March 2016 Reading

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin Truman Capote among the rich and famous in NYC I enjoyed it
Blues of a Lifetime The Autobiography of Cornell Woolrich Ed. by Mark Bassett  I have been fascinated with this Author once I found out that he wrote so many books that were made into Films during the 30's and 40's, but how many recognize his name?
The Big Short by Michael Lewis (library) made into a movie, about the bursting of the housing/loan bubble. I could barely keep up with all the financial wheeling and dealing. Basically, only a few saw it coming and no one else thought there was anything wrong?
Not my Father's Son by Alan Cumming (library) Very interesting Autobiography of one of my favorite actors
The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty (library) I really really enjoy this author and this is now one of my favorites by her
The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty by Amanda Filipacchi (library) There was a lot in this book that was just plain silly, but the message is looks are not everything.
Ghostman by Roger Hobbs (library) a heist book. I really liked it. About a casino robbery gone wrong in Atlantic City and the "fixer", the Ghostman who comes in and cleans up the mess.
Chosen by a Horse by Susan Richards (library) dealing with grief by helping an abused horse
What was Mine by Helen Klein Ross(library) about a woman who kidnaps a baby and raises it as her own and what happens when the child finds out when she is 20 years old.
My Sister, My Love by Joyce Carol Oates (library) thinly disguised re-telling of the Jon Benet Ramsey tragedy from the point of view of a sibling.The format was a little odd...very disjointed and that bothered me reading it. Lots of weird footnotes and so forth.
Looking for Andrew McCarthy by Jenny Colgan Fun Chic Lit Ellie thinks that Andrew McCarthy can solve her relationship problems. something Kinda weird....both this book and What Was Mine had scenes in an Ikea store at the beginning of the book. Such a weird coincidence !

Monday's Postcard 2016: Sailboats

  These postcards were advertising for these sailboats that were available for charter in the 1970's. I found them in a bunch of my Dad's papers after he died.

Monday's Postcard 2016: Daiso

I bought these postcards at Daiso...what I call the Japanese Dollar Store. They have quirky things from Japan and everything is $1.50  Check them out and see if there is a Daiso store near you!! Daiso

Monday's Postcard 2016: Bears

I got these postcards as examples of an artist in California many years ago. I could not afford to buy a painting, but I can buy postcards. I love these!

Monday's Postcard 2016: Brussels Sprouts

I am not a fan of Brussels Sprouts, so some people think it is funny to send me postcards that feature this vegetable.

February 2016 Reading

Give Me Everything You have on Being Stalked by  James Lasdun (library) I read this book, because I had read a review of it that said: "the book's most terrifying revelation is the idea that all that is necessary for a person's life to be made utterly miserable is for another person to want this badly enough, for whatever reason. The internet is the genie that grants such poisonous wishes. And I have seen how crazy things can get between people on facebook and yahoo groups and other forums on the internet.
Maggie Smith A Biography by Michael Coveney (library) if you are a Maggie Smith fan, read it, but just for anyone....it was a little dry. She is just a fabulous person. It would be like reading a biography of your own grandmother or aunt.
The Storied Life of A J Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin   (library) Loved it!! I need to go buy it right now, So I can have it in my house forever
The Clue in the Crossword Cipher by Carolyn Keene my dose of Nancy Drew reading this month.
The Witches by Stacy Schiff  a telling of the Salem Witch Trials. I found it a little dry, but lots of detail and photos too!! Ryan says I need to qualify this comment. The photos were of houses still standing where things took place during the Witch Trials, also photos of portraits of some of the judges etc.
Letter From Home by Carolyn Hart  for fans of Elizabeth Berg's WWII books and if you like a little mystery too (and some coming of age drama) This book had it all. I recommend.
Twelve Drummers Drumming by C C Benison (library) I only read it for the Nancy Drew reference.  Cute, cozy mystery
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (library) Bring the kleenex. I cried buckets....being made into a movie
Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls by Bennett Madison. Modern. "Anti" Nancy Drew
Lulu Dark and the Summer of the Fox by Bennett Madison and another
Girl in the Woods by Aspen Matis (library) about a girl hiking the PCT after she was raped in College to clear her head. Similar a bit to Wild...so if you like that sort of thing.
Dear Cary by Dyan Cannon (library) Dyan Cannon's relationship with Cary Grant.
Scratch One by Michael Crichton. Some old books written under the name John Lange, while Crichton was in college.  Not bad. sort of a knock-off James Bond
Murder on the Ghost Walk by Ellen Elizabeth Hunter Wilmington, NC set murder mystery series. They are just okay and I mainly read them just for the local color of my hometown.

