December 28, 2011

RIP nook

I dropped my nook today. 

A sad day indeed.  I swore I wouldn't get attached.  Books are waaaay better than a stupid ereader.  If you drop a book, you might get a bent page.  It gets soggy if you drop it in the tub, but doesn't short out.  I admit it.  I said all those things.  Then I got a nook.  I found some sites that offer free books.  I became addicted!  When I broke my elbow, my nook was my best friend.  I didn't have to turn pages, I just pushed a button.

Today,while on the phone, I was on hold for WAY too long and grabbed my nook.  It was still plugged in and I didn't realize it.  It flew out of my hands and onto the floor.  Now I can't get the screen to completely change.  I am sad.  $85 to have the Geek Squad tell me it's broken and then to send it on for repair.  Should I spring for a new one?  Stay with nook?  I don't want to lose my books so I think I will stay with nook.  Oh - to add insult to injury, my warranty expired nine days ago.  NINE DAYS AGO!

So, where has my nook taken me....let me think.  I have read many, many books I wouldn't have read if they hadn't been free.  Here's a list of all the books I've read this year - some on the nook and some your basic, hold in your hands books.  Have you read any of them?

1. A Floating City by Jules Verne (freebie)
2.  Closely Knit on Scarlatt by Ardath Mayhar (freebie)
3.  Daughter of Joy by Kathleen Morgan (freebie)
4.  A Truth for a Truth by Emilie Richards
5.  The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen  (freebie)
6.  The Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell
7.  Candle in the Darkness by Lynn N. Austin (freebie)
8.  How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks (freebie)
9.  Vamps and the City by Kerrelyn Sparks
10.  Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrelyn Sparks
11.  The Undead Next Door by Kerrelyn Sparks
12.  All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks
13.  Secret Life of a Vampire  by Kerrelyn Sparks
14.  Forbidden Nights With a Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks
15.  The Vampire and the Virgin by Kerrelyn Sparks
16.  Eat, Prey, Love  by Kerrelyn Sparks
17.  Vampire Mine by Kerrelyn Sparks
18.  The Road from Chapel Hill by Joanna Catherine Scott
19.  A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh
20.  Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
21.  Changes by Jim Butcher
22.  Side Jobs by Jim Butcher
23.  Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
24.  Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
25.  Mennonite in a Little Black Book by Rhoda Janzen
26.  Stupid History by Leland Gregory (freebie)
27.  Phantom of Pemberley by Regina Jeffers (freebie)
28.  Heart of Stone by Jill Marie Landis (freebie)
29.  Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
30.  A Vote of Confidence by Robin Lee Hatcher (freebie)
31.  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
32.  Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware (freebie)
33.  Money Secrets of the Amish by Lorilee Croker
34.  Reinventing Leona by Lynne Gentry (freebie)
35.  Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
36.  The Help by Kathryn Stockett
37.  Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer (freebie)
38.  Ghost Story by Jim Butcher
39.  Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (freebie)
40.  Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Grace Whitson (freebie)
41.  Adventures on the High Seas by Susan Barry Blair
42.  Dracula by Bram Stoker (freebie)
43.  Unholy Cow by John H. Carroll (freebie)
44.  Sexiest Vampire Alive by Kerrelyn Sparks

Seventeen of the books I read were free downloads to my nook.  I guess that means I need a new one.  And yes, I did go through a smutty vampire stage, thank you very much.  The books by Jim Butcher were part of the Dresden series my son and husband read.  They had been harping on me to finish them so they could talk about them in front of me!  The Help was wonderful - as I'm sure most of you know by now.  I would recommend the book over the movie any day.  I also read some classics I had never read before:  Tobacco Road (hated it), The Great Gatsby (didn't hate it, but sure didn't like it), Farenheit 451 (surprisingly good book) and Dracula (pretty good).
Adventure on the High Seas was a book written by my physical therapist's sister about their family sailing from England and settling in America.  It was a pretty good book about an interesting way of life.

There you have it.  I didn't reach my goal of 52 books this year, but I came pretty close!  Guess I need to start saving up for nook the sequel!


December 13, 2011

Christmas Parade 2011

Sheep on the main drag.  It doesn't get any better than this!

Think they would miss just one?  Me neither.

Fire Department showing off.

Men in skirts kilts.

Gotta have a few hot rods.

The only thing that could have made this hat cooler would be if it was hand knit!

More hot rods.

Low riders.

Quite an impressive cow.


My Dad had one of these.  Drove all the way from Florida to Tennessee in it...with my sister and me in the back.  WAY before car seat laws!  Good times - right Kel????

Must have lawnmowers in a parade!

Now this is something you don't see every day!  I hope!

The man we are all waiting to see!

The parade was very nice this year.  Such a beautiful day, even if it didn't get out of the 40s.  No rain.  No snow.  Lots of sunshine and silly people to stand with.

For those of you who might be curious - Harper is out of the cone!  Hallelujah.  I didn't think he would EVER get out of that thing!  Two weeks was long enough.