen to this world?
Yes, I wonder what would happen to this world?

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Tuesday Tunes - 1/19/16

A good lyric is like a great book...

The Dance
Garth Brooks, Artist
Tony Arata, Writers

Looking back on the memory of

The dance we shared 'neath the stars above

For a moment all the world was right

How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye

And now I'm glad I didn't know

The way it all would end the way it all would go

Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain

But I'd have had to miss the dance

Holding you I held everything

For a moment wasn't I a king

But if I'd only known how the king would fall

Hey who's to say you know I might have changed it all

And now I'm glad I didn't know

The way it all would end the way it all would go

Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain

But I'd have had to miss the dance

Yes my life is better left to chance

I could have missed the pain but I'd have had to miss the dance!

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Mondays - 1/18/16

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been and plan on reading over the week. Recently taken over, this meme is managed by my Kathryn at the Book Date.

My week:

Busy week helping the in-laws move to a new home after 50+ years. Also went to my first summer fair for work, which required getting up at 5:30a.m., which took me more than a day to recover from. Enjoying the long weekend and trying to get some last minute Bloggiesta efforts done.


Current reads:
• Torment Saint, the life of Elliott Smith (still) - William Todd Schultz

• The Oregon Trail (still) - Rinker Buck

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (still) - J.K. Rowling

Coming up this week:

More of the same. Hoping to finish at least of one of these!

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Sunday Salon - 1/17/16

The Sunday Salon is now a Facebook group.

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by
Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Life:

Howdy Doody!

Popping in to say high and update. All is well on the northern-eastern front.

Work is very busy. I don't get any time to do personal stuff, like blogging, like I used too in the old job as my new position really is the combination of what is typically three separate full-time jobs. More than one person has indicated that when they saw my job description, they just laughed. No one thought it was possible. It's not, but I am doing my best to keep up. And we have made some adjustments  which have enabled the role to manage more and hands-on less duties, so I am surviving. My bosses tell me repeatedly that I have been doing a really great job and am making a difference for them. So that is really, really nice to hear - especially after my recent situation. This is definitely what I am used too!

Changes are still in the works there...but it's not been officially announced yet, so I can't share just yet. But I will when the time is right.

The past couple of weekends have been extra busy. My in-laws moved out of their home of like 50+ years, to a condo not far from hubby and I (about 5 minutes). We've spent a few days, along with my sister-in-law and her family (who have been helping prepare for months) moving them, unpacking boxes, finding slippers, pillows, and toothbrushes, etc. It must be incredibly hard for them... 

But it's a cute condo, closer to us than they were originally to any family, which is good. They still have a lot of unpacking to do, but they can eat, sleep, shower, dress, and watch TV/read. It's a start. We spent today making the place look less like a storage shed and more like a home, emptying as many boxes as we could and removing them, cleaning up, helping to fix closets, unpack boxes of bathroom build up (if you've ever moved, you know how this type of stuff multiples without your realizing it!). In their eighties, they can only do so much on their own, but hopefully they can now begin relaxing and settling in a bit.  We'll likely be back next weekend, and several after that until every box is unpacked and removed. And I was actually able to give them a "coupon-care-box" of goodies I have stocked piled in my basement (detergent, soap, trash bags, dish soap, etc, etc). Yeah for couponing!

Other than that, hubby and I are just going to spend tomorrow's holiday snowed in (by all two anticipated inches) reading and relaxing with the kitties.

Blogging:

Unfortunately, after the longer commute and overtime, I am usually wiped out at night. So it's hard to motivate to do just about anything. Despite that, I did start a blog project this week. Not realizing it was Bloggiesta weekend, I didn't sign up...but the project, which I'm hoping to finish tomorrow really is fitting. And, I did manage to preset a bunch of posts. Now I just have to remember to complete and publish them!  And I really, really have to get some reviews done!  Honestly, the more I can do on my iPad, the more likely it will be published. If I have to turn on a computer...well, not likely.

Anyway, things are still chugging along here. I hope all is well where you are and that you are looking forward to spring as much as I am!

Have a great week everyone!!

Shannon
 

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Tuesday Tunes - 1/12/16

A good lyric is like a great book...

