Actually, it Has Been a Couple of Tough Days For my Family!

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all just fine this morning - I certainly am! :) Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing so far.

Well sadly, my niece Stephanie passed away on Wednesday, February 1st after bravely battling through approximately two years of a cancer diagnosis. She was suffering from ovarian cancer and had initially been misdiagnosed by her primary care doctor. She lobbied for a second opinion, but ended up being horribly allergic to many of the chemo therapy drugs that her new doctors tried to give her. Despite all that, she fought long and hard and had the best primary care physicians possible working on her case - Rest In Peace, Stephanie!

So, back on Wednesday afternoon, January 18th, Mareena and I got together with our good friend Lisa and we went to a barbecue place up in Saratoga called PJ's Bar-B-Qsa. Actually, we also went back on Friday afternoon, February 3rd and so have gone there a total of three times already. It is actually quite a wonderful little place and the food is really tasty! We just sat and talked and ate together.

Since Mareena and I enjoyed both movies that we watched on the 'On Demand' Channel about two or three weeks ago, we are trying to decide if we want to make the practice a monthly occurrence or not. As it stands now, we may choose one movie to watch on the 'On Demand' Channel each month; or perhaps two if the mood strikes us. There are several movies that seem to be very interesting.

I'm also still working through an amazing backlog of crossword puzzles and sudoku puzzles from the newspaper. So far, I've done approximately 90 sudoku and crossword puzzles from the newspaper, although I have also done some sum-doku puzzles from my puzzle books, too! I haven't really finished an entire sum-doku puzzle book from my collection since Saturday, December 3rd - I have been working through partial puzzles from the moderately difficult to extremely difficult levels!

I have also started doing jigsaw puzzles again. I actually started doing a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle on Saturday afternoon, January 21st, and finished it on Friday afternoon, January 27th! It was a surprisingly complex jigsaw puzzle for me, despite taking only six days to complete. I immediately started a seventh jigsaw puzzle out of my giant box of twelve on Saturday afternoon, January 28th! I'm hoping to finish this puzzle fairly soon.

So, as regards my own reading, the most recent book that I've read was One True Thing: A Novel by Anna Quindlen, which I finished on Monday, January 30th! I initially had two copies of this book in my library, and I read it for the first time over ten days in November of 2010 - from November 16th, to November 26th, 2010! I'm sure that someone else would definitely enjoy reading this book as much as I have, so I have posted my second copy of this book on the several book swapping websites that we belong to.

I recently started reading Debbie: My Life by Debbie Reynolds and David Patrick Columbia on Thursday, January 19th! After putting the book aside for a while, according to Goodreads - as of yesterday, February 3rd, I've actually read 205 pages out of 446 in Debbie: My Life by Debbie Reynolds and David Patrick Columbia; or approximately 46 percent. Since my own copy of Debbie: My Life by Debbie Reynolds and David Patrick Columbia actually has 374 pages in it; reading 205 pages means that I have read approximately 55 percent. Actually, I'm really enjoying reading this book; although, I'm also noticing that Ms. Reynolds is a bit of a name dropper.

Actually, I have absolutely no idea what happened this afternoon, but our downstairs tenant Pamela just came upstairs and handed me five books by a new author for me named Vincent Zandri. Pamela said that our next door neighbor had given her the books and had told her that he understood that someone who lived there liked to read and review books. The man didn't say exactly who he was - or how he knew that we read and review books - but he also said that now that he knew that there would be more books coming!

So I had Mareena do a little research, and while Mr. Zandri's biography does say that he divides his time between Florence, Italy and Albany, New York we still don't really know if he is our next door neighbor. Although while she was surfing the Internet for more information about Vincent Zandri, Mareena discovered that he had written a book called Orchard Grove. LOL!!! Who knows, we may actually live next door to an author, but never knew it!

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For June

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Tuesday? I'm doing just fine. :) Well, Mareena and I had hoped to go to our local library last Wednesday to celebrate Mareena's birthday at the library's perpetual book sale. Since last Wednesday was the actual date of Mareena's birthday, we were both so looking forward to going out; until both of us woke up on Monday morning, May 30th feeling absolutely horrible. As a result, we postponed Mareena's birthday outing until this afternoon.

So, Pamela drove Mareena and myself to the library today and dropped us off at approximately 12:15 P. M. We spent approximately an hour and a half happily perusing the Library Book Sale. Then Pamela picked us up again at about 2:30 P. M. and brought us back home. We had such a wonderfully relaxing time.