Monday's Postcard 2016: Garfield

                                                     Happy Leap Year from Garfield!!
It is pretty easy to find just about every cartoon imaginable on a postcard. I was a huge Garfield fan when I was a kid, so I had a bunch of these cards in my collection.

Monday's Postcard 2016: Airplanes

        Airplane Postcards! I will use cards like these when I write Thank You notes. 

Monday's Postcard 2016: Shakespeare

Happy Valentine's Day and enjoy some Shakespeare quotes on Postcards.

Monday's Postcard 2016: Antique Labels

I found these postcards of Antique Vegetable Crate Labels on a road trip across country when I was moving out to Seattle. I never sent them to anyone, cause I just loved looking at them myself!!

January 2016 Reading

The Other Daughter by Lauren Willig (library) I found this book on a list of stuff to read if you like Downton Abbey. It is set in that era of the 20's with changing social structure in England.
Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham (library) yes, the Lauren Graham that starred in Gilmore Girls. The book is about a young actress in NYC and it was a lot of fun. Chick Lit for sure, Reminded me of The Devil Wears Prada and that TV Show Younger.
The Revenant by Michael Punke (library) Very Good book. They made it a movie and I have not seen the movie yet, but I only hope it is as good as the book.
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King (library) great stories, I love his little commentaries before each story.
The Traitor's Wife by Alison Pataki (library) the story of Benedict Arnold's wife. I really enjoy this authors historical novels
The Color of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford (library) WWII about a British woman who falls in love with a black American GI. And all the complications that that brings. I enjoyed it.
Making History by Carolyn See (library) Meh, not my favorite....about a family in California....too much money, too entitled. Bleh
Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon (library) I like this author, she is like the fast food version of Gillian Flynn. (Gone Girl) same sort of Psychological Horrorish Thriller.
Oranges and Sunshine by Margaret Humphreys (library) Very similar to The Orphan Train that I read last year about orphans in America, but this one is a little more disturbing....children were shipped off to Australia from England and often they were just taken from their mothers. There is a movie also!!
Circling the Sun by Paula McLain (library) McLain also wrote The Paris Wife which was fabulous. This one follows the life of Beryl Markham! Out of Africa fans,you might like this one
A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George (library) I  just love her and this is her latest
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell (library) I just love that I am learning all the history I should have learned in school from Sarah Vowell. Very interesting!! 
In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (library) again if you are a Gone Girl, Jennifer McMahon, The Girl on the Train, etc fan....this is of the same vein with an unreliable narrator.  

Monday's Postcard 2016: Space

These postcards came from a Planetarium or Museum. Pleiades, Saturn and Mars.

Monday's Postcard 2016: Ansel Adams

Some of the best Art cards ever, Ansel Adams Photographs!! Love these and I have sent and received these many times over the years.

Monday's Postcard 2016: Sting

One of my favorites! That middle card was on my bulletin board during college. "Brand New Day" was sent to me by a friend. These types of postcards could be found at record stores.

Monday's Postcard 2016: Crowns

These postcards are of crowns obviously and I think these are in the collection at the Louvre in Paris. The postcards were sent to me by a friend who lives in Illinois. With messages on the back about how their summer was going! I know my friend has not visited the Louvre and I know they have not been to Paris, so I don't know where they got the postcards, but they are pretty random and could have come from a museum gift shop or a bookstore.

