Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: Comfort Living by Chrstine Eisner

First line: Remember in "The Wizard of Oz" how Dorothy looked everywhere and asked everyone in her search to [...]

Initial thoughts: This book is gorgeous. When it arrived in the mail (along with its companion journal), I was stunned by its layout, colors, and formatting. Care went into its design and it shows.

So far, I’ve read a few of the pages and I’m pleasantly surprised. There’s a very approach to making changes around the home which means nothing is too jarring. In fact, I can’t wait to start applying some of the techniques discussed and seeing how well they work over the next couple of months going into the new year.

Book description:

Learn how little it takes to introduce positive change into day-to-day living!

People talk about comfort foods–foods that not only satisfy the appetite, but also nourish the soul. What about Comfort Homes and Comfort Lives? Comfort Living: A Back to Basics Guide to a More Balanced Lifestyle introduces a new way for people to think about, create and live with their physical surroundings and daily routines.

Author Christine Eisner demonstrates that creating a balanced lifestyle doesn’t have to be time-consuming, complicated or costly–and that living a good life is within easy reach. In Comfort Living, there are no rules or mandates; just some very simple and practical tools, presented in a casual, contemporary and relevant way.

• If you’re searching for your keys in the morning instead of sitting down for breakfast, this book is for you.
• If you envy the cozy nooks you see in catalogs and magazines but don’t have a clue about how to create your own, this book is for you.
• If you already enjoy fixing up your home with fabrics and furnishings but wonder if the look reflects who you truly are, this book is for you.
• If you are not able to enjoy your "decorated" home as much as you thought you would, this book is for you.
• If you simply want to make your house more of a home–a place that revives you each day–this book is definitely for you!

In these times, life isn’t about keeping up with "the Joneses," and it’s not about total deprivation either. Believe it or not, "the good life" is there for the taking. Just as with Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, it can be as simple as looking inward and saying, "There’s no place like home."

In Comfort Living, Christine is the reader’s personal guide, leading them through a process of self-discovery and creation. By translating inner priorities into physical surroundings and daily routines, each day can become a bridge to comfort, meaning, community and growth.

For each individual, this interactive book will ultimately become a personalized edition, customized to their particular needs and journey. Consider this book an 8-week investment in yourself and those who live with you–with lasting results.

Book Details: 84 pages; Lifestyle Design; Pub. November 15, 2009

Learn more:

• Official website

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football by Mark Oristano

First line: Well, I watched football for a living. I had a thirty-year [...]

Initial thoughts: When I was a little girl, I played peewee football. As I grew up, my love of football didn’t wane; instead it grew to near fanatical proportions. But, that was a while ago.

After a few anonymous meetings with other addicts, I swore off the stuff…until I was presented with an opportunity to read A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football.

I was just too curious to pass it up because I wanted to see what I was missing through my fanatical eyes and I’ve always been curious about the intricacies of the game.

Book description:

Want to know what everyone is cheering about? Learn to enjoy and understand the game with the football fanatic in your life. This book is the ultimate football guide for the novice fan. You will get answers to such complex questions as: What is that yellow line on the field and why does it keep moving? What down is it and why do I care? What is a ‘T formation’? Laced with hilarious and insightful anecdotes from Mark Oristano’s thirty-year career as a pro football sportscaster, A Sportscaster’s Guide to Watching Football will turn you into a football-watching pro, or at least, let you fake it. Time Out: I was in the locker room before a game, and I saw an Oilers linebacker furiously drawing on his shoes with a permanent marker. This player, like many, had his ankle tape applied over the outside of his shoes instead of inside, which obviously covered the shoe logo. And he was drawing the logo of his shoe contract on the tape. "Wouldn’t it be easier," I asked him, "to get taped inside and not have to do the artwork?" "Yeah, it would," he replied, "but then I’d actually have to wear their damn shoes, and I hate ‘em. So I wear the brand I like and do it this way instead."

Book Details: 160 pages; Synergy Books; Pub. August 1, 2009

Recent Arrivals chronicles the books that have made their way onto the Today, I Read… bookshelf. Here’s the latest arrival: The Art of Meaningful Living by Christopher F. Brown and John Palmer

First line: The Art of Meaningful Living is about [...]

(Ultimate teaser, isn’t it? I should probably mention that the text layout is narrow columns, hence the seemingly clipped first line.)

Initial thoughts: After flipping through this book, I can’t wait for an opportunity to sit down and properly read it.