Rock And Roll Heaven

The Righteous Brothers, Artists
Alan O'Day and Johnny Stevenson, Writers

If you believe in forever

Then life is just a one-night stand

If there's a rock n' roll heaven

Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band Jimmy

Gave us rainbows and Janis

Took a piece of our hearts and Otis

Brought us all to the dock of a bay

Sing a song to light my fire, remember Jim

That way, they've all found another place, another place to play

If you believe in forever

Then life is just a one-night stand

If there's a rock n' roll heaven

Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band Jimmy

Remember bad bad Leroy Brown, hey Jimmy

Touched us with that song

Time won't change a friend we came to know and Bobby

Gave us Mack the Knife

Well look out, he's back in town

They'll all be there together

When they meet in one big show

If you believe in forever

Then life is just a one-night stand

If there's a rock n' roll heaven

Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band Jimmy

There's a spotlight waiting

No matter who you are 'cuz everybody's got a song to sing

Everyone's a star

(Everybody's got to be a star)

If you believe in forever

Then life is just a one-night stand

If there's a rock n' roll heaven

Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band Jimmy

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2015 End of Year Book Survey (abbreviated)

Source: perpetualpageturner.com 

I guess, since I have done a Recap in months, I should catch up!


2015 Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 41
Number of New Reads: 37
Number of Re-Reads: 4 (All Harry Potter)
Genre You Read The Most From: Memoir

Complete listing of  New Book Reads in 2015:

January:
1. Last Night At The Viper Room
2. The Book Thief
3. Almost Perfect

February:
4. Ham: Slices of Life
5. Singing To A Bulldog
6. Landlines

March:
7. Newtown: An American Tragedy
8. The Room
9. Called: Hello, My Name Is Mrs. Jefferson. I Understand Your Plane Is Being Hijacked. 9:45 Am, Flight 93, September 11, 2001

April:
10. Moloka'i

May:
11. Love Life
12. Etched in Sand
13. Working Stiff

June:
14. Gone Girl
15 .The Choir Boy
16. We Should All Be Feminists
17. There Was A Little Girl
18. Mud Season

July:19. Find Me
20. Aquarium
21. A Man Called Ove
22. Not My Father's Son

August:
23. Quiet Please: Dispatches From A Public Librarian

September:
24. Where'd You Go, Bernadette
25. Off Balance
26. Cleaning House
27. Still Alice

October:
28. Singular Intmacies
29. The Undertaker's Daugheter
30. We Were Liars

November:
31. Ghost Boy
32. The Girl Who Chased The Moon
33. Rapture Practice
34. All The Bright Places

December:
35. Fishbowl
36. Deep Down Dark
37. The Art of Racing In The Rain

As always, some months were better than others. But wow, July...what happened?!?!

Survey Says:

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?
(If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)

Memoir: Last Night At The Viper Room, I am a child of the '80's.

Fiction: The Book Theif, took me a while to get to it but it did not disappoint

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Landlines and The Room. I had heard lots of good stuff and, well...eh.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? 

Called, the actual story about the day was SHORT. A good portion of the book was just stories other other family members, which in my opinion is a whole other book.

 
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

I don't really do this. If someone asks, I'll offer suggestions...but I don't push books. Everyone's interests (and tolerances) always seem so very different.

5. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read? 

The Book Thief

6. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Gone Girl. Just....wordless.

7. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I failed every challenge this year. Oh well, here's hoping 2016 is more productive!

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Monday Mailbox - 01/04/16

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

The great thing about being an avid reader is that everyone wants to give you books for Chistmas. The bad thing about being an avid reader is that no one knows which books to get you, because you might already have read what they buy....so they don't buy you any.

But sometimes, they buy you gift certificates instead which is awesome!

I got three this year and when I went to put them in my wallet I discovered that I had multiple that still had balances on them from previous years (how is that even possible?!?). So, I went shopping!

After hitting a local bookstore, I went online for some ebook bargains:

- A Little History of the World by Gombrich, EH

- Turner House by Flournoy, Angela

- A Call of the Farm by Bilow, Rochelle

- Men We Reaped - ward, Jesmyn

- A Walk to Beautiful by Wayne, Jimmy

- Coming Clean by Miller, Kimberly

And of course over vacation I visited my favorite cheap media store...

And when I was done, I still had a sizable chunk left, so more shopping is in my future!!

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Mondays - 01/04/16

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been and plan on reading over the week. Recently taken over, this meme is managed by my Kathryn at the Book Date.

My week:

A wonderful winter break! Restful, great food, awesome presents...and lots of glorious reading!!

Current reads:
• Torment Saint, the life of Elliott Smith - William Todd Schultz

• The Oregon Trail - Rinker Buck
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (still rereading) - J.K. Rowling

Coming up this week:

A return to work after a too short break - early mornings, lots of groaning - and missing hubby while he travels for work.

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First Book of the Year 2016

Hosted by Sheila over at Book Journey, pick and share your 1st book of the year!

Welcome 2016! I am looking forward to a year filled with lots of good reading. And I started this year off with Torment Saint, the life of Elliott Smith by William Todd Schultz.

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Happy New Year!!!

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