What I've Been Reading

David gave me a book to read a few months ago and swore that I would like it. I found it hard to believe, since the book he gave me revolved around building a Medieval Cathedral. But, I know he has good taste in books, so I took on the monstrous almost 1,000 page book. It is called The Pillars of the Earth.

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Here is the overview of the book from Barnes and Nobles:

"As a new age dawns in England's twelfth century, the building of a mighty Gothic cathedral sets the stage for a story of intrigue and power, revenge and betrayal.


Ken Follett, internationally-acclaimed master of split-second suspense, author of six #1 bestsellers, reaches beyond the expected to achieve his most brilliant and remarkable novel. The epic story of the building of a cathedral in 12th century England and the lives of the people entwined with it and each other is a sensuous, enduring narrative, and a gripping tale of faith, ambition, bloodshed and betrayal."

I couldn't put the book down. Oh-so-good. I have read two more of Ken Follett's books since this one, and I'm working on the third. So let's just say- I'm a fan. Granted, I'm a history nerd and I love reading historical books and the author in every book I have read, is able to intertwine the historical with a good drama. The perfect balance.

The second book in the series is World Without End. It continues the epic story that was began in Pillars, but continues with a few generations down the line.

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 Here is the B&N overview for this book:

"In this “epic” (The Denver Post) sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, it is now two centuries after the townspeople of Kingsbridge have finished building its exquisite Gothic cathedral. And on a cold November day, four children slip into the forest and witness a killing—an event that will braid their lives together by ambition, love, greed, and revenge...."

These two books have been made into movies, and I really want to see both of them one day!
The next set of books I am reading by Ken Follet is a trilogy that follows several American, Russian, German, and British families. First through WWI, then WWII, and finally the Cold War. The first two books are out presently and the third is still waiting to be released.

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I have never read any book revolving around the first World War and I have to admit- I really enjoyed getting a taste of the history behind it all. Here is the overview from Barnes and Nobles:

"Ken Follett’s magnificent new historical epic begins, as five interrelated families move through the momentous dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women’s suffrage.

A thirteen-year-old Welsh boy enters a man’s world in the mining pits.…An American law student rejected in love finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson’s White House.… A housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with a German spy.…And two orphaned Russian brothers embark on radically different paths when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution.

From the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty, Fall of Giants takes us into the inextricably entangled fates of five families—and into a century that we thought we knew, but that now will never seem the same again.…"

Sooo good! It was so good that I couldn't wait to run to the book store to get the second book, Winter of the World, so I downloaded it to my phone, so I could listen to it on my recent trip up to Charleston. I am now like a person living in the 40s myself, sitting in my chair but instead of listening to the radio, I'm listening to my phone! I always prefer having an actual book to read (no ereaders for me) but it is nice to get a break and just listen, since every book I have read of this authors is at a minimum of  800 pages.

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Here is the overview from B&N for this book:

"Ken Follett follows up his #1 New York Times bestseller Fall of Giants with a brilliant, page-turning epic about the heroism and honor of World War II, and the dawn of the atomic age.


Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants, the first novel in his extraordinary new historical epic, The Century Trilogy, was an international sensation, acclaimed as “sweeping and fascinating, a book that will consume you for days or weeks” (USA Today) and “grippingly told and readable to the end” (The New York Times Book Review). “If the next two volumes are as lively and entertaining as Fall of Giants,” said The Washington Post, 'they should be well worth waiting for.'"

These war novels go back and forth between characters, families, and countries. There is a lot of historical action going on, but a few love stories too. So that helps for the lady readers :-)

So throw your hands up for some history and go grab a copy of one of these books! They aren't the least bit boring, I promise. If you are like me, once you start reading, you can't put them down!

Ashley Lately

Before I get started with this post let me just throw this out there.... LSWHO?!?!?

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That's right! My Gators are turning out to be the little engine that could this year. Who would have thunk it? David and I were in the big metropolis of Baxley, GA this weekend attending a wedding, so I didn't get to watch the game. I had no idea what time they were even playing, but when I got to the wedding, a fellow Gator fan had their phone out getting updates and it was the 4th quarter, with seconds to go...and we were winning. I thought it was a joke, because I just knew LSU was going to spank us good. I was super excited. After our less than stellar first games, I just knew that we would have another season like last year. Those 'ole boys of Florida have surprised me. Can I get a Go Gators?!?!?

Speaking of the wedding this weekend, I did something unspeakable. I actually forgot to bring my camera. I couldn't believe I had dumbly forgotten that I had my camera at work and drove off without it. So, no pictures. It was a fun wedding and I was happy to see Crystal and Justin get married. They have just recently moved to Thomasville, so luckily David and I get to see them fairly often now.

Last night, I finished up the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

I have to admit, this book was completely psychotic- with all kinds of twists and turns in the storyline. It is about a married couple, Amy and Nick who are having some issues with their marriage. They were both writers in New York and when they both lost their jobs, they moved to Nick's hometown in Missouri. Amy resents Nick for moving her and Nick resents Amy for resenting the fact that they moved. So, typically, Nick starts cheating on his wife with a 22 year old student of his. Then Amy disappears on their 5th wedding anniversary. Nick becomes the prime suspect with motivation- a very wealthy wife who holds the deed to his bar that would revert to her if they divorced and a very young girlfriend. The ending was a little less that stellar and weird, but I would still recommend the book.

The other book I finished reading was Freakonomics.

Granted, this book has been out for a long time, so I'm a little late reading it. But usually when I go to the bookstore, I like to get one just-for-fun read and one book that is somewhat informative. Either a historical book, an autobiography (or biography) or a book on some type of relevant topic. This book just got my attention one day while browsing the Business section of Books a Million. Nothing like reading about some economics to get your day started. Ha! But this isn't normal economic-type topics. It goes through random stuff like the drop in crime in the mid 90s was due to Roe vs Wade and cheating in sumo wrestling. That kind of random stuff. It was interesting to think about these various topics in a different way. It's a good read if you need some conversational topics at your next business dinner.

Those are the latest books I have read. Guess I will need to stop by the bookstore again and load up. If you have any good book suggestions, let me know!

A Little of This, A Little of That

Hey guys! I am super excited because today is my Friday! Tomorrow bright and early, David, Moxley, and I are heading up to South Carolina to Lake Hartwell.

Lake Hartwell, South Carolina
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We are meeting his entire family up there for a little family vacation. I am super excited to go and explore the area and to spend some quality time with his sweet family. I just need to go home tonight and get my bags packed after my Sunday School party. Guess I have a busy evening ahead of me. But this time tomorrow, we will be on the road for a nice weekend getaway. We also have another lake trip planned in July, but this one is closer. We will be heading up to Lake Eufaula in Alabama with a group of friends for a long weekend. So, forget the beach. We will be laking it this summer!

Lake Eufaula, Alabama
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I stopped by the bookstore yesterday to grab a book or two for the trip this weekend, since we have a nice 6 hour drive in front of us tomorrow. Don't get me wrong- I love a good chick-lit book- but I really love historical and/or memoir type books. So I picked up this book, Two Rings:

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I started it yesterday when I got home and I am almost finished. This story is heartbreaking and poignant. It is a story about Millie who was born in Radom, Poland and her experiences during WWII and the Holocaust. Every time I read a Survivors memoir, I still can't believe that people actually lived through those atrocities. It just seems unbelievable at times that humans could be so cruel to other humans. It's hard to grasp your mind around.

The other book I picked up was Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. I know I'm really late to the party on this one. I can't believe I haven't read it yet. In my defense, I have read War and Peace but that's only because I had to read it in college. Ha! But it is on my list of Classical "must reads" and I will hopefully get it crossed off my list this weekend. Plus, the movie comes out soon, so that is also a plus!

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In other great books becoming movies- I am excited that one of my favorites, The Great Gatsby will be coming out around Christmas. I.Cannot.Wait!!

Moving on.....

Thought I would share a few pictures from this past weekend that I didn't earlier in the week. Just mainly pictures of the massive garden that David's father grew. It is awesome. Although this visit, he had already torn up all his squash and zucchini vines, so it looked a little nicer in there this weekend.

His dad probably had at least 10 different varieties of tomatoes. I was extremely jealous. I made David stand beside the tomato plants, to give some scale on how tall they actually were!

Eggplant

Carrots

Some weird kind of eggplant

Bell peppers

Corn!

Oscar enjoyed checking out the garden for a brief second, then he wanted back in the car in the A/C! Go figure!

Nothing like some self photography :-P

When we got down to the swamp, I turned my camera back on the boyfriend for yet another photo shoot. He refused to cooperate.

He didn't want to get near the ground because "it was wet" or so he claims. I finally got him to halfway cooperate!

Beautiful, right? Hee, hee! A few more shots and I called it a wrap. I wasn't even feeling it. Maybe because I had left my tripod at home...

Poor David. He's a sport, is all I can say. Well, folks. That wraps it up for me today. I won't be posting my Friday Faves tomorrow, unless I find time to do it today. If not, hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Peace out!

Beauty and Books

I got a special delivery in the mail yesterday. My December BirchBox arrived! I had forgotten about it, so it was a surprise when Gracie brought it to my office yesterday. So let's see what all I got this month.

I got some face primer to minimize pores, a sample of Harvey Prince perfume, Jouer lip gloss, some L'Oreal Mythic Oil treatment for your hair, some fashion tape, and an energy booster drink packet.

So, that's December's goody box.

Moving on. I just started reading John Piper's God is the Gospel. I haven't finished it yet, but so far what I've read is great.

This book was given to me as a gift for us to study in January for Bible study and I can't wait to discuss it. I didn't realize that this was the same author that wrote probably my favorite book on marriage. This Momentary Marriage was also written by John Piper.

I have read lots of books on marriage, especially in the early stages of our divorce. Some are good, some are not so good, some give good advice, hope, encouragement, etc. but this book was just awesome. I will have to talk about this book more in depth one day. It really is a book everyone should read. Married or single. Until I can get the time to blog about this book and do it justice, go check it out here. You can also download the PDF version from this website. It's not really about how to "fix" your marriage or anything like that. It breaks down what marriage really is- in God's eyes, since He is the one who created it. Not what man has made marriage out to be. That its not so much about "being in love" but about keeping covenant and displaying Christ to the world through your marriage. So please check it out. I think it would be an awesome wedding gift (or preferably engagement gift before someone actually gets married).

Back to the other book. Here is what John Piper's website has to say about the book :

"Gospel" means good news—but what makes the good news good? What is the goal of the gospel, without which it is no longer good? It is that Christ’s death brings sinners to God! Were it to bring us anywhere else we would be left hopeless. But the gospel is that God gives us himself—Christ died to give us Christ—, and this self-giving is his highest mercy to us and the best news for us! The most profound, most exceedingly gracious, final and decisive good of the good news is Christ himself as the glorious image of God revealed for our endless satisfaction.

You can also download the PDF version of this book here. What I've read of this book so far has really spoken to me. God IS the Gospel. God IS the ultimate gift of the Gospel. Not heaven and getting to be at peace and be happy. But spending eternity praising and worshipping our Creator. I guess I should have saved writing this book until I actually finished reading it, so I could talk about it a little better. But I wanted to go ahead and share it because in the few chapters that I have read, it has really made me stop and think about things.

That's what I'm reading these days. I haven't really read that much in the past few months, which is odd for me. I'm always reading something. Guess I will have to step up my game. And speaking of books, if your local Goodwill has a bookstore, go check it out. They just opened another Goodwill bookstore here in Tallahassee right up the road from me. So I am pumped that I don't have to drive downtown anymore to go. They have lots of books, super cheap. The one here in Tallahassee usually has fairly new titles/best sellers so it is a great way to save a few bucks, if you like to read as much as I do. (well, I guess there still is the library...) One day I may get into the whole Kindle/eBook thing, but for now I'm a purist. I like actual physical books. But never say never, right?

HELP!

Who else is excited about the movie coming out this weekend?!?!?!? I absolutely adored this book. I guess I didn't technically "read" it, but I had it downloaded onto my iPod and listened to it many, many moons ago. I was floored when I heard that they were turning it into a movie. I am always leery when they make movies out of my favorite books, so hopefully this one won't disappoint me. I thought the take on Water for Elephants was good and stayed pretty much in line with the novel . Hopefully this one will too. Stacey said that Abeliene reminded her of me...maybe its time for a prayer notebook!

On another note, it looks like our rag-tag book club is working on getting started again. We had to stop because some people decided that having babies and/or getting married and moving was more important than book club. Hahaha! But now that all the babies have been born and are grown up a bit, I think we may be able to start up this group again. I am excited about that. I love, love, love to read. Always have. Guess it was my love of the Babysitters Club books that really got me going on the reading. (I know I just majorly dated myself!) I especially love to read a good book and then be able to discuss it with my friends. Even better!! Actually I think we end up just laughing and talking more than deep discussion on the book at hand - but that's the fun of book club!

Book Club

I really don't have anything going on today but I did think that I would mention my book club. Me and some girlfriends are in a book club. Thought I would share our books that we have read. We have a good mixture of books. They have all been great. So go to the bookstore and get to reading!!

• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger. It is an unconventional love story that centers on a man with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpredictably time travel, and his wife, an artist who has to cope with his frequent absences and dangerous experiences.
• My Sister's Keeper by Judy Picoult. A novel about a young girl who sues her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned in order to potentially save her older sister, who is dying from leukemia.
• Empire Falls by Richard Russo. A small, fictional mill town in Maine called Empire Falls, though once booming in industry, is quickly deteriorating. Owned by the powerful Whiting family, the town can no longer sustain itself. Seen through the eyes of Miles Roby, the manager of the Empire Grill, which is also owned by Mrs. Whiting, his struggles with family, including his divorce and his teenage daughter, greatly mirror the condition of the town. As prospects for the town's future dwindle, the past is visited to explain Miles' history as well as those around him and the town itself.
• Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler. The book follows the lives of three siblings: Cody, Ezra, and Jenny, and explores their experiences and recollections of growing up with their mother, Pearl, after the family is deserted by their father, Beck. The novel ends with Pearl's funeral, and a surprise occurrence. The novel examines how siblings may share the same events yet experience them differently. Eg. Cody remembers his childhood as a harsh time. He blames himself for his father abandoning him and considers himself left to the mercy of an angry mother who favours Ezra. Meanwhile Ezra remembers his childhood fondly and creates a nostalgic family-themed restaurant.
• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. The novel is set in China in the 1800s. It chronicles a lasting friendship between two women.

We have not discussed the last book, since that is the book that was chosen for this month. So if you find yourself having some free time and need some good summer reads, I would suggest any of these books. Two of these books are in the process of being movies that will come out later this year. My Sister's Keeper stars Cameron Diaz. The Time Traveler's Wife stars Eric Bana (yum! From Troy fame). Oh yeah, Empire Falls was a mini-series on HBO a while back.

Another great book that is being made into a movie presently is Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. If you have not read this book, you need to. Like all of Sparks' books, this will bring you to tears. If you are a fan of Sparks' The Notebook and A Walk to Remember or Nights in Rodanthe, this is for you! Oh yeah, on a side note...the new Harry Potter movie comes out this summer. Yeah! I might compile a list of some more must reads that I have enjoyed over the years. Ta-Ta for now!