And although I’m not a huge fan of abstract art, from my brief perusal, I did enjoy most of the paintings provided. There was something about the color selections that caught my eye.

Book description:

"Meaningful living is choosing your passions over your fears. It is accepting what you cannot control and focusing on what is in your power." Too often our meaningful lives and the things we are passionate about are buried under disappointments and lost dreams. Christopher F. Brown, LCSW, MBA, offers a powerful book combining psychological concepts with beautiful, provocative artwork done by John Palmer to help us move beyond the pain in our present lives to something more valuable and joyful. Divided into four stages, Brown has put together this thought-provoking guide to transform a life filled with dissatisfaction to a life filled with true meaning. Open to any page and begin your own journey toward a meaningful life.

Book Details: 128 pages; Synergy Books; Pub. September 1, 2009

Happy Tuesday! It’s time again for another edition of Teaser Tuesdays…

Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read
• Let the book fall open to a random page
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• You also need to share the title of the book where you get your teaser from…that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given
• Please avoid spoilers

I’m smack dab in the middle of two books right now, but the one nearest to me is Fallen by Lauren Kate and so that will be from where the teaser is pulled.

This week’s teaser:

“Even from this distance, Luce could see black mold covering the face of the dorm. All the windows were obstructed by rows of thick steel bars.” pg. 17 Fallen by Lauren Kate

So far the writing is smooth, but there has only been one small bit of action that’s piqued my curiosity. In fact, I’ve already developed a few quibbles.

I don’t know what to make of Luce just yet, but she’s teetering perilously close to the edge of being a whiney heroine and I believe nearly nothing about her new “friend” Arriane; her actions are anything but consistent with what we’re told. But there’s still time for character development. I might be surprised.

At best I feel the book will redeem itself by the end, and at worst, it will just turn out to be another average read. (I’m hoping for the former.)

I’m lazing away this Sunday afternoon, about to dig into a patty and coco bread. The dark clouds outside are teasing me, but I still have hope they will open up and provide the perfect atmosphere to get my creative juices flowing. In the meantime, I figure now is the perfect time to offer the “where has Ann-Kat been?” update.

For a little while, I was sick (think delirious and semi-conscious) with the flu. It’s an experience I’d rather not repeat and luckily I’m all better now (yay!). The downside is that I’m racing to catch up with everything that’s fallen behind…

Writing

I’m now nearly 16,000 words behind on my NaNoWriMo project, but I hope to fill most of the gap by the end of the day—cloud inspiration permitting.

I did, however, manage to get most of my NaNo board finished and discovered the face of my female lead along with a few secondary characters. Since I promised to bring this blog back to all things bookish, you can read all about the NaNo board (and my writing progress in general) at Today, I Wrote….

Reading

After finishing Wuthering Heights, from which my head is still reeling (Kidnapping and extortion? Really?!?), I’ve moved on to The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Fallen by Lauren Kate. I’m about a third of the way through both.

The former I remember from childhood; reading it as an adult brings some new perspectives. The latter is interesting so far, but I’ve already found a few items of contention—here’s hoping it will redeem itself by the end.

Reviews

My review queue is backlogged a bit, but I hope to have that sorted just after the holidays. Some of the books awaiting review include The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett, Dawn by Kevin Brooks, and Soulless by Christopher Golden.

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much was enthralling. I thought I was in for a true crime read, but it was more a journalist’s memoir of the book collecting world and the misguided lengths to which one man would go for his passion.

I managed to get up a mini review of Dawn since I read it for the 24 Hr. Read-a-Thon, but I do need to get a proper review online. This book certainly deserves one.

I expected to like Soulless a bit more than I did. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy it. Then again, I’ve always been fond of those B zombie movies with cheezy overacting and that’s the feeling I got from the book. Plus, it had an original premise in how the zombie apocalypse started. There are some book notes up (and a Sunday Sketch depicting a scene), but like the others, this deserves its own full review.

Arrivals

Thank goodness the book fairy didn’t forget about me while I was infirmed. A number of books made their way across my threshold and I’m excited to read all of them. The list includes:

• Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
• Defenders of the Scroll by Shiraz
• i sold Andy Warhol (too soon) by Richard Polsky
• Raiders’ Ransom by Emily Diamand
• Madapple by Christina Meldrum

Soon I’ll get a proper “recent arrivals” post up along with synopsis for each of the titles. But for now, that ends my Sunday Salon week end round-up. You have been updated.