Between us, we bought 42 books at the Library Book Sale - 16 paperbacks, 13 oversized paperbacks and 13 hardcovers. We spent approximately $33 altogether. It turned out to be a fairly good haul for Mareena's annual birthday trip, if I do say so myself. ;) We were actually pretty restrained, completely filling up two canvas tote bags and that was all! :)

At the moment, I'm reading Dark Debts by Karen Hall which I started Thursday morning, June 2nd. I had actually acquired this book during a Library Book Sale that Mareena and I went to back in August  of 2001 - to celebrate my birthday! LOL!!! I had originally read Dark Debts by Karen Hall approximately ten to fifteen years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed reading it that first time.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For December

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Wednesday? I'm doing just fine. :) Well, Mareena and I had hoped to go to our local library yesterday afternoon to do some Christmas shopping at the library's perpetual book sale. It ended up that we didn't actually go out yesterday because it rained the entire day. So, we just changed the day of our outing!

Mareena and I got to the library at approximately 12:30 P. M. and immediately went inside. Then we spent approximately an hour and a half happily perusing the Library Book Sale. By about 2:00 P. M., our downstairs tenant, Pamela, picked us up and dropped us off at Walmart to do some last minute Christmas shopping.

Between us, we bought 32 books at the Library Book Sale - 14 paperbacks, 8 oversized paperbacks and 10 hardcovers. We spent approximately $28 altogether. It turned out to be a fairly good haul for a Christmas shopping trip, if I do say so myself. ;) We actually were pretty restrained this time, completely filling up two canvas tote bags and that was all! :)

At the moment, I'm reading Abide With Me: A Novel by Elizabeth Strout which I started yesterday morning, December 22nd. Mareena had requested this book for me from Paperback Swap back in September, and I just started reading it early yesterday morning.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For June

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Monday? I'm doing just fine. :) Well, today is Mareena's birthday and as her special birthday request she wanted to go to our local library's perpetual book sale and buy up the place. Of course, I granted her request and told her 'the sky's the limit' as regards the number of books she could have. However, I planned to be really strict with myself and not buy that many books as I really don't know where I would put them all - my bookshelves are absolutely crammed full!

I think that Mareena said to me: "As Birthday Girl, I decree that I be allowed to choose some of my mother's reading material today, and if 'the sky's the limit' for me, then that must also extend to my choice of books for my mom. As Birthday Girl, this is my decree, and I only ask that my mother doesn't limit me - Please!?!" LOL!!! Well, what could I say to that? I suppose I could always build another wing on to the house if it came to that. Hmmm...I might have to look into that!

Mareena and I got to the library at approximately 12:45 P. M., and a couple of close family friends met us there to wish Mareena a very happy birthday and drop off a surprise picnic lunch for us to eat. It was drizzling rain very lightly, so Mareena and I decided to save the picnic until we arrived home. That left us carrying two coolers around with us until about 3:30 P. M. It actually worked out fairly well, as we set both coolers down beside a bench - the coolers were both slightly obscured from the sight of others, but still visible to us while we browsed the book sale that was set up in the same room.

Between us, we bought 50 books - 22 paperbacks and 28 hardcovers - and 5 jigsaw puzzles. We spent approximately $69 - $59 on books, and $10 on jigsaw puzzles. It turned out to be a pretty good haul for a birthday outing, if I do say so myself. ;) We actually ended up leaving the library with a total of seven full bags - that would be the two full coolers, a canvas bag, paper bag and two plastic bags full of books, and another paper bag for the jigsaw puzzles. We were loaded right up, but we had so much fun together.

At the moment, I'm reading Guilty or Innocent? by Anita Gustafson which I started on Saturday, May 30th! Mareena requested this book for me from Paperback Swap, and it arrived through the mail on Thursday, May 28th!

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For December

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Friday? I'm doing just fine. :) Last Thursday, Mareena and I planned to go to our local library to raid the perpetual book sale for early Christmas gifts. However, it started snowing lightly on Tuesday morning, and the weather report was claiming there was going to be a Nor'easter blowing through which would dump between two and four feet of snow by Thursday morning.

We decided to change our library visit to Friday morning and left at around 11:30 A. M. We spent a delightful one and a half hour just browsing through the library book sale and ended up going home at around 1:00 P. M. We had bought a rather modest (for us) 44 books between us.

