Sunday's Seven Snapshots #2

Monday was these girlies' first birthday. Sally & Dolly are one year old!  We were told they are 75% Great Dane + 25% German Shepherd. Now, after a year of growth, I'm convinced they are 100% mutt. Love these sweet sisters. 

Tuesday was Veteran's Day in America and Remembrance Day in Australia. These are pictures of my great-uncles who served in WWII. 

People freaked about the trilogy that began with Fifty Shades of Grey; I couldn't finish the book. Actually, I just didn't care how it ended, so I quit it. Now, fans are freaking about the movie trailer. The BDSM doesn't bother me. I'm just not fond of neat-freak, self-absorbed, anal-retentive people, nor am I attracted to them. Let's just say I would NOT be interested in a guy if his closet looked like this.

I commute daily by train. This is a typical view for me: book in hand, Lavendar Bay and North Sydney in the distance. 

It was time to put decorations out at the store. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... (Shameless plug: www.polajewellers.com)

Ivy loves laying on her daddy's clothes (and mine too). If you can't find her, she may be in the wardrobe or closet, in a clothes drawer, or in the laundry basket.

In bed, with a book and my three kitties: My kind of Saturday night party these days.

Yes, this week had several animal photos. I can't help it. They are such cute subjects that I take a lot of fur baby photos. 

How was your week?

*okay, I wrote this Saturday night but didn't mean to publish until Sunday but hit publish on accident, so it published a day early. Thank goodness I don't have many people that actually pay attention to my blog. Ha!

Books #11 #12 #13 #14

I've read some more books.  I forgot to post them.  Here they are............

Book # 11 - Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L.James - ridiculous nonsense.  I did not find myself caring at all what happened to these characters.  I had such a lack of interest, I stopped reading when I only had about 50 pages more.  I just couldn't commit myself or my time anymore to this book.  The only positive I have is this - apparently, it got a lot of people reading, and I support anything that gets people to pick up a book (or an ereader). 

Book # 12 - after the disappointment of the previous book, I decided to grab one from my "to read" pile that I was pretty sure what I was in store for.  At this point, John Grisham isn't offering anything innovative,  but his stories are still decent reads for me.  The Racketeer was just alright for me.  It was quick, easy, with a decent number of twists and turns. 

Book # 13 - Wow.  This book took me on an disturbing and emotional journey.  I'd read The Kite Runner, so I know what kind of storytelling Khaled Hosseini is capable of.  Each character in A Thousand Splendid Suns pulled at an emotion, mostly not-so-positive emotions such as sadness, loss, despair, and disgust.  But some characters have such dignity, courage, and small glimmers of hope.  For historical fiction fans or fans of strong female characters, this is a good one.

 

Book # 13 - This book has been in my "to read" pile for a while.  I knew I'd probably need to be emotionally ready to read it.  A good friend reminded me of it, so I thought I'd tackle it, since I made it through the emotional journey of the previous book.  I haven't seen the movie, and I'm interested.  The book is different.  The main character is different.  I like different sometimes, and this is one of those times.  My heart just aches for Oskar in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.  I've never experienced a loss like Oskar's, but I have experienced emotional and mental turmoil.  I could feel his turmoil.  I thought how the stories of Oskar, past and present, and his grandparents' stories, past and present intertwined was really, really compelling.  I can see how this book wouldn't be one that just any reader would enjoy, but I thought it was brilliant.