Monday's Postcard 2016: Trees

So this year, I set out a challenge to all those folks who say.....it is easy for you to send postcards, Amanda, you travel everywhere. Well, I just have to say that you don't have to travel to send postcards. There are lots of postcards available everywhere that don't have anything to do with a specific place. And to prove it, this year, all the postcards from my collection that I am going to post are generic. They come from bookstores and card shops. They are pieces of artwork and photos of interesting things. They are cartoons and recipes. Cute animals and pretty flowers. And many of them were sent to me by family and friends! These particular postcards, I purchased in Sweden because I loved the artwork.

Books I read in December 2015

X by Sue Grafton. (library) Nearing the end of this series and I enjoyed the minor mystery of Henry's neighbors more than the main story in this book.
The Jump-Off Creek by Molly Gloss (library) very enjoyable story of a pioneer woman in Oregon 1800's. I highly recommend.
Travel as a Political Act by Rick Steves (library) he wrote this after 9/11 about traveling the world to learn about other cultures and also to be that American overseas that is not "ugly"
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores by Jen Campbell (library) just what it says and entertaining to anyone who has worked retail and/or loves books
As If by Jen Chaney (library) About the making of the movie Clueless, if you are a fan of the movie, you really should read this one
This is Your Life Harriet Chance by Jonathan Evison  (library) very good a woman whose husband has died goes on an Alaska Cruise that he had won for them prior to his death. Along the way, her husband's ghost visits her and she reconnects with her estranged daughter. I enjoyed it
Descent by Tim Johnston (library) super quick read for me. Great thriller along the lines of Gone Girl or The Room. I highly recommend if you like that sort of thing.
Dry Bones by Craig Johnson (library) a Longmire novel I really enjoyed this one with info about dinosaur fossils in Wyoming.
Falling From Horses by Molly Gloss (library) this one concerns a guy who wants to be a Hollywood stunt man doing Westerns during the 30's I loved it!
Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont (library)
The Whites by Harry Brandt (library) corrupt police in NYC very good, it played like a movie in my head
A is For Arsenic by Kathryn Harkup (library) the poisons used in the Agatha Christie novels
Wild Life by Molly Gloss (library) since I read Jump-Off Creek and enjoyed it, of course I am going to read everything else by this author!! LOL
The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss (library) enjoyed this one VERY much! WWI era Oregon and a woman who breaks horses.
The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki (library) Very interesting about Empress Elisabeth of Austria. I am woefully ignorant of European History, so books like this help me fill in some gaps. 
The Box Wine Sailors by Amy McCullough (library) a couple with very little money live on their sail boat and sail down the coast of California.

Monday's Postcard 2015: Wyoming

Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote. Yellowstone is the first official National Park (1872) Wyoming has the lowest population of all 50 United States. The first coal mine in Wyoming was in Carbon in 1867.  The largest coal mine in the USA is Black Thunder located near Wright.  Wyoming lead the country in coal production in 1994 with 3 million tons per week.

Merry Christmas Ornaments!

A talented woodworker in Virgina made this ornament!

It's that time of year again when I talk about my Christmas decorations!

Pacific Northwest is represented on my tree!

Got this ornament when I was working on filling up my McMenamins Passport

I had been wanting one of these sea urchin ornaments for a while and was happy to find one at a craft fair in Virginia

Ryan got this one for me for Christmas a few years ago

A Cowbell ornament I got at Oxfam in England last year

This is an oil diffuser, makes the house smell like Balsam, perfect since I have a fake tree!

Monday's Postcard 2015: Wisconsin

The nation's first kindergarten was established in Watertown in 1856. Its first students were local German-speaking youngsters. Wisconsin snowmobile trails total 15,210 miles of signed and groomed snow highways. The first Ringling Brothers Circus was staged in Baraboo in 1884.