Between us, we bought 21 hardcovers and 23 paperbacks. We spent a whopping $40 for a total of 44 books. A pretty good haul, if I do say so, myself. :)

At the moment, I'm reading The Rest of Her Life: A Novel by Laura Moriarty - which I started yesterday evening, December 18th! This was a book that I acquired during our August 16th visit to the library!

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Literary Suprises on a Sunday

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Sunday? I'm doing just fine. :)

Perhaps one and a half to two years ago, our mailman had mentioned in passing that his wife had a whole box of books that she was getting rid of, and would I be interested in reading them (he noticed that we get a lot of books through the mail! LOL! :)) Anyway, Mareena and I returned home from being out this afternoon, and we were met with a giant plastic bin and a plastic bag full of books on our doorstep! :)

There are probably between 60-70 books all together. We actually just did a cursory examination later on this evening and so far there's 67 books in this package of books! :)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For August

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Saturday? I'm doing just fine. :) Last week, Mareena and I discussed whether we could fit in a visit to our local library - to raid the perpetual book sale! LOL! :)

Well, we finally decided that, as my birthday is next week, today would be my birthday visit to the library. It turned out absolutely wonderfully! We spent about two hours - from 11:15 A. M. to 1:15 P. M. - at the library, and stopped to get sandwiches from Arby's. We brought everything home with us.

Between us, we bought 27 hardcovers and 47 paperbacks. We spent a whopping $56 for a total of 74 books. A pretty good haul, if I do say so, myself. :)

At the moment, I'm reading A Nice Place to Live by Robert C. Sloane - which I started this evening, August 16th! I started reading this book after we arrived home from the library!

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For April

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Wednesday? I'm doing just fine. :) Last week, Mareena and I discussed whether we could fit in a visit to our local library - to raid the perpetual book sale! LOL! :)

Well, today was the day and it turned out absolutely wonderfully! We spent about an hour and a half - from 1:45 P. M. to 3:30 P. M. - at the library, and stopped to get tuna subs from Subway.

Between us, we bought 15 hardcovers, 12 paperbacks and 1 jigsaw puzzle . We spent a whopping $15 for a total of 27 books. A pretty good haul, if I do say so, myself. :)

At the moment, I'm reading The Guardian by Jeffrey Konvitz - which I started yesterday, April 8th! I had thought I read this book once before, many years ago, but now I'm not so sure. :) 

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Barnes and Noble Here we Come! - Our Bookstore Visit For January

Hello Everyone! First of all, I hope that you all have a very happy and much blessed New Year! :) Mareena and I had actually planned on going to Barnes and Noble this Saturday to spend $75 worth of giftcards that she had received for her birthday and Christmas - actually an accumulation of three - one from June, and two were separate Christmas gifts from friends! So, a post-Christmas book blowout was bound to happen! :)

But the first major snowstorm of 2014 was forecast to hit this Friday, and continue straight through the weekend! :) Slight change of plans, and the post-Christmas book blowout has been rescheduled.

So, today from 1:30 P. M. to 3:30 P. M., Mareena and I went off on our little jaunt - and had a great time! Between us we bought 6 books and 3 CDs - and brought home Chinese food from the food court as a treat! :) Oh, and the snow started early - surprise, surprise - LOL! Oh well :)

I'm currently reading White Widow by Jim Lehrer. I've been reading this book since Tuesday and it's pretty good, but I really want to start reading my 'new and shiny' books as soon as possible!

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For November

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Thursday? I'm doing just fine. :) Well, today being Thursday, this is the day that I usually run my errands. I still ran my errands, but before I did, Mareena and I went to our local library and raided the library book sale! :)

It was absolutely wonderful! We spent about an hour and a half - from 11:45 A. M. to 12:30 P. M. - at the library, and had agreed before hand that this was to be our Christmas visit. The books that we bought at the library book sale would be kept as Christmas gifts for us both - we'll see how long that promise lasts! LOL!! :)

Between us, we bought 36 hardcovers, 61 paperbacks as well as 4 jigsaw puzzles . We spent a whopping $65 for a total of 97 books. A pretty good haul, if I do say so, myself. :)

At the moment, I'm reading Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy, which I started on Monday, November 18th!

