Bookshelf Lamp Giveaway

Today I'm posting about another giveaway on Shauna's Book Giveaways blog. Only this time, it's not a book.

It's this really cool lamp with a bookstand pictured on the right and brought to us by Problem Solvers.

The giveaway ends July 15, so enter the drawing at the Book Giveaways blog today!

Julie & Julia

A few months ago I read Julia Child's My Life in France. Julia found her bliss in her late 30s. She enrolled in the Cordon Bleu school of cooking while living in Paris with her diplomat husband. This started her on the road to writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which led to a television cooking career.


This week I finished reading Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. This book tells how an almost 30, government secretary found her bliss. Julie set herself the task of making every recipe found in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. That's 524 recipes in 365 days.

To me, that's a formidable task. I can take experimenting in the kitchen in small doses only. After I try a new recipe, give me a few weeks to recover, please! That's why you'll find me cooking the same things over and over in my kitchen. Most recently, it's been individual artichoke pizzas using pita bread. Sooooo good! But that's another story.

Not only did Julie decide to make all these recipes in a limited time frame, she did it by shopping after work and often cooking late into the night. That's dedication. I don't like to be in the kitchen after 8 p. m.

At her husband's suggestion, Julie recorded her adventure on a blog. People started commenting, and her following grew. This led to media coverage, interviews, a book deal, and now a movie*. So now we know that French cooking has been life changing to at least two women in America.

* The movie, Julie & Julia will be released August 7, 2009. Directed by Nora Ephron, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.

Win a Free Book!

Shauna over at Book Giveaways is giving away five copies of The Host written by Stephanie Myers.

Go over and enter to win. This is a science-fiction love story for adults. If I happen to win, I'll be giving my copy to my younger daughter.

Stephanie Myers is well known for creating the Twilight series of books that was/is so popular with teens. Some of you may have seen the movie. I saw it once. My daughter saw it at least twice.

Before she left for basic military training earlier this year, my daughter read large portions of the first Twilight book to me.

When I stumbled across the rough draft of Midnight Son, (Twilight from Edward's point of view, posted here by the author), my daughter read the entire thing to me.

Way to capture the imagination of a romantic teenager. All those years of reading to my children had come full circle, my girl reading to me.

Bookworm Award

Dottie has given me a Bookworm Award.

Thank you Dottie. I love the picture of the pile of books with tasseled bookmarks hanging out. I did some searching and found the rules for this meme.


RULES:
Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write out the fifth sentence, as well as two to five sentences following.

The closest book to me is Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson. I just finished reading this who-dun-it about a wedding reception for "bridezilla". So ... page 56:

Charlotte had said he should want to spend more time with her. Jack had demurred. But Charlotte had persevered. In fact, the previous month, she had confided to me that she expected to become engaged to Jack very soon. After a couple of weeks had gone by, I'd gently hinted around to Jack about this, as in, "Do you think you'd ever be wanting me to do your wedding reception?" He'd shaken his head at the suggestion, and told me he had no plans to get married again.

I think recipients of this award are supposed to designate five bloggers to pass on this award. I'm not going to do that. If you find this meme fun, go ahead and use it.

Movies

I was just wondering.
Which movie have you watched more times than any other?
For me it's The Wizard of Oz. When we were growing up, it was a yearly event at our house. Kids of my generation learned the cast of characters from Glenda, good witch of the North, to the Munchkins to the cowardly lion (my favorite) to the tin man and the scarecrow. Every time we watched the movie, we pick up on some detail that we hadn't noticed before.

Nowadays, I suppose kids would say a Harry Potter movie would top their lists. Or possibly a Star Wars flick.

As for me, I'll just keep following " the yellow brick road."

Bookmark of the Week 3

Books of the Bible Bookmark
Plastic
6" x 1.5"
Front: "In all thy ways acknowledge him. "Prov. 3:6
Back: All the books of the Old and New Testament are listed

One of my children, probably the younger son, won this for memorizing the books of the Bible.

The Most Fragrant Flower in the World

Peony
"Festiva Maxima"


This variety is know for its luscious fragrance and the deep red flecks in the center.