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For August

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Thursday? I'm doing just fine. :) Today is my birthday, and in honor of that we decided to go to our local library and then brought home two bagel sandwiches and a box of donuts for lunch.  We came away with three overflowing bags of books - pretty good, considering the last time we went to the library was only two months ago, in June. :) Surprisingly, both Mareena and I seem to have gone to the library every two months this year! :)

We had a wonderful time together - as we always do! It has become something of a birthday tradition for Mareena - and apparently now for me. We spent about an hour and a half at the library - from about 11:30 A. M. to 1 P. M.

Between us, we bought 12 hardcovers, 27 paperbacks as well as 2 oversized paperbacks. We spent a whopping $30 for a total of 41 books. A pretty good haul, if I do say so, myself. :)

At the moment, I'm reading The Sky is Falling: A Novel by Sidney Sheldon, which I started almost as soon as we came back from the library.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For June

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Saturday? I'm doing just fine. :) Today is Mareena's birthday, and in honor of that we decided to go to our local library and then brought home a pizza. I told Mareena "sky's the limit" as regards raiding the book sale! :) We came away with three overflowing bags of books - pretty good, considering the last time we went to the library was only two months ago, in April. :)

We had a wonderful time together - as we always do! It has become something of a birthday tradition for Mareena - from 12:30 P. M. to 2:30 P. M. - we go to the library every June 1st. Or at least try to get there on the weekend closest to Mareena's birthday - the weekend before, or the weekend after.

Between us, we bought 15 hardcovers, 31 paperbacks as well as 1 audiobook. We spent a whopping $37.50 for a total of 47 books. A pretty good haul, if I do say so, myself. :)

At the moment, I'm reading Cypress Point by Diane Chamberlain which I hope to finish reading soon even though I am enjoying the book very much.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For April

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Saturday? I'm doing just fine. :) So, for the second time this year Mareena and I went to our local library and bought books at the library book sale. :) I suppose we each thought our separate TBR piles needed replenishing! We had promised ourselves that we wouldn't go overboard, but I think that that particular promise went out the window as soon as we both walked through the door! :) We came away with two boxes and three bags of books - not bad!!!

We hadn't been to the library since February of this year. We arrived at the library at about 12:00 P. M. and spent two hours there. We had a wonderful time together - as we always do! As a matter of fact, according to my book blogging friend Cheli, this past week - April 14-20, 2013 - is National Library Week! Yay!!! :)

Between us, we bought 27 hardcovers, 26 paperbacks and 4 oversized paperbacks, as well as 3 audiobooks and 4 movies. We spent a whopping $65 for a total of 60 books. A pretty good haul, if I do say so, myself. :)

At the moment, I'm reading an ebook Evil Stalks the Night by Kathryn Meyer Griffith, which I am currently stalled in reading because Mareena's Kindle's battery overloaded and so she (and I) have been unable to use it since Monday night, April 15th. I was just beginning Chapter 3 and really getting into the story. Anyway, I hope to finish reading Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee by tomorrow. I had started reading this book on Friday, April 19th despite having this book on my TBR pile since August of 2009.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For February

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Saturday? I'm doing just fine. :) So, for the first time this year Mareena and I went to our local library and bought books at the library book sale. :) I suppose we each thought our separate TBR piles needed replenishing! We wound up buying five bags of books and staggered out to our friend's car where she helped us to unload our 'burden'! :)

Neither of us had been to the library since July of 2012 and I must have timed my reading of As Max Saw It by Louis Begley to coincide with our library trip today, I don't know. We arrived at the library at about 11:45 A. M. and spent an hour and a half there. We had a wonderful time together - as we always do!

We bought 25 hardcovers and 23 paperbacks and 14 oversized paperbacks between us and spent a whopping $20 for a total of 62 books. In fact, I bargained with the young librarian's assistant up from $18! :)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Our Library Visit For July

Hello Everyone! How are you on this fine Friday? I'm doing just fine. :) So, for the first time this year Mareena and I went to our local library and bought books at the library book sale. :) I think we both went slightly nuts! :) We wound up buying three boxes of books and had to have them wheeled out to our friend's car on a hand truck! :)

Neither of us had been to the library in seven months because we had instituted a voluntary book buying ban on ourselves in an effort to whittle our separate TBR piles to more manageable levels. It was working out very well for both of us until today. :) We went to the library at 12:00 P. M. and spent an hour and a half there. We loved it! :)

We bought 51 hardcovers and 39 paperbacks between us and spent $70 altogether. Now the only problem is that I want to finish the book that I'm currently reading (which is very good) in order to start one of my newly bought books! :)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight